We made it to Ethiopia after 31 hours and 36 minutes. It was a long trip, but it went so smoothly. All of our luggage made it and we are settled in at the Yebsabi Guest House. The accommodations here are more than adequate. They serve a delicious breakfast each morning that I have enjoyed way too much of! We do have internet here, but it is extremely slow and I’m not able to get on my blog at all. I can email, so I emailed my mom and she is posting this for me.
Yesterday we met our son for the first time. It was a priceless, one-time-only event. We were able to spend about 3 hours with him. After spending time with him, we think he is closer to 18 months than 2 years old (which is how old his paperwork estimates him to be). He was very quiet and didn’t move around much during our first afternoon with him. He didn’t cry at all, but we could tell he didn’t feel all that comfortable. We played with him and fed him his bottle (they still have him on formula at 18+ months!) and supper. He took about an hour to drink his bottle, though I think it was more of a security thing for him. He just laid in our arms and stared up at us as we talked to him.
Today he was a different little boy. He was playful and laughing…such a sweet sound. He moved around a lot more but was still quite content just to sit in our arms. He finished his bottle today in about 15-20 minutes and was ready to play some more. I can’t wait to post all of our pictures of him! He is gorgeous.
Tomorrow morning is our court appointment (Wednesday night for most of you). This is a really big deal as we have to pass court before we can proceed with the adoption. The main reason that people do not pass court on the first time is that there is a problem with the paperwork. We would truly appreciate your prayer regarding this today!
We will also likely meet our son’s birth mother tomorrow. There is so much we want to ask her and I’m sure the meeting will be very emotional for all of us. Please pray for this meeting that we hope to have with her.
I’m sorry that I’m not able to update my blog like I had hoped. I wasn’t sure what our internet options would look like here and it turns out it’s slower and more spotty than I had hoped. I am journaling everything and we have a gazillion pictures, so I will update you on all the details when we get home!
Thank you for praying for us!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Last post from America for a while!
Happy 4th of July! I was remembering that this will be my fourth Independence Day to be celebrated abroad. One in China, one in Venezuela, one in Thailand, and this one. (Well, I'm not sure this one technically counts b/c we're in the Chicago airport right now but will be flying over international waters soon.) I have funny stories to accompany each of those 4th of July's. American holidays + a foreign country = funny memories.
Quick update...we did eventually find our baggage last night. I posted yesterday's blog while waiting on our rental car and there was no baggage to be found. The baggage claim area was pretty much vacant. But when I went to the baggage counter to ask an agent, they found all 4 checked bags plus our carseat in storage. I guess since we were originally supposed to be on an earlier flight, our bags made it to Salt Lake before we did.
Caedmon & his cousin, Olivia, were ecstatic to see each other last night. He will have SO much fun. It was a little sad for Andy & me as we put him to sleep (around midnight), but we just got off the phone with Meaghan and she said he's doing great!
Andy and I got about 4 hours of sleep and then it was back to the airport for us. Everything has gone perfectly smooth for us today. Thank you, Jesus! Here's a few pics from this leg of the journey:
Quick update...we did eventually find our baggage last night. I posted yesterday's blog while waiting on our rental car and there was no baggage to be found. The baggage claim area was pretty much vacant. But when I went to the baggage counter to ask an agent, they found all 4 checked bags plus our carseat in storage. I guess since we were originally supposed to be on an earlier flight, our bags made it to Salt Lake before we did.
Caedmon & his cousin, Olivia, were ecstatic to see each other last night. He will have SO much fun. It was a little sad for Andy & me as we put him to sleep (around midnight), but we just got off the phone with Meaghan and she said he's doing great!
Andy and I got about 4 hours of sleep and then it was back to the airport for us. Everything has gone perfectly smooth for us today. Thank you, Jesus! Here's a few pics from this leg of the journey:
Just starting out: 0 hours 0 minutes
Salt Lake City airport at 5:30 AM
A nice look, don't ya think?
5 hours 41 minutes of travel
Grabbing a bite to eat in Chicago
4 MORE DAYS UNTIL OUR JULY 8TH COURT DATE!
2 MORE DAYS UNTIL WE MEET OUR SON!!!
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Traveling Woes...
Well, today turned out a little differently than we planned.
The original schedule was:
10:30 leave for airport
1:05 flight departs for Salt Lake City
4:00 arrive in Salt Lake City, rent car, drive to Andy's sister's house
Evening: enjoy dinner, take showers, get to bed early for our 3:30 AM "wake up call"
Instead, our day ended up looking more like this:
10:30 leave for airport
FLIGHT CANCELED DUE TO MECHANICAL PROBLEMS
6:00 flight departs for Salt Lake City
9:00 arrive in Salt Lake City, can't find luggage, rent car, drive to Andy's sister's house
10:30 rush to take showers and get in bed before midnight for our 3:30 AM "wake up call"
When our friends, Kendall & David, picked us up for the airport this morning all of our bags were packed and by the door.
