Journal Excerpt: Meeting Our Son

April 30, 2010 Meeting our Son

I don’t think that I can type the right words to do it justice. The pictures give a pretty decent story but they’re not the whole story either. Let me see if I can put this into words.

I’m emotional so it didn’t take much to bring me to tears. First thing on the agenda was to head to the Holt office. I got all choked up just listening to the staff talk about our meeting. Great. I’m already all choked up and haven’t even seen or met my son yet. After our introduction at the Holt office, they took us to the care center. Climbing up the steps outside the care center, the emotions resurfaced all over again. As we sat waiting for the introductions with the kids, I wondered if we’d be first if they went in alphabetical order since our last name starts with a “B”. We weren’t and I was relieved. Eventually our turn came and I was thrilled. It happened so fast. I don’t think our son recognized us and the nannies were trying to get his attention turned towards us. I reached for his arm and was afraid he would cry. I was relieved when he didn’t. We had our few seconds in front of the camera and then it was the next families turn.
INSERT PICS of meeting Judah

Shonda and Travis were next and I needed to take their pictures. Asfaw-Judah was content in my arms so I took the video camera. I’m guessing their video of meeting their son is a little shaky since I was still shaking over the excitement of holding our son. Next after that was Jamey and Andrew and I wanted to do video or pictures of them too. After that I realized that I’d totally missed sharing the first few moments with Ryan because we were both taking pictures. I went and snuggled with my hubby – Asfaw’s daddy. He was perfect and beautiful and definitely not 35 pounds. I loved snuggling with him but was eager to watch him show some emotion. It’s interesting to think about how much you feel like you know a child through two pictures, lots of prayers and a heart full of love, meanwhile that child may not have a clue who you are.
I wasn’t even sure how to play with him. Bethany I know how to play with. We’ve played like that since early on. Asfaw-Judah, I have no idea. Is he ticklish? No emotion. Will he like silly noises? No emotion. Will he want to snuggle? Nope. Will he play with a ball? Yes, but still no emotion. We are definitely rocking his world and it’s tough.

Shortly after that we took Asfaw back upstairs so he could finish the lunch that he’d been pulled away from. As I walked up the stairs holding him I began praying over him and praising God for His work in this. Another flood of emotion. It was great to feed him and watch him eat. Insert pics of Judah eating While kneeling there at the table, this adorable little girl ran up to me, put her arms around me and kissed at me. I of course took the opportunity to love on her. A few minutes later Jamey noticed her and said “that’s one of Chrissy’s kids”. Wow, I hadn’t noticed that yet but it sure was. How perfect, she’s been hugging me and I’ve been hugging her back and she’s Chrissy’s kid, one of the kids I’ve been praying for. Very cool God how you show up in the details. I took the opportunity to kiss on this precious girl and tell her that her mommy will be here soon to get her. I continued to feed Asfaw while Ryan snapped some pics. After lunch was finished we laid Asfaw down for a nap and left the center.


Kaldi’s Coffee (the Et version of Starbucks) didn’t meet my expectations in the cheeseburger department so I was thankful to have French fries. After lunch it was back to the Holt office. On our way back, I had this overwhelming desire to take Judah home to meet Scott and Bethany. He is our child and belongs in our family. We got back to the Holt office to fill out the i-600 and the i-864. The i-864 requests info for the last 3 years of tax income so it’s wise to have your tax forms or have the amounts written down. Just sayin’. I’m thankful that the Holt staff was able and willing to go back and fill that info in off of our dossier cause I only had the most recent tax forms.


Back to the care center for post nap and post bath visits. I went upstairs and picked up our son. We all played downstairs in the play room with our kids. It was great interacting with other parents and other kids. Asfaw was pretty attached to me and grabbed on tight. He would go to Ryan and hang on to him. If we tried to get him to roll the ball, he thought we were calling him to sit and would come right to our laps. If we tried to give him “five”, he would put his precious little hand into ours. He was and is adorable and beautiful but still no emotion. Okay we saw a few half grins and brief giggle when he would chase the balloon around the room. He finally did snuggle right into my arms and I rocked him for a bit. No laughing, no super playfulness. But not at all stingy with his kisses for me. Yes, it is only the first day. I’m guessing he’ll come out of his shell eventually. In the mean time we snapped pictures and held him while interacting with the other little ones who were much busier. When it was time to go, I wasn’t excited about leaving him but hope that tomorrow we’ll see a little more of his personality as he opens up to us.

