Day 5

Today we went to Mountain Entoto, and it was beautiful. It was really nice to get out of the city and breathe some fresh air. Here is the view on our way up.

This is the group that we traveled with. We were so blessed to be able to travel with all of these wonderful people!This is the old palace of Minilik II, and we also went to a museum, I can't remember the name.
This is the old home of King Minilik II, it was amazing because you could just walk wherever you wanted. Here in the U.S.A. the whole thing would have been roped off.

After that we drove back down the mountain and grabbed some lunch and then we headed over to the National Museum of Ethiopia. This museum was the same as the palace, they had these ancient artifacts just sitting out with little signs that said "Please don't touch". I am so glad that Kaden and Oliver were not with us, or they would have been climbing all over these ancient artifacts.

Lucy.... Tonight we went to Yod Abyssinia, a traditional restaurant. The food was delicious, and it was fun to see the traditional dancing. Here we are outside of the restaurant, one of our numerous pictures we take of ourselves.

Here is Abel, he works for Bethany and was with us for most of our trip. We love him!
Our delicious spread.... Here are some of the dancers, it was dark in there so our pictures didn't turn our too well, but we have some great video.
We had such a great time at the restaurant, we ate so much delicious food, we tried some honey wine, and we watched some wonderful dancers.

Day 4

Day 4: Embassy Day!!

Today we had our embassy appointment. I don't have any pictures of it because you are not allowed to take pictures in the U.S. Embassy or anywhere close to it. We got up and enjoyed a lazy morning, getting ready and just hanging out with the other families. We were supposed to be picked up at 11:30, but at this point we were already getting used to Ethiopian time and weren't surprised at all when they showed up almost an hour late. I was surprised though that we went to lunch still even though it said we needed to be at our embassy appointment at 1:00, but we did. We went to a really yummy Italian restaurant, and forgetting what time it was we were all a little surprised when we had to leave our meals half eaten and our bill unpaid (we were told we would return later to pay) and rush to the embassy because we were late for our appointments. We were all a little stressed, but by the time we made it to the embassy they had already started with another group of adoptive parents from another agency, so we had to wait. There were a lot of families with the other agency so we had to wait a long time, I am not sure how long because none of us had a watch, but it felt like forever. They finally finished with the other group and Kevin and I were the first ones called from our group.

(Cute little man hanging out before our embassy appointment.)

(On our way to the embassy. Safe huh?)

I underestimated how nervous I would be because I had heard from other families that it wasn't a big deal, but as we climbed the stairs it felt like a huge deal. We got to the window and were asked a few questions, nothing too difficult and then we were told that everything looked great and that we would have his passport and visa by Thursday. The lady that interviewed us was supper sweet and made us feel very comfortable. Yeah, we can bring him home with us!!!

It is so fun to have other families that are experiencing the same things to be there with you because as we walked downstairs to all of them, they cheered for us and our success. It was a sweet moment, I almost cried but I held it together. It was fun to be able to cheer for the other families too, and it was great that no one had any problems!

After that we went back to the guesthouse and had some delicious dinner and just hung out. Besides the rush to the embassy it was a pretty low key day. We did pay our bill at the Italian restaurant too!!

(Things around here are going better, Kaleb has been a lot more smiley and has been crying less. On the food front he is doing slightly better, it seems to help feeding him while the rest of us eat. It seems to distract him enough that he doesn't protest quite as much. We are trying to be as relaxed about it as possible, we keep reminding ourselves that he will eat when he is hungry.)

Let the Attachment Begin!

We have had a rough couple of days around the Matthews household. It would appear that attachment has officially begun. Kaleb is no longer the quiet, compliant baby we have experienced thus far. He has discovered that he can assert some power over certain circumstances. For instance, he has decide that he is no longer going to eat anything but formula. Up to this point he was eating rice cereal and fruit for breakfast, some kind of baby food meal and veggies for lunch, and some veggies for dinner. Now he shakes his head and clamps his mouth shut, refusing anything that may come close to his lips. I actually got a spoon full of food into his mouth while he was distracted and he spit it all over me, awesome.

