Post Placement Visit

Well, we have our first post placement visit tomorrow. I'm really interested to see how it goes. We had to change home study agencies after our home study was done, so we are meeting a brand new social worker.

It just seems so strange to think that hasn't been two months yet, but that it's only been less than to months (if that makes sense). I feel so removed from our trip to Ethiopia already. It changed our lives drastically, but it was over so soon. Elias has fit so well into our lives that it is sometimes hard to imagine a time when he wasn't here. Noah is well past his adjustment hiccup and is doing really well with his speech (he has been making up stories about Super Boy and how he saves people from being sad or angry by making them cake - to bad it's not that simple).

I spent so much time during our wait for Elias not letting myself plan, because I wasn't sure how it would all work out, but now I'm planning. I can't wait for the weather to warm up so I can to all of the things I love with Elias. I can't wait to get him into the pool -he's going to love that! Hopefully we can take a vacation this summer... Fun times ahead!


No pics today, but I'll try to get some good ones really soon.

Delayed Ringworm?

Strange things are happening around here! Before we left for Ethiopia, we had been warned that there was an outbreak of ring worm at the House of Hope where Elias was staying. We came armed with every cream known to man to combat any number of skin conditions only to find a perfect little guy without a spot on him. The biggest issue he has is keeping the skin on his face from getting dry. So, home for over a month and 1/2, Elias seems to have a little spot of Ring Worm on his arm. No one else in our family has it, so we don't think he got it from us. We have been putting anti-fungal cream on it (and a band-aid to hopefully keep it from spreading) and it's starting to go away, but I'm really confused. Can ring worm stay dormant like that? Anyone have any experience with this? I've googled with little success...

Noah is staying with Grandma tonight so we have a quieter house. Elias seems to like being the only child for the evening and has been soaking up the extra attention. Also, Elias will have his first birthday party tomorrow, should be fun! Have a great weekend everyone!

Progress...

Big News... we have started to move Elias' bed towards his own room. His pack-n-play used to be at the end of our bed and is now against the wall across from our bed. He didn't seem to even notice the change :). Tomorrow I plan to move it farther away until we put it in his room. I'm a little concerned the trip across the hall may be a little harder, but the kid amazes me, so it may not really be an issue. Time will tell. He also used to need a full bottle to go to sleep, now we are giving him an empty one to take with him (he won't get in the bed without one, but doesn't care if it is empty - go figure).

Noah has also learned a new skill, mopping! He loves to mop and you won't hear me complain about that! So, during our "clean the kitchen"/goof off time, Noah gets to try out his mad mopping skills.

Shameless Kid Pics...

Noah's New Skill

Isn't He Cute!

Do kid's need skulls on their clothes - Really?

So my oldest son Noah grows like a weed. He is not yet 4 years old and already outgrowing 5T clothes and has headed into the big kid department. His issue is that he has really long arms and legs and while we were in Ethiopia, all of his clothes became capri pants and three-quarter length sleeved shirts (I know his clothes fit when we left). So as I have been attempting to build him a wardrobe that fits (and will hopefully still fit in the fall), I've run into some disturbing trends...

While shopping the sales rack for long sleeved shirts (too cold here for short sleeves yet), skulls were on most of the boys clothing I found! I know he is getting older, so puppies and teddy bears are out, but skulls? I was actually relieved to find some shirts with tanks on them (I'm not a big gun and war stuff fan either). If this had just been one store, I would have not thought a thing of it, but I went to 6 stores looking for clothes. The only store I found that seemed to have non-death themed things was Old Navy, but they had nothing in his size left (wouldn't you know it). Do I really have a future of stalking stores for non violent clothing?

Luckily, the weather is starting to warm up and hopefully we can break out all of the short sleeved things that have been waiting in the closet (none with skulls, guns or tanks) in the next few weeks.

Here are some pics from our outdoor adventures this weekend...

Backseat Driving is Fun!

Noah was too busy driving to smile for the camera

Puppies, Pirates and Silly Pictures

So, as I was trying to get a picture of the boys playing puppies as well as get Noah to sport his new "pirate face", this is what I got....

