Embassy Appointment - Done!

Well our first night was a success.  Matthew slept all night and woke up happy.  Yes we have another child who is a morning person (for those of you that know me know how funny this is as I am definitely not a morning person).  He is such a happy little boy, really only fussy anad cranky when it is time to eat, and I am pretty sure he would eat anything you give him!  He does not like to go to sleep either, when he is tired he will fight it to the end.  He is so nosy he doesn't want to miss anything.  

This morning we had our Embassy appointment. This was pretty simple and straightforward.  There was a lot of waiting, which all the kids in our group did great while we waited.  Matthew seems to only want to be held, and mostly by me.  I joked about having to hit the gym before we brought him home, I should have taken that joke seriously!  I may lose 10 pounds this trip just holding him.

After the Embassy appointment we went back to the Transition home for a farewell coffee ceremony. This is so fun to experience and I am glad we got to this time.  Here are some pictures of what the coffee ceremony looks like.

The coffee beans are roasted right in front of you and the coffee is made over a small fire.  It tastes so good.  Along with the coffee they serve popcorn.  While we were there we got to say goodbye to the nannies that have taken such great care of Matthew.  These women are truly amazing.  They truly love and care for these kids, which is evident in the way the children light up when they talk with them.  This is one of the hardest parts of this process, leaving the Transition home the final day.  You know that you will most likely not see these nannies again but know they hold a very special part of my heart.  They will always remember each of these children, which was proven when we brought Daniel back last trip.  You can see the love in some of these pictures:

After the party we went to Amsterdam for lunch.  This was a favorite last time, great food in a open out door restaurant.  Next up was shopping.  We went to a new place this time to shop, it was nice that there wasn't a ton of people and no street kids surrounding you as you tried to look.  The strangest thing was there were 3 men in 3 different parts of the store laying on mats sleeping.  We didn't see them until we almost stepped on them.  We were told they were in a season of fasting so they were sleeping.  It was interesting to say the least!

When we came back we were all beat and decided it best to take naps.  We almost slept through dinner.  With all the running around we did today Matthew did great.  We found out that he is extremely ticklish on his hip bones and has a great belly laugh.  He loves music and loves to dance, does well in car rides and can sleep just about anywhere (but not without a fight). He also loves bread and pasta just like Daniel.  

Tomorrow we have a free day and we are going to go to Kaldi's (Starbucks of Ethiopia).  Since I am a complete Starbucks addict I can't wait!  

Coffee Tour

After court today we all went to Robera's and took a coffee tour.  Mark and I had done this tour 5 years ago when we picked Daniel up.  It was fun to go back and see how things have changed and evolved.  This time we heard from the owners son, who the coffee house is named after, Robera.  It was fun to listen to his dreams to not only grow the coffee business but also help support his workers. Daniel seemed to take it all in as he was talking.  He will randomly mention some kind of fact about the coffee.  This is Daniel with Robera after the tour:

They have a system that no part of the coffee bean goes to waste.  It is so fascinating and they make great coffee (we may have bought about 30 pounds to bring home).  They roast all the beans on this one machine.

Here are a few more pictures from the tour.  We can't wait to stock up on some more when we return to bring Matthew home.

Meetcha Day - Matthew

Today was a very long day!  We arrived in Ethiopia at 7:30. By the time we got out of the airport (was pretty sure for about 45 minutes they lost one of our bags) and to the Guest House it was 9:30.  Our guide asked if we wanted to go to church, which was one of our favorite moments of coming to get Daniel in 2010, but we opted to settle in, take showers and put Daniel down for a much needed nap.  Unfortunately, after I took a shower I fell asleep and woke up at 11:55 which they were coming to get us for lunch at 12, so we hurried to pack our bag for today and get ready.  We meet up with 4 other families and had lunch (really good hamburgers) before heading to meet Matthew. We were the only family who wasn’t here yesterday so we were the only ones who still had to meet our child. 

