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 playf
ulness. 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.
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 playf
ulness. 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.