Things that are Working

A Watched Cake will Eventually Bake

We have been home for one month and ten days now and are having a blast. Although there are still little adjustments we are working on, things are going pretty well. One thing that I have been doing with my three year old Noah is making sure to spend some quality one on one time during Elias' nap. You can tell such a difference in his mood when he has this time. Because I have things I need to get done each day, I cheat a little at our time together. Noah has become my "Official Kitchen Helper". So, while Elias sleeps, Noah gets a chair, stands at the sink and helps me clean the kitchen. His favorite thing to do is rinse dishes that need to go in the dishwasher and clean out the plastics for recycling. Now, he takes his job very seriously and probably over rinses things (and wastes some water along the way), but we get to talk, goof off and bond - And I have a clean kitchen in the end.

I am also happy to announce that napping for Elias is going well. I put him down after lunch and sit in his room for about 10 minutes while he relaxes and then I slip out of the room. He no longer needs to be rocked, be given a bottle or have us stay until he is asleep (although sometimes he does still want us to stay, but we are seeing progress). The big issue now will be location of sleep. He is still in a pack-n-play in our room, but there is a wonderful crib waiting for him in his room. So far, all efforts to stay in the crib have been unsuccessful, but we hope to move towards that. If anyone has any tips I'm willing to listen! Elias is also sleeping well through the night with a few exceptions that I think were related to teething.

The boys have also made great strides as play mates. With a two and a half year age gap, it's hard to find an activity they both like, but they have made their own. My favorite it "puppies". It is hard to explain just how cute it is to have two boys crawling around your house barking, but it's cute. I have tried to get a picture of this, but they stop every time I try. They also enjoy zerberting each other and that is a common occurrence. Elias does a mean zerbert for such a little guy. Don't get me wrong, we still have sibling squabbles, but they aren't nearly as common as they were.

Passing the Time While Waiting for the Cake

Noah insisted they needed to sit in the "box boat" together, Elias wasn't getting it :)

Our Adoption Process

Well, our journey to Adopt Elias took around 16 months to complete (which is actually pretty short), but we originally thought it would take much less time. When we started our process, referrals were taking 2-3 months. Our agency was new to Ethiopia and didn't have a very long wait list at the time. We actually stalled a little because we were afraid we would get our referral before we saved all of the money we needed. Because of that it wasn't until March 7th of 2008 when our dossier was sent to Ethiopia. At that time we expected a 4-5 month wait.



At just around the four month mark, another family whose Dossier was sent our day got their referral. This meant that we were close to the front of the line. That's when referrals came to a halt. The courts had closed for the rainy season and it seems referrals went on break with them (although that isn't the case for all agencies, just ours in this instance). It wasn't until Sept. 11th that we got our call (6 months, 4 days - two long months of thinking it could come at any second).



The morning we got our referral was quiet. I got my son off to preschool and turned on the TV to watch the 9-11 tributes. As I have done each year since, I remembered what I was doing that morning. After I picked my son up from preschool we went to meet my husband at his workplace for lunch. We had never done this before and Noah was really excited. We had a great lunch and Noah and I headed home. We were barely off campus when my cell phone rang. I pick it up and it's our agency director. I didn't think anything of it at first until she asked it I was sitting down, to which I replied "I'm Driving". After pulling over she gave me the news (Adam couldn't be reached on the phone and I was going to explode). I promptly turned around and went to Adam's Office. We looked at his picture together as a family.

Our first court date was set for November 28th, 2008. We were really excited about this because we would be able to have him home right before Christmas ( only two days, but he would be home for Christmas). Well, we failed court. We were heartbroken. As a way to cope with my disappointment, I ripped down several areas of wallpaper in my home, repainted and remodeled the bathroom. Nothing like a little home improvement to keep your mind off things. It worked wonders for making the time fly.

Our second court date was Jan. 15th 2009 and this time it worked. Two short weeks later we were on our way to get our guy. Worth every moment.

