Lost Camera

We haven't posted many Christmas pictures because Mr. Fiddley Fingers (as Jim calls him at times) took the camera and we can't find it. I am waiting for my brother to e-mail me some that he took.

Tonight we took Jake to the local Ethiopian restaurant. At first he was shy towards the owner who spoke to him in Amharic. Then, he began to ham it up and soon he was on the lap of Addisu, the owner. He also ate tons of Ethiopian food like a pro; using his injera like a native. :)

1st Christmas!

Jake enjoyed his 1st Christmas.

Sledding

Jacob really enjoyed sledding. We found a sled with a pull string at Home Depot. We used it to pull him to a neighborhood hill. He loved being pushed down the hill with one of us waiting for him at the bottom. We were quickly tired out from pulling him or carrying him back up the hill. We also had a blow up tube sled which we sat on with him. That went really fast, and we enjoyed sledding too. It is fun to experience these childhood adventures all over again with Jake.

First Snow!

How fun! Jacob experienced his first snow storm. We were out at 7am watching daddy prepare for a ski trip with Uncle Mike and Joshua. Jake didn't want to come back inside. We are planning to go sledding later today! Yea snow!!!!

Update

We are learning together. It is getting better each day; less testing and more trust. We are tired, in a good way, each night. The parenting process is bringing Jim and me closer together. Today, Jacob had his 1st Dr.s appt. She was impressed with his development.

Here is a picture of bath time. He LOVES these times.

The Ceremony

This is going backwards a little bit. Here are two pictures from the going away ceremony held at the orphanage. The children were dressed in traditional outfits for prayers, cake cutting, and a transfer between the nannies and the new parents. Other children, waiting to be adopted, watched and sang for us. They work to make the transition a happy event for all. We have wonderful memories, pictures and a video to show Jake later.

1st Time Meetings

Jacob is adjusting to his new home and schedule quite well. Yesterday we took it easy and kept him at home all day. His cousin, Joshua, came over and they played really well together. Joshua has been really sweet. He laughs when Jacob says his name. The kids communicate in their own playful way.

Jake is taking well to new people. In fact, he seems to love everyone he meets. I think he used his charm to make his life easier at the orphanage. He loves people and reacted with fright near dogs and cats. He is slowly getting over his fright of our cats, and this morning he gave Lil a big kiss. Yesterday, I found him laying beside Rebel on the floor.

Jim and I are adjusting to parenthood. :) Everyone said it was a lot of intense work; with joy. We are finding this to be true.

In the US!!

We are almost home. We stayed overnight at Jim's sister's house in D.C. Jake was kind enough to wake us up at 3am. Now, it is 10:30am and he is napping. We plan to drive home when he wakes up. It was great to crash here and he was very sweet with his Aunt Diane, Uncle Chuck and Cousin Caroline.

He traveled really well! He slept some on the airplane and really liked to listen to the i-pod with Christmas music. He also spent a LOT of the plane ride playing with the movie remote and earphones. Of course we had a whole backpack of toys, but he likes electronics the best.

It was great to have about 4 hours in a Yotel in Amsterdam. That quieted him down as you can see in the picture. Both of the guys took a nap. :) "?

See Him in Action

Here are a few picture of Melkamu, posted from the Yotel in Amsterdam ("hotel" room that you rent for a few hours). Jim is sleeping and Melkamu is trying to sleep.

We will soon be home and can't wait!

The Last Post From Ethiopia

We now have our son full-time! Yesterday there was a beautiful going away ceremony at the orphanage (they call a care center). They dressed the children in traditional outfits and said many touching things about them. Then, we took them back to the house where we are staying. In the afternoon we had to take him to the US Embassy building. We thought there would be a problem with the paperwork, but all of it worked out fine.
He slept through the night with no problems. That was from 6:30 - 6:30. :) He looked soooo cute in his pajamas with feet from his Aunt Laura and cousin Abbi. Right now, we have him at an internet place at a close by hotel. This will be the last posting until we return because we leave tomorrow and the internet locations are not easy to find. Our flight out leaves at 11pm tomorrow, so prayers would be appreciated. We hope he is able to sleep, but he will be interrupted quite a bit.

I'll give you more details from the States. I can't wait for you to meet this amazing little guy who already has captured our hearts.

Day 3 in Ethiopia

Each day is so full of emotions and new experiences. Today we spent 6 hours on a crowded bus and saw the beautiful countryside of Ethiopia. What a gorgeous country! Our desitination was to meet the birth families. It was a life changing experience; completely heart stretching! I reserve the details which are too intimate. We will share the details with Melkamu when he is older. There were lots of tears from everyone.



We did not see our son today, but we did yesterday. He was more subdued and seemed to have a small fever. He was sitting on my lap a lot. We saw him over lunchtime and he sat in my lap and sang a very sweet song to himself. The nannies asked him to give us kisses and hugs. He is encouraged to be loving and kind and it already seems to be his nature. During lunch other boys tried to hug Jim and Melkamu (his name here) pushed them away; already claiming his Aba ba. He calls me Ema Ma which sounds like sweetness to my ears. :)



Tomorrow we have our children for half a day! We are so excited to be together again. This is the first time we take him out of the orphanage and bring him to our guest house. I hope he is feeling better.



Take care, everyone and know that we miss you!

Wow!! What a Day!

We met our son today! It was an amazing experience. We drove up to the orphanage gate and saw children outside. We looked for him from a distance and I picked him out quickly. We had to wait to meet him until they were ready. We finally went into the room of toddlers and we saw him looking at a book. Many children came up to us. We sat next to him and I pulled him onto my lap. He was snuggly and sweet right from the beginning. He interacted with Jim, while I held him and hugged the others too.

We took him outside and he was soooo playful! He ran and interacted with us. He took another girl's toy phone and carried it around. That family was sweet enough to give it to him. Our visit was so short, and we just wanted to stay and play and love him.

Later in the day, we went back to see him for about an hour. He was so interactive and full of personality. Everyone loved watching his antics. He is so full of character. And, he is taking to us already. He gives great hugs and repeats everything we say including Wadelow (which means I love you!)

More later!!!! Thanks, everyone for your support which helped lead us to our beautiful son.