I finally have pictures from the day we returned home with Mae! It was almost two months ago, and it already seems like forever ago. When I look at these pictures, I see intense joy in our faces, except for poor Mae, who looks confused and exhausted. She was such a trooper during travel. After our first experience bringing home baby Yabi, this time was a dream. (Yabi did not do so well on the flight, and we were both confused and scared New Parents, so it was not our favorite part of the trip.)
Coming home this time was so amazing because we missed our Yabi so much. Seeing him run and fly into his dad's arms was one of the best moments ever.
I remember just searching for Yabi here - I could not wait to see him.
Best Hug Ever
I love Dad's face in this picture. Pure joy. (And that's Yabi behind theflowers :)
I love this because that is exactly how I remember this moment - everything around us was a blur, and in the center of it all- sweet baby girl.
I have been having a hard time with the "How old is she?" question that strangers invariably ask us. I would generally give them a blank stare and then stammer, "Um... 6 months? 7?" I often received strange looks after that very confident *snort* answer.
Sweet Lia Makbe. Her referral papers said her birthday is 8.07, which would make her almost a year old. Uh, non. We had to work with the doctor to pick a new birth-date, and friends, that is not easy. I had (still have) anxiety about it - what if we pick wrong? Will she hate her birthday and blame us? Is it too close to Christmas? Ack!
In the end, we went with the doctor's advice and have chosen January 7th, 2010 for Lia's birthday. (It is also Ethiopian Christmas, so that's fun.) That makes her about 6.5 months old. She may be older, but maybe not. I mean, this was one of her referral pictures, taken in February 2010 after being in care for about a month -
Lia's Mini-Me picture. "You complete me."
She looks pretty tiny to me - and I know Ethiopian babies are tiny, but even her features look pretty new - she has changed so much! Let's do an After shot, shall we?
The only way I know it's the same baby is her cute little nose. And please, note the rolls. OH I LOVE HER ROLLS!!
So, that mystery is solved. Mystery #2 - Naps. How to get my sweet baby girl to nap? I think I've figured a bit of that out - I have to hold off the morning catnaps. This means actually leaving the house. She is so alert while we are out that she will only fall asleep if truly exhausted. So, we've been on a few field trips this week to try and change her schedule around.
Naps were not a problem in Ethiopia
Formula. Dear Lawsie. This is a tough one. We've finally ended up at soy, but I'm still not convinced she needs to be on soy formula. And, apparently there is an issue with the safety of soy products now (according to my very smart sister :).... So, yeah. It's still mostly an unsolved mystery. I'm thinking of trying one more thing, but we'll see.
In other news, Micah is just in love with Lia. He is settling in (FINALLY) and I am settling in to being a mom of two. Oh, but that's a whole other post! In the meantime, here's a cute shot from the airport. Lia is sporting a welcome-home gift from her Momo (her cutie, but non-matching headband) and I am sporting the "I just flew on a plane FOREVAH" look along with my ergo apron. Fancy, yes?
I have so much to share, but as I'm sure you're all aware - I'm exhausted. So... pictures. Hopefully I will have the brain power for an actual post later this week...
So.... it's almost time to leave for the airport! 8 hours (as my countdown-obsessed husband just informed me) until we leave the house. Bad news - poor little M is sickly. He has a cough that is "owie." It's hard enough to leave him, but this... ah, it just makes it all the more difficult. But, here are a few things that he'll have to keep him busy:
*Momo & Papa taking him to the Lake to drive boats and tractors *A paper chain to help him know when we're coming home *4 different times to play with his BFFs while we're gone *Starting summer school (yes, he loves school) *A surprise every day from Mom & Dad - he will get to open a small gift from us each day. That was fun to prepare!
I'm probably more worried about Kevin and I missing him so much. :) But not really. I'm more worried about him, even though I know he'll have a great time.
And, in case you were worried, the dogs will also be well taken care of! Aunt Mary and her friends will be spending the week here at the house with Pickle & Ham. I'm worried about Pickle too though... Ham will be fine. In case you were wondering. :)
Okay, that's all I have time for! Thank you ALL for supporting us on this amazing journey to Baby Girl!!! It's been almost two years to the day (Father's Day 2008) since we made the decision to start again. And here we are!!
I just spent the last hour downloading all of these wonderful pictures from Sharon (our CHI Ethiopia Program Director). She sent them a while ago, but it took forever to download them so I just now got to it. Anyway, I have never posted pictures of the MOMENT. The moment we first laid eyes on our son... the moment that it all began to be real. So, without further ado..
Micah sleeping in Ethiopia - before we arrived
We made it! Coming through the airport in Ethiopia. We were so excited, tired, anxious, tired, wide awake - all of it.
Tsegay (our in-country rep) and his wife Almaz with Kevin & I at the airport.
This is it - the first time Micah & I ever saw each other. I can't even begin to describe the emotions of this moment. I wanted to cry and laugh all at once.
