Calder, Party of SIX.....

Whew.

We have been home for 2 weeks now and settling into our new normal. Which, due to bringing home a toddler, is a new normal indeed.....it includes being surprised when opening the cabinet door to the kitchen trash and thwarted by a child safety lock. Every.Single.Time.

Seriously folks, for whatever reason? Old habits die hard - we are used to easy access to pots, pans, under the sink area and the trash can - but no longer ;)

Little Miss seems to be adjusting remarkably well to our family and definitely has no lack for attention with her three doting siblings. I have absolutely NO DOUBT that the three weeks we spent staying in country with her were extremely beneficial in this adjustment. What a blessing to have Little Miss's cues, sleeping, eating and the building relationship/trust foundation while having no other distractions - the focus solely on her during that time. It not only made the travel much easier on those long flights home, but the transition (I think) has been easier for her and her siblings. We were able to jump right in to enjoy being a family, knowing her schedule, what she wanted and at what times. What a gift! (A HUGE Thank You to our parents - without whom ^^^^^^^ would have been impossible - we will forever be grateful!)

What a joy it has been to watch our older 3 kiddos with Little Miss each day. They LOVE to help play with her, distract her when her hair is being done each morning, watch her be changed, fetch things to help out, and on and on and on......we even now have a weekly seating rotation in the van, so everyone has equal chance to sit next to her (although with her being rear-facing in the car seat? There really isn't a bad seat, since the back-row can still see her face - but there is no telling the kids that!).

Little Miss is a learning sponge and shockingly seems to be developmentally on target (for what I can remember as normal for this age). She has learned the signs for more, all done and up. She says mama, dada, up, baby, hi and bye (and occasionally will repeat words we say although I'm sure she hasn't yet attached the correct meaning, so I'm not including those :) Out of all her toys? Her favorite things to play with are spoons, bowls and empty cups - as she loves to pretend to stir, feed herself and others. This little one LOVES her some table food - eggs, bread, green beans, black beans, carrots, cheese, banana, rice, pasta, etc. Unbelievable to us what she can pack away for being so small - and it shows, as we went to the doctor last week and found out that in 3 weeks time (from the time we took her to the pediatrician in Ethiopia to the time we took her to the pediatrician in the States) Little Miss  has gained 1 lb. 10 oz. and as of last week is now a whopping 17lbs and *almost* on the growth chart. Wow. Little Miss is also now purposefully petting our dogs - and enjoys the fact that the little one (Biscuit) will move away from wherever she walks when he doesn't want to be petted......I'm pretty sure she now thinks she controls this dog's actions making him move all over the place at times. Thankfully we have a fenced yard, so beyond her 2 hour naptime, Biscuit has another escape when mama thinks he has had enough!

Jason finally headed back to work this past Monday after 5 weeks off, which officially put us back in our regular routine. It has been fun to watch some of the regular toddler things happen with Little Miss because of this - the shock look in her eyes when I put the phone up to her ear (when Jason calls at lunch), and she recognizes the voice on the phone and tries to talk back.....to the squeals/smiles when he comes home from work each day. There is no doubt. She knows this is one special man in her life ;)

There are still so many moments that I can not believe that the adoption process is over and that our new journey (of raising this sweet girl) has begun. Seeing how the end of our process played out. The orchestration of events that took place. So many things. Some small, some big. Details at the end of our process and during our 3 weeks stay in Ethiopia that seem too amazing to be true - except, we lived it. Unreal. God is Good. He is Faithful. He is loving. And he is MUCH bigger and more detailed than I ever would have dreamed (or dreamed I would ever experience).

As I sat in Ethiopia I had moments where I would look at my daughter. My DAUGHTER and be overcome. Just the week before was an orphan. In group care. Attached to no one. A little girl who was loved BEFORE she was adopted, but didn't know it. A little girl who was then given a new name. Calder....and all the meaning behind it. Belonging. Part of a family. (Large family at that!) A little girl who in an instant, gained the exact same rights as my other children as an heir, should I die today, regardless of how long she has been in the family.

I was overcome - because according to scripture (Eph. 1:5)? I too am adopted. I just didn't fully grasp all that adoption meant. God adopted me. Grafted ME into His family. I have been adopted into God's family. I am a daughter of a King. A heir. I've always known this, but now? The depth of the meaning after walking through an adoption process? Let me tell you folks with absolute clarity - I am LOVED. You are LOVED. It isn't by merit. You can't earn it. It is all because of HIS grace. 

Powerful stuff. Oh how I wish that I was more eloquent - or there was a way to truly convey the depth of this truth.....Little Miss's new name came in the form of Calder in her adoption, but adoption into God's family comes with an even better one  REDEEMED.

This song below was one that came at the right time for me when I was struggling so badly at the end with the wait, when I lies were being chucked at me right and left, when fear would creep in. This song references Exodus - splitting the seas so the Israelites could walk through - when our crazy fast miracle trip happened? That was that moment. It honestly felt like that. No other explanation. HE split the sea (what felt like our impossible circumstance, and the new delay we were facing at the time) so we could walk right through it.......incredible.

You all? I am child of God. Adopted. What meaning that holds.

No Longer Slaves

Our home away from home.

For all of you curious WHERE we spent a lot of our time while in Ethiopia? This post will satisfy.

We were so excited to be able to stay at the Wellspring guest home this trip. When I was in Ethiopia in January (and stayed at a friend's home) we were in need of a driver and Ephrim was the consistent highly recommend name I kept getting from people, when I asked about a reputable driver. Ephrim had availability the entire time while we were in country that trip, so we spent a LOT of time with him - and loved every minute. He is the reason that Megan was nearly fluent in Ahmaric when we left (or at least tried to be so) He and his wife (Yeshi) have a guest home, the Wellspring, that was moving to a new location the week we were there - so we had gotten a sneak peek of the new house right before we left (it wasn't going to be ready for a few more weeks) and we were AMAZED. Since my friend's home wasn't going to be available to stay in when Jason and I came back for our court/embassy trip - there was absolutely no doubt where we would be staying when we returned - so we told Ephrim to keep a room ready for us!

Below are some pictures of our beloved home away from home!

The front of the Wellspring's 3 story home

We spent a lot of time out here with Ephrim and Yeshi's kids (more outside space on the side not pictured)

Since we stayed for a long time? Yes. My undies hung from that clothes line!

 

Living Room

Stairs to our room.....3rd floor

Not our bathroom (as we had one in our room) - but a main bathroom on the 3rd floor

Same bathroom (different angle)

Really bad picture of our room (as we were packing to leave, but the only one I could find)

3rd floor balcony across the hall from our room - we spent a ton of time out here!

 My attempt at a panoramic (3 picture) view from the balcony ;)

 

Construction of the building to the far right was happening throughout our visit, fun to watch!

We had a Kaldi's coffee within walking distance.....we took full advantage of that!

The most amazing thing about staying in a home like this? With a family? Is that you actually become part of the family.....incredible. We truly feel like left some of our family IN Ethiopia.

Little Miss with Eprhim and Yeshi's daughter - she LOVED having a baby around!

Our amazing hosts ;) Eprhim and Yeshi

The Wellspring moved to a new location in March, but their website doesn't yet reflect that in pictures (or room configurations, there are actually 9 rooms at this point, with 3 more being finished out soon in the building behind the home). Actually the pictures currently on their site are of the their former guest home, so if you do find yourself looking at those pics? You are actually getting a look into the home of our friends T.J and Leah, who live there now. Ha! (which was our internet hub while in country, since the new guest home was SO new they didn't have a wifi yet - however, the router for the Wellspring was coming a week or so after we left, so soon and very soon T.J and Leah will no longer have to be the hub. Ha!)

