We are Home

I arrived exhausted and smelly for the 18 plus hour trip home. Abel was pretty good on the flight , we have had some real battles this past week, but no one said adopting toddlers was easy. i am now of the belief that it may be the hardest age group to adopt. Still trying to recover from jetlag and I was up at 3am with Abel making breakfast. I will give all the dtails of our jurney when I am more rested and adjusted, but all is well he bonded instantly to my husband. He is definitly a mans man and prefers men much more than women. And on the short last flight home from Washington to Cleveland he belted out African tribal music for the entire journey. All I could say to the other passengers was I guess you didn't realize there would be live African tribal music for your entertainment for this flight. He does walk up to any African Americans and strts rambling in Amharic to them and waits for their reply, he doesn't grasp that they do not speak Amharic, so its kindof cute to watch him just talk and talk nonstop at us as he is telling us something very exciting. He did say in English when we landed in the USA and I bought him some Reeses Pieces " American boy and Chocolate" with the biggest grin ever. So I'll get my digital camera loaded here soon and post.

I'm Off

Well after all the paperwork months and months of running around, apostilling this, notarizing that. I leave for the airport in 10 minutes to start my journey to having a son. I am completely humbled as to adding this beautiful child to our family and amazed at how Gods hands are on adoption of orphans and the beautiful tapestries he weaves. I pray that he gives me guidance and wisdom that our son wil feel comfortable with me and not frightened and that if he is he will find comfort in my arms as a son does in his mommies arms. I also hate flying so God please hear my prayer that you can give me peace and calm on this very long plane ride.

I'm exhausted

Ok I can truly say i am one tired lady. So much running around to do to finish up last minute details. I'm not sleeping well at night either. The excitement is just so thick here, its contagious. Today I've been running around to Drs appointments all day. The first one was for me to get a prescription for this really long airplane ride, next to the Dentist for all 4 of us. This appointment was made months ago. Then my 9 year old to a friends house for a playdate, next the 11 year old for a prescription refill check. Yikes. There was no time for the 2 year old to have a nap and if you know me I hate my kids missing naptime. So important to keep to the schedule. It just could not be avoided today. pray for me about 6 pm when my 2 year old will magically turn into a viscious monster. Now I have to get to the bank for some money for the trip.

This picture will sure come back to haunt him

We were so blessed to get new pics tonight from one of the Illien families that spent quite a bit of time in Ethiopia. 7 weeks to be exact. She really got to know my son and capture some amazing moments on film. I was flipping throuh her album just falling in love with the country and its people when i saw this really cute "girl" in a red dress. She really caught my eye and I didn't quite understand why I was so intrigued by this picture. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. This cute little girl was my son. I must say i got quite a chuckle, and I can assure we won't put any dresses on him here, but he makes a cute little girl as well. HAHA. I'll be sure to pull this photo out on his wedding day.

1 week to go

So I've been packing like a fiend. And had to do lots of reorganizing. It's hard to keep the weight under 100 lbs. Most of it is donations for the orphanage. Abel and I have very little. people have been so generous as well. We have many cans of Soy formula, diapers, wipes, clothing, medications, and yes lots of toys. My friend Cathy just emailed me from Dubai and will be with her daughter in Ethiopia in about 6 more hours. She has promised to give lots of love to Abel for me and she is staying at the same guesthouse I will be at the Italian owned Guesthouse is suppose to be very adoption friendly. I will post the phone number there in case anyone wants to give me a ring there. I will be there next Sat am and will be leaving for home on the following Thurs. afternoon. dial 011 251 1 14672660 and ask to be connected to Sereika's room. i'm also brushing up on my Amharic, i already have a favorite phrase. "chigger yellum" which means "No Problem" . Love it, I could say it all day.

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