48 Hours to go (edit: post was delayed - closer to 36 hrs. now)

Wow! I am actually sad to be leaving Ethiopia tomorrow. We have really jumped into this week with a good .. Getting custody has certainly helped, of course.

Sarah is loving being here...she has really bonded with many of the staff members here and just plain had a blast! We will miss Ethiopia. Now that does not mean we will be adding to the family...we are complete. We will return to Ethiopia at some point. There is so much to do and see. What an incredible history.

We had a busy shopping day yesterday. We have a few more things to pick up before we leave. We are leaving that til tomorrow. Coffee and lots of it is my hope. :-).

We visited Holy Trinity Cathedral yesterday...just beautiful. The priest was thrilled to hold sarah's hand. Just so cute. The tour guide, an older gentleman, remarked to me that my son does not look like me. I smiled and said "nope". He was pleased as could be with adoption across race lines. The funny thing is they have never had issues with that here. There is little to no issues with different religions or races here. They live in peace...so refreshing. Oh what we could learn.

The highlight of the day was returning to the orphanage. Everyone knew Rebiras name and were happy to greet them. He has gotten to the point with us that he is NOT at all keen on others touching or picking him up. It is the culture here, to help with crying babies regardless for where you are and what is going on. He is no longer a fan of that custom. Honestly I am relieved...we are attaching as is necessary for healthy development. The doctor was at another appointment so I had a phone conference with her. She told me many things about our little one. She obviously knows him well. He has had constant ear infections. Tons of antibiotics, chicken pox twice and pneumonia. I even have chest x rays from that episode. She told me on the phone call that Rebira is very special boy who the staff loves. He is very affectionate and has been very sick. He needs good parents like us. Good grief! They must actually read our profiles to match us because she knew about us and our other children. After the call we received a gift of a traditional outfit and a cute embroidered bag. We walked around a little, took pics, and the boy held on for dear life while chilling in the Maya wrap. I told him he was not staying and we were taking him home. He looked at me with eyes as if he understood. Yes..then there were tears..just a few.

Dinner was out again at Sishu for hamburgers that were quite good. Then back to the guest home for bed. We were all zapped. Boy woke up in the middle of the night twice...but we are now over our poopy issues and yah...we are over it. Len and I take turns...yuck I forgot how gross that part is. We are ramping up his milk to full formula and not so watered down..see how it goes. He is eating like a champ today. One full container of babyhood at each meal and a bit of cereal with probiotics in it. Man does this kid needs probiotics for sure! 

Taking it easy today..rain again and kind of chilly...bring sweatshirts and sweaters if you are coming soon. It is chilly and damp. Out for a dinner at blue tops....ice cream for Sarah! Our guesthouse offers massages to new adoptive parents so sign me up! Len will be having his first massage here too.

Tomorrow we are going to hit a few places: kaldi's for some fun juice, tamoca for bagged coffee, perhaps beza international church for jewelry and hopefully a visit to Marta, sarah's compassion kiddo. We will pack for our long journey home. We have to be at the airport at 7pm. Our travel agent, booked us a bassinet....pray for that or it is going to be a much longer trip than it really is. Our flight takes off at 10 ish. We will be traveling with vivi, Pete and mawerdi. Their blog is on the side bar if you would like to follow their story.

Have a magical day back home...
Happy Patriot's Day! (Ethiopian holiday)

Michelle

Ethiopia Day 3

Well....embassy is done and the magical words were said. "your adoptions now final and complete". Wow what a relief! Both kiddie were great at the embassy. It was actually kind of cool. We showed our passports three times for crying out loud. Our lawyer got us thru the lines ahead of the other families that were waiting. That guy has some connections.

We came back to the guest house for a rest and to change clothes. We went out for dinner last night to a restaurant called Bon. Quite yummy. Len and I had Ethiopian. While our Ethiopian translator, Masti, ate a large dish of lasagna. Sarah joined him with a bowl of spaghetti. What a hoot!

We returned to the guest house with a sleeping Joshua that never even made it to pajamas and slept in his clothes! He did not sleep straight thru so your jealousy can stop now...:-)
He popped another tooth! Good grief this kid is going to be done teething by the time we get him home. He had four when we took custody and one popped yesterday and another popped last night! He has one more due to come in today as well! His ears are still gross. Poor guy...definitely a double ear infection with lots of slime which is not a good sign. Must have been going on for some time. I also found out the secret to his little scars on his tummy and back. Three weeks ago...chicken pox got the whole Toukoul orphanage. Sound like they all got zapped with it. So he did not sleep well last night and took a great morning nap though....see him still in his clothes from last night. Looks like someone knocked him flat. See what some Tylenol, Zithromax and a bottle can do? Ahhhhh a two hour nap for mom!

After our long nap we got dressed for our day and lunchtime. Look how cute I am!!! Playing with my sister too!

Lunch was had and he was all plugged up in the poopy area, again. So after a bit of screaming and half of a bottle.. I was down for the count again. I joked with Len ....Joshua was the victim
Of a hard turd...hehehehe so he is out again.

We will be leaving the guest house soon to go shopping, visit holy trinity cathedral and the orphanage. We have a meeting scheduled with the doctor to talk about our kiddo and they will give him a gift, a traditional outfit. It will be his last time there. With a little luck our lawyer picked up Joshua's passport with his American visa inside as well as the top-secret envelope that I need to turn in at immigration when we get to Washington dc.

If not, we will get those materials on Friday morning. It has been cool and rainy here so much to Sarah's dismay we have not made it to the Sheraton to swim. But she spent some time with cookie the house manager here at Hagos. You can see the results of their time together. Have a wonderful day! We are really enjoying out time here. Taking in slow and savoring every moment. What a gift it is.

Please pray for healing for our little ones ears...could be a long flight otherwise.


Hugs !!!