He has also decided that I shouldn't shower or go to the bathroom, that is he has decided that he needs to be carried as long as he is awake. I love carrying him and loving on him, but sometimes I really need to go to the bathroom. When Kevin is here I can pass him over to him and at least get a bathroom break, but when he is not here I just have to set him down and listen to him cry which just kills me. His cry has also changed since being home, he no longer starts small and works himself up, he now goes from nothing to a 10 within seconds and it takes longer to calm him down.

On a positive note, Kaden and Oliver are doing so well. I thought we would have a little jealousy, but they just love him. They are constantly hugging and kissing him and telling him how much they love him. It is really very sweet and I am so thankful they are doing so well or this adjustment would be so much harder.

Kaleb is also developing physically so well. When we first picked him up he was a pretty floppy baby. He held his head up and that we pretty much the extent of his physical abilities. Now he is sitting up and even caught himself from falling over today. He is also bearing weight on his legs now and can hold himself up for longer amounts of time.

I knew that this adjustment period was going to be difficult, but I don't think I knew how hard it was going to be to watch Kaleb go through this adjustment. I was prepared for how hard this was going to be on me, but I underestimated how hard it was going to be on him. It is hard as a parent to watch your child go through something so difficult and know that there is no quick fix. I just pray that this adjustment would go as smooth and quick as possible, especially for Kaleb.

Day 3

Today we woke up and met the family that came the night before, Kami and David and their friend Melissa. We ate breakfast and then headed out to get our kids!!!! First we went to Gelgela to pick up Kami and David's son. It was so emotional watching them get their son. I felt truly blessed to be able to watch them meet their son for the first time.

(Cute little shoes.)(Here is their sweet little son.)

Next we headed to the Bethany offices to fill out our paperwork for our embassy appointments the next day. We weren't sure when we were doing to be able to meet Kaleb, but we were trying to patient. We found out on the way there that the Bethany offices were actually across the street from the transition home so we were going to there first to get our son. Here we are outside of the transition home. We were so excited to go through those doors and get our son.

Here we are meeting/holding our son for the first time. When we walked into the transition home they had obviously just woken him up from a nap, poor guy looked so tired. He quickly woke up and became his cute smiley self.

We just couldn't quit staring at him, and checking him out. His little belly was huge, and when the nurse began to tell me what he liked to eat I understood why. They told me that for breakfast he liked to drink fresh squeezed orange juice, potatoes, bananas, rice cereal, powdered milk, and corn soup. Not sure what corn soup is but it looked like a bowl of lard. I am not sure if they fed him all of these things for breakfast, but he definitely wasn't missing any meals!

Our family, minus two really cute little boys!

After we finally had him in our arms we went to the Bethany offices to fill out our paperwork for the embassy appointments. It looked like a five year old filled out our paperwork because I couldn't stop shaking. The Bethany staff was all great and the offices are so nice.


Look at those gorgeous eyes!

After we filled out our paperwork we went out to lunch. After lunch we went back to the transition home for a goodbye ceremony. The did a coffee ceremony for us and it was some of the most delicious coffee I had ever tasted. The nannies loved Kaleb so much, it was so sweet to see them all loving on him. I couldn't post those pictures because they included other children that haven't been adopted yet.

(Coffee ceremony)


When we went back to the guesthouse we put Kaleb in his little outfit that they had given him at the transition home. He looked so cute!!
Tomorrow is embassy day!

Ethiopia Day 1 & 2

Day 1:

Tonight we arrived in Ethiopia. After 27 hours of travel we are finally here!! We were picked up at the airport by a Bethany employee, Abel. He is such a sweetheart, he sang happy birthday to Kevin. The drive was a little crazy, there are no apparent rules on the road, or at least none that I could figure out. There aren't any stop signs and the stop lights seem to be purely decorative because no one stops at them. Once we arrived at the guesthouse Nesibu and Birtukan greeted us with some delicious soup and we talked with them for a little while before we had to call it a night.

