under one roof

As I sit here and contemplate how much different my life is than I ever imagined it to be - I am grateful to be able to say that my whole family is under one roof tonight. (Well except Kathleen - but since she is married and has her own roof now that is to be expected) The guys made it home on time and we had quite the reunion at the airport. Estifanos is soooo quiet - though I imagine that will change in a few days, and he is way tinier than I remembered. Tonight I am thankful for the easy way that kids of all ages fit together - it sure makes the beginning of family easier. I am grateful that injera comes in the mail and that I know how to make shiro. I am grateful for air travel and how it has played such a big part in the making of our family. I am grateful for a full fridge and clean water and medicine and how that is going to make a difference in our kids lives.

But most of all I am thankful for my savior - who died that I might be adopted and then changed my life beyond all imagining. There have been hard days behind us and there will be hard days ahead of us - but I can do all things through Christ who strengths me, and tonight I am just enjoying having all my little chicks under one roof. Thanks be to God.

In the air

happily the guys are in the air on thier way home!! They boarded the 2nd of 3 flights last night and should hopefully be sleeping in the air right now as the plane speeds towards LA. They got through the embassy quickly on Wed. and then had a chance to visit with Estifanos' uncle. The farewell party was on Thurs and Friday was packing up and getting ready to head home.

We can't wait to have our whole family home!!!

Tuesday in Ethiopia

Scott arrived in ET on Monday midday and happily for me was able to do the shopping that I wasn't!! Gotta love a man who will shop - and bargain too! He was able to go get Estifanos on Monday late afternoon. When he arrived at AHOPE the children had just returned from school - Estifanos very shyly said hi and then ran off to wash his face and change his shirt. Then they hung out for a few minutes before heading to the guest house for dinner. Things seem to be going really well for them - Estifanos was running a fever last night and seems congested so if you all would pray for him to get better quickly as traveling with a cold is never fun. Continued prayers for Estifanos as he embarks on this journey to become a Grover - that his heart would be encouraged and that he would draw close to Scott. Please pray that everything is in order for the embassy appt on Wed - it should be, but prayer always helps!!!

On the home front we are all doing well - very glad that Nana arrived to help out. We somewhat foolishly went to the zoo today with all of Colorado Springs - oy! The boys couldn't even find a place to park thier car after driving around the parking lot for 30 minutes they gave up and went home. Then I managed to set our grill on fire trying to heat it up to cook dinner - even had to get out the fire extinguisher... always exciting at our house!!

On his way....

This morning Scott left for Ethiopia - it is finally time for Estifanos to come home and our family to be complete.

Please join our family in praying for an easy journey with good connections for Scott and for the blessing of Estifanos bonding quickly to him!

Keep checking in to see what happens along the way.

And for those of you wondering - the girls are all a mess crying and carrying on about his departure.

rough day

Suffice it to say that being up half the night mixed with sedation for the dentist appointment this morning has made for a very difficult day. Mix that in with her not sleeping the night for a week - thus my not sleeping.... and I am tired.

Just yesterday I reminded a dear friend that attachment was a marathon not a sprint. Today was like running a few miles barefoot over broken glass - ick. Hopefully tomorrow will be more like running downhill in the sunshine.

Last nights heartbreak

Soooooo last night our social worker came for a post placement visit. Which we didn't consider to be a big deal at all, so we didn't talk to Alemtsehay about it before hand. After all our social worker seems to be more like a friend and we didn't think Alem would even give any attention to her.

So she arrives and askes her questions and makes some notes, takes her pictures and leaves. For the most part Alem just ignores her - which is her coping stragety for strangers - so that is fine. She answers questions when asked and cuddles on my lap most of the time. Our SW leaves and it is obvious something is way wrong. Alem is verging on a meltdown the rest of the night.... finally when she is getting her PJ's on and crying about it , it all comes pouring out. Apparently after her parents died she went to her aunt's house and then one night an italian lady comes and askes her some questions, takes a few pictures and then the next day she goes to KM. UUGGHHH!! she never knew what was coming, and of course she thought it was happening all over again. Which just goes to show how far we have come and how far we have to go. Happily I was able to reassure her that she was my girl and not going anywhere - which I don't think she totally believed until this morning when everything was the same. And how far we have to go until she knows we are forever....

dental surprises

Oh how I hate the dentist.

When we first took Alemtsehay to the doctor they said be sure and see a dentist right away. gulp - knew that was a bad sign.
Our regular dentist said - you need and oral surgeon. The oral surgeon said - you really need a pediatric dentist.
I said - our dental insurance isn't that great.
Finally saw the pediatric dentist today - she was lovely. We need another appointment next week after they talk to our insurance company. Hopefully our insurance will cover half of it - which will max her benefits this year, but limit our out of pocket.

Who knew how much it costs to have broken teeth taken out - let me tell you it isn't free, but it wasn't as bad as some of the stories I have heard.

the easy and the hard

With older child adoption you really don't have any idea what will be easy or hard - I've read and read and somethings still surprised me.

The easy:
School - she loves school, and while getting her up in the morning is a challenge school is not.
Food - we really thought there would be food issues and there are surprisingly few of them. She is picky - but compared to our other picky eater not so much.
Siblings - we expected some trouble as she settled in between the girls - but it is going surprisingly well. Becca has some trouble - mostly because Alem doesn't share like Emma does.

The hard:
Bedtime - now our bedtime issues aren't too bad - mostly just drama (which our other girls give us too) but by 8pm I am done and I want everyone to stay in bed...which right now isn't happening.
Stores - take my advice folks do not take you newly home older child to a store - even the grocery store- if you don't intend on purchasing them something. Do you realize how much crap is for sale at the grocery???
Tantrums - now this could also be in the easy catagory since she has relatively few and so far one one that I would count as hard - but it was hard....then it led into grief which is necessary but oh so hard to watch her go through.

If you are considering older child adoption and have questions - drop me a comment and I'll be happy to email you back.

travel confirmation

Well we finally got travel confirmation - now the challenge is actually getting out of the Springs since our travel lines up with spring break.... honestly not the drama I need.