Ethiopia, Day Three

Day three went much faster than I had hoped. We packed after breakfast and then went to spend more time with our sweet girl. We were moving pretty slow and then we had a difficult time finding a driver so by the time we arrived at the orphanage it was almost lunch time.

When I would go back to the baby room, I loved watching the workers changing and feeding a room full of babies. They work so hard. When they were changing a child they would say their name and talk with them. Sometimes they would clap as they said their name to get the baby's attention. The babies all wear cloth diapers, plastic coverings, warm jammies with feet and then an outfit on top. After they changed them they would smear vaseline all over their face and hair. We laughed that they always had an amazing shine! (It is really dry in Addis right now.)

This was my favorite day with her. She was more animated and excited to see us. She smiled at me when I leaned over her crib to pick her up. We noticed that she made more noises and when we laid her on the couch she kicked and moved around more. We were also all alone in the office with her for almost an hour. On the other days people were coming and going and another family and their little boy were also in the room with us. It was special to be in the room alone with her and get to know each other. She loved smiling at Bobby!! And we loved that she loved him!! It was so cute to watch them together.

As the time drew near to leave I was worried that I was going to come undone. Instead, a great peace came over me. I began to cry out of shear JOY that God was adding this precious life to our family. What an amazing blessing. We are so lucky to get to be her parents and one day soon she will be home with us for good. I was overwhelmed with God's goodness to us and so grateful that He is giving us another sweet life to enjoy and cherish. Only God could turn such a potentially sad day into something beautiful.

I did still have a really hard time laying her down in her crib for the last time. She cried when I laid her down and she had not done that before. I think we spoiled her a little in just three days. I held her as long as I could and then laid her down and walked out as quickly as I could. This entire process has required that we trust that the Lord is holding our baby when we cannot. I just had to go back to that place, the place of waiting and trusting.

We spent the rest of the day finishing paperwork and buying a few souvenirs before heading to the airport that evening.

As I imagined traveling to Ethiopia, it never occurred to me that there would be other families there with us. We were all experiencing this amazing trip together. We were so fortunate to have a wonderful group in Addis for the same court date as us. It was an unexpected blessing for me to get to know them and the children they are adopting, hear their story and journey that God has brought each of them on to this exact place. We hope that we will all be together again picking up our children in January!!

Ethiopia, Day Two

Our second day, we walked to our agency's compound and had a tour. There are offices for the staff, Wanna House (an area housing babies up to two and a half or three years old) and Layla (school/children's home for the older children). All of those are situated on a very small piece of land behind the large blue gate in the picture.

We had been told to be ready for leave for court at 1:30, but shortly after our tour, we were told our court time had been moved to "right now." Five families piled into a very small van and drove thirty minutes across town to the High Court. Once there, we waited in a large waiting room with 25 or 30 other people, some were familiar faces that we had met on the airplane. One by one, each of the couples were called in for a very short conversation with the judge.

The judge was a beautiful, soft spoken woman behind a desk piled with files. She had us sit in chairs adjacent to her desk and then her quiet questioning began. She asked us if we had children at home and if they were aware of the adoption. She asked if we knew any other families that had adopted Ethiopian children and if we had been educating ourselves about Ethiopian culture. The only question that was difficult to answer was if we had prepared ourselves to deal with issues regarding raising a child of a different race. We said that we had begun to prepare ourselves and she said that there would certainly be some challenges.

Before we went in to see the judge, our lawyer told us that we would not pass court. All of the families in our group were missing the recommendation letter from Ministry of Women's Affairs, a government agency that facilitates adoptions in Ethiopia. It was disappointing but not altogether unexpected. Adoption is an exercise in patience. : )

When we finished with the judge, she told us that our file would be reviewed again on November 24th and that our agency could represent us at that time so that we did not have to come back. It was very simple and seems a little crazy that we had to fly around the world for that three minutes. But since we got to see our sweet angel, see where she is living and fall in love with her . . . it was SO worth it!!

Ethiopia, Day One

We are home safely from a whirlwind trip! We flew through Washington DC and Frankfurt to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. A driver that works for our agency was there to pick us up at the airport.

We stayed at our agency's guest house. We had a nice master bedroom with a bathroom and small balcony. The kitchen was set up for us so that we could fix our own meals or we could sign up to eat the meal that the cook prepared. The guest house is a short walk to AAI, our agency's office and children's home.

However, our pun'kin is currently at the Missionaries of Charity orphanage across town. When Gail from our agency picked us up the first morning we headed straight there to meet her. After driving through a huge metal gate and parking in the courtyard, we met with Sister Joan of Arc. She escorted us to a large office and we waited there for her to bring in our baby.

Bobby got the cameras ready and I stood shivering all over, nervous and excited. A young Ethiopian nun dressed like Mother Teresa walked through the door holding a bundle of blankets. I couldn't even see a baby in there. She spoke softly, "Desta."

That was us. That's our baby. I walked forward and saw the most precious face. She looked just like the referral picture but now two months older. She has very distinct features and the tiniest nose. She had a very serious look at first and this displeased the nuns. They spoke Amharic with her but it was almost as if we could understand them saying, "Come on sweetie, show them your smile! Where's your smile?"

At their urging, she giggled and smiled and Bobby and I were completely smitten! She has the most gorgeous smile! This story would be so much better if I could post pictures with it! But I have to wait until we pass court for that.