wordless wednesday (first word?)

appropriately titled...

we've been home with micah for one week now, and as i sat down to write a quick blurb about our first seven days together as a family of six, i came up with way more blog titles than i did blog content.

in the throws of our giardia infestation, the award for the most appropriately-titled post went to:
welcome to crazyville!  i'm allison, and i'll be your guide today.  but thankfully that title no longer seems fitting as the meds have kicked in, the colons have settled, and peace has been restored to our home.  the new first-week title should now be something along the lines of this:  from crazyville to the place of contentment - it's a beautiful drive.

all in all, bringing micah home this week has ushered in a wonderfully fun and exciting time of transition for our family.  have there been bumps and bruises?  yes, absolutely there have, and i would never want to give an impression otherwise.  adoption is in no way a cakewalk and just because we're past the "getting him home" phase of this journey doesn't mean that we're past any and all tough times.  but my little non-blog-readers of today will be the big and knowledgeable readers of tomorrow, so i always try to ensure that i don't write anything that might be hurtful or difficult for them (adopted or otherwise) as teenagers or adults. 

so with that said, here are a few of the highlights that stand out the most from our first week together:

• giardia is no joke, people.  no joke.  (that's probably a lowlight rather than a highlight)
• micah absolutely knows who his family is - especially his momma.  *grin*  he'll search me out in a room and crawl as fast as his chunky knees can carry him into my arms.  
• his siblings adore him.  they adore him so much, in fact, that we're now having to do additional heart training on turn-taking and sharing.  
• the nights are either fantastic - or they're looong.  he's slept 11-12 hours straight half the nights home, and he's been awake and upset for some two-hour chunks the other half.  
• jet lag was nothing this trip.  apparently not sleeping most of the time you're in a foreign country helps to keep you from ever settling into the different time zone.  
• with the exception of the parasite, micah got an incredibly clean bill of health from the pediatrician.  after the doc's encouraging comments, we're even more thankful to the staff at acacia village for the effort they put into providing a loving, safe, and healthy environment for our children before they come home.
• micah LOVES to swing.
• he's not such a fan of baths.
• the dreaded first experience with a carseat has been a complete non-issue.  thankful for that!
• we've been so greatly loved on by friends and family during this process.  from the amazing aunt bethany and grandpam who split lewis-child duty on BOTH of our ethiopia trips to the constant stream of amazing dinners we've had pouring in each night, we've been well cared for, and we're so, so thankful for the help and support during this transition.

i'm sure there's so much more that i could write about now, but today's daddyday and my four little people are up from their naps, so i'm out.  adios!

we're healed and we're happy

if you're feeling the need to see some major cuteness, click over to my photography blog.  don't say i didn't warn you.   :-)

the petri dish known as my house

we apparently brought two things back from africa: the cutest baby boy ever... and a parasite. micah's had some, um, "symptoms" since we picked him up last week, and despite my intense efforts at excessive hand-washing and lysoling, the parasite won out and i caught it. (i'd like to think that 32 hours of travel - most of which was spent on a crowded plane with african water that you're not supposed to use - had something to do with that.)

then this is what our afternoon has looked like...



yep, the girls have the northern hemisphere version of the bug (and jack's complaining of belly pain, too). and micah? he can explode a mean diaper, but he's as happy and precious as ever.



here's a little something that was supposed to post last week while we were gone. it didn't show up for some reason, and i thought tonight was a good time to put it up.

because if i don't laugh, i'll cry.

day one and counting

josh and i talked over and over in ethiopia about when this would feel real.  when would we actually grasp that micah was ours and that the getting-him-home portion of this process was over?  the plane ride over was exciting...




and taking custody of him shortly after our plane touched down in ethiopia melted my heart.



driving away from acacia village for the last time with our baby in our laps was thrilling, but we were still having a hard time believing that he was really ours after all this time.





it might have begun sinking in as micah and i played together at our guest house...




and watching my husband love on our new son made me weepy.




things got a little more real when after 30-something hours of traveling, our plane finally touched US soil and micah became an american citizen (micah's doing his happy dance - you just can't tell in this photo).



but it wasn't until we stepped off of our sixth plane in five days and were met by a host of family and friends that it really hit.

micah is ours...and he's home.






i've been writing this post in my brain all day today, and i've tried unsuccessfully to come up with the words to thank you - the amazing gift of family and friends - for the countless ways you have loved and supported us during this 2 1/2 year process.  as my dear friend, kerry, stepped into our living room today, laid eyes on micah, and collapsed into a weepy mess, i was reminded of how she and so many others have invested into the life of a precious boy in ethiopia.  once without a family, micah lewis is now loved dearly by not only the other five members of the lewis crew but also by the countless members of an extended family who have poured their lives into bringing him home.  so i know this doesn't even come close to expressing how deep my eternal gratitude is but...thank you.  the lord has moved in mighty ways for the sake of this sweet baby's life.

great is thy faithfulness...

...lord unto me.

we'll see you at 4:15!!!!!!

the little engine that could

frosty the snowman

what was i scared of?

please pardon the enormous amount of dog barking in the background. our neighbors all love dogs.

let me hold you longer

rambling thoughts from a momma the day before GO-time

1. is this seriously happening?
2. i'm so thankful to the lord that this is seriously happening.  and on mother's day?!?  what a gift.
3. i really like how the "brother room" turned out.





4. but i think the "sister room" might be my favorite.  it's so girly and sweet.





5. the best part was the cost to completely redo the two rooms: $25 for one can of paint, $20 for a quilt from wal-mart, and some furniture moving sweat.
6. is it weird that i used leftover living room paint to paint the boys' room?
7. micah looks so big in the new pictures we got yesterday.



8. i'm super excited to have an evening out in DC with my hubby tomorrow night.
9. but it's kind of sad that we won't be with any of our munchkins on mother's day.
10. 17+ hours straight on an airplane with an infant is a really long time.  especially when it's followed by 9 more hours of travel before we get home.
11. it's a little stressful that we leave early tomorrow morning, and i'm out of town all day today shooting a wedding. 
12. i should probably take advantage of my two hours home and wrap up the packing instead of blogging.
13. i'm so thankful to bethany and grandpam for keeping our little ones while we're gone.  after keeping them for a week for our first trip in february - and offering to do it AGAIN in may - i've officially inducted them into the "rock star hall of fame". 
14.  i'm really going to miss abby, jack, and izzy.



15. oh my word, i'm going to be holding micah in 2 1/2 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



16. we ask that people pray for our safety in traveling, health for us all, peaceful hearts for the little ones here, and that the lord would continue to reveal himself and work in our lives and those around us through micah's adoption and life.  all glory be to god!!!