New picture!

Click on this picture to enlarge!
We got a new picture of our kids yesterday! We were so excited to see another facial expression - although Sophie still has the same little "I am not going to smile!" look on her face! It's so great to see Eyasu (Micah?) smiling - he looks like a sweetheart! This picture was taken in their bedroom at the orphanage in Soddo. They will hopefully be moved to the orphanage in Addis Ababa in the next few weeks - then our agency liaison will have more access to them to take more pictures/videos, etc. We hope to have copies of their social background soon, too. When they were first left at the orphanage, an intake form was filled out, detailing their social history - where they lived, with whom, the reasons they were brought to the orphanage, etc.

I was at Sears a few days ago, exchanging some shoes for Peyton, and I walked by the little girl's clothing department - oh my gosh! I had so much fun picking out 3 cute little dresses/outfits for Sophie! I haven't really let myself get too excited about that kind of stuff yet, but I am ready to jump in now and start decorating bedrooms, buying clothes, toys, etc. These kids are going to be so spoiled! (just like my other kids!) I am not going to buy too many clothes yet - I really don't have any idea of their sizes! We will hopefully be getting their measurements soon, then I can possibly get a few more things.
Love to all,
Kelly

It's official! PLUS - Name contest!

Our caseworker just called and let us know that the kids went to court this morning and it's official! They are officially ours! We are now the parents of 4 beautiful children! They will hopefully be sending us more photos/video/ background information this week. I feel so starved for information! We now have to wait for their visas/passports/birth certificates from our State Dept. - we've been told it will be about 2 months. So hopefully mid-July we will able to go over and pick them up! They did send us this video of the guest house that we will be staying in with the children - it's not that exciting of a video, but if you have two minutes to waste, watch it! :)

I got all kinds of great information about our trip from our caseworker - she just got back from Ethiopia last week. She was not able to see our kids. :( She got stuck in Nairobi for 3 days on the way there! She sent our gifts along with the orphanage director and he will give it to them sometime this week. I am hoping that he gets pictures/videos of it when he gives it to them!

So, now we are requesting help from all of you for a few things! First of all, we need some help finding an American name for our little boy! We have decided on Sophie Netsanet Swasey for our little girl, but we can't decide on anything for our little boy. We kind of like the name Micah, but we are open to other options/suggestions. SOOOO, as suggested by my brother-in-law, Gumby, we are going to have a contest to see if anyone can help us come up with a great name for our son! Here's how it will work:

Click on the comment link at the bottom of this post (you will have to become a follower of this blog to do this - let me know if you have any questions about how this is done). Submit names in the comment section, as many as you want, then if we decide to use a name that you suggested, you will win $100!!! And you can't suggest Micah! (If we don't love anything that anyone suggests, that's probably what we'll go with!) If more than one person suggests the name we pick, we'll divide the $ between all the winners.

Now, to give some clues about what kinds of names we like/dislike:

*Names that I have suggested that Kevin has vetoed: Noah, Seth

*Name that Peyton has suggested (repeatedly!) that we have vetoed: Eli (We are not going to name our boys after all three Manning brothers! Yes, Peyton Manning has a brother named Cooper!)

*Something a little bit exotic would be fitting.

* We like the alliteration of an "S" name, like Sophie Swasey, Sam Swasey (can't use it because of a cousin), so another "S" name might work.

*His middle name will be his Ethiopian name - Eyasu (pronounced "yay-sue")Here is his picture again to inspire you! :) If you hear of any names that are cute and original, please post it!

Thank you for all of your suggestions!

Also, we have found out that there is a huge need at their orphanage for diapers (cloth or disposable), formula, wipes, plastic pants, underwear and socks. We will also be taking some fun things for the kids: crayons, stickers, coloring books, fruit snacks, gum, etc. We will be taking huge suitcases with us, full of all of these things, and hopefully taking money with us to buy more when we get there. If you would like to help out with any of these donations, we are starting to collect things now! Contact us if you'd like to help out! After our trip, I plan on posting video/pictures of our travels to share the children's reactions with you. Any other small things for the kids that you can suggest to take with us? Let us know!

Thank you for your support!

Love,

Kelly