There you have it folks - our home away from home. What an absolute pleasure it was to stay there.

We look forward to going back yet again.......next time? With all of our kiddos!

The last Hurrah.....HOME!!!!!!

I shouldn't have been surprised that our trip ended as it began - a whirlwind.

As I mentioned in the last blog post, I emailed our travel agent pretty much the second we cleared embassy with this subject heading......CAN WE GET TICKETS BACK FOR TONIGHT????? Hoping that subject line would grab her attention the second she arrived at work (since it was only 2:30am Central time and we assume that she sleeps). We knew that if she were able to get us tickets, by the time we officially got them we would be leaving for the airport probably only an hour later. So for the second time in just over 3 weeks? We packed like we were leaving, without knowing if we were or not. Here is how things unfolded......

2pm (6am Central time) Jason left to go back to the Embassy to pick up Little Miss's actual Visa paperwork - still no word.

3:30pm (7:30am Central time) I called the kiddos before school, as we did each day at this time, to let them know that we DID pass embassy and were hopeful to be leaving that evening or the next - which meant we would be home soon - but we still had no idea how soon it would be, possibly even the next day....crazy!

4:15pm (8:15am Central time) we get an email response from our travel agent letting us know that it might be possible - but a long shot - as ticketing didn't officially open for another 15 min. AND our flight (should we get tickets) would be taking off in less than 6 hours......she double checked that we DID have Little Miss's visa in hand AND reminded us that if this worked we would have to leave for the airport within a few hours - were we even packed? Ha! Ummm.....yes of course, why wouldn't we be? ;)

5pm (9am Central time) we learn that there were indeed only TWO tickets left on the almost completely booked flight (since we had round trip tickets booked and were simply moving the tickets up a week, we had to stay with the same airline/flight path, etc.) was it okay if Little Miss was a lap infant? If not, it wouldn't work. Again, ummm.....yes! Ticket changes and lap infant ticket were officially in the process of being purchased, but we still had to wait for the e-tickets to be issued. Last minute things were in order (such as a SHOWER!) and making sure our carry-on(s)s were ready for all things baby (i.e. pleasingly arranged for accessibility and ease ;)

6pm (10am Central time) sit down to our last dinner in Ethiopia. STILL awaiting our official e-tickets to arrive from ticketing - so that it things are officially set in stone.

6:23pm (10:23am Central time) getting antsy, tickets still haven't arrived.....get the email from our travel agent letting us know that ticketing issued them 4 minutes before and they would be coming soon to our email as soon as they landed in hers.

6:51pm (10:51am Central time) E-tickets arrive! We immediately forward on to our parents and take pictures of the e-tickets with Jason's itouch.......as our Ethiopian SIM card in our phone must be returned before going into the airport, which meant from that point on our cell phone would be rendered useless in order to get this info off of the phone. I also quickly email close friends and family and post to FB to let folks know we are coming home and will be there Friday night!

7:30pm (11:30am Central time) loaded into Ephrim's van for the last time and head for the airport.

8:30pm (12:30pm Central time) Arrive at the airport. Head through screenings to get into the airport, check our luggage, get our boarding passes, go through immigration, security and arrive at our gate.

9:40pm (1:40pm Central time) Boarding 1st flight!!!!

10:40am (2:40pm Central time) Saying goodbye to Ethiopia until next time (visiting, that is ;)

To say that we were thrilled to be headed home would be an understatement. However, in the excitement of the last minute unfolding, what I didn't anticipate? How bittersweet heading home would be. It wasn't until right as we were leaving that it truly hit me - how on earth do we say goodbye to our people who had become family? Who had made Ethiopia home for the past 3 weeks? When we don't know when we will see them again? These amazing people that God placed in our story. Who we were in community with while in country. Such community that if we could have teleported our other three kiddos TO us in Ethiopia? We wouldn't have been in a rush to leave and could have lived there for months longer with no problem at all. These unexpected advocates. Our Ethiopian family. What I did NOT expect to happen when leaving was to be fighting back tears and crying. We will miss these folks immensely, although we have plans to be back to visit, as a certain set of parents might have marriage plans for their young son (Sami) and since it is customary in Ethiopia for the grooms family to give gifts to the intended bride's family (and they just happen to have a lot of what we love - freshly roasted coffee and shiro, a lifetime supply) and being related to an such amazing family, sounds pretty good to me ;) (shhhh - just don't tell Jason....he doesn't want talk like that until Little Miss is at least 30) 

Ephrim and Yeshi (and us)

Love these folks! (Although this photo is missing Leah, who left for the US days before for her sister's wedding)

I have to admit that because Little Miss typically goes to sleep around 8pm or 8:30pm, the flight leaving at 10:40pm was a little concerning.....I was hopeful that she wouldn't be a tired mess in this very public setting after her bedtime while waiting for the flight to depart. I shouldn't have worried. She was a complete jewel in the airport and fell asleep while eating her nightly bottle right before we took off. In fact, she slept SO well that she didn't wake up for the next 9 to 10 hours - which included a 2am stop/refuel/loading (landing, lights up, then retaking off) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and only woke up about an hour before our plane landed in Frankfurt, Germany. As my lap and arms were her bed for that amount of time? Let's just say I'm surprised I still have a tush left. It was worth it to take one for the team (the team being the ENTIRE PLANE) and have a quiet baby the whole flight - as I hate the thought of disturbing others. It was somewhat satisfying that the dude that sat down next to Little Miss and I on the flight and had that "dangit, I'm sitting next to a baby - this is going to be a long flight" look in his eyes when he arrived in our row had absolutely no cause for complaint. He wouldn't have had a more pleasant flight if he sat next to an empty chair (well, maybe he would because than he could've stretched out, but you know what I mean :)

Outside Bole Airport in Addis

Little Miss NOT struggling to stay awake ;)

We had a 2 or 3 hour layover in Frankfurt and then loaded up again. This flight was the one that took place during her "day" (I was keeping her on her Addis time schedule). Praise the Lord it was a double decker Airbus AND with so few babies on the flight, even though the flight was full, we got moved to bulk head seating - which means we had LEG ROOM and a bit of floor for Little Miss to sit and play. It couldn't have been a better situation. She did amazing. Took her naps at normal times, played like normal and even chowed down on the plane food. Such an answer to prayer!

Nap #1 on 2nd flight

"I have room to play!"

Wow! Look at that view of blue......