Thank you Father for your love for the orphans. Thank you for loving us enough to adopt us into your family.

Union Hotel and prayer

This is a view of our hotel in Addis Ababa Ethiopia.

I'm thankful to be here at the Union Hotel. The location is perfect as it's right next door to the care center. I'm looking forward to our time here.

I've heard you can expect electricity to be out half the time. We'll see how that goes.

I've heard that you might get what you order at the restaruant. Or you might get something else if the cook thinks you should have something else. We'll see how that goes.

I've heard that the staff is wonderful here. I can't wait to interact with them.

I've heard that they will do a great job of laundering clothes. We packed light so we'll definitely be checking into that.

I've heard that there are little kids right next door who are waiting to meet their families. I can't wait to see how that goes! Chrissy, you can bet I'll be looking for your 3 so I can hug them and tell them that you'll be here soon!

Today we meet Judah. Pray for us. Pray for him. As I understand it, our schedule today is to meet Judah in the morning and spend some time with him. We will then leave and go to the Holt office to fill out paperwork. This afternoon we will get to spend a few more hours with Judah.

Journal Excerpt from 2nd Travel Day

4/29/10
Flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

It was an early start to our day when the taxi arrived 20 minutes early but fortunately we were ready. We left the hotel just after 7am with no breakfast. Just into our drive, I felt nauseas, and not an over-hungry type but the being in a car type of nauseasness which was weird. A fiber bar took care of that and a few minutes later we arrived at the Schipol airport. The check in line was super long but moved really quickly. We made it through check-in easily and went right to our gate. Our travelling buddies, the Dietz’s, weren’t so lucky and as we waited for them, I started scoping out other “American” looking families since I knew the Lasca’s were on our flight. Our flight was great, or at least I thought so as I slept. The plane was fairly empty so I was able to move over into the row of 4 seats where there was only one person (who I later found out was Michelle from DesMoines also adopting through Holt and in our travel group) and take long cat naps. Our flight stopped in Khartoum Sudan to drop off and pick up a few passengers and refuel. There was an issue with a passenger visa so we sat at the gate (we did not de-plane at the stop) for what seemed like hours. Fortunately we just chatted with our travel buddies.

Okay, maybe I don’t need to write all the details….

We finally landed in Addis later than scheduled. Getting through customs seemed simple at first but was lengthy and we were tired. By time we arrived at our hotel and got up to our room it was almost midnight. I hoped to use the internet to send a message about our safe arrival but it wasn’t working. We went upstairs and crawled in bed, grabbing our earplugs to drown out the noise.

ONE

more day until we meet Judah.

This is our 4th day being gone from home. We've enjoyed a few days in Holland connecting with a relation of Ryan's, Ruud. I'm not looking forward to another 8 hour flight but its a small price to pay to get our son.

We will be arriving late tonight into Addis and are praying that all the families will arrive safely. As we check into our hotel which happens to be next to the care center, there's no doubt that there will several excited parents eager to meet their children.

I get all teary-eyed thinking about tomorrow. The day will finally come that we get to meet our son! Pray for us.

Amsterdam day #2

I posted about day #2 in Amsterdam at www.tam4buit.blogspot.com

Tomorrow we leave at 1030am for Ethiopia. Yipee!!!

over there

I posted an Amsterdam update on my regular blog. Click on over to check out a few pictures of what we saw yesterday www.tam4buit.blogspot.com

Netherlands

We arrived at the hotel (a converted old home, not a Marriott) and the kindly let us check in super early.  We have LOTS of bags and the men at the desk asked us if we were moving in :)
 
We enjoyed our first breakfast in the Netherlands - simple and quick.  Headed out with a camera in tow and hoping we don't get lost!
 
Met up with Shonda and Travis from www.godwiilladd.blogspot.com in Detroit.  They were in the seats behind us... hoping we can connect with them while here so we can hang out some more.

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Journal Excerpt from first Travel Day:

Starting Out

Well, let’s just say that when you wake up in the morning and your back is still out of place and you call the chiropractor before 8am, it’s not the smoothest start to your morning. Thankfully Jennifer of Dean Family Chiropractic got me right in. Before that though, Ryan was in town first thing in the morning to get our “affidavit for vaccinations” form notarized since I’d forgotten that. Oops.

