Two Years Today

Two years ago we were added to our adoption agencies waitlist. The best news is we are no longer waiting. Our son is home! It is hard to believe.

Tesfa Edilu We Love You

He is bright eyed.

He smiles often (unlike what we had been told).

He tantrums for 15 minutes before falling asleep.

He drools a lot.

He jabbers.

He follows objects and reaches for them-a big improvement from when we saw him a month ago.

He is beautiful.

He has outgrown the 0-3 months clothes we have for him!

He is over 12 lbs now. Small for his age but he'll catch up soon.

He looks at us intently. I think he wonders when "our shift" will end.

He makes eye contact well.

He is learning to sit up and does great at his tummy time.

He is a joy to have. We are very blessed.

Our SON is home

We arrived home on Saturday, September 4th around 6:30p.m. The flight went better then I expected. More details to come.

Today is THE DAY

We leave for the airport in a few hours. We will spend 2-3 days travelling around Addis and soaking in as much of the country and culture as we can. I want to be able to tell Tesfa that it is not what you see on tv. Yes, it is poor and the people there could use our help but there is so much more to Ethiopia.

The first trip was a huge blessing. We are more aware of what to expect and feel much more comfortable. In a few days we will travel south to Hosanna. There we hope to have the chance to meet his birth mother. We'll keep the details of that conversation private. It is Tesfa's story to tell not ours. I hope that I can convey to her how much he is and will be loved. I hope that brings her some peace.

Then we will see our boy!!!!!!!!! We'll spend the morning with him and then go for lunch. We'll go back a little later and spend some more time with him. And on TUESDAY he will be in our custody. We will go to the US Embassy and get permission to bring him home.

It is an unreal feeling to think he will actually be sleeping in the crib we got for him before he was even born. People tell us how this is the best thing for him but I know it is second best. The best thing for him would be to live in his beautiful country with the woman who gave him life, but that is not possible.

The best that I can do is to love him madly and make sure that he knows she loves him too.

We arrive home the day he turns 5 months old.

And then I saw his face

Meeting our son! This photo was taken 3 days before our court hearing.

Bright Side

Tesfa Edilu will be coming home the first week of September if all goes well. We have an embassy date of August 31st. As with any circumstance in IA it is all tentative. But we are hoping that all the necessary paperwork is in on time and we will get to see our sweet boy (and Bring Him HOME) in a few weeks!!!!!!!!

Saying Goodbye

It's been a week since we saw Tesfa. Saying good bye to him was probably the hardest thing I have ever done. We had a great visit that day. He was alert and responsive more so then the day before. Someone came into the room and said, 'it's time to go'. I couldnt believe my time with him was ending. I hugged him tighter. Looked at this crazy hair some more and touched his soft curls. I told him that we would be back for him as soon as they would let us. I turned my back to everyone else who seemed to be doing much better then I was. I glanced at Joel and saw his eyes getting redder and tearing. I had to look away before I completely lost it.

The nanny had left the room and I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to just set him down and walk out. After a few minutes and lots more tears I set him on the floor. We kissed him good bye. He looked at us and his lip began to quiver. I thought to myself if he cries I won't be able to leave. Just then he smiled at us. It felt like he was saying it was ok, he was going to be ok.

We walked outside where all the soon to be mommies and daddies were crying and hugging each other. It broke my heart to leave him. I can't wait to find out when we can bring him home. We returned from Ethiopia two days ago and I'd give anything to go back, now.