Titus Laughing at Trenton & Garrett

Thought we’d share this video. Titus has settled in extremely well! He gets pretty tickled in this video as he’s watching Trenton and Garrett wrestle. We’ve only heard him laugh like this a couple of times…but it’s pretty contagious when he does it!

Finally Home…and Finally an Update!

It’s hard to believe that we have been home with Titus for nearly two months now.  I have been wanting to write for some time to share my thoughts on how things are going since we’ve been home.  I guess you can see (by how long it has taken me to write) that life with an infant back in the house is busy!  I’ll try to tell you as much as I can without being too long-winded.

We arrived home on April 27th to an awesome welcome home party at the Louisville Airport.  It blew us away to see all the people there who wanted to show their love and support to our family and meet Titus for the first time. Titus had slept so well on the plane ride to DC and after our 11 hour lay over in DC he slept the whole way to Louisville.  I think he was still partially asleep when we got to the airport in Louisville.  He looked very stunned to see the crowd there to say the least!

After all the crying and hugging at the airport we were off for the first night with Titus in his new home.  The boys couldn’t wait to show him around – although, I’m not sure he was paying attention to anything but his crib at 11pm.  We soon learned that Titus liked to be up every 3 hours and needed a bottle to go back to sleep.  I felt like we had brought a newborn home from the hospital.  We didn’t know how to hold, rock, or comfort him, and he made it very clear from his cries that he didn’t care for our efforts.

After a few nights, we got better at the comforting but the bottle was the only thing that would put him back to sleep for good.  When we went to the pediatrician for his check-up, she assured us that at 20 lb., 8 month old baby doesn’t need two 8 oz. bottles in the middle of the night.  We came up with a plan to wean him down from 2 to 0 bottles at night.  In one week, we had achieved success.  Unfortunately, he was still waking up quite a bit in the middle of the night and during his naps with dirty diapers.  I didn’t remember this with my boys, but chalked it up to not remembering much about their baby days 9 years later.  We found out in the next few days, however, that there was a reason for the dirty diapers – Titus had Salmonella!  Thankfully, the doctor prescribed some medicine and in short time he was feeling much better, and we were all sleeping much better!

After getting Titus’ tummy taken care of, life has gotten a little more predictable and a lot more fun!  I am not a homebody so being able to get out an about with Titus has done wonders for my mood.  The boys and I have enjoyed getting out between Titus’ naps for  runs to the park, zoo, library, errands, etc.  Titus seems to enjoy the trips.  He actually loves his car seat.  I was expecting him to have a hard time with being confined, but he hasn’t had any trouble adjusting to it at all.

Speaking of adjusting…I know that we are only a few months into our new family dynamics but the adjustment to having a baby in the house seems to be going great.  I said great…not perfect!  We are all still trying to get used to the naps, feedings, and constant busyness that a baby brings.  However, the smiles that we get from Titus in return for our love and care of him make it all worth while!

Thanks for your continued prayers for Titus and our family.  God put it on our hearts nearly 1 1/2 years ago to love an orphan and take him in as a part of our family.  We know that only through God’s miraculous love for us can we love each other.  He gave us the ultimate example of what that love looks like through his son, Jesus Christ.  I feel like we have just grazed the tip of the iceberg of what this love looks like in our daily lives.  Let us know how we can pray for the journey that God has put you on to love others as well.  We would love to be a part of your journey as you have been a part of ours.

Thirty-One Adoption Fundraiser

Brian and I have a friend from college that is a Thirty-One rep. For those of you that don’t know, Thirty-One is a faith-based company with a mission to help others. Our friend, Cindy Newland, has a heart for adoption and has offered to have a special catalog/online sale of Thirty-One products to help raise money for our adoption. 100% of the profits from this sale will go towards our adoption of Titus!!

Thank you for considering purchasing something from Thirty-One in order to help fund our adoption. Below is some additional information that Cindy asked us to share with you…

– To shop and order directly online, go to www.mythirtyone.com/CindyNewland. Click on “Place an Order” in the top menu; then choose “Shop Now” next to the Cassie and Brian Borgman Adoption Event.

– For questions or to order by email, contact Cindy at newlandcindy@hotmail.com.

– If you would like your order shipped directly to you, there is an additional $4 charge per order.

The new Thirty-One Spring catalog is now out! You’ll find lots of organizational helps and items you can personalize for yourself and for gifts. All personalization is a $7 flat fee per item.

February’s special is great…for every $31 you spend, you can choose any one item at 31% off; it can even be the most expensive item in the catalog! When selecting the item to receive the 31% discount, add an “S” to the end of the item number and the price will be reflected once the minimum $31 is reached.

P.S. Feel free to share this with any of your friends that may have an interest in ordering something from Thirty-One as well.

Ethiopian Court Trip – Post 2

 

As we posted on Facebook this past week, we passed court which means Titus is officially ours.  It was a bit nerve-wracking; as our group was the last group called to see the judge.  She asked us 5 or 6 questions about our current family, our understanding of what we were getting ourselves into, and also wanted to be sure that we would help Titus to understand his Ethiopian heritage as he grows up.  Once we answered all of those questions, she said they had all of our paperwork and we were approved as Titus’ parents.  It was quite an emotional 5 minutes!

The next step is to wait for the U.S. to do their research on Titus’ background and their approval for us to bring him into the country and home with us. So, while he is legally our son, we had to leave him at the West Sands Transition House (where he is getting great care) in Ethiopia until we get the U.S.’ final approval.

While we were very anxious to get home to see our other two boys, it was very difficult leaving Titus and heading home…much more difficult than I anticipated.  We simply pray that the U.S. will be quick in their process and give us the clearance we need quickly to bring Titus home.

Thank you all for your prayers during our adoption process and specifically last week while we were in Ethiopia…please keep them coming!  While we cleared a big hurdle in the process last week, we still have some more time before everything is finalized and we can bring Titus home.

God is so good!  It is amazing to see Him at work in our lives and others’ lives through this process.  To think that approximately 1 year ago we were still “undecided” as to whether or not this “adoption thing” was something we wanted to do.  Wow!!  What a difference a year makes….and to think what we would have missed out on if we would have chosen a different path and decided not to follow God’s calling!  While this has been quite an emotional roller coaster for us, it has been a very humbling experience to step out in faith and see the joy that God can bring when we choose to follow His will for our lives.

I would encourage each of you, wherever you are in your faith, to challenge God to show Himself in a mighty way in your life.  However, you have to listen for His reply and then be willing to step out in faith and obedience to His calling.  Most of the time, it is easier to “hear” than to actually “act” .  What tug are you feeling in your heart right now?  Pray that God will give you the strength and the courage to step out and follow His leading in your life.

P.S.  This trip certainly impacted me in many ways.  Part of that was from the people we met and the things we were able to see and be a part of.  I was amazed at the extremes in the country…both positive and negative.  I hope in my next post to share my thoughts and feelings regarding Ethiopia and it’s people.