Trash taken out, perishable food taken to a friend, AC turned off. Check, check, check. After loading up, we were off to the airport in their VERY full SUV.
When we arrived at the airport, we thought we'd be able to fit all our bags on one cart. We were mistaken!
At this point, we are feeling really good about life. We have crossed our t's and dotted our i's. Nothing can stop us now! Nothing but mechanical problems! We discovered our flight to Salt Lake was canceled due to mechanical problems and we would need to take the next flight which was leaving at 6 PM (5 hours after our original flight).
All I can say is "It could have been worse." Sure, there's not a whole lot of exciting and engaging activities for a three and a half year old in the airport for 6 extra hours. But we did our best...
We ate lunch, went exploring, found some fish in an aquarium, rode the Air Train to look at planes, and finally resorted to Bob the Builder and internet games for kids. We thought about going to see a movie but decided against it when we realized that BART tickets plus movie tickets were going to be over $60!
We're thankful that it happened on this leg of the journey and hopefully we won't have anymore hiccups along the way. At least today we didn't have any other connections we were supposed to make.
Thankfully, tomorrow Caedmon will get to sleep in and he'll get to enjoy 10 days of family vacation with aunts, cousin, and grandparents! Andy & I will probably be missing him a lot more than he'll be missing us!
Last night Andy & I stayed up until 11:30 PM after everything was packed up to make cards for Caedmon to open each day. We included some stickers and a photo of us in each card. Here are a couple examples for your viewing pleasure:
The original schedule was:
10:30 leave for airport
1:05 flight departs for Salt Lake City
4:00 arrive in Salt Lake City, rent car, drive to Andy's sister's house
Evening: enjoy dinner, take showers, get to bed early for our 3:30 AM "wake up call"
Instead, our day ended up looking more like this:
10:30 leave for airport
FLIGHT CANCELED DUE TO MECHANICAL PROBLEMS
6:00 flight departs for Salt Lake City
9:00 arrive in Salt Lake City, can't find luggage, rent car, drive to Andy's sister's house
10:30 rush to take showers and get in bed before midnight for our 3:30 AM "wake up call"
When our friends, Kendall & David, picked us up for the airport this morning all of our bags were packed and by the door.
Trash taken out, perishable food taken to a friend, AC turned off. Check, check, check. After loading up, we were off to the airport in their VERY full SUV.
When we arrived at the airport, we thought we'd be able to fit all our bags on one cart. We were mistaken!
At this point, we are feeling really good about life. We have crossed our t's and dotted our i's. Nothing can stop us now! Nothing but mechanical problems! We discovered our flight to Salt Lake was canceled due to mechanical problems and we would need to take the next flight which was leaving at 6 PM (5 hours after our original flight).
All I can say is "It could have been worse." Sure, there's not a whole lot of exciting and engaging activities for a three and a half year old in the airport for 6 extra hours. But we did our best...
We ate lunch, went exploring, found some fish in an aquarium, rode the Air Train to look at planes, and finally resorted to Bob the Builder and internet games for kids. We thought about going to see a movie but decided against it when we realized that BART tickets plus movie tickets were going to be over $60!
We're thankful that it happened on this leg of the journey and hopefully we won't have anymore hiccups along the way. At least today we didn't have any other connections we were supposed to make.
Thankfully, tomorrow Caedmon will get to sleep in and he'll get to enjoy 10 days of family vacation with aunts, cousin, and grandparents! Andy & I will probably be missing him a lot more than he'll be missing us!
Last night Andy & I stayed up until 11:30 PM after everything was packed up to make cards for Caedmon to open each day. We included some stickers and a photo of us in each card. Here are a couple examples for your viewing pleasure:
The things you do for your kids!
PLEASE PRAY that the rest of our trip goes smoother than today.
5 DAYS UNTIL OUR JULY 8TH COURT DATE!
3 DAYS UNTIL WE MEET OUR SON!!!
3 DAYS UNTIL WE MEET OUR SON!!!
Friday, July 2, 2010
Packing, packing, & more packing
I am taking a break from packing. This is me right now:
By the time I am finished we will have one large duffle bag, 3 rubbermaid tupperwares full of donations, 3 carry-on suit cases, two backpacks, and a carseat. Making it all fit is like a jigsaw puzzle. A jigsaw puzzle that can weigh no more than 50 pounds.
Both Andy & Caedmon are taking a nap right now. Andy started feeling sick last night at dinner. He threw up when we got home and didn't sleep well last night. So he's feeling really weak and yucky today. PLEASE PRAY that God will mercifully heal him before we leave tomorrow.
Can't believe it's finally here!! Tomorrow we are on our way to meet our little guy!!!
By the time I am finished we will have one large duffle bag, 3 rubbermaid tupperwares full of donations, 3 carry-on suit cases, two backpacks, and a carseat. Making it all fit is like a jigsaw puzzle. A jigsaw puzzle that can weigh no more than 50 pounds.
