Oh, What a Year Brings!!

One year ago today we got that ever coveted phone call. We were blessed with another son. His name was Mesay and he was 5 1/2 months old. I got the call at home and Ben was at a clinic down in Champaign. I promised Ben that I would not look at the pictures that our agency emailed us, but the rest of the day was torture. I was so excited and nervous at the same time. When Ben got home, we quickly gathered around the computer to see what the newest member of our family looked like. When we saw his picture, it was hard not to fall in love with him immediately.

After we received this picture, we waited just short of 6 months to finally have him home. He has been home now for six months, and it is hard to remember life before him. He fits into our family so well and has settled into life in America quickly. He genuinely loves life and is always on the run. Here are a few pictures of this summer.

We look forward to the all the years to come and the joy that he will bring to our lives. Praise God once again for this miracle of adoption!

One Month Later

We can't believe that a month has already passed since we arrived home with our son. The transition has been going smoother than we had even hoped for. He is attaching to both of us and gets mad when we leave the room. It is so fun to see his personality come out more. He is very active and funny. We think he fits great with our other two.

This is about the best family picture we have at this point. Even though Isaiah isn't looking at the camera, I love how he is checking out the other two. Kyler and Macy love their new little brother and are constantly in his face. He is learning to hold his own and will push them out of his way when he has had enough.

Isaiah has taken off now with eating. He no longer shakes his head 'no' and we can hardly keep up with shoving the food into his mouth. What a relief this has been! Since the time we have been home, he has also...

1. got his top two teeth

2. started walking (He took his first steps 5 days after getting home) now there is no stopping him.

3. learned to climb the stairs.

4. started saying several English words - his favorite is "up"

5. learned to clean out all of our lower cabinets.

We are enjoying having a baby in our home again, and he has brought us so much joy. We can't imagine how our life would have been if we didn't answer God call to adopt. God has been so faithful and we feel blessed He chose Isaiah as our son!

March 18th - Day 6

Today was a day of fun and celebration! We went shopping in the morning to buy souvenirs. For lunch we went to our agency's guest home to enjoy a traditional Ethiopian meal and coffee ceremony. It was fun to try all the new foods. The agency director said that the square piece of food at the top left corner of the plate takes six months to make. He said that we probably would not eat it if he told us about the process that it goes through. Thanks, but I would rather not know!

For the coffee ceremony, they start with green coffee beans. They roast them over an open fire and then they grind them with this rod and wooden container. The coffee smell was wonderful.

The coffee had a slight chocolate flavor and it was served with popcorn. We loved sitting around the table with our travel group sipping coffee and chatting. We tried to just soak in all the culture during our last day in Ethiopia. We are going to miss the people here and we will remember our experiences forever!

Here is one last shot of our travel group. We enjoyed spending time with these couples and their children. One of them was from the Chicago area and the other from near New York City. We left Ethiopia at 11:30pm on the 18th. We flew to Frankfurt and then to Chicago. We had a very short layover to rush through immigration and make our connecting flight to Peoria. We barely made it and we were the last three people to board our flight. At 4:00 on the 19th we were warmly welcomed home by our family and friends at the airport. It was good to see Kyler and Macy again, and were we now officially a family of five. We thank God for a wonderful and safe trip, but we thank Him mostly for our third child - Isaiah!

March 17th - Day 5

Today was a day that will be remembered for the rest of our lives. We left early this morning for a day trip to our son's village - Asella. We left Addis Ababa early in the morning and drove south for about four hours. The plan was for us to visit the orphanage that Isaiah was dropped off at and to meet his birth family. The countryside was beautiful and it was hard not to imagine what our son's life would have been like if he stayed in Ethiopia. Where would he live, what would his occupation be, would he live in one of these small round huts? Every village that we came to along the way had people everywhere. And for every person we saw, there was at least one animal...sheep, goats, donkeys, horses, camels, dogs - and none of them were in pens. We made it to the orphanage a little before noon. There were a few small buildings and a small yard. This was the place that Isaiah was taken to at about 3 months of age. We don't know his exact birth date because he was born at home. The nannies and staff were very friendly and welcoming. Soon after we arrived, we were told Isaiah's birth family was not here yet. This was a little disheartening as we were not able to meet anyone during our court date because the family was sick. We were really hoping to have this experience. We wanted to be able to tell our son as he got older about his birth family. We knew that it was going to be a very awkward and uncomfortable meeting, but we couldn't miss the opportunity and always wonder. There was one other couple meeting their birth family today also. So they had their meeting while we visited all the babies and children. There were probably 10 babies there waiting for their paperwork to be processed so they could be referred to a family. They were all so cute! I can only imagine how excited their future parents will be when they see their picture for the first time.

After a short time, our translator came up to us and told us that they went to the place that Isaiah's birth mother last worked as a house maid. She no longer worked there and they did not know where she went. I felt knots in my stomach and tears filled my eyes. The stress of getting to meet her and then just as quickly being told that they couldn't find her was a little overwhelming. There was the fear of meeting her and not knowing what she will think of us. There was the fear of what to say to her and what questions to ask. Then the fear changed to, we will never get to ask these questions and we will never have the opportunity to meet her again.