Day 2: We slept well last night and woke up to meet another adoptive family that arrived at the guesthouse while we were sleeping. Dan and Doralee were there with their three year old, Teain, that they had adopted from China. They were adopting a 14 year old girl Selam whom they had met the night before, while we slept.

We all at breakfast together and then headed to church. The walk up the street to church quickly revealed to us that we were in another country. One of the first things that I have noticed about Ethiopia is that there are people everywhere, people standing outside of shops, children playing, and people walking somewhere.

(A butcher shop that we passed on the way to church. Pretty sure I would be a vegetarian if I had to buy meat from a place like this.)

Church was an amazing experience! The people there truly knew how to worship, it was beautiful. We didn't understand the message, but Nesibu would turn around every once in a while and tell us a little something or give us a verse to follow along with. A couple of things that I learned at this service is that staring is not considered rude, and that Birtukan truly loves children.

After church we went back to the guesthouse for some delicious authentic Ethiopian food. Birtukan and Nesibu at with us and served us Doro Wat, a meal that is reserved for special guests. The food was delicious and the conversation was great.

That afternoon, Selam had some of her "sisters" over for donuts and coke. Selam was living in a group home with 6 other girls, and had lived there for the last 8 years. It was so cute to see her with all of her friends, serving them and giving them each a gift.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing and getting to know Birtukan, Nesibu, Doralee, Dan and their children. Another family is arriving tonight, they are from Colorado also, but we maybe sleeping by the time they get here. Tomorrow we are going to go get Kaleb!!!!!!

Yezalelam Minch

I will post about our time in Ethiopia, but first I wanted to take some time to share about Yezelalem Minch. I feel so blessed that I got to spend time with these wonderful people while we were in Ethiopia.

(Nesibu and Birtukan, they run Yezelalem Minch)

Yezelalem Minch located in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, is a local NGO reaching out to children whose parents have died of AIDS, while providing support and meeting the needs of families who have taken in orphan children.

Yezelalem Minch in Amharic, the primary language of Ethiopia, means the everlasting spring. In Ethiopia the problem of AIDS affecting the orphans is overwhelming but Yezelalem Minch offers a spring in the desert of despair.

Mission:
To make a difference in the lives of orphans and vulnerable children through building the capacity of local community based organizations in partnership with the government, non-governmental organization and the private sector.

Values:
Empowering the community to care for the most vulnerable children:
No discrimination based on race, religion or class
Health and well being of orphans
Partnership with the government, NGOs and sponsors
Accountability and transparency for beneficiaries, community and sponsors
Ethiopians serving Ethiopians

Birutkan and Nesibu work tirelessly to provide for the needs of children in their local community (400+), have a guest house for adoptive families and groups visiting Addis (Morning Coffee Guest House) and have four beautiful children. We stayed at the guest house while we were in Ethiopia and had an amazing time. They took such good care of us and made us feel at home there. We would highly recommend their guesthouse if you are going to be traveling to Addis, especially if you are adopting because they are so wonderful and helpful with the children.

We also had the honor of visiting their feeding program that they do every Saturday. Every Saturday they feed around 200 children from their community. It was so great to get to go and experience them being the hands and feet of Jesus.

There program is so amazing, if you would like more information on becoming a sponsor for Yezelalem Minch please contact me and I will send you the information.

Kevin and I were also lucky enough to meet the mother (aunt) of the child that we sponsor and give her a gift for her daughter. It was a special moment.

They also have an Income Generating Activities Program that helps single mothers support their families, but I will save that for another post. Please let me know if you want more information.

Home!!!

We are home, and exhausted. We had a wonderful trip, and I promise to tell you all about it but right now I am not thinking clearly. I will write about our trip later but for now I will leave you with some pictures of our new son.