What We've Been Up To (And MILESTONES!)

My Mom, youngest sister, and second youngest sister (I am the oldest of 4 girls) and her husband came to visit for a few days--and left yesterday.  It was so nice to have them here--to meet Beza--and to, you know, enjoy our most awesome company. ;)  My Mom is one lean, mean laundry machine and garbage guru. (Thanks, Mom!:)

Here are a few pictures from the past few days (Thanks, W!).

Uh-huh--that is one spectacular pose, girls!  My look-alike sister plays one mean game of hide-n-go seek--a fan favorite in these parts.

My mom paid them each a quarter to get this pose. ;)  And is it just me, or with that expression would T look really good with a can of spinach?

GrammyKathy and Beza

Also, over the past week and or so, little Beza has been reaching some major milestones.

 Since we've been home, Beza has been growing in her ability to crawl backwards.  A skill that proves excellent for getting stuck under almost all of our furniture (poor girl.)

Though, from the backwards crawling, she has mastered how to go from laying down to sitting all by herself. :)

And then on Monday she took some of her first crawls forward!  She takes just a few at a time--but I'm sure that within a few days she'll be unstoppable.

It's still a bit brisk here, but on Sunday, Beza had her first swing "ride."  

Oh, she loved it!

And she has finally started to eat "solid" foods!  Baby cereal is so not her favorite.  But she seems to like the fruits.  (Unfortunately I don't have any of those classic baby-food-all-over-the-face photos just yet. :)

Right now we're trying to reduce her night-time feedings.  After the first week and a half at home she started waking up almost every 2 hours to eat.  Over the past 2 nights she's woken up a little less and we're trying to give her way less to eat in the middle of the night.  Hoping that soon, just a good snuggle and knowing that we're near will help her go back to sleep. :)

And, that's a lot of what we've been up to. :)

Gotcha Week

Almost 3 Saturdays ago, J and I packed up to bring little Beza home. 

A brief look back at that week...

Saturday: Pack and Go
We had the bulk of the day to focus on packing--you know, figuring out how many bandaids I really needed and where to stuff that extra pillow.  ;)  We gave M and T some last snuggles and kisses and headed out the door.  It was a mad dash from there.  Crazy traffic, hard-to-find parking (involving J getting lost while I waited with our luggage in the terminal), long check-in lines, insanely long check-in (where we unexpectedly had to check our carry-on's), a last minute scurry in the opposite direction to the reception desk for hotel vouchers needed for Dubai (with literally no one left in the check-in line), a run through security and a scramble to get in the line boarding the plane.  Whew!  BUT we did make it!

Sunday: Dubai
We landed on Sunday night in Dubai (after 12 hours), the airport of seemingly a million sky-high dazzling white pillars.  We spent a few hours catching up on sleep (10-hour layover) and eating lots of food with free vouchers.  It was one of those agonizingly long nights where I woke up fully convinced that it was time to leave only to discover I had only been fitfully sleeping for 1 hour.  We could not wait for Monday. :)

(Carrying the soon-to-be-filled baby sling.)

Monday: Gotcha Day

We left Dubai early on Monday for a short little jaunt to Ethiopia (just short of 4 hours). We arrived just after lunch--with enough time to get to the hotel and to freshen up before being reunited with little Beza (Oh, and with NO lines for visas and our luggage being some of the first off of the plane--whoo-hoo!).

And before we knew it, we were hugging Danny, the driver, and heading off for the short drive to Hannah's Hope.  We walked through the familiar gates, into the baby building and were soon greeted by a little face that already looked like "home."  Little Beza.

(Seeing each other for the first time.)

This time there were no tears.  She seemed so content.  (I thought I would be a blubbery mess, but it was just a sweet, amazing afternoon.)  After a bath and a change of clothes, we all left--sweet girl will never have to spend another night without a family.

(Leaving that afternoon.)

