Thursday, October 13, 2011

Live from Uganda!

Right now I am sitting on a porch in Kampala with Jake. We have a cool breeze and I am drinking my Starbucks Via Coffee that some sweet friends sent with me. It has been a long, crazy, wonderful week and I can't wait to catch you all up!

We flew out of Austin on Saturday at 3:45pm and arrived in Entebbe, Uganda at 7:15am Monday morning. We were worried about flying half-way across the world with a 2 year old... but it turns out our son is a rock star! Camp LOVED flying and slept great on our overnight flights. He was easily entertained during layovers and we never heard him complain. God was so gracious!

It felt like everything was going so smoothly until we pulled up at the Baby Home. As we approached the home Camp started saying that his tummy hurt. Then as we arrived he vomited all over me and the car. We were then quickly ushered into the house while carrying all of our stuff and covered in vomit. And in this fine moment was when we were introduced to Baby U. As he was trying to take in the sight of this white couple, who had been traveling for 2 days and smelled terrible, he started to cry. We tried to comfort him and told Camp to help his brother feel better. That is when Camp broke into song and dance singing "You've Got a Friend in Me" from Toy Story. Let's just say... this moment did not go the way we had envisioned... but we will never forget it!

Things have calmed down a bit from that moment, but not a lot. We are staying at the Baby Home where Baby U is…and where 29 other kids are too. This has been a blessing in one sense, as it has given us a lot of time with our future son, but it has also been very sobering (hard) being around so many precious children who are also in desperate need of forever families. (I am sure we will write more about that later when we have had time to process.)

As for Baby U, we have come a long way relationally since our first meeting on Monday. By God’s grace he has continued to warm up to us more and more each day. On Tuesday he was referring to us as “mommy” and “daddy” and “brother.” On Wednesday he wouldn’t let me put him down and he gave Jake an unsolicited kiss, right on his mouth. It was precious. And today (Thursday) he spent almost the entire day with us in our room, just the four of us. We really felt like a family! He gets super excited when he sees us and really sad when we lay him down to sleep and have to leave him. He and Camp are connecting and Camp is proving to be a great big brother already! Camp is sharing his Toy Story toys with him and he is sharing all of his snacks with Camp; which couldn’t make Camp happier.

Tomorrow is the BIG day. Please be praying for us as we go before the judge tomorrow! Specifically, please pray that the Judge will grant us legal guardianship and that he will submit his written ruling quickly, like by Tuesday, or at least by the end of next week!

We will post another update tomorrow after our day in court. We will also start posting pictures soon. We hope you are all doing well! Please feel free to post comments. We love hearing from you.

Signing off from Kampala,

Krista and Jake

15 comments:

Marie Creighton said...

praising God! thanks for keeping us updated. praying for a smooth court date tomorrow and for continued bonding. Exciting times!!

Anonymous said...

I totally got chocked up when I read this! God has really blessed y'all and I can't wait to hear how the court date goes for y'all tomorrow! You're in my thoughts and prayers!

Love,
Sam

Beth said...

Love this! So glad to read an update. Praying for your date with the judge tomorrow. Can't wait to see pictures!!!

MR said...

So very excited for you and praying for tomorrow. Praising God for Baby U and your family of four!

Amanda said...

Krista I'm so excited for you!! Praying for your big day tomorrow, and totally loving that Camp sang "You've got a friend in me" - how precious is that?

Kayle said...

Krista & Jake,

I am so glad to hear how well things are going for you guys, Camp and Baby U. I have been praying for y'all every morning and will continue to pray for y'all. I hope your court date goes well and the judge submits his paperwork quickly. can't wait to meet the newest addition to your family & see pictures!! Love you guys!

-Kayle

erica tullis said...

That totally brought tears to my eyes. I am so very happy for your family! I am praying for court and everything else to continue to go well! I will be looking for pics!

Lindsey said...

My alarm is already set for 4:30am tomorrow morning. Thanks so much for the update - so thankful things are going so well! Wish we were there to see it all/experience it with you!

Jennifer Moran said...

I choked up as well...I'm so excited for you all and can't wait to hear more. Sending prayers your way!

Love,
Jenn

Naomi said...

I just started following your blog and I am so excited to see what God is going to do there. We have just submitted our home study to adopt from Uganda so I shall be learning a lot from you!

I will pray that the court goes well for you tomorrow.

Naomi

Lauren said...

Thinking about and praying for y'all. Can't wait to see pictures!

Cynthia said...

Oh! We're praying!! Can't wait for an update!!

Anonymous said...

I love following your adventure! Praying! ~marijoy

Unknown said...

I am anxiously awaiting some good news for today! Praying for it all to go smoothly!

Donna Looper said...

Tears of joy for you guys! I'm so glad he and Camp are adjusting to everything so well!