Bloom Where You Are Planted

This is actually my second attempt at a blog. I started the first at the start of our adoption journey and gave it a totally different name, but it just never took off. I think for me, blogging about the wait for my son made that fact that I was waiting way to real. The wait was hard, but I think blogging may have helped me to dwell to much on it. For others I know that blogging has been the one thing that brought them through, I guess it just depends for each of us. So when I decided to do this again, I gave a lot of thought to what I wanted to call my blog.

I came to the name Bloom Where You Are Planted for a few reasons... The first is the obvious one, we have uprooted and replanted our son and my prayer for him is that he will decide to turn that into a positive thing in his life and not become angry over what he lost (although I know he is entitled to feel that way, I just hope he doesn't dwell on it for too long). The other reason is that I have struggled to bloom where I have been planted. Central Ohio was not my first choice of a home (I'm sure I'm not alone in that one), but it is where I have been planted for various reasons. So the theme of my blog is taking where Life has put you and doing more than just surviving your circumstances, but learning to bloom in them.

Recently I have felt like parts of my garden have been pushing against me (not my family, it rocks). I have really struggled with this because I have been planted here and I have just gotten to a point where I liked my garden and then it seems my garden needs some work. The people in my garden that I am struggling with are good plants who enhance my garden in many ways, but it seems our plants are not able to bloom in the same conditions. I feel like I have reached out to these plants only to be pricked by their thorns ( we all have our own thorns that we have to strive to keep from hurting others ). How do you create an environment where such different plants can thrive in the same garden? I have no solution to my problem at this time, but I hope it turns out to be a growth opportunity and that I will learn to bloom in it.

As I have struggled to understand this issue a thought occurred... maybe I am having this struggle so I can better equip my children should they find their gardens fighting against them. I have to admit, my first reaction is to rearrange my garden and forget those nasty plants who refuse to see my blooms for what they are, but that would not really help the situation. If I am to be a good example for my kids I need to try my hardest to learn to bloom in my garden as it has been given to me. Does that mean we never need to change our garden? NO, but we can only change our gardens for the right reasons, not because we are running away. Does that mean that we should never remove some of the other plants? No, if a plant continues to choke you out despite your best efforts to grow with that plant, then it's time for that plant to leave the garden (it has it's own issues to overcome). The point is, we have to try to see each plant for how God has made it, too often in our society we dismiss what we do not like because it is easy. Sometimes the real reward is learning to love a plant that is not easy to love because that plant has a beautiful bloom when given a chance to show it.

I know some of you may find this post a bit out there, but that is ok. I think that we all need to take some time to look at our situations from new eyes and writing this post helped me do that. So, if you all think I'm a bit odd because of it, I'm ok with that. I am a bit odd, but I've got a great bloom if you give me a chance to show it :)

I promise to return to my regular blogging for my next post :)

Adjustment - The First Three Weeks

I knew when we started this process that this would not be like bringing a baby home from the Hospital. I also knew that I'm not a huge fan of change and it tends to take me awhile to adjust. Add to that a three year old that isn't too excited that his parents just left him for two weeks, a one year old whose body is adjusted to another time zone and a husband that has evening meetings lined up for a whole week and you have a recipe for stress. I'm really glad I wasn't blogging during those two weeks, my post would not have been very warm and fuzzy.

Overall, the fact that we only had two rough weeks is a miracle and we are very lucky we can report that. Elias had a seamless transition. He slept ok from the start with only a few really rough nights and the only issues he had were napping not being able to understand why we weren't playing soccer in the yard anymore (it was really cold when we got back). His older brother had a lot more adjustment. We had tried to prepare him for our new arrival, but it's hard to get a three year old to understand. I think his "new baby brother" took a Santa Clause or Easter Bunny persona - You talk about them, but never see them. Then when little brother arrived ready to run around, play with every toy and soak up attention, it didn't seem quite as cool as Santa. After a lot of trial and error and extra time spent with each boy ( we had to do a lot of divide and conquer ) things evened out. It was really hard to watch my older one struggle, but he has really come around to be the awesome kid he always was.

