So much to say, so little time to say it in!

So if anyone out there reads this blog I would love to let you know that we are home! We have been home 8 weeks today and wow how different 8 weeks can seem. In some ways it seems like forever ago, but in others it feels like only moments ago. Khari is doing wonderful. I am learning first hand all of those wonderful adoption parenting skills that our agency tried to prepare us for. First of all having 3 biological children prior to becoming an adoptive parent, I think I expected things to be just like it was the first 3 go rounds. What an eye opener that has been!!!! The love I have felt for her since day one has been the same, but parenting is so different. She didn't have the privilege to hear my voice for 9 months, or even be placed in our arms soon after birth. So there is a lot of new stuff for her to take in!
            Bonding is going wonderfully, but trying to remember the loss and change that even an infant has undergone is unconceivable until you have been in this situation. I have to tell my self daily, she was born in a third world country, we know nothing, and I mean nothing about her birth relatives. She was most likely premature and then sent to live in an orphanage.  3 pounds at 8 weeks old, surviving, in Ethiopia is enough to make your head spin. Wow, she made it!!!!! What a miracle!! So we hit the ground running!!
I mean really running, I am bringing home a baby girl that has never known the love of a mother or father, brother or sister. She has not had the physical or mental stimulation that a premature baby needs. So to say the least, I feel like, it is my duty to give her all of my time and energy to give her the best possible outcome in the long run, since she missed so much in the beginning of her life.
  What a gift! Two people that I have never met, or will ever be blessed enough to know or meet have given our family such a tremendous gift. But in doing so, she lost so much. Will I ever be enough to fill that void? Will our family do her birth family justice in the way we raise her and teach her to grow and thrive.  I now have some mighty big shoes to fill, but the good news is we have God. He is teaching me everyday the love that she needs and we all need. I have learned that walking by faith is really the way he wants us to serve. It is soooooo hard, but soooooo worth it!!!

So Max, Emma and Samuel are smitten with Khari. They could not have imagined a baby any better than her. So my prayers were answered that they would be able to accept her as their sister and adjust smoothly.

  I am amazed daily by how much she has grown in size and strength since coming home. She is now bearing weight on her legs when held and in her exersaucer. She is playing with toys, grabbing and chewing on them. She is starting to sit on her own. She enjoyed sharing her first halloween with her brothers and sister!  We are starting therapy, most likely occupational and physical. At first I thought she would need speech for her eating skills on solid foods. Now, I think she is doing great with solids and we won't have to worry with speech!! Hooray!!  We have a long, long way to go, but we will get there!!!! So happy to have her finally united with us and to be able to share her love for us and our love for her on a daily basis!

So I better go get some sleep before it is time to wake up and start the craziness of parenting four children all over again tomorrow! It is crazy, but so worth it!








So on the last note, Khari has now been completely inducted into the McQuilkin Family, because she has been placed inside a humongous pumpkin. This is a time honored tradition in our family. So daddy was sweet enough to carve Africa on her pumpkin with a heart in her homeland Ethiopia for his Ethiopian princess on her 1st halloween!!!

Blessings to you!!

Introducing Khari Mimi Jimma McQuilkin

Meeting Khari Mimi Jimma McQuilkin

So for all of you guys out there wondering about meeting our daughter!!!!! She is wonderful, here is a quick little video of some of the wonderful moments we experienced with her in Ethiopia on the first trip. Looking forward to a lifetime of more wonderful moments!!!

1st big day!

So it seems as if the first big day is upon us, like so many of you said it would be. All of the months thinking that this process would never come to a close seem to have drifted away. Pray for our family as these transitions occur. I never knew so many emotions could be felt all at the same time. It is so hard leaving our children, even though we know that they will be well loved and taken care of! I imagine it is probably going to be pretty difficult for us to leave our newest child as well. So prayers of any sort would be much appreciated! Heres the run down of prayer material:
* Safe travel for Kent and I as we journey to meet our daughter
* For us to pass court the first time
* Health for us and our daughter
* Peace and love for our children while we are not with them
* Peace and patience for our families while they try to fill our rolls while we are gone
* A wealth of love in our hearts as we begin to bond with our daughter

So now as I try to remember if I have packed everything, I will try to leave you with a new picture!

Blessings!

18 days!!

18 days till we meet our daughter! Well I am so overwhelmed with the plans, what to take, what to expect, and all of this it is hard to imagine that I will be meeting my daughter in less than 3 weeks! I don't know what to expect, all around. I don't know exactly the happenings of our travel, since we are the first to take two trips. I am not looking forward to the fact that our daughter will legally be ours, but unable to return with us. The good thing is I will be able to hold her, feed her a bottle, get a glimpse at her personality and maybe imagine a little what it will be like to have four children!

Hello Court Date!!

All of those prayers are pulling us through, keep on praying!!!  We got our court date and we are praying for a quick turn around. We are leaving on a jet plane! The good thing is Kent and I are going to Rome on the way to Ethiopia!! I am not looking forward to meeting our daughter and having to leave her, but I am so ready for all of this to be finished, and our family to be complete. Please pray for our newest daughter to have health and happiness and for us to be able to do anything and everything for her to let her enjoy life to the fullest! The reports are all positive for our little bit, but the fact of the unknown and not being able to see her and hold her myself is so faith challenging. The good thing is, I have not alternative at this point, but to lay everything down at God's feet!  What an amazing blessing we have to be able to pray and turn all of our cares and worries over to the Lord!

Waiting, patiently, waiting....

Well, we are trying to be productive, and very observant of all of the time the Lord has blessed us with upon this earth..... but when you know you have a child on the other side of the world that you are trying to get to, you just want time to speed up! I have such mixed emotions right now, I don't want my children to grow up any faster than they have to, but I do want to get to our daughter so we can have her in our lives. If there were some magic pause button that we could all go to some kind of "not growing, not changing time" while we are waiting on our court date, that would be perfect! I will be working on that, and then in turn, I will be a millionaire!!!

        So we have been preparing baby "K"s room this week, here are a few shots of where our little princess will reside when she comes home! What an interesting thing it was, painting with three children, 8 years old and younger! Those pictures are on a different camera, but we will get those up eventually! So putting up the crib was a little easier than painting!

We are having a having the rocking chair re-upholstered and a window treatment made. Emma also has a twin bed in the room, because she feels she needs to sleep with her sister. So after we get all of that outfitted and some awesome wall decor, we will be ready. So please let the courts know that they can go ahead and give us a court date!!!
Thanks!!