We were out the door according to our little schedule. Made a quick stop at the nearest (45 minutes down the road) McD’s since I’d not eaten anything. Then again 15 minutes later at Wallyworld to grab wipes. And one more stop 30 minutes farther down the road to unsuccessfully search for choco sandals while the rest of my family (which includes Ryan’s mom) stopped for lunch.

We finally arrived at the airport in time to discuss our baggage with the Delta ticket agents. Thankfully I’d done my homework and knew that I was allowed 2 bags (<50 lbs) free per ticket even though the Delta computer was trying to charge me. Apparently I was the most popular girl (for the first time in my life) and had 4 different ticket agents looking at my flight details. At least this day they’re not well versed in our small airport on their own airline policies. Just in case you’re wondering, depending on where you’re travelling to internationally, they have different policies for baggage. East Africa currently allows 2 free bags. I think our 2-day layover in Amsterdam was confusing the system. Half an hour later, they had our bags tagged and we were walking to the security line.

Not much time to hug and love on our little ones who were eager to see the big airplanes. A quick hug and kiss was all we got before Bethany was asking to get down and go to her Grandma. It was short and bitterly sweet… I didn’t have a chance to tear up about missing my kids. The thing that helps me out is that I’m going to get my second son and bring him back to the kids who’d rather see the airplane than see me off  We’re now sitting in the Cedar Rapids airport ready for our first flight.

site seeing in Amsterdam with Shonda and Travis and Ruud and An

(Ruud & An: family that lives outside of Amsterdam and kindly met us in town and showed us around for a few days)

Starting Out

Well, let’s just say that when you wake up in the morning and your back is still out of place and you call the chiropractor before 8am, it’s not the smoothest start to your morning. Thankfully Jennifer of Dean Family Chiropractic got me right in. Before that though, Ryan was in town first thing in the morning to get our “affidavit for vaccinations” form notarized since I’d forgotten that. Oops.

We were out the door according to our little schedule. Made a quick stop at the nearest (45 minutes down the road) at McD’s since I’d not eaten anything. Then again 15 minutes later at Wallyworld to grab wipes. And one more stop 30 minutes farther down the road to find choco sandals, which I did not accomplish, while the the rest of my family stopped for lunch.
Finally arrived at the airport in time to discuss our baggage with the Delta ticket agents. Thankfully I’d done my homework and knew that I was allowed 2 bags (<50 lbs) free per ticket while the Delta computer was trying to charge me. Apparently I was the most popular girl (for the first time in my life) and had 4 different agents looking at my flight details. Apparently they’re not well versed in this small airport on their own airline policies. Just in case you’re wondering, depending on where you’re travelling to internationally, they have different policies for baggage. East Africa currently allows 2 free bags. I think our 2-day layover in Amsterdam was confusing the system. Half an hour later, they had our bags tagged and we were walking to the security line.

Not much time to hug and love on our little ones who were eager to see the big airplanes. A quick hug and kiss was all we got before Bethany was asking to get down and go to her Grandma. It was short and bitterly sweet… I didn’t have a chance to tear up about missing my kids. The thing that helps me out is that I’m going to get my second son and bring him back to the kids who’d rather see the airplane than see me off  We’re now sitting in the Cedar Rapids airport ready for our first flight.

Take-off

In a few short hours, we'll be on taking-off from Cedar Rapids. I'm so thankful for a long layover in Amsterdam so my tushie can get a break from all that sitting. Even so, it's an 8-hour flight and I don't sit still very well. Pray for me will ya? I'm going to miss my kiddos but am looking forward to a few days with my hubby and a few other adoptive parents in Amsterdam before flying into Addis Ababa Ethiopia.

Baseball and Adoption

Recognize this baseball player? The number on his jersey is the number of days until we meet Judah! We're baseball fans in our house. Ryan is definitely more of a fan. Sunday afternoon "rests" are sometimes filled with a baseball game on the local channel. The bible says "this is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it." Easy to do when you're a baseball fan watching a game. Not so easy for me to do when I'm about to leave on a trip.

What if I don't wake up in time? What if I forget my passport?

I tend to get a little anxious when it comes to travelling. Oh, I love to travel, but it still gets to me. On this trip, I have lots of details and items to remember. In 5 days well be meeting Judah for the first time so I thought it would be fun to share a list of 5 things I won't leave home without:

1. Passport
2. Adoption paperwork
3. Bible and journal
4. Camera
5. Cash

Will you join me in praying for a good night of rest since I tend to have sleepless nights right before travel? Thanks friends.

Scott and Bethany

more days until we meet Judah!

more days until we leave.

