A week in review

Meeting HER. (day 1)

It is not easy to describe in words. There was so much anticipation leading up to this trip. We traveled for over 30 hours on very little sleep and yet when we got there neither of us were tired. We arrived in Addis Ababa around 7am. Waited in line for a long time to get our visas and gather our luggage. Our guide picked us up from the airport and allowed us to freshen up at our hotel before grabbing some lunch and heading to meet our girl. Our first moments were sweet. It was incredible to hold her after all these months of dreaming and waiting. 

That first day was not all easy. She cried. A lot. It was hard for us because we knew she was scared.  I needed that reminder. Adoption is beautiful but it comes out of tragedy and loss. It will take time for her to learn to trust us. We are so looking forward to having her home and beginning that process! The good news was she loves her nannies and seems bonded with them...she would stop crying when they came into view and said her name. Those women love the kids in the transition home. What a ministry they have!

Getting to know each other. (day 2)

Day two was far better than day one! She hardly cried at all. When we arrived we got to feed her cereal. She is a great eater:) Then we played for a while until it was our turn to meet with the doctor. She loves to watch the older kids in the home. They also recently switched her to soy formula because she didn't seem to be tolerating the other very well...like her dad when he was an infant! During the meeting she was sitting on my lap but moving constantly. She is a very active little girl who seems to enjoy shaking toys to hear the sounds they make and chewing on ANYTHING. Her two bottom teeth have already started to come through. Our time ended with her falling asleep in dad's arms. Oh how I love them!

Sightseeing and traditional dinner. (day 3)

While spending time with Allia we were able to give our donations to the transition home as well as pass out chocolates to the nannies and pencils to the older kids. Also got to give care packages to two older boys for another adoptive family. They were really sweet!

After lunch we went sightseeing to Entoto Mountain. Got a great view of the city from the top and saw the first church in Addis Ababa.

We went to a traditional Ethiopian dinner that included entertainment. They sang and danced and played instruments. It was amazing dancing. The way they moved their bodies was incredible. They even made us get up and dance with them for a little while! We were terrible!! But dinner was fantastic. The evening ended with Ethiopian coffee - it was the best coffee I have ever had. Really strong and delicious.

Court! (day 4)

The morning was spent once again with Allia. When it was time to leave we headed for lunch then to the courthouse. We arrived at 1:30 and sat for what seemed like forever for it to be our turn. The room was packed with adoptive families from a variety of agencies and countries. They finally announced our turn at 3:30. The judge asked a several simple yes/no questions and reminded us the importance of teaching our child about their culture. And then it was over. She said we passed. Allia is officially ours!

Afterwards we went to the local lion zoo and then some souvenir shopping. Finally we stopped by Kaldi's...the "Starbucks of Ethiopia". Jeremy had a caramel macchiato and I had chocolate chip ice cream to celebrate the events of the day (and Allia turned 7 months old that day too).  What a good day that was!

Change of plans. (day 5)

Well that day did not go as planned...but it worked out just as it should. We got up early for our flight to Harrar and stood in line for a long time at the airport. When we finally got to the ticket counter the guy pointed out our tickets were for December instead of October. The travel agency had made a mistake. Our guide felt terrible. We tried to get standby seats but there were not enough available. Jeremy and I decided we were just as happy to stay in Addis and spend more time with Allia. They offered to get us on a flight later that afternoon, but we declined not wanting to waste any more time at the airport. So instead we drove to the transition home and spent six and a half hours with our daughter. Such a relaxing day! God knew exactly what we needed: just more time with our daughter. Someday we will all take that trip to Harrar together:)

A glimpse of the future. (day 6)

Our driver and guide picked us up at 9:30. We told them we wanted to go somewhere to buy coffee so we stopped by a store on the way to the transition home. We spent the day with our DAUGHTER. Still can’t believe she is ours. We fed her bottles. Changed her diaper. Held her in our arms as she napped. It was a little glimpse of life once we come home together.  Our happy family of three.

Headed home. Or so we thought! (day 7)

That day we soaked her in. Every smile. Every coo. It was incredibly hard to say goodbye. We know that she is in loving and capable hands. But it was just so difficult to leave her once we had held her in our arms. Jeremy prayed over her. I whispered in her ears that we loved her and would be back soon. And then Jeremy handed her back to the nannies because I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it. We both cried in the van on the way back to the hotel.  We left a piece of our hearts in Ethiopia.

So when we got to the airport that night they told us our flight to DC was cancelled due to the hurricane. Honestly we had not been paying much attention to the news and had only heard of the storm that morning at church. After borrowing a cell phone off of a friendly stranger we managed to get  in contact with our driver so he could come back and get us. We drove back to the hotel, explained our situation to the girl at the front desk and sat down to figure out what to do! With the help of our travel agent we purchased tickets for the next night that would bypass the east coast.  We got another day with Allia out of the mess:)

One of our favorite moments with out daughter...