We had a quick layover in Houston with a lot to do in a short period of time. First through immigration and handing over the precious manila envelope of her immigration documents (Hello! New U.S. Citizen), picked up our luggage (and did a MUCH needed quick re-do of her hair), went through customs, rechecked our baggage, went through security and then had about 45 min. to wait at the gate before our last flight. It was a perfect amount of time. Brush our teeth, change our clothes (that we had been wearing for a LONG time), etc. Since we were still keeping track of Addis time, it was shocking that Little Miss was awake and doing as well as she was - as it was 1am for her (and us). She conked out right before the flight took off and slept the whole 90 min. flight to Kansas City. After taking 2 long flights in a row, it was unbelievable how fast we arrived in KC. She was so conked out, that when we landed and I sat her up and put her in the ergo carrier and she didn't even fuss....totally out. I was thinking that this might just be the only airport welcome that the baby sleeps through ;)

What a welcome it was! We could see the kids first thing peering through the glass and LOTS of family and friends.......when Little Miss heard the noise of it all her eyes popped open as big as saucers peering out of the ergo. Oh love! It was amazing. Tori was crying with joy at seeing her sister for the first time and the boys were so excited. I couldn't get over just how HUGE my children are. Of course with me? There is always something else funny that happens. So here we are a large group of friends and family staring at Little Miss with amazement, taking pictures and video, etc. As I took Little Miss out of the carrier and passed her off to one of the kiddos, I was realizing that something is felt really wrong and odd. I figured out quickly that apparently as I unsnapped the carrier in the back? I also unsnapped something else supportive, that only ladies wear........kind of an awkward moment when an uncounted crowd of folks are staring at you all happy and excited and lots of photos/videos are being taken. We've kinda waited a long time for this moment....now what the heck do I do now? Leave things be. Hmmmm. Have someone try to fix it there? Hmmm. I realized that this whole thing wasn't going to be an enjoyable experience if I left things be, so after confiding in two dear friends, I grabbed my college roommate and headed to the nearby bathroom. So for those of you there wondering why I exited fairly quickly after arriving? Well, now you are in the know, even if it is a bit too much information ;) Oh my! I know folks would LOVE to see our airport pics - but alas, I wasn't taking photos.....so stay tuned. An amazing lady (as well as others there) took pictures for us - so I will get them posted as soon as I can!

We stayed at the airport visiting with loved ones for about an hour and then headed home in the van as a family of 6. Walking into the house for the first time with Little Miss was the most surreal thing I have ever experienced. She was really here. IN our home. With us.

Wow. Our God is faithful.

I've heard many people say they wished to be a fly on the wall that first night. Let me caution you in that statement. After 3 weeks in Ethiopia? I am now lethal killer of all things small and pesky ;) Ha! Seriously though, it was so neat so see her with the kiddos. Knowing that she would be scared of the dogs, that introduction was going to wait, so they found themselves outside a lot. The kids LOVE to pick her up and to follow her around. They are great at helping, something that I didn't have when I had 3 kiddos ages 4 and under, when they were small. It is a good change! Because of the way the flights worked out? And not sleeping through her "night"? She went to bed that evening a little after 9pm and slept like normal, awoke at 6:30am and was on her regular schedule yesterday - even went to bed again last night at her normal "Addis" bedtime (but on Central time) and slept again like normal through the night.........we are SO hopeful that the adjustment to our timezone has already happened, and it appears it has - pretty sure that is a miracle in itself!

Something else amazing? One of my closest friends was due with her baby boy on April 30th. All this time waiting to get Little Miss, never thinking for a moment that it would take THIS long, there was the possibility of missing the arrival of little Caleb. Let me tell you. I did not want to be in the middle of our Ethiopia trip and him be born. Now I realize I would survive. Perspective. All of that. But it still doesn't take away the desire. Folks, my friend's little baby Caleb and my Little Miss? Arrived on the same day. The.Same.Day. After all this time? This was the icing on the cake. Purely orchestrated. Once again, this overarching picture of time that God has going on - so much better than what I could plan on my own. The adoption of Little Miss has taught, stretched and grown my faith more than I ever could have imagined possible. God is good. So good.

Baby Caleb and Little Miss - LOVE THIS!!!!

We are going to be taking things slow with Little Miss the coming weeks and months. Sticking close to home as much as possible and cocooning (keeping her world small, so she has opportunity to learn what family is, who we are, etc.). The three weeks in Ethiopia gave us a huge head start in this process - but she is learning, as a newborn baby would be, about relationships (immediate family, extended family, friends, acquaintances and strangers) - so please bear with us as we do our best, for HER sake, to have her healthily attach to us. I posted a while back about this very thing, if you want to read more of the why, click here. Practically what does it looks like? It is only Jason and I caring for her needs for a while - holding, feeding, changing, all of it - so Little Miss realizes our relationship is different than other relationships. Now this is a bit more challenging since we brought Little Miss home as a toddler and she is an independent walker......and it would be oh so fun to scoop her up as she walks toward you, or be thrilled when she reaches out her arms for you, but it is this indiscriminate affection for others that comes from being in group care and is really not a good thing, although it may feel good to have her want you to pick her up, doing so (with her not knowing the context of the relationship - i.e. family, friend, stranger, etc) is really not healthy for her as she learns. For a short few months - what she really needs more than anything is to be directed back to Jason and I for her needs to be met. It really is for her benefit. You can still high five her, talk to her, wave and admire her beauty ;) We so appreciate your all's support throughout this phase of adoption, just like we've experienced throughout. What support God has given us through you all. We can not express in words what that has meant and continues to mean to us as a family.

Little Miss is safely home. I will forever be in awe of what God has done. Glory to HIS name!!

Psalm 121

I lift up my eyes to the hills-

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the LORD, 

the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip-

he who watches over you will not slumber;

indeed, he who watches over Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD watches over you -

the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

the sun will not harm you by day, 

nor the moon by night.

The LORD will keep you from all harm-

he will watch over your life;

the LORD will watch over your coming and going

both now and forevermore.

Bumps and VISA CLEARANCE!!!!!!

We are cleared to come home, by the grace of God, but what a frustrating week it has been.

Monday *should* have been the day we were submitted to embassy. The medical was finally done (xray read, and clear) and all of our paperwork was complete. It just needed to be authenticated and dropped off at the embassy. The paperwork processor for our agency called us Monday morning and wanted to speak to our driver - hoping for a ride - however, since we knew what needed to be done that day (none of which required our physical presence) and our driver was out of the city working on something else, this task was one he needed to complete on his own (as they would typically do if a family wasn't in the country). He told us that he would do so and then asked us later that afternoon to pick him up on Tuesday for a last minute thing and then we would head to embassy.  We packed ourselves to be gone all day - left at 7:30am, picked him up at the agency office at 8:30am and then headed off.......TO UNBELIEVABLY DO WHAT HE WAS SUPPOSED TO DO THE DAY BEFORE! Oh.my.word. We were not only not ready to submit, because of these last minute paperwork errands, but Little Miss and I were in a car from 7:30am until Noon for NO REASON! To say were were frustrated would be an understatement. Anyhow. The required things were completed and he was dropped back off at the office. He told us that the paperwork would be submitted by another guy later that afternoon after being checked.......we called and followed up at the time he said they would submit (just in case a ride was an issue - we could solve that problem) we were assured that they hadn't gone yet, but would soon and would call us to let us know that they had. 4:30pm rolled around (with the embassy closing at 5pm), still no call from them. We followed up again and were assured that someone WAS there, at embassy, turning it in.

Why is submission so important? Or why could we go on the same day? Due to Little Miss's issues with unsolved weight (despite being exclusively on high calorie formula from the U.S. which typically solves weight issues here) we have had a medical expedite from embassy. This ensured that they would process us fast WHEN we got to the point of having her visa processed. Unfortunately our agency is the one who gets us ready TO be processed and that has been where all of our struggles have been throughout the past.