This is our last weekend as a family of 4. I'm so thankful that Ryan is off work this weekend so we can hang out as a family. I'm glad that Scott and Bethany are looking forward to hanging out with friends while we're gone. I will miss my not-so-little babies! They are a huge source of joy in my life.

Who knows what we'll do this weekend... besides packing of course. We have a few things going on at church but maybe we'll skip out on some of it so we can focus on Scott and Bethany for the day. Maybe a fishing trip if the weather permits...

My random thoughts...

Last Saturday I sat in the floor staring at Judah's clothes, wondering if the updated measurements were right. I picked up a hand full of 3t clothes. Will these fit I wondered. What about those cute little jammies I bought him that are 2t? What about that cute little tshirt I bought him that says "daddy is my hero" that is also 2t? Did I waste my money?

Okay, really, does it matter? I mean, we're about to go get our son. Who really cares if he gets to wear the clothes I bought or not! For real, what matters is that we're going to get him.

So, I picked back up the 3t clothes that I've decided to pack. Wow. I have no 3t pants that were Scott's. Where did they go? Good thing I bought some for Judah on my last shopping trip. Should I bring a couple pair of 2t just in case? I can always give them away?

Tshirts are easy. They can be a little sloppy and it will be fine. Pants, they kinda need to stay up. I had made up my mind that we'd take 3t and cinch them up good. Well, since the new pants I bought aren't the cinh up type, I'm not sure how this will all work.

My goal is to pack light. Do you think I'll accomplish that?

Questions

I have for those who know our son whom we'll meet in 10 days:

1. What was his favorite thing to do at home?
2. What makes him smile?
3. How does he like to be comforted?
4. Does he enjoy playing with other children?
5. What are his sleeping patterns like?
6. What are his eating habits like?
7. Does he seem to be afraid of anything?
8. Who has he bonded with the most in Addis?
9. Who has he bonded with the most in Wolyta?
10. Who are his friends so we can keep them connected?

I do have lots more questions. Some for the nannies and care providers. Some for his living birth family. I'm sure I'll come up with more.

For those who've travelled, would you be willing to email me with the questions you asked the birth family or specific things you did with them? One parent just shared with me that they traced the mother's hand and I thought that was so cool. I'd never think of that on my own so I'd love your ideas.

Thinking of You little guy

more days until we meet Judah!

Today I'm wondering if Judah has any idea what's about to happen in his life? Do you think the nannies talk to him about being adopted? Having been transferred to the Addis care center approximately 6 weeks ago, do you think he's getting used to living there? I wonder if he's feeling at home there and we're about to rock his world again. I know it's for the best, but my heart aches for the grief that he's endured and will continue to endure in his young life.

Oh Father, would you see fit to give Judah dreams of the hope and plans You have for him?

Delta Airlines

more days until we leave

more days until we meet Judah

I was just checking Delta Airlines policies for baggage. Here's what I found out:

• Normal 50 lb limit
• Bag #1 free
• Bag #2 free to Africa
• Bag #3 costs $200
• Overweight bags (51-70 lbs) cost $150

What I still don't know:

• Is our 2nd bag really free? Bag #2 is free going to Africa but not free going to Europe. Since we're staying two nights in Europe, do we go by Europe rules or Africa rules?
• Since we have 3 tickets coming home, is there any way to come up with another piece of "luggage" so we can bring stuff home from Ethiopia?

I've been a little busy

So I haven't blogged much. That's because I've been overwhelmed with the details of going to Ethiopia. And not just that, but also with completing some stuff at the office before I take off for 2 months. Oh and working on a few other little projects, playing outside with the kids, etc.

I have lots I'd love to share but I'm not sure that you want to take the time to read it all. Basically we're thrilled beyond belief about the opportunity to go. God has really been confirming the details of the trip.

We have airline tickets, hotels, tentative plans for the kids that need to be firmed up, shopping done for stuff to take, etc.

We heard late this week that Judah is 35 pounds so I will be leaving the 2t clothes on the shelf and taking the 3t clothes. That makes perfect sense to me considering my daughter is about the same size and is wearing 3t pants and 4t shirts.

I put together a simple prayer calendar for the next few weeks. It mentions what we're doing each day and gives specific things to be praying for.

If you'd like to pray for us you can right click and save the image to your desktop and then print it off on a full page. Or you can comment/email me and I can send you a pdf version.