It really helped that week three my Husband was on spring break and able to take Noah while I worked on tackling the nap issue with Elias. It only took a few days for Elias to get into a good nap pattern ( it was just too crazy before and something always woke him up right after he went down). I am happy to report that Elias naps for two hours after lunch each day. This gives mommy and Noah some one on one time (Elias gets one on one time while Noah is in preschool) and Noah has really responded positively to this. Noah now tells his brother that he loves him and "it's ok, little brother, everything will be ok" when he cries. Too Cute! I know we will still have bumps along the way, but we are off to a good start!

Wrap up on Trip and Pics I haven't Posted Yet

View of Lafto Neighborhood from our Guest House

It seems a bit strange to me that our trip to Ethiopia was summed up in a few blog posts. For those of you reading you may think that I covered everything and then some, but the truth is I feel like I didn't give the country justice. I was so focused on relaying what we did, that I forgot to relay what Ethiopia is. So I'm going to attempt to take you on a sensory journey through Addis Ababa.

The smells - It is hard to explain what Ethiopia smells like, but it definitely has it's own smell. It's a mixture of spices with the occasional addition of coffee or car exhaust. When you are driving it's all car exhaust, sometimes it was overwhelming. When you weren't driving it was an enjoyable smell. It may seem strange, but the smell almost fosters a sense of peace in you as you study it. It's almost like you can smell their layed back lifestyle in the mixture of spices that waft around you.

The sights - There are people everywhere and they are all very friendly. The average person lives in a home made out of corrugated metal and sticks. The more wealthy home owners have cement homes with gates around them. The size of the homes is quite modest even for the wealthy (with some exceptions). There is little space between buildings and side yards are unheard of. Most homes only have a small space behind them in the nicer areas and nothing in other neighborhoods. The courtyard at our guest home would have been considered very extravagant and grass is very uncommon. There was some construction going on while we where there and their scaffolding is made out of sticks! I would never climb on it! This building is for some company that is building their African headquarters in Addis. Notice the sticks holding up each floor until more supports are added :). Despite the modesty of their living quarters, Ethiopians do not lack hospitality and don't seem to feel like they are missing out on anything. The people I met seem to practice contentment on a level I can only dream to reach.

The sounds - This varies depending on what part of town you are in, but every morning you are woken up by several prayers over load speakers. I don't begrudge devotion, but it seemed like they would never stop each morning. My favorite was the mixture of traffic sounds and animal sounds. Goats and Donkeys are everywhere with the occasional cow. As many people walk as their only means of transportation you can always hear the voices of friendly chatter along the roads as well. Here you can see some children selling tomatoes by the road in this picture.

The Feel - People in Ethiopia take their time with everything, which is evident in how they make coffee. They start with raw beans and grind them by hand. The coffee is thick, but wonderful and you can almost taste the time that was put into it. When they eat chicken, they start with a live chicken, kill it, pluck it and turn it into the dish of their choosing. Here is Elias and Adam meeting their lunch for the next day. I know they do some of this because you can't buy chicken in a bag there, but they seem to do some of it because they enjoy the process. To drip brew your coffee seems to be an insult to the enjoyment of coffee itself. You can feel that they are purposeful about their lives an how they do things. Ethiopia is warm, but not just on the thermometer. Warmth is a lifestyle there, not a weather pattern. People greet each other even when they are in a hurry (which is rare). Road rage is unheard of (although their traffic and lack of traffic laws would send me into a fit). Everything is done with grace and a "you first" attitude.

The Taste - Let me say that I LOVE the food there! I like a little spice in my food and so do they, but they have combinations of flavors I have never thought of. They can take a bowl of vegetables and turn into something magical by stewing it with cilantro and garlic. They understand the that cooking is an art and not a chore and that a well prepare meal carries love as well as good flavor.

I'll end with a few pics that haven't made the cut yet, but that I really wanted to share.

Lion of Judah Statue in Downtown Addis

View into Neighborhood of Metal Houses

Elias at the Frankfurt Airport

Elias and Daddy on the Little Plane from Chicago to Dayton

Days 10&11 - Preparing to Leave :(

Sunday (day 10) was the day we were scheduled to go to visit the Orphanage (Numan Center). We had arranged for a nanny to watch Elias at our guest house (I was nervous about this because previous families had some issues with this) and we had to leave at 6am because it was three hours south of Addis. To make a long sad story short, when we went to find the nanny that morning there wasn't one to be found. We were not allowed to take Elias with us, so I stayed back at the guest house. This was really hard for me. On one hand, I'm not sure I could have left Elias even if the nanny had shown, but it was hard to miss that visit. I was looking forward to getting out of the City and seeing where Elias was from.