So on Wednesday, knowing that our paperwork was turned in Tuesday (because they told us it was!), we headed to embassy (with no appointment) - turns out? Our agency didn't submit us on Tuesday like they said they had, the documents were turned in on Wednesday morning RIGHT before we got there. At this point we were just thankful for the embassy's efficiency, as we were seen within *moments* of arriving. However, they proceeded to tell us that one of our documents had an incorrect date and needed to be corrected before anything could be done. Oh.my.word. Now we were back at the agency's mercy. We rushed out of the embassy and called the paperwork processor immediately to let him know the issue AND then called Ephrim (our driver friend who was also with our friend TJ at the time). Ephrim immediately went and picked the guy up to fix the document, but left us at the embassy because it would take too much time to come back and get us. Let me tell you how amazing it was that our friends were in the van with this man. They both knowing the ridiculousness that has been going on for us (pre-being in country AND during this last week), Ephrim used to work for an adoption agency himself (so he knows how things are supposed to work), TJ himself has adopted a child from Ethiopia before, AND these are both men that speaks their minds (in love, but with expectation of doing the right thing by others). There was no better advocates for us then those two who picked up the paperwork processor.....they got things moving because there was urgency (something that culturally is not the norm) Unfortunately, when they arrived at the place to get the new document? The one person that was needed to sign the document - was unavailable that day. We were going to have to wait until Thursday, and since embassy doesn't conduct visa interviews on Fridays? That meant that the correct person HAD to be in early in the morning to sign this document so that we could resubmit it to embassy and then pray that they would see us the same day - if not? Then it would automatically kick us into next week and with our tickets booked back on May 7th, it wouldn't be worth the money to move the tickets up for just a few days time, so it would have literally cost us a week......all because of the inefficiency at the beginning of the week. You can not imagine how Incredibly irritating it the potential for our delay was due to the  inefficiency and slack of others, when we have 3 kiddos waiting for us at home.

So today (Thursday) we met the paperwork processor at the location that the document was going to be signed (after Ephrim convinced him that he indeed COULD get himself to the location to meet us). He showed up a bit late, but he showed up - after about 45 min. we had the document IN hand. He wanted to go back to the agency office and give it to someone else to submit to embassy for us - we convinced him that we could indeed submit it ourselves (as we were heading directly over there and involving our agency in anything adds time), he agreed and handed it to us. We were at the US embassy by 10am, at the window turning in the document by 10:05 told to wait, were called back to the window (and told to raise our right hands - THIS WAS IT) for our visa appointment and then asked when we were hoping to leave. We told that beautiful man behind the window that we were hopeful to leave TONIGHT (the same day) and he said alright, come back at 3pm to collect your completed documents - WHAT?!?!?!?!?! Praise the Lord. Grace. I got back in the van in shock - once again, how to say thank you when words aren't enough?

Wow.

We emailed our travel agent immediately as we are hopeful to leave tonight (although knowing that it was only 2:30am where she was, so we wouldn't hear anything for a while) and then went straight back to the guest house and started packing. Funny how this trip seems to be ending how it began.....packing in faith that we are leaving, regardless of direction ;) Although the rush back isn't the same as it was here - it can be delayed by a day and this mama won't miss adding a child to the fold, she is already ours. Praise be to the Lord!

Also, so all you Americans feel super safe.......security at the embassy is of the utmost. There are guards outside that ensure that no pictures are taken of the outside of the building, no loitering on either side of the street around the embassy, obviously passport checks, appointment checks, plus metal detectors, etc. - but they also will not allow you to take any electronic devices AT ALL inside (phones, cameras, batter chargers, ipads, wires, etc.) We emptied out our bags of such items and ran it through the bag scanner - we couldn't believe it when our bag was flagged because of Little Miss's plastic pink cell phone. Ha! They checked to see if it was real, but even after seeing that it was a toy, we had to leave it there with all our other electronic devices - if nothing else they are consistent - and teaching these kiddos young!

Tales of medicals, travels and bridges

Busy days since last I wrote, busy days.

On Wednesday of last week we picked up Little Miss's freshly made passport from immigration, which was made much more interesting than normal because of location of the office, near the center of town. Earlier this week dozens of Ethiopians Christians were killed, for their faith, by ISIS in Lybia and Ethiopia has understandably been in mourning - Wednesday morning a rally was taking place at nearby Meskel square. Shops were closed and people were pouring into the area. We were a little closer to than we wanted to be to what was going on, but were in good hands and stayed safe. It is definitely a sad time to be in country, as this country is so relational that the pain from what happened is felt and seen throughout the country. Our hearts go out to the Ethiopian people during this time where evil, pure evil, takes the lives of their countrymen.

Little Miss's medical exam done for embassy on Wednesday, soon after having her passport was in hand. This is typically a quick and easy process - the medical report is the last thing needed before being submitted to Embassy (and being able to come home). Once the medical appointment takes place the required report takes a day to courier over to embassy, (which means we 'could' have had our visa interview the next day, Thursday, as I had been in contact with embassy since we are in country and they would allow an appointment the same day). However, at the medical appointment, the doctor (after telling us with a straight face that Little Miss was underweight and short, to which we almost laughed out loud, um yes. We know) decided to require a chest xray......(which is NOT standard for kids under the age of two years old for this type of medical). While requesting it, she told us that regardless of result that it wouldn't delay anything (even if it showed something) - except that the xray itself does delay the process, due to the fact that a radiologist has to read it - and radiologists aren't just around and readily available, so it adds DAYS to the process (for no reason). Originally the doctor told us that we would have to come by for the xray appointment on a different day, but due to the amazing persuasive skills of our favorite in country staff person, Little Miss was getting the required xray within about 15min., so grateful! Please do not take any of the above as complaining, just as frustration. We are truly making excellent time between court and embassy (especially considering the 3 business days off for the Easter holiday and days of mourning), however, it is so hard not to be frustrated with a totally unnecessary 4 to 5 day delay that is keeping us away from our other kiddos longer. We miss them so! Sigh. However, we have HIGH hopes that we will be home by the end of the week, please be praying to that end!

Thursday started off with a bang when we heard of a dilemma after breakfast that was near and dear to our hearts, adoption, and that at the time no one else (but us) could help with......which meant by late afternoon, the hubs was catching a flight to Dubai. It is quite the story, one that is best told in person and one that shows how amazing God connects all of our stories. Please ask us about it when you see us - it is a fun story to share (but because of the sensitive nature, and it involving other families stories, I don't want to share publicly here on the blog). Jason was back in the same country as Little Miss and I by Friday afternoon AND he brought me a souvenir.....cortisone cream for those pesky mosquito bites - there is honestly nothing that could have made me happier!

On Saturday we loaded up in Ephrim's van with Benji (the caretaker of the home we stayed in last time who Megan and I became friends with) and Judd & Becky (new friends of ours) to head out of town about 3 hours to see the Portuguese bridge and see an amazing gorge (think Grand Canyon). It was INCREDIBLE. Not only did Little Miss do amazing on this 10 hour daytrip, but we got to see much of Ethiopia that we had not yet seen. Baboons, Mud huts, little kids herding the family goats, lines for water, dried cow-pie piles for fuel (which were amazingly stacked), the gorge which is impressive, and on and on and on. We hiked down to the bridge and all around, but because it is the dry season there was no water flowing through - however you can see where the water line is......wow. We might just have to come back a different time of year ;) There was a small restaurant at the top of the bluff with huge windows so you can see the panoramic view while you eat - we feasted on a traditional Ethiopian meal (yummo and inexpensive, a full meal like this? $4/person. What a deal). It was fun to not only experience something like this, but to get to bring Benji along with us. It was perfect - as we got to visit the whole day, rather than just a quick meal and he was also able to go somewhere he'd never been. It was also amazing to see him interact with Little Miss (especially since he heard so much about her last time) - safe to say that Benji had her won over!

Today we were able to head to church, at IEC (International Evangelical Church) for the first time since taking custody of Little Miss. She did great, especially considering it was nap time ;) It was our first time dressing her up (in a dress) and oh.my.word. cuteness. Pure cuteness. She napped through most of it - but it was amazing to be able to worship singing "How Great Thou Art" in English and to also hear it in Amharic, while holding our long awaited daughter in her own country. God is good. So good.

