Day 4, Part 1 (Nate)

Today was our last day of the first trip with our kids. A was sitting on the corner steps playing when we got there. We picked her up and took her over to the baby area where they were all sunning. T was with one of the special mothers and he looked happy. The first thing I did was to take out A’s and T’s photobooks that we made them. I sat down with A on my lap and went through hers with her, which she really seemed to like. After a few pages, she was pointing out mine and April’s faces. Then she removed my hand from supporting the book, and she took over and started turning pages. A lot of the other kids and even the special mothers seemed really interested in the book too. After we were done with it, it got passed around for a while.

After that, I went and got out the accessories to the My Little Pony we gave A on the first day. She loved those. She took the little basket accessory, put all the small pieces in it and carried it around for most of the time we were there until she had to go eat lunch. Oh, and she was still wearing her necklace today. I’m not sure where her ring went, but I’d bet that one of the other kids took it.

I also spent some time with T today, walking around the grounds, looking at things. Every once in a while, I would lift him up so he would make eye contact. I can always get him to smile by doing that. April played with him for quite a while too. He really is a happy baby. The more eye contact we can get out of him, the more smiles.

We get to go back one more time today before we leave for the airport. Our schedule said we would have from 8:30am to 7:00 pm with the kids, but apparently there was an error and we had to leave at 1:30. We’ll have from 3:00 to 4:30 before we have to leave.

Day 4 Part 2 (April)

We then went back to the hotel to rest and wait for the kids to eat and take naps.  I was exhausted so I took a nap. Nate wrote in his journal.  At 3:00 we were picked up again for our final visit to Hannah’s Hope. We brought a blanket and sat the kids down with us. A colored, played with stickers and interacted with us.  We took out the picture book we made and she was pointing everyone out.  She would point to Nate and say “daddy” and would point to me and say “Mommy.”  We brought some baby cheetos and she loved them. We were happy that she was feeding some to us.  At one point she went to put one in my mouth and then quickly took it away and put it in her mouth.  She started laughing really hard.  She then took the box of crayons and hid it under her shirt. I said “Oh no, where are the crayons?”  She would then pull them out quickly and start laughing. She played that game with me for about 5 minutes. T was happy. He was babbling and observing what we were doing. We gave each kid a small Lion King stuffed animal. T was reaching for it. He also played with my necklace. We wanted to get a few more pictures so Nate took the camera and ran to the babies and older kids. He got great pictures. The parents will be very happy. He came back and we played a bit more. At 4:30 we were told it was time to say goodbye. It came very fast and didn’t feel real. We took T up to his crib. We gave him kisses. He started crying so one of the special mothers took him. We then walked A back outside. Wass told her it was time to go to another room and that she should give us kisses goodbye. She then ran off. We then gathered our things and left.

When we got back to the hotel we sent our families an email update and a few pictures from the day. We have heard back from a lot of family and friends who are so excited for us. We are grateful for their support. We know A and T will be loved by so many people when they get home.

We left the hotel at 8:00 PM and headed for the airport. We had time to eat dinner and then got on the plane at 11:00 PM. I tried not to sleep because it was still early afternoon in Utah. I was able to stay awake until 4:00 PM MST. Before too long we landed in Frankfurt. We had a 3 hour layover. The flight from Frankfurt to Chicago was quite long, although we did the best we could to sleep since it was nighttime in Salt Lake by then. Luckily there were two seats behind us that were empty. I went back there and slept better on the two seats. I must admit, I’m not a huge fan of flying. I keep thinking it will be extremely overwhelming to have two kids on the flight with us on the next trip. The final leg of the trip went well.

It does seem strange to leave Ethiopia without A and T. We are trying to be optimistic and will keep ourselves busy until we return.

We woke up at 6:30, showered, and ate breakfast.  At 8:30 our driver Danny picked us up.  It was rush hour, so the traffic was crazy.  We arrived at the courthouse at 9:15.  We had a representative with us who carried all our documentation.   We walked in a small room that was filled with people (Ethiopians and foreigners).  There were 30 seats around the perimeter of the room and all were taken.  The center of the room was full of people, so we went to a place that had an opening.  There was another couple there so we started talking to them.  We found out they were from Wyoming and were adopting a little girl from another agency.  We enjoyed getting to know them.

