My new favorite book....

Sunday was baby Sunday at our church.  I can remember last year seeing all the new babies and thinking about how we would be up there the next year!  I love those full circle moments.

As a gift,  the children's minister gave Tate a Bible and the book, God Found Us You.

Now I have seen and heard about this book a couple of times, just never got around to getting it. Tonight I read the book to Tate before bedtime.  Let me just say that I should not have read this to Tate without reading it first.  Tate even laughed at me a couple of time when my voice went up a couple of octaves as I tried to fight back the tears, unsuccessfully I might add.

If you are an adoptive parent or soon to be adoptive parent, you must get this book.

It really took back to all those emotions that you go through during the process.

"I started seeing you everywhere, in the leaves of the giant oak in the bark of the pine.  Even in the stars!  How I longed for the day that you would arrive, when God would  find us you."

  I was talking to Jennifer yesterday who is in the paperwork stage of their Ethiopian adoption when she delivered some of her oh so yummy cupcakes. We were talking about the wait and about how sometimes it does feel like the wait will last forever. 

"No matter how much I prayed it would happen, I still had to wait."

"You waited and waited and waited?"

"And waited.  But I knew that someday you'd arrive when God would find us you."

I rocked Tate to sleep with tears in my eyes.  I remember thinking on some days that he would never get here.  I would imagine a little boy's toys all over the place, his laughter filling the house, and it just felt like a dream. 

But tonight I sat there with a little Ethiopian boy in my arms and as he sucked on his little fingers and patted my arm, I knew it was not a dream.  I pray that I NEVER forget that longing we experienced as we waited because as we were waiting God found us him. 

"When God found us you...you made me the happiest mama in the world."

    

Bath Time = Fun Time!

  Tate LOVES bath time. 

When we walk into the bathroom and pull back the shower curtain, he starts laughing and trying to wiggle out of our arms. 

We have to wrestle with him in order to take off his clothes as he continually lunges for the water.  When we finally get him in, he squeals and splashes up a storm. 

He loves the water! 

He will stick his face in it and blow bubbles and loves it when it's hair washing day which means we pour water on his head.

We've learned our lesson about how to end bath time.  Instead of just taking him out, which use to cause him to cry, we have learned to drain the water.  The only thing is that when he realizes the water is going down he he sticks his face in it until he can't reach it anymore. 

What a funny little guy!

"Okay Mom, no more pictures!":)

Ethiopia- Part One: On Our Way!

It is so hard for me to believe that it was over 3 months ago that we were beginning our trip to Ethiopia!  In some ways, it feels like it was yesterday. 

Our flight left Oklahoma City at 1:15 pm  on October 8, 2010 via Delta with our first stop in Atlanta.  My plan was to be completely packed and ready to go by 2pm on the 7th.   Well, needless to say, that did not happen.   We had been "packing"  for the past 3 weeks.  By "packing"I mean throwing everything that we think we may possibnly need for a 3-6 week stay in a foreign country into our spare bedroom.  Packing was something that  had really intimidated me.  I had read my packet from Gladney telling us what to take and I had printed off every list and suggestion from blogland.  I just felt like I was out of my league.  I will admit I had 2 meltdowns that day.  One becasue I was so unsue of what to take for Tate to eat, that I was sure he was going to starve.  The other, I had bought over 300 size 3 daipers to take and we got an update from Gladney at 4pm that said he was wearing size 4's.  So he had to make a last minute stop to exchange diapers.  (Come to find out, 3's would have worked.)

When we woke up travel morning, it felt like Christmas.  Brian and I just sat in the living room trying to wrap out brains around the fact that it would be the last time our house would only have 2 people living there.   We left for the airport 3 hours early, which was a good thing too because we had to turn around twice because I left my iphone and then camera cord.:)

 We ended up taking 5 bags, 2 backpacks, and 2 small carry-ons.  We did have to pay $250 for the extra bag, but I have no idea how we could have downsized.  We ended up staying for 5 weeks, but prepared for 6.

We checked our bags, said our goodbye's, and got through security in about 30 minutes

 . 

Brian even got a little nap in while getting creative with the travel pillows!

Our plane took off and we were on our way. First stop Atalanta, then Amsterdam, then Ethiopia!
We were lucky in the fact that our trip went smoothly and quickly. We slept a lot and watched a lot of movies.  We kept commenting on the fact that on the way home we would have a son, and we had no idea where he was going to fit!