The mosquitos have made a resurgence and it is safe to say that I am their favorite target (probably all my victory talk from last week). It has become my after dinner entertainment to take a bug zapper (that looks like a tennis racket) and take out my frustration with them by frying them......thankfully I'm tall, but I've been known to stand on a chair or two to get that pesky mosquito who thinks he/she is avoiding me by staying on the tall ceiling. Safe to say that this has also been the after dinner entertainment for others, such as Jason and Yeshi, who happen to watch me every evening......as I take just a wee bit of pleasure getting rid of these pesky bugs!

Please be praying for us - that everything gets wrapped up this week and we can head home soon, we SO badly want to get back to the kids (and there is also a certain little baby boy about to be born to one of my favorite people that I am so hopeful not to miss!) We are more grateful than words can express for the time spent here, but are looking forward to getting Little Miss home and into our quiver of children - it will be a good change for her as well - to not be the center and only ;)

What's left and more.....

Anyone out there wondering just what we are waiting on here? We have been in country for 12 full days since passing court and are waiting out the multiple things that happen between court and taking Little Miss home. What are they? Glad you asked! The first step is obtaining the court decree signed by the judge and MOWA (signed by the head of the federal Ministry of Children and Women's Affairs). Once that is in hand then it is taken to apply for a new birth certificate, one that reflects the new name of the adopted kiddo (as custom here the child's middle and last name are the father's first and last name.....so the official name on Little Miss's birth certificate is ________ Jason Calder). After the new birth certificate is made then an ET passport can applied for, for the child. Once the passport is in hand the child is taken for a medical exam (per as required by the U.S.) THEN after that the child's case can be submitted to the U.S. Embassy to be issued a visa into the U.S. - that is the golden ticket (in the form of a manila envelope) that will allow us to hop on a plane and head home.

Where are we in this above process? Each of these steps can take days at a time, and can only be completed during the work week. Then factor in that no one worked (government wise - the first few steps) the Friday, Monday & Tuesday days after our court date - due to the Easter holiday. Sounds like it could be slow....however, things are moving along for us well! Yesterday (Monday) we applied for Little Miss's passport and the in country staff expects us to have the passport in hand today (Tuesday). Then tomorrow (Wednesday) we are getting Little Miss's medicals done.....as you can see we are SO CLOSE! Please pray for continued favor as we finish this process in country - we do love it here, but can't wait to get back to our kiddos at home and are very hopeful for a swift finale and to be home next week!

The fun didn't end yesterday after getting Little Miss's passport underway - we spent the rest of the day out and about. Ephrim even found a car seat for the van (a rarity here), so we had our first opportunity to try it out with Little Miss.....it was a novelty for a while, but then she wanted out! I have to admit that it is kinda nice to be able to throw safety out the window and have it be culturally acceptable to hold (a mad about carseat) baby on your lap when they tire of it - but don't get used to it sweet girl, this exception is for a VERY limited time in your life ;) We had a great day running around, went for coffee, up to the top of Mt. Entono (and had our Adam Sandler look alike tour guide again, which Jason agreed whole heartedly with that comparison! He really is a nice man, so if you are ever in ET, visit Mt. Entono museum on Tues, Wed or Thurs, as we found out that is when he works), we then ate lunch at the Lucy restaurant (where Little Miss went CRAZY eating - even shrieked outloud in excitement when the waitress brought her some unasked for french fries - this girl loves her some table food. We think she is making up for lost time). After lunch we headed to visit a friend's son who is in an orphanage (about a 1/2 hour from where we are staying) to drop off some love from his family eagerly awaiting him to come home. All in all it was another long day, gone 9 hours again, so today we are resting up and not going anywhere!

So, seemingly off topic of daily activities, but honestly I can't stop contemplating the orchestration of the timing of our stay here in ET. Honestly, for years I have wondered just who we would travel with, adoption mama wise from our agency, as travel typically happens in at least a group of 2 or 3 families. I have had the opportunity to connect with some truly amazing women during the adoption process (from different parts of the country, but with my same agency) that I was hopeful that our travel timing to line up so we could meet in person. But in reality? We are literally here at the same time as no one else. As far as I know from the moment we arrived until currently.....we are the only family. How crazy is that? But you know what? We aren't alone at all. I can not tell you the amount of amazing people and families working in ministry here in ET (from the U.S.) that we are interacting with DAILY. There are honestly times like last night, where we find ourselves in the middle of a visit with three other families and other local folks who work with them in ministry, sharing meals, stories, life. Families whose hearts are aligned right up with what God has spent the last 3 years realigning ours to. Amazing. Truly amazing - because since we started the adoption process one of my heart's cry's has been for God to even line up who we spent our time in country with......in that prayer? I would have never imagined it like this.....as I only thought of it in the adoption realm. Incredible how Jason and I are in country because of adoption, but through it, we are seeing yet again that adoption is just a piece of the very large puzzle of what God is doing in us and through us. HE is good. He uses all things for good, even those things that are snaggily, painful and feel not so great at the time, but wow, am I grateful for the time and place that He has put us here right now.

For those of you praying for Little Miss and sleep - thank you! We've turned a corner in figuring out what she needed as far the "how" to get her to sleep without a fight and it has made all the difference. We are doing MUCH better - now if I could only turn off my brain.......

Where are all the pics of this beautiful Little Miss? When will her whole face grace the blogosphere? Unfortunately, not until we get home, as our technology has limitations in ET and I can't figure out just how to make it happen. Once home, I fully intend to go back and place the appropriate pictures in their rightful places throughout these posts ;)

Here's to ET "routine", adventures and victory......

I've mentioned that most of our days are consistent...what does consistent look like? Observe.

7am - Little Miss wakes up/bottle (Jason and I get ready for the day)
8am - Delicious breakfast compliments of Yeshi ;)
8:45am - Little Miss gets dressed/lotion/hair fixed then play, play, play
10:30am - Bottle and nap
Noon - Lunch, playing and nearby walking outing (Kaldi's, store, Britton's wifi)
3:30pm - Call the kiddos at home (7:30am for them)
4pm - Bottle and nap
5pm - Playing, playing, playing
6:30pm - Dinner (THIS is the meal that Little Miss eats like crazy at, she LOVES Yeshi's food!)
8pm - Getting ready for bedtime, night bottle and normally she is asleep by 8:30.

Repeat. Repeat. Repeat :) Funny how life away from home can fall into it's own "normal" schedule. It helps that we love where we are staying. Not only is it a beautiful home with western amenities, it is located in a good part of town with things within walking distance and the host family (Ephrim & Yeshi) are amazing. They have two kiddos who are 4yrs & 2yrs. old. I think it has helped Little Miss immensely, to have other young ones around for to interact with (since she is used to being around so many kids, that a totally kid free environment would have been hard)

Little Miss has finally started "talking" more when we are around others and we found out yesterday that she IS saying some actual words in Amharic, it isn't just baby babble. At breakfast yesterday Little Miss was hiding her eyes and playing peek a boo - and thanks to Yeshi, we found out that she was actually saying "I see you" (Abayesh) each time she would uncover her eyes......she also says dadi dadi when crawling, which basically means "crawling crawling". She has only just started to talk around others, so I can't wait to hear what else she is really saying - because this little gal talks ALL THE TIME ;) She has recently started to say mama - definitely knowing what the meaning is in English - as she is saying it straight at me when she wants me or is wanting to get my attention to get her something (i.e. bottle). She is adjusting well to having parents and seeks us out immediately for comfort (if she gets hurt) or for security (when someone new arrives or when we are somewhere new, clinging to us) - all very good things attachment wise. We are struggling a little bit with the sleeping.....and are hopeful that we will turn a corner soon. Your prayers would be much appreciated in this department!!!

