Ethiopia day 5

Wednesday
Oh how great it has been to have Stella with us. She has adjusted really well and is doing great with both mom and dad. We did not have a lot planned today-mostly at the guest house, everyone just learning to be a family with their new kids. We went to the orphanage after lunch to have our meeting with the doc. We went first and it went well. The doctor seemed to be quite happy/impressed that Tizibit was doing so well and she also knew her new name, Stella and would respond to it. The doc said she had clinical pneumonia at one time but that was it other than the cold. She said that Stella likes to be held close to the chest and we had figured that out already. There wasn't much more to be said. She was really encouraging to us as her new parents and that we could switch things up, as far as her schedule, and do what we wanted. Then we went over to the shopping area to buy some gifts. That was great to see all that was there and help support the women. The drivers came around 5:30 to take us back to the guest house. By this time i was really not feeling well as all the driving and food was just making me nauseous. We think they forgot about our dinner it didn't show until almost 7:30. I was still feeling really sick so fed Stella then ate a power bar and we both went to bed around 8. i was so tired that i didn't even hear Andy come in at 8:30. Stella slept until 10:30 Andy got up with her but she was hungry so i made a bottle and fed her. She then slept until 5:30! As did I. What a great night of sleep we had.

Ethiopia day 4

Tuesday
Today we decided that it was time for Stella to join us and stay with us. When picking her up from the orphanage she is usually lethargic, i think that's her way of coping, today she got out of that state really quickly as we picked her up and then went back to the guest house. She loves being with daddy. He's so good at making her smile. He was sure to make the same noise each time he sees her so she will recognize him-it's totally working. Right now it's hard as we are staying at the guest house but then having to go back and forth to the hotel for lunch and dinner. It seems we are always on the move. Stella is doing great and seems to be enjoying her new mommy and daddy. She is eating and drinking really well. When it's time for nap or bed she really does best if you just lay her down. We put her to bed around 8 and she slept until10:30 and wanted a bottle. She woke up again a couple of times. If she were in her own room she would be fine but since we are all together i try to get her up before she gates to loud. At 5:45 she had her first huge blow out!!! It was all up her back, needless to say she was up for a while after that but finally went back to sleep. I of course did not go back to sleep. i think we finally woke her up around 8:30 so we could get the morning started.

Ethiopia day 3

So today we had our breakfast around 8 and then went to Sinayue's office to finish up our paperwork. Got to the kids around 10:45. Stella was doing great, we decided it was time to take her with us, and the others did the same. We grabbed them up and loaded into the cars. It was almost time for lunch so we headed to the hotel to eat. Stella was awesome! She fell asleep in the car ride and had a great nap, about 45 minutes. She woke up and had some "pourage". She did great eating from Andy and I-we switched 1/2 way so we too could eat. After lunch we all headed back to the guest house for some naps and rest. i laid down with Stella for a while and just enjoyed being with her but she wasn't sleeping so we got up and walked for a bit and then i finally just laid her in the crib to let her fall asleep on her own and she did. Right now I'm waiting for her to wake so i can give her a bottle, it's 4:00. then at 5 we will take her back to the orphanage, i think Andy and I need one more good nights sleep before bringing her home with us. Plus we want her to sleep well to o. We did find out that we will meet with the Doctor on Wednesday at 2:30.