One by one, people got called in to the judge’s office and the room thinned out until it was only us and about four European families.  We waited in that room for about two hours.  We found out that our files were missing, so somebody had to go find them.  Somebody finally came in with a stack of files and a few minutes later the court worker opened the door and called “Bethzatha”.  That meant us, though we weren’t sure why our cased was called Bethzatha.  Our kids never spent time there, although others kids from Hannah’s Hope do.

So we went in the judge’s office and took a seat.  She spoke English and asked us questions like, “Since you started the process, have you learned about Ethiopia?”, “Are you prepared to deal with the identity issues your children will have?”, “Are these your first children?”, “Do you know other adoptive families that you can meet with?”  Then she told us that once this is finalized, we cannot change our minds.  We told her we understood.  Then she said the words we were hoping to hear: “Your file is complete. They are yours”.  We were SO happy to hear those words!!!  I thanked her and felt a rush of emotions.  It was one of the happiest moments knowing A and T are officially our children.

After court, Danny took us to an Italian restaurant and then shopping at an outdoor market.  We then returned to Hannah’s Hope, where we spent another couple hours with the kids.  When we got there, the toddlers were in a room with the special mothers.  A ran out to hug us.  She was wearing a ring and necklace that we gave her.  We went over to the swings and Nate went to get T in the baby house.  I held A in my lap and told her that we are now a family.  I knew she didn’t understand me but it was surreal to tell her and to think that she and T are officially part of our family.

After Nate got T we took turns holding him and getting him to interact with us.  He started talking a lot and we took a little video of him.  Once in awhile we would hold him up to get him to make eye contact with us and smile.  We are in LOVE with his smile!!!  He is such a happy and good baby.

A was fascinated with the buttons on my sweater.  I watched as she carefully buttoned each one of them.  I was glad to see she had good fine motor skills and a good attention span.  She would notice when an airplane would go by and point to it.  She would say “ah-roh-PLAHN!” in Amharic and get excited.  Nate and I were happy to know that she loves airplanes.  Hopefully her enthusiasm continues through our long flight to the US!

Right before we left, A was acting very cute towards Nate.  She had her arms around his neck and gave him a kiss before a special mother took her away with the other kids.  Then we went up to the baby room and handed T to his special mother.

Shortly after we met A, another special mother brought out T.  He was so much bigger than the pictures!  That made us happy to see that he was growing well.  The special mother handed him right to Nate.  He has a hard time making eye contact too, but when he does, he gives us a big smile.  He started babbling and making soft screeches and he seemed to like us.

We then had an orientation with Tsigie about our I-600 forms and a few other random items.  It was a little hard concentrating as we held T and watched A run around the office with her my little ponies.

After that we were able to just play with the kids for a couple of hours. We went upstairs to a little area outside A’s room and got out some toys.  A was really excited to show us her bed.  She started to open up as she played with us.  She loved to scoot around on a little box that had spinning blocks on it.  At the same time, we were able to feed T for the first time, and he went to sleep for us. He was a sweet baby.

When it was lunchtime, we went into the lunch room and watched A and a bunch of other kids eat.  She loved her beef and injera, and she even let me help her eat.  Nate helped her wash her hands when she was done.

Shortly before we left, we went over to the swings because we knew A loves the swings.  We sat her on our laps and the swung for a little while.  By that time she made a bit more eye contact, and she gradually let me get closer to giving her a kiss. It was very cute.

After that it was time to go after one last time seeing T and seeing A get ready for her nap. She waved goodbye to us and we had to leave.  It was a bit disappointing only being able to spend two hours with them, but we’ll be back tomorrow for some more time.