We landed in Ethiopia after midnight on the 10th of October. We got through the visa line where we were denied a 60 day visa, so we would have to renew that later.  We grabbed our bags and found our driver, Hennock, waiting for us. Hennock was also the owner of the BNB guesthouse where we stayed which was actually very convenient for us.  He took us straight to the guesthouse.  The BNB is located about 5 minutes from the Gladney care center.  The first week we stayed in the larger apartment until the Lovin's and Capps' arrived.  There were two rooms, a kitchen, a bathroom with shower, and a large living room/dining room area.  There was actually a  lot more room than I had expected.

We settled in and went to bed.  Trying to sleep knowing that your son is only 5 minutes from where you are  was difficult!

One year ago....

One year ago, a terrible blizzard came through Oklahoma on Christmas Eve.
 Roads were closed. Our plans were ruined.
 It was the first time in my life that I did not go to my grandparent's house on Christmas Eve.
 It was the first time Brian had not been with his family.
 Luckily, we were at least snowed in at my parents house. 
It would be a Christmas Eve we would never forget.

We had no idea how true that would be.

Little did we know that on that very day halfway across the world, a little boy was being born. 

Our lives changed forever.

Happy Birthday 1st Birthday Tate Engida Plumb! 
It brings tear to my eyes to think about the moment you were born.
I wish I could have been there. 
But I am so thankful that I am with you now.
You have brought more joy and love into our lives than we ever thought was even  possible.

WE LOVE YOU!

A double dose of Santa may be too much.

A couple of weeks ago we went to see Santa Clause. 

Tate did great.  At first he just stared at him, but then he gave us one of his trademark big smiles!

Tonight, we made a last minute visit.
I guess we should have left it on a good note.

Maybe the reindeer scared him?

Hope he's not traumatized!:)

It's a Birthday Party: Dr. Seuss style!

I have a friend that was born on Christmas day and I have heard her horror stories about not getting parties or getting ornaments for presents.  I told Brian a long ago that I never wanted to have a child born on Christmas Day.  When  we got our referral for Tate we were told that he was born on December 24.  Christmas Eve.  Well, I guess that is not Christmas Day!  God makes me laugh.:)

So, in order to try and separate his birthday from Christmas a little bit, we had Tate's first Birthday Party today!

The picture for the invites!  Seriously, could he be any cuter?

 The cupcakes!

 Green Eggs and Ham

 One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

 Cat in the Hat

 Thing 1 and Thing 2

Luckily we got the picture before the cotton candy melted!

 Ready to party!

 The Birthday Boy!

 Aunt Kelli started things off with "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!"

Tate and his buds Drew and Hudson.  I have a feeling these three are going to get into a lot of trouble together!:)

 Presents!

 He liked the cake!

 He really liked the cake!

 Ok, he LOVED it!

We can't believe that we almost have a one year old in this house!  What a fun way to celebrate an amazing boy with wonderful family and friends! 

Happy Early Birthday Tate!

We love you!

Excuses...

So, I could bore you with a million excuses of why I have been terrible at blogging: unpacking, cleaning, playing, holidays, and just enjoying Tate.  I assure you that all of them would be true. However, I think the main reason I have stopped blogging is that I feel the pressure of writing about our trip to Ethiopia to pick up Tate.  We spent five amazing, hard, short, long, weeks there.  How do I describe a trip that completely changed our lives forever? There is no way I could give it justice. So I have decided to take the pressure off of myself  and just start blogging again.  I assure you that I will blog about our journey, trip, and experience, but it will be in no order.  I will tell stories, show pictures, and describe our feelings, but there is no time frame. 

Ahhhh.  I feel better already!:)

Meet Tate....a delayed post!:)

Has is really been 7 weeks since we boarded a plane to Ethiopia?  Have we really been a family of three for a little over 6 weeks?  Has it really been almost 2 weeks since we returned home from a 5 week from a trip of a lifetime?  The answer is yes.

And I will say that since we got home 2 weeks ago we have laughed and laughed and laughed and we have played and played and played. 

What we have not done is folded one piece of laundry, gone through souvenirs, and, obviously, blogged.

I want to tell you all how amazing this time has been.  We were so thankful that we were able to spend 5 weeks in Ethiopia.  We truly feel like we were able to fully experience the culture and the time we spent with Tate bonding was something that has been such a gift. More on the trip late but without further delay, I would like to introduce you to Tate Engida Plumb!

Yes, he is as much fun as he looks.

We are really doing it!!!!:)

We are off! First stopp Atlanta then Amsterdam with final stop...ETHIOPIA!!!!! We'll try to update as much as we can! See some of you guys there!!!!

Nursery is ready!

Sheets are washed. Pictures are hung.  Books are stacked.

Nursery is ready.

Ready for a little boy named Tate.

Ethiopia:  T minus 3 days!