We are pleased to introduce you to our son, Henry Mugisha Dean Ordelheide “Hank”. His middle name, Mugisha, means “blessing” and we couldn’t think of a more fitting name for our littlest boy.
Hank, Melissa & Rosie will be arriving at Denver International Airport on Thursday, March 28 at 5:00 pm. If you’re in Denver and you’d like to celebrate his arrival and his joining our family we would love to see you there!
Today hurts…. I’ve been contemplating why it hurts so much for the past few hours and it suddenly hit. It’s Trip’s birthday and I’m not at home. The tears are pouring down my face as I write this out. I remember the day of his birth like it was yesterday. I had no idea that morning that this boy would capture my heart so swiftly and with such passion. He made a very fast entrance; just 45 minutes from start to finish. I can nearly count each contraction of my labor. I was certain that day that there had never been such a beautiful baby boy, none quite as perfect.
Yesterday I was able to Skype with Trip for 30 minutes… it was almost like he and I were in the same room together, after 3 weeks apart. He said he wanted to “punch into the computer” so he could be with me and he told me he’s saving kisses for me. He described the train track he drew on paper for his Thomas train and told me what he was eating for lunch, an apple and left-over macaroni and cheese cupcakes.
Sweet boy, mommy is so proud of the big boy you are becoming. You are kind, sensitive and funny. You keep mommy laughing and you’re quick to notice when mommy is sad. I’m sure at this moment you’d climb on my lap and say, “You sad, mommy?” and then wipe the tears followed by a big kiss on my cheek. I wish I were home to sing “Happy Birthday To You” at least a dozen times because you love the attention. I’d draw you pictures of penguins & unicorns, and then we’d eat cupcakes and noodles and I’d wrap you up in my arms at 10:21 am, the moment you arrived. I love you…. I miss you desperately and can’t wait to see you very soon.
One year ago yesterday, March 13, 2012, we woke up in Ug*nda as a family of four knowing that in a couple hours we would be headed to get our daughter and sister, Roseline. From our side of things we were thrilled. We couldn’t wait to hold her, kiss her & love her. I wish I had stopped then to think of her grieving heart. It honestly didn’t cross my mind. I wish I had realized that her world was about to be shattered. When we arrived one of her caregivers was holding her. I couldn’t wait to get her in my arms. You know all those videos of the sweet kids in their new mommies arms? Ha! Here’s what it really looks like. A child absolutely TERRIFIED of you.
Our sweet Rosie girl shut down that day. If she’d been fun and lively in the baby home we wouldn’t have known it. All we saw was a listless child. If you put her head to your chest she didn’t move; when you picked her up she was flaccid. She was heart-broken. I can’t imagine the deep grief she was experiencing. We held her, we loved her and we tried our best to help her process, but it was hard. One way her grief came out was anger. She would rage. It’s difficult to describe. She would look at you with absolutely zero recognition, even weeks and months after we’d been together and she would hit, scream in terror and fear. It didn’t matter what we did to console her nothing would calm her hurting heart. To say this was difficult for John and I would be an understatement.
You so rarely hear people talk about the first few days, weeks, and months as an adoptive parent. It’s because it’s hard. I personally felt like I was drowning. I knew we were walking the journey God called us to, but didn’t feel ready or able to share how hard it was for me. I felt like I had an image of, “I’ve got this under control” to maintain and I honestly thought that no one really wanted to know the truth. The last year broke me; the last year taught me to be honest about who I am and about my struggles and pain. It taught me that if someone didn’t want my openness then they weren’t someone to hold close. If anything it has prepared me for what is about to come. I know that we have begun another difficult transition, but I feel more prepared. I feel ready to admit that I can’t do it on my own, ready to say that this is really hard and ready to accept help. I have formed some fantastic relationships in the last year and rekindled some “old” ones. I have “those people” that I can pick up the phone and call and say, “COME QUICK, I’M DROWNING!” I didn’t have that last year. God has provided what I didn’t know I needed last year.