Tonight we had dinner at a place called Yod Abyssinia. They called it the “cultural dinner” because we had Ethiopian food and we watched a neat singing and dancing program.  The food was similar to what we get at the Ethiopian restaurant in Salt Lake, but this one was better.  It was a big plate of injera and a few different meats and sauces.  The restaurant was packed with younger Ethiopians and quite a few Chinese people.  It must be one of the good places in the city to go eat.

As we started eating, the band sat up on stage and started playing music.  We got some video of it.  The dancers came out next and the one that really attracted our attention was one with a few drums and a lot of shoulder and head movements.  Wass told us it was a dance from Tigray, so naturally we were more interested because that’s where our kids are from.  The Ethiopian culture is so beautiful.  It is a blessing that our kids come from a rich heritage.  They can be so proud to be Ethiopian.  We hope to help them appreciate and keep their Ethiopian identities.

After the dinner we were taken back to our hotel where we emailed pictures to family and friends.

Well, it’s time for bed and we are anxious for another exciting day with A and T.

We have to endure the long flight first. It’s Salt Lake City to Houston, Houston to Frankfurt, and Frankfurt to Addis Ababa. That’s about 24 hours that we hope goes by quickly. We’ve got books and pillows, so we’ll do our best to pass the time. And we think just knowing what awaits at the end of the trip will make it more bearable than another typical long flight.

Thanks to so many generous friends and family, we’re hauling along some bins of donations for the orphanage and transition home. We’ve seen so many other couples do this and been amazed at the generosity that people show, we thought it would be a great idea. We are also excited to be able to take pictures of many of the kids of waiting families who either have recently received a referral, or else traveled once to see their kids. There are so many adorable kids at the transition home!

If anybody sees this post in the next few days, please pray for us that we’ll pass court and be able to travel soon for the second trip. Other adoptive families have told us how hard it is to leave after the first trip, so naturally we’ll want to get back as soon as possible. Also please pray for the families who have been waiting for their second trip in the midst of delays and lots of unknowns. We hope they get there soon.

We’re off!

This past week baby “T” turned three months old!  Although he is still small, he has grown and changed so much since our first photos of him.  We are grateful to have a photo of him when he was one week old.  Our most recent photos were taken just a few weeks ago.

We are very grateful to all the families who have sent us pictures of our kids.  We also appreciate the George family who videotaped “T” when they were there visiting their daughter “S”.  Thursday night we watched those videos of him.  Oh my goodness, we are sooooo in love!!!  We think he is absolutely perfect.  We feel even more blessed to be his parents!

We found out Friday that “T” has conjunctivitis (pink eye).  The orphanage takes very good care of him and is giving him eye drops.  Even though it is hard to be so far away from “T” we are grateful he is in the good hands of his special mothers who take care of him.

1. A and T are getting love and care.  Our agency has a wonderful transition home (Hannah’s Hope) where our children are living.  One of the reasons we chose to go with AGCI is because they prioritize the care of our kiddos.  They have amazing “special mothers” who love the kids around the clock.  Families rave about the care of our kids.  What a blessing to know our kiddos are in good hands.
2. We know our court date early!  In previous years court dates weren’t scheduled until AFTER the rainy season (August and September).  So families had to wait through the rainy season without knowing when they would travel.
3. The George, Manz and Davis families are going to Ethiopia at the beginning of August.  They will love our kids and take pictures!  These amazing families were informed this week that they will appear in court on August 5^th.  They have been such a support to us during the adoption process.  They have all written us and promised they will take many pictures.  We couldn’t have picked better families to be our angels and give A and T kisses and hugs!!!
4. We will have more time to move and get ready for A and T!  We are currently renting a one-bedroom apartment.  We haven’t had luck selling our lease (which will end in Oct/Nov).  Now that we have more time, we won’t have to bring our kiddos home to a tiny apartment and we will be able to get everything ready without feeling rushed.
5. We will save money on flights.  We plan to book our flights within the next few days.  We will save a few thousand dollars on flights because we have plenty of notice.  Of course we would do anything to get our kids ASAP, but this will be one less stress.