Adam and the other families had a great trip. They were able to buy three months worth of food to donate to the Numan Center which was received very well. They also had toys to hand out to the children. Adam learned a lot more about Elias' story from the Orphanage director, we also got a picture of him with the woman who found him. He was around 7 months old at the time. This video pretty much sums up what we learned and shows his orphanage and our meeting...

Day 11 was our last day, but our plane was not due to leave until 10:45pm so we made the best of our time. After breakfast, we headed over to the school Adam had visited earlier so I could see it to. We took Elias with us as well. The kids were great, they loved to touch my hair and hold my hand. There were probably 50 kids and I swear I held each one of them (it's a miracle I didn't hurt my back, these were 1st-3rd graders). They also sang for us and asked questions. We have it all on video, but it needs edited, so that will be another post :).

The rest of the day was spent saying goodbyes at the guest house and packing. It was hard to leave. I was ready to get home to my three year old, but the magnitude of what Elias would be loosing was starting to wear on me. I was holding back tears most of the day as I thought of the sounds he wouldn't remember and the people he was too young to treasure. You cannot explain Ethiopia to someone who hasn't been there, how will we help him know his home? I really hope to be able to take him back someday.

In the van on the way to the airport I tried to drink in every last sight and smell. I never want to forget the sound of young kids playing soccer with a ball of trash bags and tape or the sight of goats and people walking down the road together. Driving in America will always seem boring to me now, but I think boring in that area is good. Ethiopia is a special place that will always hold a place in my heart.

The flight home was long and good for the most part. Elias did well most of the time except when he insisted on singing very loudly for several hours ;).

Ethiopia Days 8&9 - The German Embassy is NOT my Favorite Place

After this, I promise there is only one more post about our trip. Then comes the fun adjustment stories (they are a few good ones). Thanks for sticking with me this long!

Day 8 was Friday, they day we had to get Elias' transit visa so that he is allowed to sit in the German airport (silly, I know, but we saved a lot of money on the tickets). This day was so frustrating it is now funny. We had originally thought that our agency director was coming with us, but that was not the case. In his place was the translator who normally takes the family on sight seeing outings. The translator, Ephrem is a great guy, Elias loved him to pieces. While we are on the way to the Embassy, Ephrem informs us that you cannot stop the van outside of the Embassy and we would have to get out while the van was moving (I kid you not). The Embassy is back in a neighborhood, not at all what I expected. So as we approach the embassy, the driver slows down and we literally jump out of the van, fun times. As we exit, I swore Ephrem said he would meet us at the gate as soon as they found a parking spot, so we waited. Across the way we noticed a small store with bananas hanging outside. About ten minutes later a man that really looked liked Ephrem was there drinking a Soda, but surely it wasn't him, he was supposed to come in with us, right?

By this time, the Embassy Security Guard came out and questioned us, and we said we were waiting on our translator. So, quite awhile later, we give up and go inside. As we are going through security I handed over my camera to be checked. The get very nervous and tell me that they no longer check cameras and that we would not be allowed to enter (I start to freak out). We again look for Ephrem, but he was not there. So they finally take pity on us and let us in.

Once at the window we hand over our paperwork. We were missing one copy, so we hand over an original (assuming they will copy it for us). As we prepare to leave, we ask for our original back (it's our adoption decree, we can't part with that). The lady gives us a very hard time, but finally copies it for us (we had to offer to pay for it first). Then she informs us that our Visa will be ready on Monday at 3pm. We had originally planned to get an early flight out because it only took hours to get a visa for people who had traveled before us, but we figured we'd just be happy to get this Visa.

Well, as we exit the Embassy, that guy that looked like Ephrem jumps us to meet us... would have been nice to have him around for the whole camera thing. The van arrives and we get to jump onto a moving vehicle too :).