Thank you for your continued prayers as our family is half & half. It’s hard having half our family at home and half of us here. I think the hardest part is the unknown timeline. If I knew I was going to be home in , say, three week I could begin a countdown, but I don’t know that. It could be two weeks, it could be five. That’s hard. Thank you for holding us up and for your support. If you’d like to read more about supporting adoptive families check out this great post by my friend, Ashlee.
We’re settling into life in Ug*nda. We truly love being here. It’s a beautiful country and it’s begun to have familiarities and soul-nurturing qualities. I’m sitting outside on the patio watching my two littlest eat breakfast with a view of Lake Victoria. We’re enjoying this time of nurturing and healing-hearts. We pray that God gives us the wisdom to parent our boy’s grieving heart.
We thought we’d share some things we have learned about our boy so far.
You’ll frequently hear me say, “God’s timing is perfect! He is never a minute late.” And while I genuinely believe this, there have definitely been times on our adoption journey when I have wondered why we had to wait. Sometimes, later on down the road, the answer will come, but other times I just don’t know.
Today we received a court date, for March 5. We are thrilled that it is now less than one month away, yet we wished it would be mid-February while John was already in country. Someday I may have the answer, but I may not, and I’m okay with that.
I will say that I know today was the day we were supposed to hear our court date, for a variety of reasons. The first being that today is the day that my friend Julie is donating 50% of her sales from her company, Kanga-Care, to our adoption. Wow! Then, this morning, after hearing our court date, I checked the mail at 10:00 am. Why? Because I’m a crazed adoptive mama! Adoptive mamas check the mail about 10 times a day. Our mail NEVER comes before 3:00pm, NEVER! Yet, today, when I checked, there it was. In the mail was a very generous gift to our adoption and the last document we needed to travel. Today was the day God intended and I am rejoicing in that. We serve a God who is never a minute late and that is worth celebrating!
Today is an exciting day. Kanga-Care, the company behind the award winning Rump-a-rooz cloth diapers, is donating 50% of their sales today to our adoption! So amazing! I thought I’d compile a list of non-cloth diaper items that they have that I love or that would be great to have.
The first are these awesome bowls, divided plates, utensils & spill-proof cups for kids made from recycled materials.
Next up, natural dryer balls: I have seen these on visits to Kanga-care and have really wanted to try them! Start with 4 balls added to your dryer and add more as needed to reduce drying time in your laundry, how cool! They come in fun colors and a couple scents as well.
Kanga Care Wet Bags are one of my most favorite items from this company. I love their cloth diapers, but these bags are amazing. I use them in the summer for wet swimming suits. I use them on long flights for dirty diapers or wet clothes. I use them for their intended purpose of housing dirty cloth diapers too. These are fantastic to have around. And they come in some great colors and prints.
Another handy item is the reusable snack bags. I’m sure you’re like me and you get tired of all the disposable zipper baggies for snacks. Give these a try instead!
If I had little bitties right now I’d be snatching these blankets up. The Aden + Anais muslin swaddling blankets are so soft and perfect for swaddling up the little’s. And they’re on sale!
Need an extra changing pad? An emergency car seat protector? Here’s the one for you. It’s the Kanga Care changing pad made out of soft microfiber and waterproof TPU.
And my all time favorite Kanga-Care product is the award winning Rumparooz cloth diaper with snaps. I LOVE these! If you have questions about cloth diapering, please feel free to ask. I am more than happy to share our experience with these diapers and saving money.
You know the phrase, when it rains it pours? That’s what it feels like around here. On Thursday, the day before John left, we had a sewer issue that required most of John’s day to fix. The next day, after dropping him at the airport, I returned home to find our heat was not working. One amazing father-in-law and several hours later it was back working.
