Thoughts...

Ok, so since I last posted (if that even counts) things have changed quite a bit. Our adoption is complete and we have been home from Ethiopia for almost three weeks. It's hard to believe that our journey to get Elias home is over, now a new journey to establish a new normal has begun.
I plan to take the time to write about our trip to Ethiopia, it was truly something I will never forget. It took us a year and three months as well as a few miracles to get there and even though I sit in Ohio writing this, I'm not sure I have truly left Ethiopia. I have lived a good portion of my life feeling out of place and awkward...for two weeks in Ethiopia I never once felt that way (ok, maybe once, but I'll talk about that later). Life is lived in a whole different way there, you can't fake it there, you have to be real. If my oldest son Noah would have been with us, the urge to stay may have been just enough to keep me there. As it is, I will have to wait patiently until I get the chance to return.

Our adjustment to life as a family of four has had it's ups and downs. Our oldest son Noah is understandably having some trouble finding what his new role is. There are times he does very well, but there are also times when he struggles. He is having trouble allowing Elias to play with the toys and constantly takes them away from him. He is getting better, but it's going to be a long road there. Elias on the other hand has done very well. He seems to know we are his family and has settled in as if he has always been here. The only issue we are having is with nap time. Elias tends to fall asleep in the car on the way to get Noah from Preschool and then won't go back down later, but gets very cranky when he doesn't. Weekend naps are going well, so I think we will work this out soon, but time will tell.

Well, I'm going to stop for now and hopefully start back up with our trip to Ethiopia soon.