This week's stats:

This week Lucas and I got some very cute pictures of our little ones. Both are smiling (first time we've seen Otis smile!) and Lark is downright laughing in one of them. So sweet. Can't wait to hear those laughs myself and get my hands on them. It is so uplifting to see them happy and healthy!

This week's stats:
Lark: 9 months, 13lbs 4oz, 24 inches
Otis: 5.5 months, 12lbs 13oz, 26 inches

Although these are American charts, I've been tracking them to so I can get a good sense of their growth (I suppose this comes from my dietitian schooling). You can see that while they are small for U.S. babies, under the 3rd percentile, they are growing nicely!

What a crazy coupla weeks!

Sorry for any suspense as I know I left my last post as sort of a mystery...

*Complainer Alert!* I have barely been keeping my head above water these last few weeks with a hectic work schedule (working 10 and 12 hour days), no car, and the mix up that happened last week with our sweet boy. I have been stressed, feeling defeated at work with little support, feeling guilty for making people drive me around, and just want to focus on the cute pictures I get maybe once a week. *Complaining over, I think*

So- I'm not so sure that I should be writing this in a blog, but I want those that are also in the adoption process to know what bumps may come along the way. Two Thursdays ago, when we were anxiously awaiting any news on our little Agegnehu, we got an update email late in the evening from our adoption agency... with pictures of a frail, thin baby who was 6 months old and only 8 pounds. We sat there staring in disbelief and we searched the picture for any feature that slightly resembled the healthy baby boy we had gotten a picture of only 2 1/2 weeks earlier. We were certain there had been a mistake. We immediately called our agency and left a message. I made Lucas do it because he would sound meaner. How could our baby have 1) changed ages 2) lost 3 1/2 lbs in 2 weeks 3) not look anything like the first picture?

We were shocked when we heard back from the agency that this was in fact our Ageghehu, that he had become very sick, and that we just didn't recognize him because of the weight loss. Lucas and I still weren't convinced. But we felt everything was out of our control. We tried to talk ourselves into believing that the pictures were of the same boy: "Maybe the eyebrows are the same... his ears are kinda the same shape..." Either way, we were somewhat mourning the loss of our healthy baby- the one we had first gotten the picture of and studied daily. Our little boy in pink was now very sick. I began researching formulas to send with friends to Ethiopia. This boy had to get some weight on him fast. We had already heard this week of a little girl who died of pneumonia in the same orphanage... this could be us. Somewhat thankful that I have a nutrition background, I started to believe that this boy was meant to be my son.

Fast forward 4 days. I get a call at work, on a busy busy day. "You were right. We made a mistake. We found your Agegnehu. There was a mix up between the two orphanages. This never happens. Your boy is safe and healthy."

Emotional roller coaster. Bittersweet. Jerking our hearts around! Now who will love the tiny Agegnehu? It's still too much to think about at times. But I am SO happy we have our boy in pink back!!! I am already madly in love with him.

There is more to the story that I won't share here. I will always think about tiny Agegnehu, I hope he finds a family soon.

This week's stats:

Jalele Lark (~6.5 months)
11lbs 12oz, 24inches

Otis Alan Agegnehu (~5 months)
11lbs 13oz, 26inches

Both are growing... but I would be a happy with about 5 more pounds each! Can't wait to get you babies! C'mon court date!!!

And I really can't wait to celebrate these two on Friday. You should come... we'll have pictures! Thanks again, Sarah and friends!

And now we have our boy!!

We were supposed to receive our referral of a boy and a girl at the same time. But- we are adopting, so things are bound to not go as planned. On December 5th, 2011 we found out about our 5-month-old little girl in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. On January 11th, 2012 we finally received word of our 3-month-old kissy-lipped baby boy!!

We know much more about him from his referral paperwork than we do with Lark. While I won't tell his story here, we do know where he was born and how he made his way to the orphanage. His lips are so big and kissable, and for his debut picture, we was adorned in a very pink sweatsuit! I can't help but giggle when I look at this picture, his expressions seems to be so serious- like he is telling us how tough he is even though we are seeing him in all pink. I'm not big on pastel pinks and blues for defining genders, but I have to admit it is pretty funny!

For some reason, naming this boy is much harder. His given name will be pretty hard to pronounce and spell in our culture- so we are working on a name that works for everyone but honors his Ethiopian heritage.... hmm.

This week's stats for baby boy:
11lbs (he weighs more than Lark, who is 3 months older!)
22 inches
head circumference: 15 inches

This week's stats for little Lark:
(we got an adorable smiley pic of her this week)
10lbs, 7 oz (may have lost weight? or maybe measurements are off? Will try not to get concerned yet.)
24 inches
hc: 15 1/2 inches

We couldn't be more excited about our family of 4!! Please pray for a court date soon!

This week's stats:

Every Friday we've been getting a little information about our Jelly Bean and two pictures. Well, batch #3 came today (can you believe it has already been 3 weeks since her referral?? Crazy!)

Age: 5.3 months (is that how you say it? or should I be thinking weeks? Obviously new to this...)
Length: 1'11"
Weight: 9.7lbs
Head Circumference: 14.9"

She is less than the 3rd percentile in everything, but still on the charts- which is good/expected for these little guys. Also, she was most likely pre-term.

We have decided to keep her Ethiopian name as her first name (which I can't post on here yet), but she will go by her middle name unless she decides to go back to her given name at some point in time. We thought that by keeping her birth name as her first name, as opposed to the middle name, it wouldn't diminish her heritage or story in any way. Just our point of view.

J. Lark Rougé 


So, we'll call her Lark. Hope you like it, 'cuz now it's stuck. :)

(No news on our #2... was really hoping to hear before Christmas.)

Happy Holidays!

Jelly Bean Update

Sorry to keep you in such suspense (that is- if anyone is actually regularly following this blog!). We have gotten a little more information about our girl, who for now we will refer to as our Jelly Bean. She is beautiful, chubby, and perfect.

Earlier this week we received all the official paperwork for the referral. This is great news, although I have to say I'm a bit disappointed in the amount of info given. A lot of blanks. Her name is spelled 2 different ways in multiple places. Her most recent medical info we have was from when she was 1 month old- now she is 5 months. We also have to come up with a few thousand more dollars in the next 7 days to "accept" her referral. It was an oversight on my part... I thought we were all finished with fees until the trips to Ethiopia. I know it will happen- but this has added to our stress levels over the last few days.

We are hoping to get regular updates on her health with pictures, so we will see how often they come. We did receive pictures of her when she was first taken to the orphanage, and they are quite sad. She is so little. And thin. Those chubby cheeks we see now were in fact concave. But it shows she is strong and has come a long way.

It is getting harder now. We want to know EVERYTHING, but know we most likely will never know her entire story. We want to cuddle and hold her. My cousin's adorable baby boy is around the same age as our Jelly Bean, and I can't even begin to imagine him without a mom for this long. It breaks my heart. But every day we are getting closer!

 And still waiting for our baby boy- which we should hear about any day now....

We have a girl!

I'm a little too excited to write a blog post, but I wanted to keep you informed:

We got a referral for a beautiful baby girl!!! She is approximately 5 months old and perfect. I wish I could post her cutie face, but we can't post pictures until everything is legal and we pass court (but if you see me I'm sure I will gushingly show you her picture on my phone). We only know some of her story, and I'm not sure that I will share it all on this blog, but she has already had quite a life in her 5 months.

We are still waiting for a referral for a little boy, and we've been told this is in the works as we speak. Either way, we have the best Christmas present ever of seeing our baby's face. I thought surely we had months to go before getting to this point!

More to come................

squeeeeee!