Andy is now 7 months old! He is really starting to move around a lot more and interacts with all of us. He desperately wants to crawl and be able to chase Eden around. He lays on his belly and wiggles and squirms, following her with his eyes while she plays. He really loves anything that Eden does. He gets so excited when she comes in to get him up in the morning or after naps and likes to jump in his exersaucer when she is jumping near by.

Andy loves being outside and playing peek-a-boo. He laughs a lot and has started rolling from his tummy on to his back. He is really getting in to the baby food but pretty much refuses to eat anything green. He’s a great snuggler and decided about a week ago that he would like to get up at 3am every morning for a little snuggle time. Last night was the last night for that, though! 🙂 His first tooth is about half way in (note the slobbery clothes) and he has been a trooper throughout the process.

We have several events coming up and will be posting a bunch of pictures over the next few weeks, so check back often!

Tomorrow you can start to vote for Andy on the Gerber website. You can vote once per day per computer/email address. To vote, you click on Andy’s picture, fill out the requested info, and then vote. Then it sends you an email and you have to click on the link in the email in order for your vote to actually go through.

Andy is on a yellow background and you can search for him on the website.  Just click on ‘Vote for Andy’ below and it will take you to the website. Thanks! 

Vote for Andy

On Thursday, Sept. 2 Ben goes to court with our lawyer for the next step in the adoption process. This is the court date that we set in November 09 when we were granted our travel order for Eden. We were supposed to present Eden to the magistrate at this court appointment. Ben is taking documentation to show that we have complied with the stipulations of the travel order and that Eden is still in our care and thriving, but that she has latent TB and should not travel until the treatment is done. Hopefully, the magistrate will grant us an extension until March. Our lawyer seems to feel confident that this will happen, but we would appreciate prayer.

The magistrate has the power to do anything from put Ben in jail (obviously that would be VERY drastic and is unlikely) to sending Ben on to the high courts to apply for the adoption (the other extreme). Please pray that the magistrate accepts our documentation and at the very least grants our request for an extension. God has done awesome things in our adoption process on the Kenyan side and we know that with God, all things are possible. We appreciate your prayer and support!

On another note, both kids are sick.  We went to the doctor yesterday and Eden had to do a breathing treatment.  She now has an inhaler that she uses every 4 hours.  It hasn’t moved to Andy’s chest yet and we are hoping that it doesn’t!

Ben will post an update after he goes to court!

Andy is now 6 months old! Time has flown! We can’t believe how he is growing and changing. He loves rolling over and does it every time he lays on the floor. He has only flipped a couple of times in his bed and both times were after his nap. He talks a lot and loves watching Eden. He likes to play with her when she gives him a chance. He can sit up for an extended time and reaches for toys. He has even started lunging forward to grab things, then gracefully wiggles into the superman position on his belly. Andy had is 6 month check up today and he weighed 20 lbs 2 oz and was 28 1/4 inches long.  Dr. Timmons said that he looks ready for kindergarten and he can eat prunes for dinner tonight!

We entered Andy in the Gerber Baby contest. Voting is open on Sept. 3. Click here to see his adorable picture on Gerber’s content website. We’ll send out a reminder email with a link when you can vote for him. 🙂

A couple of weeks ago we had the Smiley family reunion in Holland, MI. It was so much fun! The kids had limitless attention and got to play in the sand and the lake. Eden did a pretty good job with the potty, although she did have a couple of accidents (sorry, Heidi!). She really loved being held while jumping in the waves. She also enjoyed a long boat ride. She still talks about “Boat, Rywie, boat”. Andy was a trooper and napped on the go and in a pack-n-play on the beach. He had his own special shaded resort built by Uncle Billy. It was so nice that even perfect strangers came over to check out Andy’s accommodations. We’ve posted several pictures from the trip and will post more as others send their pictures to us.

Today we ventured to the Indiana State Fair. We got there a little before 4 and it was pretty empty. We zipped through a few kiddie rides and then headed on to the food. We ate an early dinner and then checked out the pigs. Eden was able to pet one of the little piglets that wasn’t scrambling for food (watching those piglets rush to their mother to eat kind of reminded me of Andy…) and then cried when we left. Fortunately, we were able to quickly find an open horse barn where she visited with several horses. THEN she got to go on a pony ride. It was really cute and she was very excited, but cried and screamed when Ben took her off of the pony. For $5 per ride she wasn’t getting endulged. However, just around the corner from the pony ride was the ELEPHANT RIDE!! Eden and I both rode the elephant, which is 36 years old. She also wanted more rides on the elephant, but at $12 per ride I’m not sure she should even have had a first!

After that Eden and Ben played on a swing set and watched the parade while Andy and I visited the Lactation Station. It was the highlight of Andy’s trip to the fair. Eden ate half of a bowl of baked ziti and part of an elephant ear, ice cream, applesauce, and some apple dumpling. Then we headed back to the car which took forever because the place was packed! It was sort of a cranky ending to the fair. Can anyone explain why people think it is acceptable to stop directly in the middle of the walkway to talk? It makes me crazy! I had to fight the urge to just run the double stroller right into them. Anyway, we got home and put both kids to bed. They were so tired that it didn’t take long.

Those are both great things but the most exciting thing that happened recently occurred yesterday. Andy rolled over for the first time! We were outside and he was very interested in the grass. I scooted him away from the grass so that he wouldn’t eat it and then ZOOM! He rolled right over onto his belly in the grass. We’ll post the video soon.