My first time holding our son. Happiness.
My first kiss for Micah.
Happy Mom & Dad
So, I finally let Dad hold his son. He was so proud.
Such a great moment - when Micah looked up at his Dad for the first time.
It has almost been three months since we've been home. Seeing these pictures brings it all back - it reminds me of this little miracle that is our son. Our little miracle who is currently fast asleep after a busy day of teething, rolling, playing, laughing and crying a bit (teething hurts!). I am constantly in awe of him - the way he likes to fall asleep in my arms with his arm stretched out so he can touch me, the way he flaps his arms and kicks his legs when he likes something, his big, goofy grin (now with the addition of one cute little tooth!), and his sweet sleeping face (with that blue bear from the pictures right along side him still). We are so, so blessed.
I thought I'd write about this as a highlight in a list, but it is weighing on me, so I figured I'd write about it now...The day we went to the orphanage, we fully expected to meet Micah Yabsira's birth mom. She had agreed to meet us and we were nervous and apprehensive, but also very curious and excited that we would have this experience to share with him later. Unfortunately, his birthmom did not make it. We were told that she had to work, but we both feel that wasn't it - we both feel that it was just too hard for her. We learned that she came to visit her son every day at the orphanage until he moved to the House of Hope. Every day. Knowing that, we know there is no way that she missed seeing him again because of work. We both felt separately that she may have been on the street, watching us as we went into the orphanage. That is probably our fantasy, but we both felt it very strongly. I am incredibly sad that we did not get to meet her. Not for us, obviously, but for Micah. The things we hoped to learn from her, and the pictures we hoped to have for him to see have all been lost. We completely honor her decision not to be there - I cannot imagine the difficulty of that moment for her - but I still grieve the missed opportunity. It is especially hard reading of other families who have met birthmoms - I feel envious when I know I shouldn't. (I also feel very happy for them - I'm just being honest here.)
One wonderful thing about that day at the orphanage is that we were able to see where Micah Y. spent much of his time before coming to the HOH. We saw his crib...
We met the amazing woman who is the orphanage director and the nannies who loved Yabsira so much. When they heard he was there they all yelled out his name and came running to hold him. There is no doubt in our hearts that he was LOVED while he was there.
As we were leaving I started to cry and the orphanage director (I don't know how to spell her name or else I would use it) told me not to cry. I told her they were happy tears (although in truth mixed with sadness) and she came over and hugged me and kissed Micah Yabsira goodbye. It was an amazing, and very emotional day that we will carry in our hearts forever.
Okay, here we go... We arrived in Addis around 7 p.m. last Sunday (right on time) and were both very excited and nervous. First we got in the wrong line for a visa, but we ended up okay. Tsegay (our awesome in-country rep) and his wife Almas, along with Sharon (the CHI Ethiopia program director) met us at the airport. Almas was wearing a traditional dress and had flowers for me - so sweet. Sharon asked us if we would like to meet Yabsira that night - OF COURSE!!!
We pulled up to the House of Hope- put our luggage in our room and then walked down the outdoor hall to the baby & toddler room. I walked in first and saw these huge brown eyes looking right at me. I grabbed Kevin's arm. Micah Yabsira came right to me and just kept looking around with those big eyes. I handed him to Kevin and we were laughing and crying all together. We took him to our room and suddenly there were people rolling a crib into the bedroom and someone handed me a bottle and I fed him. He was so sweet. We also took some pictures and video (which we can't upload yet - still working on that). It was a surreal moment - especially after such a long flight, but I remember feeling such peace looking in those eyes. Everyone else seemed to disappear but the three of us.
He slept in our room that night and woke up twice for a bottle then woke up for the day at a bright and early 5:30 a.m. I had no idea what I was doing - but I just went on instinct and it seemed to work out. Monday was pretty chilly and the women all kept insisting that I keep him bundled up with his head covered. I learned that he does not like the blanket on his head so I put him in the only hat I had brought (it didn't match at all, but I quickly learned to not worry about him being in the perfect outfit all the time - it just wasn't going to happen in Ethiopia!) and wrapped him in two quilts. He also does not like his arms to be wrapped up - as you can see.
I'll post more about the trip later - I don't have a day-by-day account, but there are a few highlights.
And, a note from the homefront- lately he has been wanting to go to bed at 5 pm and then wake up for the day at 4 am. Last night he tried to go to sleep again, but we woke him up for a bath and then put him down for the night at 8:45 p.m. He slept until 1:30 a.m. - had a bottle, went back to sleep and then woke up at 4:21 a.m. I thought for sure he was up, but I tried to lay him back down anyway. Guess what? It worked!! He slept until 6:45 a.m!!! Big deal around here.
Grandma D. is also in town to help - and she has done all of our laundry, made us dinner and gone shopping. Aren't Grandmas great? His other G'mas are out in Oregon for my sister's wedding, which, so sadly, I am missing. I really wish I was there for her (my sister) today - it's hard not to be, but I know Micah (and Kevin & I) really needed to stay home and adjust. (Not to mention Kevin and I would have lied on the floor and cried if we had to get on another long flight with the baby - the flight home was not so much fun... more on that later!)
