Day 91

Today is the 91st day of our life with Micah in Oklahoma City (that means we've been united as a family close to one-hundred days). During that time, our lives have been altered in countless ways; however, our old lives already seem distant and surreal.

Our second trip to Addis Ababa was vastly different from our first. We stayed in a positively lovely guest house, to which we were more-or-less sequestered for the bulk of our trip. We were fortunate to share the house with another adoptive family who was adopting two siblings from our agency. We shared meals and spent afternoons talking with the house staff and begging for their recipes for doro wet and shiro wet (pronounced dora watt and sheero watt).On several occasions we shared drivers to the Monthly NGO Market and to Layla House, where Micah spent many of the first months of his life.

Micah was well cared for by all of the nannies at Layla, but two in particular took a special interest in him and were sad to see him leave. Toward the end of our week in Addis, the both said bittersweet goodbyes to him and told him they loved him in Amharic. It was truly beautiful to see and comforting to know that Micah had been loved while he was in care at Layla.

The flights home were smooth, by long. Out of Addis we flew Ethiopia Air, and were truly treated like dignitaries. We were escorted to the front of lines in the airport and other passengers cleared the aisle and sent us to the front of the line any time we took Micah to the restroom. Although we could not have been treated more graciously on the flight, 18 hours is a long time to sit in the middle seat of an airplane. The length of the flight was confounded by the fact that the delightful woman from Cameroon in the seat next to me did not seem too please to be sharing the aisle with two new parents and a very active baby.

We landed in Washington D.C. the day following the assignation of Osama Bin Laden. Needless to say, security was extremely tight and the TSA employees were even less friendly than usual. For some reason they were neither sympathetic to the fact that we had been in flight for nearly an entire day, nor to the fact that we had a new baby. Needless to say, our TSA experience was a little traumatic, in part because the ground still felt like it was moving and because we were experiencing some serious confusion about the current time zone and its implications on our lives.

Somewhere between Washington D.C. and Denver, I developed an upset stomach that I now attribute entirely to the sheer stress of knowing that we were bringing home a child, who was going to live with us, forever. My stomach was upset for about three days, at which time (either because I adjusted, or from complete exhaustion) it promptly departed. On our final flight we sat in the back of the plane across the aisle from a man who ad adopted internationally and a flight attendant who herself was adopt. It was wonderful to be surrounded by people who were not only excited, but understood the difficulty of travelling internationally with an eleven month old.

In our short time home, Micah's personality has grown and evolved. He's become more comfortable with his surroundings and his parents, he's become increasingly more affectionate, and he's napping and sleeping consistently. Most recently, he's taken to jabbering virtually non-stop. He clearly has thoughts and opinions that he is desperately trying to share with us. Once we've mastered the use of more discernible words, I'm sure we'll enjoy every bit of what he has to say.

Micah is also cruising around our furniture like a champion and he's walking holding on with only one hand. If he ever figures out that he can actually support himself and walk without our help, all home decor will be re-homed to four feet above the floor and higher. This may make for an unusual sense of fung shui in our home, but it is probably for the best.

Our lives are certainly different than they were four months ago, and I have sojourned a long way from the queasy-stomached fathered who walked off a commuter jet with a nearly year-old baby in his arms. Our evenings are quieter and our days more ordered and routine. For the most part we've enjoyed the change of pace; however, in the midst of this incredibly hot summer, I have on many occasions longed for the 8:00 p.m. ice cream runs of summers past. Micah has done outstandingly well, and we are so blessed for him to be part of our family forever.

Ryan

Hi-Ho Hi-Ho Back to the Embassy We Go

Our adoption file, which at this point represents 2.5 years of our lives was re-submitted to the US Embassy with some additional documentation yesterday. So, we're back to where we were six weeks ago - waiting on the embassy to contact us with a YES you can come get a visa for Micah or no, not yet. :S

In other news, though, I finally found the perfect rocking chair, except that it needs to be painted. Surely it's a sign that the end is near...

Rebecca :)

Patience, Do I Really Need Thee?

Pots, pans, and baking dishes cover our formal living room floor. Cheerios, granola, plates, mugs, and glasses cover our kitchen tabletop. We are deep into yet another home project - repainting our kitchen cabinets and obtaining new cabinet doors and drawers that roll in and out without leaving sawdust in the containers below.

We don't really want to play "Where's Waldo" every time we need a spatula or a plastic baggie, but a big, messy home improvement project is the only way we know how to pass the time while we wait for the illusive call that will begin our flurry of bag-packing and ticket-buying to return to our little boy. So, we paint with oil-based primer and leave our house for a few days, only to return to begin the process again with oil-based paint.