Updated Measurements

Ryan has been visiting with our doctor about some potential health concerns (giardia, ear infection, etc) for our son when we get to Ethiopia. In their conversation, our doctor requested updated weight.

Holt kindly and quickly got back to us with some updated measurements. I've heard the scales show heavier in Addis, but his current weight shows for 35 pounds. He shows for 32" tall. I think he and Bethany are the same size... I might need to take bigger clothes since I had planned small.

Update

Didn't rest well last night. I guess I'm a little excited.

We have lots to do in the next 12 days but here's what we've done so far.

Purchased airline tickets. We're leaving on the 26th. Flying from Cedar Rapids to Detroit and Detroit to Amsterdam arriving Tuesday the 27th. We're staying in Amsterdam for two days and will meet up with some relation of Ryan's. We'll fly from Amsterdam to Ethiopia on the 29th! We have 3 tickets coming home and hope and pray (you can pray too) that we catch our super short connection back to Cedar Rapids on May 7th.

Yep, that's about it. Like I said, we have lots to do!!!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

I have two of the 3 ticket confirmations in my inbox. Woo hoo!

Leaving April 26th (a little earlier than originally planned) and returning on May 7th. Yipee!

Hi/Low

In our small group bible study, we start our evenings with a hi/low.  I wanted to share with you my hi-low emotional rollercoaster for today and ask for prayer.
 
Low: Friday several families were contacted by Holt about being in the travel group for the first week of may.  We were not contacted.  I was a bit dissapointed but trusting in God's timing and thankful for how He has provided.
 
Hi: At 5pm, I sent an email asking a few people to pray about our travel opportunities and taking a friend with us.  I hit send and refreshed my inbox and had an email from our agency.  We are in the travel group for the first week of May! 
 
I'm so excited my heart is pounding out of my chest and I can hardly type!  We're going to Ethiopia.  And this is no April Fool's joke! (I told my small group that we were going on April Fools).  My emotions are all over the place.  I was and am trusting in God's timing. I had resigned myself to not travelling in the first week and was thrilled with the possibility of Kara travelling with us (she can't go the first week), getting to go on a free mini-vacation to the Dells (scheduled for May 6th), and having more time to prepare.
 
Today is the 12th.  We have to be in Addis on the 29th.  That's 17 days people.  Pray for us please... it will be a wild two weeks!!!  Okay, now I have to go read the email from Holt about the actual travel :)

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No news is good news, right???

While several families heard about travel plans on Friday, we were not one of those families. I must admit that this morning as I read my email, I was a little dissapointed that we're not in travel group 8 going the first week of May. At the same time, I know that I'm trusting in God's timing. Trusting has been made easier since I want to be two places at once: picking up my son, but also enjoying a free trip to the Dells with my family. I'm okay with either and trusting for God to do big things regardless of the week we travel.

With that said, I did email Jenn at Holt asking about our travel. I know it's the Ethiopia staff who makes the appointments with the embassy, so I emailed asking her to confirm that our paperwork didn't get lost. I don't want to find out a month from now that something is missing from our file. I will be watching for Jenn's reply.

Congrats to those who received travel dates. I really was hoping to travel with Shonda who's going the first week but maybe she and I can meet another time. Congrats to those who got travel dates!

What to Do

As we're anticipating news of travel in the next month, there's lots that needs to be done. The kids rooms are done and organized (with the exception of taking out a few little odds and ends from when Bethany was a baby). The will should be done this week which takes care of our financial and child rearing should something happen to us. Insurance can't be taken care of until we have the adoption decree which Holt is telling me I'll have when I get to Ethiopia. I still have a list of things to do:

• Meet with the trustees of our estate to explain again our wishes.
• Write a letter to be attached to the will and trust paperwork.
• Buy skin care products for Judah.
• Talk to a few medical friends I have to see if they'll donate supplies.
• Finish the journey bags for Ghana.
• Finish my own little journey bag for Ethiopia.
• Write a letter for Judah's family.
• Crash course in Amharic from Denise.

I'm anxious to get oru son. At the same time, I'm just enjoying God's timing and working on living out the verse that says to be anxious about nothing but to be prayerful about all things. There's some chatter on the yahoo board about getting enough notice for the trip. Two weeks isn't a lot of time to plan but this is international adoption we're dealing with. I've been telling myself all along that we won't get more than two weeks notice. We won't be surprised if it's less either. Eventually we'll buy tickets and fly to Ethiopia and bring our son home!!!