There are many more reasons to be grateful.  I must admit it is extremely difficult to wait so long to meet our kids and bring them home.  We love A and T so much and would do anything to have them home now.  They have already been through so much in their short lives and they need a family more than anything.  A will probably be 3.5 when we get her and T will probably be 6 months.  It breaks my heart knowing we are missing out on seeing them grow.  As you probably know, the younger children are, the better chances they have of attaching to their parents.   Unfortunately it is out of our control but we ask that you pray with us that they will be resilient during this process.

Thanks for your love, support and prayers during this time!!!

Image credit to Haria Varlan

Nate and I have been keeping busy.  Here’s some of our excitement:

• Last month we celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary!!!  I made Nate dinner that night.  I am a very lucky girl to have married Nate.  He still treats me like a princess.  I look forward to our relationship once we have kids.  Our lives are pretty relaxed and quiet now but I know we are in for some serious changes!

• We’ve met some great people who are also adopting from Ethiopia.  Danielle is on the AGCI wait list.  She is in the low teens for a girl but could get a referral at any time because her age parameters are 0-30 months.  Kylie is about to submit her dossier and go on a wait list.  It looks like her agency’s wait is not as long.  We could be bringing home boys at around the same time!
• We went to an orphanage fundraiser last weekend which was organized by a family who is adopting a girl from Ethiopia (Kristina and Brian).  They traveled in January to appear in court and met her (she is beautiful).  They are waiting to pass court and for an embassy date.  Then they’ll get to travel again – this time to pick up their sweet girl.  We are so glad to meet people in our same situation.  It’s amazing how close I feel to them.  There is such a strong bond among adoptive parents.  Nate and I want our kid(s) to be exposed to Ethiopian culture and other adopted kids.  We’re glad to be building a network now.
• Nate got Lasik a few weeks ago.  He is so happy to be free of glasses and contacts.  His right eye is red still, but his vision is great.
• Nate got a promotion today!  He is now an SEO Manager.  Congrats Mister!  We celebrated tonight by going out for sushi.  MMMM.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Since Nate and I decided to adopt from Ethiopia, I have noticed blogs that referenced this book. Nate gave it to me on Christmas. I couldn’t put it down. I learned so much about the orphan crisis in Ethiopia, devastation that comes from HIV/AIDS, Ethiopian history, and ultimately humanity. It was a tear jerker, yet very inspiring.

Here is the description:

Moving moment for all of us when we visited the Kebebe Government Children’s Orphanage. The rooms that held the children had a thick, smell in the air of urine and feces. Some of the pics are difficult to see. All of these children are waiting to be adopted. There were only 2 caretakers for all of these kids. … When we asked for the name of one of the little girls in the picture, the caretakers couldn’t find it. I have this on my video that is coming soon. A tough day for all of us.

We also found a post from an adoptive mother who just brought home a baby boy.  Her son was in Bethzatha orphanage for awhile.  When she went to pick him up in Ethiopia she got to visit Bethzatha.  The living conditions were not as bad, but there are a lot of children.

Here are some of the things she described:

I am still processing my time in Ethiopia–there is really so much to process. . . As you may know, adoption requires waiting, waiting and more waiting. There’s red tape—lots of hoop-jumping and often programs change and even close at moments notice. With 143,000,000 orphans in the world–and almost 6 million of them being in Ethiopia–the wait doesn’t really make sense. BUT there is a wait.

Our agency’s orphanage can only serve so many orphans at a time–and one can’t come to our private orphanage to be matched with a forever family until another one has gone. SO–while our private run orphanage serves betweent 40-60 children, many are simply waiting on court dates to come and pass so families can travel and another bed can be opened for a child from bigger orphanages like Bethzatha to come in. (W)hile some (children) only spend a few weeks there, others have been there for years and years.

It’s hard not to wonder where our child(ren) are right now.  We pray that they are getting proper care and attention.  Families who are adopting from AGCI are praying that they pass courts and allow waiting children to be matched with loving families.  We hope you join us in praying for court hearings run smoothly and ethically so that we can bring home our child(ren) as soon as possible.