The rest of the day was much simpler with just a nice stroll around the Guest House to the market and the unintentional viewing of the skinning of a goat in the square near the market.

Day nine was highlighted by the traditional Ethiopian Dinner with the other families at the HOH. We were originally really nervous to spend so much time at the HOH given Elias' terrible hand over, but he did great. He seemed to know that we were his now and he liked it :). I also did some great shopping while Elias and Adam waited. I guess Adam was a little frustrated when the nannies kept giving Elias coffee when Adam was trying to get him to nap, but it was all good. After looking at what we purchased I think we brought home all of Africa, we had to buy an extra suitcase to get it all home. Luckily Elias had his own seat on the plane which afforded us two more checked bags.

Elias with the Cook - They were Buddies

The Food - Wonderful!

Some of the kids in our travel group playing

Ethiopia Day 7 - Visa Day

Visa day started out with Adam going to visit the Christian School with Peter who was introduced to us by the owner of our guest house. I think I mentioned that we had been given some money from our Sunday school class to donate to something, but we hadn't been able to find what to do yet (we wanted to do a swing set originally, but that just didn't work out). Adam was very impressed with the school. The kids were awesome and it offers a completely free education (public schools in Ethiopia require kids to buy a uniform as well as all of their books and supplies, this is out of reach for most children there) and a free lunch and snack (the only food most of the kids will get all day). Peter made plans to pick us up on Monday so that I could see the school also. I hope to post a video of the Kids, but it's on Adam's work computer right now.

After Adam returned we went with the other families to the House of Hope (HOH) and had a yummy Ethiopian lunch before heading to the Embassy. As we entered the Embassy we passed a long line of Ethiopians waiting to get in and had to go through a very rigorous security check. Very few things were allowed in, so we had to check anything electronic at the door (I accidentaly left my extra camera battery in my bag, they didn't like that). The waiting area was kind of dingy and had a small play area for children, but I wasn't too excited to let Elias tear into those toys. After waiting a short time, they stared calling families from our agency. We were the second of the five families to go up. It was very quick and very simple. We stood at a window, answered a few questions and were given all of Elias' papers and his passport (baby passport pictures are too fun). All of the families got done with no problems, a family from another agency was having issues due to some of their papers, but I guess things turned out for them.

Once we finished there, Adam and I had to return to the HOH to do our German Transit Visa paperwork. This needed to be done so that Elias could travel through Germany on the way home, but it's not a fun process. The paperwork is very confusing and non-specific and they needed copies of everything. We were assisted by our agency, but this story gets very fun tomorrow!

The rest of the evening I spent doing laundry and dishes in the sink while Elias and Adam played. I really missed my dishwasher and washer/dryer by the end of the week! Here are some pics for your enjoyment.

Adam with School Children

Waiting to Leave for the Embassy

Napping at the HOH

Ethiopia Days 5 & 6

Fun with Guest House Staff

In the effort to keep from boring everyone out of their minds I'm going to combine a few days. Tuesday (day 5) was pretty mellow, Adam went to see the Orthodox Museum and Lion Zoo while Elias and I played soccer in the courtyard. We also needed to give Elias a bath, but there wasn't a tub in the bathroom that we shared on our floor, so we used the bathtub in the vacant suite on our floor (if we ever go back, I'm staying in that suite, it rocked). Elias loved the bath until I started washing the soap out of his hair, we lost him at that point :). Here he is before I ruined it for him.

The next day I got to go to the National Museum where they keep Lucy, well, it's not the real Lucy, it's a replica. Apparently the real Lucy is locked away somewhere here in America, because we have to own everything. Poor Lucy. There was also a lot of great artwork as well. I also got to go to the Lion Zoo. The best thing that happened this day was we got our first impromptu kiss from Elias. It was a great moment, although very slobbery. We couldn't get him to repeat this for the camera, but I promise it happened.


On a side note from the play by play there are some things about Ethiopia we had learned by this time. One being that children are public property. We would be hanging out at our guest house and one of the employees would come and take Elias outside to play, or to the kitchen and just leave us staring at each other. The first few times this happened we were dumbfounded and it took a few seconds to figure out what to do. We finally decided to just let it happen (Elias LOVED the pretty girls that worked there - they were all stunningly beautiful). We wanted him to enjoy hearing his language spoken to him while he still could, it would be taken from him very soon.


