Information, Pictures, and Prayers!!!

Oh my goodness it has been WAY TOO LONG since I've posted on here. We have been so busy and every night I have had intentions of writing, but I am finally sitting down to do it this afternoon. So many of you have called, emailed, sent us face book messages, etc. We have heard, read, and adored each and every one of them, and are attempting to get back with all of you, though at this point we aren't doing such a great job with that!

So, without further ado, allow me to briefly update you on the past few weeks...

First of all, THIS is what was awaiting us when we made it to the orphanage for the first time.  

Our sweet, sleepy angel. He was absolutely precious. Pretty cautious with us at first, but in a great mood none-the-less. After a few hours of playing he was fast asleep on my lap :)

The first few days we spent at the orphanage just loving on and getting to know our little man. By the end of day two he was very giggly and comfortable with us, and when we arrived at the orphanage on the morning of day 3 he was visibly excited to see us (BEST FEELING EVER!!!).

By the end of day 3 our ears were delighting in his belly laughs and baby-babbles. Oh, and did I mention that he said DADA?!??!!? There is definitely a special bond between these two!

The last few days were amazing, as we were able to take him with us on several mini-excursions. This was a fantastic opportunity for us to have him all to ourselves (he's every one's favorite, so we had to share him while we were at the orphanage!). He was such a champ. We took him to a national animal preserve where we got to hang out with baboons and go rock climbing, we went to the coast to catch some waves and listen to a local reggae band (I think that was Eli's favorite part), and we went to one of the rain forests and were able to do a canopy walk high above the monkey-filled trees. Elijah was absolutely amazing everywhere we went.

 

 The final day was a beautifully tough day. Saying that leaving him was 'difficult' would be the understatement of the year. If it wasn't for our four year old daughter waiting for us on the other side of the world, I'm not certain that we would've felt the need to step onto that west-bound plane.
But there was a peace in doing so...knowing that this part of the journey was a BIG step in getting him home with us, where he belongs.

The purpose of this first trip was to file our I-600 at the US Embassy in Ghana. We were able to do that without a hitch, and we actually received word last week that our I-600 has been approved (this typically takes between 45-60 days, and ours was approved in 9!!). Now we are waiting for his passport to be printed. Once this is done we can file for his VISA. There are 'typical' time lines, but, as I've said before, 'typical' is somewhat of a cuss word in adoption lingo. So, I am choosing to believe that Elijah will be home with us in the VERY near future.

Elijah turns 1 on July 26th. It has always been our prayer that we will be with our sweet boy on his first birthday. It would be pretty miraculous to see that happen, but I believe in miracles, and I believe in the power of prayer (hint hint).

That's all for now. I will post again when we have news.Thank you for following us on our journey.
Blessings!
Shannon