One year ago today, July 19, 2010 we held our son in our arms for the first time. It has been an amazing journey and we feel very lucky that Jack is our son. So many people were involved in making this happen and helping us become a family but we can't forget the most important person in all of this...Jack's Ethiopian mother. She made the ultimate sacrifice and gave us the most precious gift of all...her son. We will always be eternally grateful to her and while we are filled with happiness for this gift we also know that it is with a bit of sadness that all of this is possible.

Jack has come so far in the past 12 months. He has gone from a scared infant who was taken away from everything that he knew to an outgoing and active 18 month old who is filled with laughter and love.

We miss Ethiopia and are already making plans to take Jack back to visit and to learn more about his culture and his country. We miss the smells, the traffic, the incredible amount of history and most of all we miss the people of Ethiopia. I never understood how people could miss a third world country but Ethiopia gets in your heart and you just can't ever forget it. Maybe because that is our son's birthplace or maybe because despite all the adversity that the people of Ethiopia encounter they are so happy and outgoing and welcoming. And despite all of the suffering that they endure they seem to understand the bigger picture and they make you realize what it is to have faith and what it means to have a more simple life.

Thank you to everyone for this wonderful journey that has only just begun.

The Baker Family.

The first time we saw your face.


The first time we held you in our arms- July 19, 2010


One year later!

Update Pics and Travel

So we are almost ready to leave. I can't beleive in a few short days we will finally meet our son and get to hold him and love him!!! We got to welcome home a couple of Nashville families this past Sunday as they returned from Ethiopia with their little girls. It was very emotional. I can't wait to see our son's homeland and experience his culture. We hope to pick up as many souveniers as we can so as he grows older he will have items that give him a direct link to where he was born.

Another traveling family sent us some new pictures of Jack. It is so nice to see him smile!

Leaving Soon

We got confirmation today that our approval is in Addis Ababa so we can leave in the next few days.

We are packed and have our tickets and lodging booked!

Not really much left to do. This past weekend we finished putting some final touches on Jack's room.

For people that are waiting to travel I have been gathering items for our trip for the past couple of months. Actually longer then that. I really did not want all the dollars that we needed to spend to hit the pocketbook at one time so we spread it out over a few months. We bought the big ticket items early, the items that we knew we would need as soon as we got home: strollers, carseats, swings, activity playmat, bottles, little tub to bathe him in, etc. We also went to target and each weekend for a few months we bought travel items that we would need, bottles, diapers, clothes, medications etc. Again, it was just nice to not have it hit all at one time.

Baby Shower

This is a belated post to tell you about the baby shower that my coworkers had for me. It was fantastic. They really did a nice job pulling everything together. It was so fun to get together with everyone and enjoy some laughs and good food. Everyone was so generous and we were given so many great gifts.










The Party Planner Girls- Lori, Sue and Tonya. Thank you so much!

Introducing Jack Bedlu Baker

Dusty and I are so excited...we got the news today at 11:38am that we are now officially the parents of Jack Bedlu Baker. We are expecting to travel to Ethiopia around July 16 for a visa interview on July 22 and return home around July 27. This could all change if the paperwork takes longer then expected. If it does it would be pushed into August probably. But...I am not thinking about that we are aiming for July 22.

We are so happy!


This is the referral picture that we saw on April 14. How sweet!




Here is a more updated picture from last week.

Family

Dusty and I recently traveled to his hometown of Somerset Kentucky to visit with his family. We had a great time and really enjoyed seeing his nieces and nephews.



Hannah, Josie and Austin.



Aunt Candi and Sweet Hannah.

On the adoption front we are just waiting for our next court date, waiting for fingeprint extension and packing.

Court Results

Well...we did not pass court yesterday. Nicky our consultant called in the morning to let us know that the paperwork from the MOWA was not ready in time. So that means our next court date is June 16 with a tentative embassy date of July 22.