They brought him down those steps and all the exhaustion of 2 days of travelling and not sleeping since Thursday night melted away.  He is sooooo cute and big.  He is adorable even more so than his pictures.  He is so even tempered and didn’t cry at all.  It did take awhile to get a smile out of him though.  Good news too, he liked the cars Daniel brought for him (Daniel was worried what we would do if he didn’t like cars) and he loves any kind of ball.  He looks like he would make a good football player!  He is a nosy rosy and kept looking everywhere and anywhere there was some action happening, even when he was trying to eat.  Matthew loves Daniel, he would smile and laugh when he saw him and when Daniel wasn’t near Matthew kept looking around trying to find him, Daniel thinks it is cute now we will see in 5 years or so! I can't wait to share pictures we got so many cute ones of the boys but I can't share until we pass court on Tuesday (praying we will pass so I can share).

Here are Daniels thoughts on meeting Matthew (word for word no editing):

It was fun and cool. I liked that I got to see my brother and that I liked when I got to see my brother play with my cars.  I was excited to meet my baby brother.  It felt good to go back to the Transition home where I stayed before my mom and dad came and got me.  I was surprised that Matthew got a lot bigger. I was happy to see Matthew.  I am sad that Matthew didn’t get to leave with us today. I am excited I get to see him tomorrow though. 

One cool thing about today was Daniel got to go back to the Transition Home where he spent the first year of his life.  So many of the nannies remembered him and he even got this picture taken with the nanny he bonded to 5 years ago.  

She recognized him instantly.  They were all so excited to see him and he ate all the attention up.  Our driver even remembers driving us around when were were here for Daniel.  It is cool for him to realize where he came from.  On our way in from the airport I asked him what he thought about Ethiopia he said “What this is my country”.  I am so glad he got to come and experience it for himself and be involved in this process.  He loved playing at the Transition home with the other boys, playing soccer and football and jumping rope.  It is definitely an eye opening experience for Daniel and one that hopefully will stay with him forever. 

Tonight we ordered dinner in and are going to watch a movie and hit the bed early!  We are all so exhausted Mark fell asleep eating lunch!  Tomorrow we spend more time at the Transition home bright and early which I can’t wait for, I couldn’t even take Matthew back to the nannies Mark had to.  It was so hard to leave him but helpful to know the same nannies who took care of Daniel are the ones that are there with Matthew.  

Update on Ethiopia - Fasting and Prayer

Last week our agency had a conference call to update all of us on the current "scare" of Ethiopia shutting down International adoptions.  While the agency feels strongly that a shut down won't necessarily happen there will be some kind of reform.  What that looks like at this time no one really knows.  We do know that by January 13th, next Monday we should have some answers on what is happening.  Here is a blog post from our agency - they are doing a 3 day fast in prayer for the outcome of this decision in Ethiopia:

http://adoptedbydesign.typepad.com/blog/

Please join all of us as we wait and pray.  On my way into work this morning I was listening to my Sidewalk Prophets CD and the song Help Me Find It came on.  Here are the lyrics, it really hit home today:

I don’t know where to go from here
It all used to seem so clear
I’m finding I can’t do this on my own

I don’t know where to go from here
As long as I know that You are near
I’m done fighting
I’m finally letting go

I will trust in You
You’ve never failed before
I will trust in You

[Chorus:]
If there’s a road I should walk
Help me find it
If I need to be still
Give me peace for the moment
Whatever Your will
Whatever Your will
Can you help me find it
Can you help me find it

I’m giving You fear and You give faith
I giving you doubt
You give me grace
For every step I’ve never been alone

Even when it hurts, You’ll have Your way
Even in the valley I will say
With every breath
You’ve never let me go

I will wait for You
You’ve never failed before
I will wait for You

[Chorus]

I lift my empty hands (come fill me up again)
Have Your way my King (I give my all to You)
I lift my eyes again (Was blind but now I see)
‘Cause You are all I need
[Chorus]

 The lyrics to this song are a perfect reminder as we sit and wait that God is in control.  We need to turn to him and let him Help us find peace in his will.  He can move this mountains we just have to pray, trust and wait.  Will you please join us in praying and fasting on January 9th - 11th?

Praying our baby boy home.  Hopefully 2014 will be the year.