We were able to break the above mentioned routine Saturday and go on a 9 hour outing, a bit longer than expected, but truly go with the flow kind of outing that happens here. The plan was to be picked up by our friends T.J & Leah (and kiddos) and head to a rock-hewn church that was located in Addis, then grab lunch and head off to Shalom ministries to visit with the kiddos that they work with. Sounds like a great plan, right? However as we all know, memories are made when plans go awry. Well. We made memories :) We left at 10am and were headed to phase 1 of the plan, the rock-hewn church when the brakes began to smoke on the Land Cruiser we were in (which had just gotten out of the shop the day before for a different reason), so instead we headed across town (and crazy traffic) to the car repair place.....while T.J. was waiting for the car to get fixed, the rest of us decided to utilize that time, adjust the schedule and go to lunch. There was a good (a.k.a. safe for ferenge) place to eat about a 10 min. walk away, so off we went - picture us - 5 adults (because another couple Judd & Becky joined us on this excursion), 5 kids (three ferenge, 2 habesha) walking along a road.....no sidewalks, just worn out grass at best, between a ditch and the road. Oh, and then add fun things to walk by - a man scooping out the ditch with a shovel and chucking it on the side of the ditch we are walking on.....not just regular stuff. Think goat head :) Walking by entrails of what was probably IN a goat less than a day or two ago (remember, Easter here was last week and LOTS of goats were consumed.....which are of course bought fresh, as in alive, and then slaughtered, cooked and eaten). We finally got to the restaurant and ate - about half way through the meal T.J. joined us with the fixed vehicle. After lunch we were on the hunt to find this church, which was up at a much higher elevation. The road to get there? To say it was bumpy would be an understatement.....hold on for dear life! (remember, no seat belts here OR car seats) All we could see was T.J. in the front smiling enjoying this trek. We finally got to the church and got a tour. Incredible. 300AD - supposedly older than the churches in Lalibela. (I will post pics sometime later when I have the chance). We didn't leave the church until around 4pm and then headed to Shalom ministry which is a refuge for street kids and kids whose families need a bit of support. We met lots of kiddos (and a teenage girl with the same name as Little Miss) and learned about this ministry - the heart of the woman that runs it is incredible. We didn't leave until after 6pm and then made the journey back to Lafto (sub-city area where we are staying) almost totally in the dark - which is an adventure in itself when you mix highway speed driving with pedestrians crazily crossing the road and no street lights. Oh my. Normally driving here doesn't scare me - but the thought of hitting someone? This was one of those times where it is just better to keep your eyes shut. We got back to the house after 7pm and then sat down with everyone to a traditional meal - complete with my FAVORITE dish, shiro. Yum. Whew. Busy day. Little Miss was a trooper through it all. Ate, napped and did fine through it everything..... 

Also, I would like to officially declare victory on the war with mosquitos, it might seem premature, since we still have time left here - but I think it is safe to say that we now have the upper-hand (the fan was the key weapon in this victory). We are now able to sleep peacefully at night without the enemy buzzing in our ears. Praise the Lord!

Please continue to pray for our process - things are moving and we are so hopeful to be home the week after next. Hard to believe that we are coming up on two weeks that we have been gone from home, time has gone quickly but there are still times I can't believe that we are here, that we are living out what we had anticipated for so long.

Hunkering, outings and mosquitos.......

We spent the weekend and early this week hunkering down with Little Miss at our guest house so we could start bonding as a little family.....because of that, our days have all looked pretty similar confined within the guest home walls (in fact I've had a hard time remembering what happened on what day as our routine is consistent) One variable that kept things exciting was having other folks staying in the guest home, who were amazing to visit with - three other adoptive moms waiting to bring their kiddos home, a pediatrician who is a missionary South, a mission team from Journey Church (a different Journey Church then our own). Lots of people. Lots of stories. Love. However, then they all left - so it has been us for the last couple days........

So you can imagine how excited we were when we finally had a reason for an outing :) Tuesday we headed to a local pediatrician's office to have Little Miss checked out for the first time and to get passport pics taken of her as well. Little Miss has chest congestion, runny nose and an ear infection so we got her on an antibiotic to hopefully get that cleared up soon. We also found out that she has a heart murmur - which obviously she could grow out of - but the doctor told us that it could be a possible explanation as to why she hasn't gained weight well despite good care and higher calorie formulas for the last 15 months at the transition home. Kind of an ah ha moment. Totally not something that we are worried about, but it helps to know that there might be a reason as to why this has been an issue for her. Makes me all the more glad that she is coming home for good soon!

Today we were able to get out again, this time with T.J. & Leah and their kiddos who live just about a 10 min. walk from our guest home. They have their own vehicle, which owning a vehicle and being able to drive in this city as a frenge (foreigner)? Flat out amazing in my book. We visited a local Kaldi's coffee (enjoying a carmel macchiato and veggie sambusas - yum!) and then headed to a local basket shop and a weaving compound where they get silk from actual silk worms.....interesting. Honestly? Jason & I didn't care where we went - we could have just been driven around for hours and perfectly happy - it was just great to be out and about (and with great company to boot!)

Little Miss is doing great. She loves to empty and refill her toybox (suitcase), practice independent walking and talking on her pretend phone......funny how it sounds like baby babble, but could very well be full sentences in Amaharic ;) We are slowly learning more about her personality and her likes and dislikes - for example, Little Miss is more a fan of table food than baby food, loves to ride in her ergo carrier, loves to interact with the other two kiddos here at the house and is one smiley girl - until she gets overtired or wakes up at night and then oh boy watch out! I can attest that she has strong lungs. Ha! We can not wait to see her interact with our other kiddos when we get home, they are going to be in love with this little girl!

For all those interested in our saga - we are still waging war with mosquitos (as it seems that there must always be a battle with something while in country - last time it was toilets, this time it is mosquitos) It has truly been ridiculous at times, especially at night. Ugh. We turned a corner a day or so ago and now seem to be gaining the upper hand. Take that mosquitos! We found a few spots where they might be entering the room and plugged those gaps, have obtained a wall plug-in that is supposed to help somehow (from one of the adoptive mama's who brought it with her but lovingly left it with us), have a mosquito net for Little Miss's pack n' play, we also found out that mosquitos more easily spotted at night with the cell phone light (then smashed to smithereens) AND we finally secured a coveted fan for our room (therefore continuous air movement) which has helped. We have squashed more than we can count. Not quite sure why they've been so bad this visit, if it is this part of town or what, but I am so glad that we are finally  gaining ground so Little Miss and I don't come home looking like we have some sort of crazy disease (and I only mention us two because Jason for the most part is largely unaffected, with the exception of the annoyingly loud buzzing in the ears at night part, not many bites for him)

That is all for now. Please continue to pray for favor for us while in country and for our kiddos at home. We are hopeful to have an idea in the next few days what our timeline might look like, but are really trying to focus on enjoying this time here with Little Miss - we are so grateful to have this head start on attaching with her before arriving home and are so hopeful that it will make the transition to home in a different country easier.

Updates from Abyssinia

We have been continually in motion since we arrived on Wednesday evening...amazing, but exhausting at times.