Tuesday: Full and Final
After a great night of sleep (Beza woke up a few times to eat, but went right back to sleep), and a relaxing morning at the hotel, we headed off to the U.S. Embassy for the last step in this part of the adoption process.  After waiting in chairs in a room that looks like, say, the DMV or any passport office, we walked up to a little window, answered a few questions and then heard the words, "Your adoption is now full and final."  Wow...  Those were big words...  Amazing... :)


Wednesday: Please, NO! and Chillin'
Right before going to bed my eye started to feel a little icky.  Oh, please, no!--I just kept hoping that it was because my contacts had been in for a long time.  But then in the middle of the night I woke up with my eye crusted shut.  Yuck.  My mind started running through all of the possible scenarios--1.) worsening pink eye all week with no help,  2.) trying to get some drops from Hannah's Hope but feeling horribly guilty about taking their goods, 3.) standing in a long line at an international clinic with a baby, and 4.) kicking myself for not bringing extra drops that I had at home.

Quite thankfully, by the morning it wasn't too bad.  Even more thankfully, I mentioned it to another traveling family and do you know what?  They had awesome drops that they had brought with them preventatively and I was able to use them all week.  How cool is that?!  Seriously, so, so thankful for those drops!

For the rest of the week I sported by new glasses (I got them just 2 days before we left). Because the only very rare times that I wear my glasses are when I take out my contacts early at night, wearing glasses makes me feel like I'm not quite ready for the day and I kind-of don't look like myself. :)  But, I could see. :)

(Nice and big. ;)

During the day, while we were waiting for the last of Beza's paperwork to arrive (her passport and files needed to enter the U.S.), we were able to go back to Hannah's Hope each day to hang out with the little ones there.

Thursday: More Chillin'
We spent more time at Hannah's Hope taking photos of the little ones there to send to their waiting families--we were so grateful for those photos while we were waiting for Beza--thankful to see her face, to have them to mark the times that we were missing with her, to be able to show her someday and to be able to share with her birthfamily.  It was such a privilege to be able to meet all of the beautiful babies and toddlers there.

Friday: Still Chillin', Coffee and Going HOME
We started each morning by giving Beza a bath in the sink.  She was just the right size.  A bit slippery, but with two people it totally worked. :)   Unfortunately, we forgot to pack hair products for her curls, so she rocked a fuzzy head for most of the week.

But on the last day, as we were packing a few more things into the donation bins, we finally found some baby oil--what they use at Hannah's Hope.  We were so completely out of our league on this one and I'm not quite sure why, but J actually took a large handful, and *phwack!,* glopped the whole blob right on top of her head. We looked at each other in stunned silence.  Oh, no--what do we do with this mess?  J wiped out a bunch of it with a tissue and the rest just kind of rubbed into her little curls and disappeared.  Phew! :)

We spent a few last hours at Hannah's Hope.  And then we had to say goodbye.  That was hard.  Each day Beza was able to spend a bit of time with her "special mothers" and, again, we could see how much she loves them and how much they love her.  We have no words to express our thankfulness to them for loving her so well... 

After a tearful goodbye, we went to Kaldi's (much like Starbucks) for lunch.

Then, once again, we found ourselves in another mad dash to get to the airport. :)  No worries, though, we got there in plenty of time with zero lines.

(Waiting at the airport.)

Beza is an ace flyer!  Girl slept the whole way to Dubai, kept us entertained a bit in the airport lounge, and then finally finished her night of sleeping on the lounge couch (7-hour layover).

International travels are definitely a great way to meet people from all over the world.  While Beza was sleeping, J and I met a kind woman from Calcutta who insisted that we eat her mango and naan sandwiches.  She also requested J's toothpaste.  (Kind of interesting. :)

Beza continued with her awesome traveler-status on the last flight home.  She slept, babbled, ate and slept some more.  And after 14 hours we finally landed.  So good to be home. :)

What an incredible week!  Ethiopia was as beautiful, friendly, and complicated as we remembered--and while our time there has been brief, it has become one of the few places in this world that feels like "home."  Beza was brave and amazing--she gave us a million smiles, fussed a little when strangers got too close, slept well, ate well and really, was just a delight. :)  We talked to M and T almost every day on Skype--Beza even patty-caked with them.  And after a full week, we couldn't wait to all be together. 

We are heading into this next part of the journey with full and grateful hearts, prayers for our family growing together well and excitement for what the future holds. :)

(Homecoming post coming soon.)