Another thing we loved about Ethiopia is how there is no need for traffic laws. Ethiopia is a HUGE city and there are many, many intersections, but very few stop signs or stop lights. It is very common to have an intersection with no markings at all. Whoever gets there first wins. Also, there are no lanes... you make your own as needed. If someone is going slow in front of you, make a new lane next to them, don't worry about that car coming at you in the opposite directions, they'll move! Also, whoever honks first wins, the slower honker must move out of the way. Oh, and don't kill the livestock that WILL walk out in front of you on occasion.

National Museum

Livestock in Road

Free roaming Monkey at the Lion Zoo, I was not using zoom here

Ethiopia Day 4

Monday started off well as Elias ate a huge breakfast and drank most of my juice as well as his (our guest house had fresh orange, pineapple or mango juice every morning - the mango was my fave). Our agency called and said they would be there to pick up the families for the day. We decided that I would go and Elias and Daddy would stay back. We were not ready to take Elias back to the House of Hope until we had a longer time to bond. Other families had difficulties after taking their children back, so we decided to be cautious, and I'm glad we were. The staff at the House of Hope are great, but it can be really confusing for the kids.

The trip to the House of Hope was fun because there was a new family with us that would be meeting their son for the first time. They were lucky to have a much calmer meeting than us, no screaming :). The best thing that happened that day was we got our weekly schedule, I like to know what I'm doing and had been feeling a little lost to that point. We also got to see the cook make injera as well as take part in a coffee ceremony. We also had lunch before returning.

While I was gone, Adam was able to meet the owner of our guest house. Our Sunday School class had raised money for us to take with us and we had been having a hard time finding out what the best way to use it was. We had heard that our guest house does some charitable work, so we thought they could help. Turns out they could and they introduced Adam to Peter who was starting free christian schools in the city. Peter made plans to take Adam to see the schools on Thursday morning before our visa appointment.

The rest of the day was spent playing in the yard with all of the children staying at our guest house. Several families were leaving to go home that day, so we had another coffee ceremony as a send off for them. We were all well caffeinated that day!

Coffee Ceremony

Injera Making

Sleepy Boy!

Ethiopia Day Three - Getting to Know You

Elias slept very well the first night, waking up only once for a bottle (they apparently still wake the babies at night for a bottle at the House of Hope). We were then woken up again by the Orthodox and Muslim calls to prayer. They are much louder and longer on the weekends. That lasted from about 4 to 6am and by that time it was almost breakfast time, so I just got up and took a shower.

We were lucky that there were other families staying at our guest house whose children had been at the House of Hope with Elias. Side Note: The House of Hope is our Agency's transitional home where children are taken (usually from the orphanage) after they are a referred to a family from our agency. This helped his transition greatly when he saw some familiar faces at breakfast that morning. One of the children was older and had come to play with the toddlers in his room often, so they already had a connection. She was able to get him to smile for the first time since meeting us - that meant at lot to me to see him smile.

The rest of they day was just spent around the guest house getting to know Elias and the other families. By the end of the day we were able to get him to smile on our own.

Ethiopia Day Two - Change of Plans

After a decent nights sleep we had a chance to see our guest house in the daylight... Needless to say we liked what we saw.

Once we finished breakfast we asked our guest house to call a driver so we could do some sight seeing. We had been told before we left that we would not be able to take Elias out in public with us (apparently there were a few cases of people spanking their adopted children in public so people have been asked not to take their kids out) so we wanted to see as much as we could before we met him.

Well, after two hours of waiting our driver arrived and took us out on the town. We got to see the Trinity Church and do some shopping. We also learned that if you see someone holding a large semi-automatic gun, don't take pictures - it's a political site and pictures are off limits. Also, the African Union was in town, so there were way more angry looking guys with guns than normal. Our translator from the guest house was a very nice guy and kept the conversation flowing very well. I was surprised when he asked me if I voted for Obama - they LOVE Obama there. They seem to think he will solve all of their problems, I hope they are right :). We also got a feel for their government... very different from ours.