We are home - safe & sound!! I cannot lie - we are so happy to be home! We loved Ethiopia, but we are both ready to start getting used to Micah Yabsira here at home and getting his schedule going. Not to mention that the flight was VERY long with a teething baby... more on that later :)
There is a slideshow of our homecoming at the CHI blog - our social worker Erin and Jennifer from CHI came to help welcome us home and the pics are up already! :) (Oh - in case you haven't heard- we had to postpone our departure from Saturday to Sunday b/c Kevin got very SICK! We even went to the clinic in Addis! Crazy stuff - again more later!)
Okay - I'm tired. I need to wake up Micah (so he's not up all night) and we're going for a family walk - something about re-setting our internal clocks by being out in the daylight. Glad to be home!!
Okay - I think I have FINALLY figured out how to show off some pictures! Try the following link: http://picasaweb.google.com/KevinandStacie - there should be two web albums to view. The first one has the first pics of mom and dad (that's us :) with Micah Yabsira (please note that these were after 25 hours of travel!) and one that I just think is cute. The second album is of Micah- some with the nannies from HOH and others from his orphanage and some with his new BFF - Jenni & Jim's son - he and Micah were at the same orphanage and are now at HOH together. They're leaving next week to come and meet him! I hope this works - I am so excited to be posting pictures! YAY!! (I'm sure it is obvious I'm excited about this - I'm not making any sense - oh well!)
I know, two posts in one day- crazy! The thing is, the last time I was on felt like days ago- time moves very slowly here and one day seems like 3. It also takes forever to do one thing - like go to the store. We just keep laughing about "Ethiopian time" and reminding ourselves that TIA (this is Africa :) and we love it.
We are at the Hilton tonight - no worries - nothing wrong at the House of Hope, we just ended up staying the night here. We were going to bring Yabbie (his new nickname) but at the last minute we decided to let the nannies have a last night with him before we go. It is AMAZING how much they love him - they are already crying about us leaving tomorrow. And, it's not only the nannies - the cook Rahel (we love her) and Tsegay's wife Almas (we love her too - we love everyone :) have also been crying. It is going to be very, very hard to take Micah Yabsira away from all of this tomorrow. Even when we went to the orphanage - all of the nannies and the director yelled - Yabsira!! and grabbed him from us to give him kisses and take him around. He is our little superstar. :) I don't know if we'll ever be able to explain to him how much he was loved, but I hope to be able to give him some idea.
We both agree that we will never be the same after this trip. It is not just becoming new parents that is life-changing (although that is HUGE) but it is also this place, the people, the amazing things you see. It has changed us.
Oh, and thanks for the tips on the teethers - another mom with CHI gave me some homeopathic teething gel and that seems to help him, and we're going to run by the Shoa Market tomorrow - I think I remember some teethers there. I will check on the carrot after we get home- great idea! We're flying Ethiopian and we're scheduled for a bassinet- we're arriving early and we're in Cloud 9 so hopefully that will work out! We're hoping he's not hurting too bad.
Well, I miss my little cutie, but I'm going to go to sleep - hopefully through the whole night - knowing that he is in more than capable hands with his nannies. :)
Hello! Still no way to attach pictures around here, so it looks like we'll have to wait until Monday of next week. Just wanted to pop in and say that the embassy appt. went very well and we got Micah's visa today!!
We are having a great time - I wish I had more time to say more but we are rushed today.
I can't wait to get home (although we're going to be sad to leave too). We're scheduled to leave Saturday and get home Sunday afternoon.
Hi everyone - so sorry for the lack of posting, but we are having a terrible time with the internet. Even at the Hilton I cannot access this blog - if you are reading this then Jenni was able to post for me. :)
Micah Yabsira is wonderful. He is a smiley boy! I wish I could post pictures - but that is definitely not working! He is so sweet- all of the nannies LOVE him. He has been in our room since the first night and I would love to report that he sleeps through the night, but he is getting up 2-3 times per night for a bottle. He goes right back to sleep though, so that is a blessing. We're both getting used to getting up - last night we both got up for a 4 a.m. feeding and then watched some BBC television and had tea. (We're still a little off on time - we did go back to sleep!)
Oh - big news - Micah has a new date of birth! We saw his passport yesterday and his DOB was a month earlier than we had originally thought. So, now he is 5 1/2 months old. Well, maybe... in Ethiopia the DOBs are estimated because they do not celebrate them like we do. So - he's around 5 months. :) He is a bit bigger than I thought and I wish I had brought warmer clothes for him - we're constantly layering him with clothes b/c it is chilly here. For those of you coming soon (Jenni) bring lots of hats - the nannies like their heads covered. :)
Okay - that's all for now... We will try again on the pictures later this week. :)
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