Since it has been so crazy I haven't written things down day by day - so those of you who are checking the blog to follow up? You are going to get some of the highlights, which are still long-winded, because they come from me, so no worries ;)

Day One - Court day!
Court was to be on the first day full day here (as we arrived Wednesday evening), we didn't even know until Thursday morning what time court was even scheduled. We met with our agency representative around 9am Thursday morning and found out that court would be at 2pm that afternoon, which was awesome because that meant that we could spend the morning visiting hours with Little Miss. At 10am we arrived at the transition home and they quickly brought Little Miss out and handed her to me - amazingly enough she seemed to not only remember me, but when the nanny held out her hands to take her back for a kiss, Little Miss leaned away and didn't want to go :) She went to Jason pretty easily, but was very wary of him (as she really hasn't seen many men in her almost 18 mo. life) - she wouldn't take a bottle from us that morning and fell asleep very quickly into the visit (almost time for her nap anyway, but since it was early it did seem like a purposeful escape, she was coping). Thankfully after her nap she was a little more receptive. Still no smiles, but she was not continually averting her eyes and would take super quick little peeks at Jason and then look away. We left before lunch and quickly after lunch left for our court appointment. Court was at 2pm......and for something that was supposed to take five minutes and be easy, things were stressful all the way to the end, as we didn't end up getting seen until 3:30ish.  Honestly we were concerned something was wrong, as they could tell us all was fine, but the delay combined with our agency staff talking in Amharic in a non-conversational (more business(ish) like, but somewhat concerning) way.....we could not relax. However, after all that time waiting, all was well. We were called in before the judge, it took all of about 5 minutes and we were told that she is now officially our child. Yay!!!! I can't tell you the sigh of relief that took place....a sigh of relief that would have been much bigger if a certain someone had remembered to put on deodorant that morning and hadn't sat stressed out in a stuffy hot room for an hour and a half ;) Ha! Since court ran late, we were running late for our afternoon visit with Little Miss - so it wasn't as lengthy, but we saw improvement from the morning - as she would look at Jason for at least 5 second intervals, took a bottle from us and was interacting a bit more (although still no smiles at this point). It was good progress - especially knowing that we were planning on taking custody of her the next afternoon and only had two visits left before doing so....

Day Two - Gotcha day!
It is safe to say that Little Miss has not only warmed up by the end of the first visit today, she is realizing that daddy's are a whole lot of fun that she didn't know existed. She touched Jason's beard (ON PURPOSE), took a bottle, started smiling and learned lots of new baby games (handing the ball back and forth, high fives, etc.) - which was amazing because we one concern was taking custody of her before she was ready - it was apparent she was ready and we were too! Our friend Ephrim picked us up after the 2nd visit to the transition home that day, in the evening, as we were moving to his guest home. Little Miss did amazing on the 1/2 hour drive to Lafto (sub-city) and was transfixed looking out the windows! We got to the home just in time for dinner, but wanted to settle into our room, change a quick diaper and figure out what we were going to feed our girl for her 1st dinner with us (so far it appears she eats almost everything, helps that we had traditional food that first night!) As we stepped out of our room to head down to dinner there was a man that stepped out of another room on our floor at the same time, who was from the Congo. I honestly was speechless - this was the SAME Congolese pastor that I had sat next to on the flight home (with Rhonda and Joey) for 17 hours back in September.......I even mentioned it on my blog here. Not only that - he was leaving that evening - we only overlapped for 3 hours at the guest home. How amazing is that? He lives in the Congo. I live in the U.S., we are on the same flight, on the same day, in the same row, in seats next to one another 7 months ago in September - and then in April we see each other - he still living in the Congo, I still living in the U.S., both currently in a different country than our own, at the same guest home, on the same day, on the same floor for just that teeny tiny bit of time? I can't even imagine what the odds of that would be if someone were to try to figure that out.........feels orchestrated. For what purpose? I have no idea, other than for me to see yet again that God can put who He wants, where He wants, at the time He wants. My mind was blown. Absolutely blown.

Little Miss slept straight through the night that first night, even though we were told that they typically still get 3 bottles/night in her baby room. I was ready and waiting.....and not sleeping (boo to you jetlag and an overactive mind). So she slept great, we however, did not. Ironic.

Day Three
Today was Little Miss's first bath and this mama's first time doing her hair - eek! How excited (and scared) I've been for this moment, but she was a champ and her little hairs were beautifully moisturized and puffed by the end of it all. One day down - a whole lot more to go ;) Little Miss is doing fabulously.....she is a busy girl and loves to take things out and put things away from one suitcase in particular. She is cruses like a champ and is taking a few steps at a time. I'm pretty sure she will be an independent walker by the time we arrive back in the States. She is a happy little girl around us, loves to talk (we continually wonder if it is babble OR if she is speaking some Amharic, probably a mix of both) and is super smiley - until we are around others when we are downstairs for meals, then she gets super clingy and avoidant with others. It is apparent she is sticking with mom and dad for now - which is good (since this wouldn't be the time to share her anyway!)

Things have been going so well, that we have been bracing ourselves that she still will go through a grieving period for what she has left behind, the nannies, her home for over 15 mo., etc. It is totally normal (and expected) for this to happen, but it hasn't happened yet. Last night she did wake up at 3am for a bottle, but then wouldn't take it and was crying, arching her back and upset. I thought to myself, here starts the grieving.....held her, rocked her, etc. but she wouldn't be comforted. It was dark, so I couldn't see her face (which makes it hard to gauge what is going on) so when Jason was holding her I turned on the bathroom light so that we hopefully get a better glimpse of what was going on. We did get a better glimpse - when I looked over at the night stand - and the bottle I had tried to feed her. It had no formula in it, just water. I had forgotten to rotate the formula dispenser thingy (that I had pre-measured what she needed into) and apparently had dumped air into the bottle with the water. Oh my! Rookie mistake ;) Thankfully, it was an easily correctable one - and she was soon fed, happy and asleep again before we knew it. Seriously though, it makes me laugh at what I thought was happening vs. what was really happening. Sorry baby girl!

We are also in a full on war with mosquitos.....and that enemy is super small - so it is a hard battle to win. Megan and I had a few issues with them in January, especially at night, buzzing in our ears - yuck. I often slept with a hoodie pulled up over my head and under a sheet just to keep them away (as Megan also did in her room). Although this war is not one to be laughed at (you folks living in the states with luxury's known as SCREENED WINDOWS ;) I did chuckle that first night as Jason and I had the sheets pulled up over our heads trying to avoid them together - last time I was a battle by myself - this time I have a co-warrior! We have killed quite a fair share - but have also gotten bit by quite a few (especially me and Little Miss). Please pray for our sanity as we try to defeat this small enemy!

Day Four
It is actually Easter Sunday today, as Ethiopians follow a different calendar than the rest of the world and although we didn't head to church (as we are trying to hunker down for a few days as a threesome before heading out and about) today was the first time I had a moment to just sit alone with the Lord. Honestly? I was overcome. Speechless. In prayer trying to give thanks, I was overcome to tears. There aren't words of thanks and praise that can adequately thank God for His faithfulness and what He has done. I've heard my mama say before that she was blessed beyond words - I'm borrowing her phrasing but adding to it - I am blessed beyond words and blessed to tears. Last Sunday I was at home struggling, weary and trying to fight off the lies that were being thrown at me, having a hard time seeing the end and this Sunday, just one week later, I sit in a room in a different country watching Little Miss nap as I type. God is good. God is good to me. People, I thought I cried a lot during this adoption process, I'm now starting to wonder if it will be more so after - as I see this sweet girls face, as she becomes part of our family, and as I think and tell of her/our testimony - wow. Just LOOK at what He has done. I realize it isn't over. We aren't home quite yet, but my God is faithful. That I know.