Trinity Church

After the Trinity Church we did a little shopping which I found very strange, I wasn't ready to buy things yet, but boy was Adam (he bought lots of things).

When we arrived back at our guest house, we realized we had an entire evening with nothing to do, so we decided to pick Elias up a day early and called our Agency to come and get us. It was just before dinner when we got there and we were hurried into the dinning room where Elias was brought to us. Now I would love to tell you that this meeting was all warm and fuzzy, but it was not. Almaz (the director's wife) brought him to us, literally dropped him in our laps and left us. Elias screamed and cried and seemed to be on the verge of throwing up. I held him and sang to him and he started to calm down. Then the cook (his favorite person there) came into the room and the cycle started over again. About that time, another family (The Browns) came in for dinner. They were so sweet and told us that their meeting was the same and that it will get better. Their words were so helpful. I knew it may not be all roses, but it was still hard to feel like you were kidnapping a poor kid who just wanted to go back to the playroom with the others.

Anyway, after a long and emotional dinner, we were back at the guesthouse with our new little guy. We were able to finally get him calmed down and ready for bed. When we put him down that night he didn't make a sound, he just closed is eyes and fell asleep. I think he was petrified and hoping he would wake up at the House of Hope. Luckily things got better :).

Pics of our first meeting, notice how we are smiling and he isn't :)...

This was the look we got for the first 24 hours

Ethiopia Day One - Travel

Ok, so honestly, day one was mostly travel, but there are a few noteworthy events. Due to our desire to be able to afford our plane tickets, we had two layovers on the way to Ethiopia (Chicago and Frankfurt). The first flight was short and sweet, as the trek from Dayton to Chicago always is (I've flown that more than I'd like to remember). The second flight from Chicago to Frankfurt was a new experience for me - International Travel. Let me just say that Lufthansa Airlines Rocks! They treated you like they actually wanted you to enjoy your flight (something I don't normally get on domestic flights). We also got a plane with individual screens in each seat so we could watch movies and other such fun. Yeah, I know, I'm sounding very small town by making such a fuss over these mundane facts, but they made me happy. I tried, but got very little sleep on that flight. Adam seemed to do a better job.

Our layover in Frankfort was interesting. I've never seen so many "Duty Free" stores in my life. I didn't realize how popular duty free was, makes sense in theory I suppose, but people take this very seriously. Who knew? On the next flight from Frankfurt to the Sudan (yes, you heard me right, we had what they call an "invisible" stop in Khartoum - Fun Times) I did sleep some, Adam on the other hand stayed up and got to see the Alps from above. I was awake to fly over the Sahara, I have never seen such a barren and vast space of nothing. There was literally nothing for miles and miles and miles.

When we touched down in Khartoum, Adam was taking pictures and looking out the window. I was less enthused, and ready to take off after seeing that they have tents with guns along the runway. There was also a lovely plan graveyard too. During our hour in the Sudan, we spoke with some other passengers that were with the GHO (global health organization). They were going to be spending two weeks traveling around Ethiopia giving various types of medical care to those in need. They gave us some very interesting information about the state of Education in Ethiopia and the fact that Saudi Arabia has been pumping money into Ethiopia to build Mosques and convert the people (more on this later, it gets really interesting).

Our next flight from the Sudan to Addis Ababa was quick and over before we knew it. At that point we followed the crowd to the Visa station where some guy was trying to bribe the visa officials with German Marks (sp?) (Germany uses the Euro now fyi). It was comical, but annoying because I wanted to get my visa and see what the sate of my luggage was after all of those transfers!

Our luggage all arrived intact, but two bags had some damage (a broken handle and stand). The people we met from GHO were very kind and asked to pray for us before we left, it was a great prayer, but I can't remember a word of it now . After a small wait, our driver was there and we were on the way to our guest house (it was bedtime at that point).

View of the Sudan from the Plane

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.

Here I am World

This is my second attempt at a blog (didn't get far with the last one), so I'm going to start by transfering some posts from my other blog. Not all of these posts were done on the same day :).