We left the orphanage and ate lunch at a restaurant in town. Asella is known for its marathon runners and we ate at one of the Olympic runner's restaurants. During the meal we started to come to grips with the whole situation of not meeting the birth family. We knew God had a reason for everything, and we were going to accept His decision. As our van was leaving the village our translator's phone rang and she quickly announced that they found Isaiah's birth mother. Our stomachs flipped, our hearts raced, and a few minutes later we pulled into a little courtyard. Once again, our day did a 180. Before we knew it, we were standing before our son's birth mom. We sat around a table in the courtyard with two translators since she did not speak Amharic. We were able to ask her questions we had on our hearts and she shared willingly with us. It was hard having to go through the translators. They would talk for a minute and then we would get a one sentence answer. We would have loved to know exactly everything she said, but we cherish the information that we did receive. One thing for sure was that she loved Isaiah very much. It was much more emotional for us than we thought it was going to be, but we thank God that we had the opportunity. She gave us each a strong hug. We were able to take pictures with her so we can someday give them to Isaiah, and if he chooses, he can show them to others. We also traced her hand so he can see the hands that first held him and showed him love.

The drive home was much more quiet than our drive there. There was much to think and pray about. We got back to our guest home a little after 7pm. We were drained and went to bed early.

March 16th - Day 4

Today was our US Embassy day!!! The last big hurdle before Isaiah comes home with us. We went to the Embassy with the two other families from our agency. The place was packed and we had to sit outside for a while before we could even get into the indoor waiting room. There were quite a few other adoptive families there, and it was fun to see them with their new children. Even though we didn't know any of them, you oddly still feel some kind of bond with them. We had all been travelling the same challenging road the past couple of years, and the end was in sight!!! When our number was called, we approached the window, answered a few basic questions and then was told a wonderful statement -"Congratulations on your son. He is now a US citizen!!!" I loved hearing it and it brought tears to my eyes. Here's Isaiah getting ready for his bath for the big day! You got to love that he is teething and always has copious amount of drool. When we arrived at our guest home at the beginning of the week, it was just us and one woman with her adoptive child staying here. Here's Isaiah with the other little adopted child. Each day more couples show up and the house is beginning to fill up. In the evenings, we love to just hang out with them all and hear about their adoption experiences and the adventures they had that day in Ethiopia. We were the only one's bringing our child home this trip. Everyone loved meeting Isaiah and it made them excited to return for their second trip. Two of the couples in our house that had court this week passed! It is encouraging to hear that things are still moving forward with Ethiopian adoptions despite all the chaos that is going on right now. We pray that things continue to move forward and more children find there forever homes.

March 15th - Day 3

It is the beginning of the short rainy season in Ethiopia, and it rained most of the day today. Two other families from our agency arrived yesterday and picked up their children. Today, all three families went to the Ethiopian National Museum. It was neat to see a little of Isaiah's culture, but the museum was nothing like what we have here in the states. In the afternoon we went back to the transition home to complete our final paperwork for our Embassy appointment tomorrow. We also handed out pictures to some of the staff at the transition home. We took pictures of them during our first trip and they all asked us to bring copies when we returned. They were so excited and some of them even had tears in their eyes. Having a picture of themselves seems to be a cherished possession.

Isaiah is adjusting well. They only challenge we have is during mealtimes. We loves the formula, but absolutely refuses any of the cereal or baby food we brought. He will take one bite, make a face, and then seals his lips and shakes his head no. Before first bite...

After first bite...

The staff at our guest home love to say hi to him, give him kisses, and make him laugh. He continues to be so happy, but he also is becoming slightly spoiled. He use to just lay him down for bed and he would not make a peep. Then, he started to whine a little bit before going to sleep. Now, he cries unless we rock him first. I guess it's a good sign that he is bonding and attaching with us. I don't mind rocking and holding him anyway:)

March 14th - Day 2

We got up today with anticipation. We packed a diaper bag - something we haven't done for several years. We were picked up by our agency and headed off through the streets of Addis. We silently watched the city pass by through the van windows. There are people and animals everywhere. Working, buying, greeting each other with a hug. Ethiopians are so genuine and caring. We eventually turn down a dirt road. We are familiar with this road as we had travelled it many times seven weeks ago. We come to a large green gate and our driver honks his horn. The gate opens and we enter the transition home - our son's home for the past five plus months. As we get out of the van the older children there come running to say hello and give us hugs. They all call us mommy and daddy. We would love to take them home with us, but know that they have been referred to families already and are just waiting to come home. We wish that waiting was not part of this process, but we know it is inevitable. We went to the room where we first met Isaiah. We were the only family picking up their child today, so we had the room to ourselves. Quite different than the last time we were here, sharing the space with 10 families. It was so quiet and calm. He was quickly brought to the room and he went right to us. He is so happy and social. We spent the rest of the morning at the transition home and then changed him into our clothes and headed back to our guest home. He wasn't so sure about the van ride at first. After lunch we all took a nap. He laid between us in our bed and held both of our hands. That afternoon we just stayed at the guest home and got use to one another. His first night with us he slept 12 hours. He must have known we were exhausted and needed our sleep. Hopefully he will keep it up.