Today my sweet middle boy, Trip, fell while running on the asphalt at school drop off. It was compounded by the fact that he was running with his hands in his coat pockets. I scooped him up and set him in my lap, while sweet Rosie girl rubbed his legs. Once I wiped the blood off his forehead I saw a lovely puncture wound. We spent our morning in the emergency department getting a suture & glue. So thankful for my Dad who came over and sat with Rosie in the waiting room while I sat with Trip. My poor mommy heart broke as I swaddled him in a sheet to contain his arms and then held him down as the doctor sutured & glued his head.
On the way home from the hospital I received a message from our agency that said we likely won’t have a court date while John is there. And through it all, I feel peace! I know who writes the plan for my life and I have complete trust in his timing. HIS timing is perfect, never a minute late. So when it rains… I will rest in Jesus and his perfect timing.
On another note, I shared a condensed version of our family’s journey over the last couple of years over here. The woman, Julie, who started and owns this company has become a friend over the last several years. I am in awe of her giving spirit. Whenever I run into her office she takes the time to talk and find out how we’re doing. I can’t say thank you enough!
And in case you missed it I shared a couple additional ways to continue to support our adoption in this post.
What a week it’s been. John left on Friday for Ug*nda to film a documentary for a mission team. We’re hoping we hear soon that we have a court date at the same time, but we know that God’s timing is perfect, never a minute late. It also gives us some time to find the remaining funds we need for travel. It’s hard to say exactly how much we’ll need because travel costs vary and it depends on if John has to go back later. At this point, my best estimate says we still need between $4000-$6000. You all have been so giving we are in awe of your willingness to share and give to help us bring our son home.
We have a couple ways that you can support us right now:
You can donate via paypal.
You can shop an online Scentsy party.
Soon we’re going to have some fantastic shirts to sell. I’m hoping we have the shirts available this week, so keep checking back. Be sure to join our “email subscription” to get new posts from the blog sent to you. You can do that on the right hand side. Then when we add the shirts you’ll be notified. Trust me, you want to come back and see them. My sister-in-law and brothers were a huge help on these!
Here is a little sneak peek of a couple of the designs:
I’ll leave you with this picture. At our airport there is a little window where you can see the passengers headed down the stairs to the trains, after security. This was our last glimpse of Daddy and the kids blew him kisses and I cried.
An updated family portrait, courtesy of E, our oldest daughter.
The past couple of weeks have been an amazing journey in and of themselves. Honestly when we gave up our pride and asked for help in what we knew God was calling us to do; we were pretty skeptical. In fact we were worried that we may not even be able to recover the actual cost of the iPad that we were raffling off. Oh we of little faith! God has been showing us each and every day with each and every gift that he is real. The love that has been shown us has changed our lives forever. It is also going to change a little boy’s life. A little boy who has had no family. No mommy to tuck him in at night and say “I love you”, no daddy to wrestle him and give him snuggles before bed, and no sisters or brother to draw pictures of his family with.
We cannot say thank you enough.
The winner of the iPad mini was drawn at random and has been notified.
In the next week, or so, we’ll have a couple more opportunities to “shop” to support our adoption. More on that later!
I read this today, “Do you ever pray to God for help but then when a friend offers help you turn it down?” This has been profoundly true for John and I. It’s often easier to just do it ourselves, we won’t be “indebted” to anyone else and it will be done in our time and our way. This adoption and the speed with which it came upon us left us no choice but to ask for help. Trust me when I say that if we could have sold something else or we could have found that money elsewhere and on our own we would have. We knew when we said yes to this boy that we also said yes to follow God’s plan, including where the funds would come from. God has made it abundantly clear that his plan, this time, was you! It’s been such a learning experience for us to put our pride aside and accept your gifts and your generosity. When we cried out to God for help he sent it in the form of many friends and family. Thank you!
At this point you have blessed us beyond our wildest dreams. We are within $4,000 – $6,000 of being FULLY FUNDED, including agency fees & travel. AMAZING! There are 38 hours left in our iPad mini giveaway. Please participate and share! We believe that God has this!
Too Settled with Two 