Both Andy & Caedmon are taking a nap right now. Andy started feeling sick last night at dinner. He threw up when we got home and didn't sleep well last night. So he's feeling really weak and yucky today. PLEASE PRAY that God will mercifully heal him before we leave tomorrow.
Can't believe it's finally here!! Tomorrow we are on our way to meet our little guy!!!
6 DAYS UNTIL OUR JULY 8TH COURT DATE!
4 DAYS UNTIL WE MEET OUR SON!
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Donation Day!
Today has been such a fun day! My sweet friend, Kim, is in town from Texas. She's the kind of friend that is nothing but HELPFUL & FUN to have around. Caedmon, Kim, and I ran a couple more errands this morning and then we started packing donations. I felt like Santa Claus preparing gifts for all of these sweet children we're about to meet! Look at our pile!!!
Formula, wipes, toothbrushes, crayons, jump ropes, shoes, granola bars, medicine, candy, fruit snacks, bottles, dolls...WOW! The amazing part is that Andy & I spent less than $100 on these donations. Other families really chipped in and supplied all of these items. God is so good!!
I was so happy to get to share this experience with Kim. It's much more fun that way. Andy will have the fun of going through it all with me when we unpack it and give it out in Ethiopia, but I would have been packing it up by myself if Kim wasn't here because Andy is really busy with work trying to get all the loose ends tied up before leaving town.
These are the gifts we're giving to the nannies, drivers, America World staff, and Guest House staff. Just a little something to say, "Thank you for all you do to care for these orphans who are so precious in the eyes of God."
This was a last minute idea. I was planning on bringing some gifts for our son and was going to include one outfit. But then I had the idea that each day when we see him, we could give him a new outfit. Our son is too young to care about what he's wearing, but I thought it would be a good "nurturing activity" to change his clothes. We're going to let Andy change our son's clothes each day so that our son can begin associating us as caregivers and people who meet his needs.
We're intentionally letting Andy do this as opposed to me because our son is rarely around men. There is a male pediatrician at the Transition Home, but all of the nannies are female and his father abandoned him & his birth mother when he was young. So our son probably has no association of men providing care for him which could potentially make bonding difficult. We want to start working on this right away by creating special, nurturing moments between him and Andy.
A couple other gifts for our son. Caedmon picked both of these out for his "baby brother". We're also going to give him a couple books and a photo album of our family.
Can you believe we got it all to fit?! Three boxes, fifty pounds or less. We are going to drill small holes around the perimeter of each box and secure them shut with zip-ties. I'll bring extra zip-ties with us so airport security can cut them off if they need to.
Andy and I will pack all of our personal stuff in one large suitcase plus our carry-ons. We will have a load! Please pray that everything makes it to Ethiopia!!
Formula, wipes, toothbrushes, crayons, jump ropes, shoes, granola bars, medicine, candy, fruit snacks, bottles, dolls...WOW! The amazing part is that Andy & I spent less than $100 on these donations. Other families really chipped in and supplied all of these items. God is so good!!
I was so happy to get to share this experience with Kim. It's much more fun that way. Andy will have the fun of going through it all with me when we unpack it and give it out in Ethiopia, but I would have been packing it up by myself if Kim wasn't here because Andy is really busy with work trying to get all the loose ends tied up before leaving town.
These are the gifts we're giving to the nannies, drivers, America World staff, and Guest House staff. Just a little something to say, "Thank you for all you do to care for these orphans who are so precious in the eyes of God."
This was a last minute idea. I was planning on bringing some gifts for our son and was going to include one outfit. But then I had the idea that each day when we see him, we could give him a new outfit. Our son is too young to care about what he's wearing, but I thought it would be a good "nurturing activity" to change his clothes. We're going to let Andy change our son's clothes each day so that our son can begin associating us as caregivers and people who meet his needs.
We're intentionally letting Andy do this as opposed to me because our son is rarely around men. There is a male pediatrician at the Transition Home, but all of the nannies are female and his father abandoned him & his birth mother when he was young. So our son probably has no association of men providing care for him which could potentially make bonding difficult. We want to start working on this right away by creating special, nurturing moments between him and Andy.
A couple other gifts for our son. Caedmon picked both of these out for his "baby brother". We're also going to give him a couple books and a photo album of our family.
Can you believe we got it all to fit?! Three boxes, fifty pounds or less. We are going to drill small holes around the perimeter of each box and secure them shut with zip-ties. I'll bring extra zip-ties with us so airport security can cut them off if they need to.
Andy and I will pack all of our personal stuff in one large suitcase plus our carry-ons. We will have a load! Please pray that everything makes it to Ethiopia!!
7 DAYS UNTIL OUR JULY 8TH COURT DATE!
5 DAYS UNTIL WE MEET OUR PRECIOUS BOY!
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