We don't have wifi at our guest home here and so my communication is limited. I am hopeful to post every few days or so to let our friends and family at home know how we are doing. So when are we coming home? That depends on how fast the last pieces of paperwork move for us. We need to obtain a new birth certificate for her, a passport and have a medical appointment before we can be submitted to embassy - once submitted? We most likely would be ready to go with in 2 days time? We are hopeful to be home in 3 weeks time, but have a contingency plan in place, if that doesn't happen.....please be praying for us as we move through this last bit of process. For favor, God's timing and peace. We are basking in the opportunity we have been given to parent Little Miss by herself for a few weeks time. Please keep our kiddos at home in your prayers as well, they are doing well and we are incredibly blessed to have not only family (& friend support) but AMAZING family support (Grammy J & Papa and Gram C & Papa) how incredible it is to be able to take this time here, and not have a moment's worry about our children at home needs being met and cared for in a loving way. What a gift. Again, we are blessed beyond words.

From Wait to Whirlwind.....

We are in country right now and are living a miracle.

Seriously still pinching ourselves.

This all started unfolding on Monday afternoon when we found out our court date was finally scheduled,,,,,,,,six weeks away..A quick Yay! But honestly? Followed by disappointment as that felt so far away. It was explained to us that another delay had occured, this time in the form of courts not seeing cases for the next month due to meetings prepareing for the upcoming election. After all this time, to have another delay this late in the process? Hard news to hear.

We emailed back right away to ask for what we thought was most likely the impossible. To see if our agency could petition the court for a closer date, before the court stopped seeing cases this week and we informed the agency that we would be willing to leave at a moments notice, if the court could do so. Our agency replied back quickly letting us know that they were already in the process of petitioning, due to her continual weight concerns (as it is documented that she not only struggles to gain weight, but that it puts her at a higher risk to wait even longer.....and look how long she has already waited) but we would just have to wait and see if it was even a possibility. About a 1/2 hour later we got an email from our agency asking if we could potentially be in the country THIS THURSDAY for a court date, if we could the agency would ask the court about that near of a date, as they were meeting with them the next day. This is all happened Monday afternoon. Learning about the possibility. Because of the time it takes to get there? In order to make it in time, if we were able to get a date Thursday, we would have to leave on Tuesday morning (like literally need to be at the airport less than 16 hours later from the moment of learning about the possibility). We said absolutely yes - but because ET is 8 hours ahead of us, their work day was already over.....so we wouldn't find out until sometime after midnight at the earliest, but more likely later, if we were indeed going or not.

Wow.

We told family, our Journey church family and close friends that this was a possibility and to pray for this specific miracle. Then massive prep began.....Put tickets on hold (the flight was to depart at 11am Tuesday morning). Jason prepped to leave work and not come back for weeks. Laundry, laundry, laundry.  Last minute grocery run. Updating the kiddos schedules and info to leave with the parents. Thoroughly packed our bags to be maxed out. An adoptive mama friend delivering last minute gifts to bring to her son. Cut Jason's hair. Some cleaning......you know. All those things you would do when you plan to be gone for weeks on end, only we didn't know if we would really be going - but we were prepping like it was happening.

I only slept two hours that night and was up checking email like a crazy person from 3am until well after the sun came up - nothing. No word. Problem is? Our agency is located 2 hours BEHIND us. Oh my. And we didn't know WHEN we would hear.......as I'm pretty sure our program director also wanted to sleep ;) We decided that until we heard a no, we were going to keep moving forward as if it was a yes. My dad came to take us to the airport and we loaded 6 bags, 2 backpacks and 3 kiddos into the car - still no word. We went to ticketing with all of our things unloaded everything inside and literally just sat, waiting to hear if it would be yes or no - still no word. I called our travel agent at 9:40am to make sure I knew what our options were, since 10:30am was the point of no return with these tickets, as we had to know we had a court date by that time, otherwise we would not go through with the tickets and would need to cancel altogether. At 9:45am the email came through from our agency that we DID GET OUR COURT DATE!!!! Lots of celebrating ensued and Jason and I quick grabbed the bags, 5 min. or so later had our boarding passes and 15 min. later were kissing the kids good-bye at security and found ourselves boarding the 1st leg of the journey less than an hour after getting news that we were indeed going. Amazement. Pure amazement.

An absolute miracle. God working on our behalf. On Little Miss's behalf. Only God knows how I needed this on so many different levels.....

In all the craziness early Tuesday morning - at the point we still didn't know what was going to happen I took just a quick moment in the word and flipped to Psalms where I had stuck the program from grandfather's funeral just a few weeks ago. At that location? Two verses that I have read multiple times - but jumped right out....

Psalms 30:11 & 12 You turned my wailing into dancing, you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God I will give you thanks forever.

Oh Little Miss. If you only understood the sheer joy and dancing that will take place in a few weeks when you arrive home. For good.

The Lord be PRAISED - to HIM be the GLORY!

Update - Week #56 post referral

Three weeks have passed since the last post......
It basically comes down to this: no new info + a long process = no words to type.
I was all out of vamp.
 

Little Miss's cuteness can not be contained!!!!

However, now there is reason to update........

So although there has been frustration along the way with our process, there are still *moments* of being grateful for parts of the delay. Moments that don't make sense when they are happening, but make sense afterward.

The review date that we didn't pass back in February? Because of a request that could have been satisfied (in country) about referral #1? So grateful that happened.

Why? My 93 year old grandfather passed away last week.

Had we had passed our review date in February? We would have been out of the country when it happened - I would have missed it. I would have missed visiting with my grandpa 4 days before he died. I would have missed being able to celebrate and honor his life with my family. This precious man. What an enormous impact on my life he (and my grandma) had/have.

It would have been heartbreaking to miss.
*If you would, please keep my grandma in your prayers, as she survives him and is grieving the loss of her husband after 71 years of marriage. That she would be comforted. For her health. So hard. It is just so hard.

I arrived home from my grandfather's funeral Friday evening (the 20th) - to an update email from our agency and found out that our file was reviewed early (it wasn't scheduled to be reviewed until Monday the 23rd) - the email told us that.......
...........................we got the signature that we have been waiting for.

Praise.The.Lord!

You can not imagine the sigh of relief that ensued.

Seriously. Take a moment and sigh with me. Ahhhhhhhhhhh!

Now we are waiting on the next thing.
In adoption, there is always a next thing.

But in this case? The next thing? Is our actual court date (that WE attend) to be assigned.
*Normally* a court date is assigned pretty quickly after the signature we just received is aquired.........however, we have never fallen under the category of normal :) We are now a week out and still haven't heard a peep about when court will be.

As you can imagine. I am now back on the edge of my seat - as this news could quite literally come at any time - and we could find out that we are expected to be in country in less than a weeks time OR we could find out that our date is a few weeks out. I've seen it happen both ways to scores of folks before me.

People. Do you know how crazy that is?
Oy.

Please be praying for my sanity as we wait for this last bit of news......it is exciting, but I am so exhausted. The toll this whole process takes is unexplainable and I literally feel as though I struggle to focus on anything else at this point.

Only because this is SO funny do I even share - this is a recent card we received from a dear friend that I can't stop laughing about (the best part being the commentary written on the inside - which you can see below in the caption of the photo, worth the read!). As always, thank you to those around us for continue to pray and be an encouraging support! You have no idea how much we appreciate you!!!!!

Future Blog Post: Little Miss Calder's first trip to the beach! She still enjoys turning upside down.....and Cheryl's still finding creative ways to block out her face online ;)

Oh Little Miss.
How we look forward to your homecoming and being able to show your face.....
officially as our sweet daughter!

Soon and very soon. We are hanging on in hope!