Ethiopia day 2

Today we woke up had breakfast met the other families and were off to meet our babies. There were 4 families staying at the guest house. Us, the George's, a family from Minnesota Sarah and Phil (who were getting 2 babies) and a family from Maryland Josh and Maureen (who were also getting 2 babies). They were each great people and we instantly had connections with each family. It was a nervous ride to the orphanage. We were just so full of emotion. When we arrived at the orphanage they asked each of us the kids' names and they went to get them ready. All 6 babies came out at once. It was so great seeing Stella for the first time. Hearing them call out Tizibit (pronounced Tizipt) and me receiving her as her mom! I was overcome with joy! She is so beautiful and tiny and just perfect in every way. Out of the 4 couple Stella was the oldest baby so she was a little more nervous than the other kids. She cried and whimpered a little bit but over all i thought she did really well. i held her first while Andy was videoing the first time meeting. She went to Andy really well, still whimpered but nothing to bad. We arrived there at 9:30 and was able to stay until about 11:30. it was a little weird you are finally holding your child for the first time and then they just come and take them back. I didn't know quite how to feel. i do know our hearts were so full. I understand that they do that so they can feed them and put them down for nap, there is just no communication as the nannies didn't speak much English, if any. So we were going to come back at 3:30 so we were good for the time being. We were now on our way to the new hotel that Toukoul just bought. That's where we would eat lunch and dinner. We met Megan who had adopted a little 10 month old boy and had been in Ethiopia for 2 weeks already. It was good to talk with her and hear her thoughts. Wendy is the chef, and such a good one. He did a fantastic job. We were so happy with our first meal. Lunch seemed to be the big meal of the day. It's always served in 3 courses, salad first then the meal then fruit/dessert. After eating we were able to walk to a nearby market to buy some diapers, our luggage was to full to bring a lot. $15 for 40 diapers but we needed them so we bought them. It was great to walk outside, the weather would float between 65-70 degrees, their winter! Light jacket weather. After our walk it was time to head back to the orphanage, another surprise to us we would get to see the babies twice today! How wonderful it was to see them all again. Stella did much better this time and by the end she was laughing and playing great with us. We again stayed about 2 hours. Stella did this sort of leaning thing with her head that seemed to be her way of coping with what was going on. i was so glad we were able to recognize what was going on. It was great to see the babies for a second time today. The have a living room style room set up for the families to visit the kids in. It was great to sit around and see all these new families sitting and playing together. Next we were off to the hotel again for dinner. After dinner we went back to the guest house. Tonight we decided to switch rooms with Phil and Sarah, our room had 2 cribs in it and theirs only had 1 so it was better for them. however Phil was a big guy, at least 6'4/6'5 so i felt bad giving him those tiny beds. But it did come with their own bathroom, where as in the house we shared a bathroom with Mike and Laura which was fine. Andy went back to the airport to get our luggage-it was delayed. They got back around 10:30 and off to bed we went. I thought I would sleep really great seeing how the night before I didn't get much at all but it rained all night long, no not rain, DOWN POUR is more like it, very loud. I did sleep but it was definitely off and on.

Ethiopia day 1

Hi all, I thought I would take some time and share my thoughts about Ethiopia, actually while we were there I kept a daily journal so I will just copy what I wrote at the time. Sorry no pics yet, they will come eventually.

We arrived late Saturday evening-by the time we got to the guest house it was 11:30 and of course they had dinner ready for us. We didn't get to bed until about 12:30. Sintayeu our lawyer was there to pick us up at the airport, it was great to see a face we already knew. When we got back to the house he gave us the best news of all, we would have breakfast and then the cars would pick us up to see our kids! We were all so excited as we were told we most likely would not get to see them seeing how it was Sunday. So needless to say even though I was totally exhausted I did not sleep much at all that first night. Not to mention we were put in a room with two "twin" size beds. I say "twin" because my feet hung off about a foot. The flights there were not bad. We almost didn't make it on our second flight. We were not booked all the way through and did not know to check in a head of time. At the very last minute they squeezed us on the plane. Needless to say our luggage did not make it on. It should be joining us late tomorrow evening.

1 week 1 day

Okay so we are down to 1 week 1 day before we take off to get our baby girl, can you believe that, I'm having a hard time believing it. It seems there's so much to do and it just doesn't seem like there's enough time. Let's see it's only 8:15 and I've already cleaned the bathroom including the shower. I'm sure everything will get done that "needs" to get done. On top of that we received yet another packet of paperwork to fill out i looked at it and put it away. It looks so confusing am I suppose to put my name, Stella's name ugh! We have a conference call today with the agency to get it figured out but really I'm ready to be done with the paperwork. I know there will be some when we get back but we will have Stella and then i can do it but seriously now, no thank you, I could totally do without. On top of that we are purchasing another route with FedEx, which is totally a God thing and we are so blessed to be doing but I'm just not sure it will be finalized before we go, prayers are appreciated!!! The boys are doing great, having fun counting down the days until mom and dad leave to get baby sister. We have been trying to spend lots of time with them, just blessing them and surprising them. I sat Ezekiel down to talk with him and asked if he's been enjoying all the surprises and he replied yes of course. then i went on the explain that when baby sister gets here things may be a little different for a while just trying to get her adjusted and he got all serious and said "mom are we not going to do surprises with baby sister" i thought that was so cute, he wanted her to get surprises too. i explained that yes we would but it may be a while. Needless to say that night Andy and i sat down and looked at the calendar to plan a weekend away with the kids before school starts. Well the kids are starting to wake up, that will be it for now.
Laugh today!

We passed!

Today is June 5, 2009 and we got the call at 9:25 that we passed court! Stella Jean Tizibit Adams is officially ours! We have an embassy date of July 9th so hopefully we will be leaving the Sunday before, we will work on getting tickets soon, through a travel agency. We are so blessed to be able to call her our daughter. How awesome that God chose her for our family, it was meant to be. I can finally put a picture of her on here as she is legally ours!!!
I will let you know when we get our dates for traveling for sure. Thanks to all for the many prayers that have gone out on our behalf. We truly have to greatest friends in the world!!!