The chaos of our kitchen is but a foggy mirror image of the chaos we feel as we wait for this adoption process to complete. God is faithful, and it will be done on God's timing and not before. In the meantime, we won't be calling our congressman or informing AAI that Micah is almost one and is missing time with his new family (because I believe they already know all that). We'll simply pull on a fume-stopping mask and break out the mineral spirits and paint. Then, someday soon, we'll put our cereal and utensils back where they belong and maybe, just maybe, it will be time for Micah to come home.

If not, there are always the bathrooms...

Rebecca :)

About God, Faith, and Adoption

This morning as I was getting ready and hoping for news, I thought of how surprised our friends and family would be if this process was finally coming to a close and we could finally travel to bring Micah home. I thought of how so many of them would say things like, "Wow, that was fast! I can't believe they don't give you more notice than that!" I also laughed at the thought, recognizing that we have had YEARS of notice.

"Micah, you weren't a surprise to us," I thought. "We have been preparing for you for a very long time. No matter how sudden the news, you can't catch us off-guard. We have been on-guard waiting for you for a long time."

I wonder if that is how God thinks of us. I wonder if God looks at us in our sticky situations of life and says, "It's not a surprise to me. I've seen it coming for a long time. In fact, I see past it, too, and what I see is good." I wonder if God takes time to laugh a bit at us, recognizing that He knew who we were even before we did. "Child, you can't catch ME by surprise. I've been waiting on your arrival."

Rebecca

Home...for a Little While

Last night as our plane touched down in Oklahoma City, I couldn't have been more excited to be home and closer to my own bed than I had been in twelve days. I was also a little sad to be deplaning without Micah. Not that we had expected any different; however, it was difficult none the less.

Last Monday we became the legal parents of the most perfect little boy. He is happy healthy, and developmentally on target. He is receiving outstanding care and is loved by his nannies. As Rebecca predicted, between us I had the most difficultly leaving Micah. During the ten days we spent in Ethiopia, I grew incredibly attached and I am anxious to bring him home. I have also found myself missing the sounds and smells of Addis Ababa. I miss teenage boys yelling from line taxis, the smell of Ethiopian food, the constant reverberation of traditional Ethiopian music, and macchiatos (yes, I know a macchiato can be procured at any Starbucks, its just not the same).

Addis Ababa and the people who inhabit it are wonderfully beautiful and unique. In many ways, I think we were surprised by how truly amazing both proved themselves to be. I have never been immersed in a culture so richly diverse and so oriented toward the service of others - especially outsiders. On more than one occasion we requested directions or asked about some particular item in a shop and we were personally escorted to the place about which we inquired several blocks away or a shopkeeper from several stores away with a better command of the English language was recruited to converse with us. Time and again, I was astounded by the complete generosity of the Ethiopian people. Their love for others and their love of their country is in many ways unmatched. I am proud to be the parent of a child with ties to such a beautiful culture.

Today I am glad to be home. I have enjoyed the sounds of American pop music and the taste of coffee brewed in my own coffee pot. I have also missed a little person, who I cannot wait to bring home. It has been a long journey, and it's not over yet, but we are again one step closer to being three instead of two. There is a lot of work that needs to be done in the next few months in preparation of Micah's home coming. In a short time he will be home and ours lives will forever be changed.

Ryan

On Our Way

Homestudy Update - done
Visa approval extension - done
Place to stay in Ethiopia - done
Tickets to go - done

The sights and smells of Ethiopia aren't more than a month away... While everyone takes Christmas vacation, we are saving those days for mini-trips within Ethiopia so that we make the most of our time there. Though we are going for a court date, during which we'll get to tell a judge that we do actually want Micah and that we have seen him in-person and look forward to bringing him home, most of our time will be "free" to roam around the country and learn as much as we can about Ethiopia.

I hope to report back that our adoption is complete and that we are simply waiting on a visa to bring the "wee" one home. All in good time we will find out how much waiting is left and whether or not we will be official when we leave the country. We can only hope, pray, and pack. :)

FINALLY!

Rebecca :)

A Watched Pot Never Boils...

Neither does a watched email. Not that I want my email to boil, but it would be nice if it would deliver news of a court date SOON.

Christmas gifts at our house are nearly all purchased, and contact has been made with those who have not complied with our request for wish lists EARLY this year. We want to travel before Christmas for our first court date; therefore, we are shopping with that very intent. (What will I do in December if we don't have a court date? I guess there are always free lights to see!)

So, I'm back to hitting send/receive hysterically...

Rebecca :)