There and Back…We Passed Court…our time with M

I stepped off the plane, closed my eyes, and deeply inhaled breathing in the familiar aroma of 2 of my children’s beautiful birth country. In a place, I love so dearly, I finally stepped foot on the same soil as sweet “M”. J and I grabbed our luggage and donation bins, and easily went through security this time around. Completely worn out from 26 hours of traveling, we made our way out of the airport into the deep blackness of the night walking towards to the parking lot passing many dark faces with bright white smiles shining in the moonlight. Oh I love this place. Looking for our driver, holding a white sheet of paper with our names, we finally spotted him and he helped us roll all our stuff over to his van. We loaded it up and exited the parking lot headed to the guesthouse about 15 minutes away. We were beyond tired, we unloaded our stuff, settled into our room, and fell exhausted on the bed to awake early the next morning.

We headed up to the balcony before breakfast to capture life happening in the midst of our first morning in country before heading out to meet our son.

We had booked our guesthouse not knowing it was right around the corner from our agency’s office. Absolutely perfect! After quickly eating a delicious Ethiopian breakfast, we headed out to the orphanage. Be still my heart. The moment we have been waiting and praying for so long. It has here at last. We pulled up to the gate and the guard let us through and introduced us to one of the ladies on staff who led us to where sweet “M” was laying sound asleep for his morning nap. There he was sleeping so soundly on his back with one arm above his head the other by his side. The nannies were trying so hard to move another crib outta of the way just so we could get a little closer to him. Some of the other babies woke up from all the commotion and started crying. We stood there for what felt like eternity staring at him. I wanted to just scoop him up as fast as my arms could move, but instead we both just studied everything about him. Finally, one of the nannies walked over and said his name and gently shook him. No avail…haha…he was out cold! She picked him up and continued to attempt to wake him. He opened his eyes, looked around, and started crying. Poor lil guy:( Waking up to see 2 strange, smiling white faces staring at you is not the most pleasant way to wake up on any given day. His nanny changed his diaper and set him on the potty chair, and then he just completely fell apart sobbing. I almost broke down and started crying with him. Once he was dressed, she handed him to us. And pure sweetness…holding him at last.

He is very quiet, he is sweet, he is a sharer, he is so smart and he has a million dollar smile that will make all hearts melt in an instant. We may be bias, but we think he is the most handsome lil thing around. Boy, he has thunder thighs, huge thick feet, and big hands. I think we might have some height in the family now people:) He can throw a ball like a pro and loves to play! We are in love with who he is and cannot wait to see him grow, change, and thrive. He has a belly the size of Texas…probably parasites…oh fun! He definitely has some delays and things, which we knew when we accepted his referral, but there were no surprises. The lil boy we saw Tuesday was a completely different one on Saturday. It took him awhile to come out of his shell. It just takes lots of time. Good thing is he wanted to be held the whole time. He did not go to other parents who came to visit their children. He would turn and check to be sure we were still there when he went to get a toy during playtime. All good signs. We don’t think he has been outside very much, so he has pretty much been in 2 rooms most of the time. Everyday we would take him out to swing. He would lay back and relax into us. By the third day, he would lean and lean until we would leave the baby rooms, step outside, and then he would lean until we made our way over to the swings in the older children’s section of the orphanage. So funny…with a language barrier and these 2 new faces, you just use motions to get what you want. I cannot wait to kiss those precious fingers again and hold that precious lil hand…

One of the days, we had him out from 9-2 and the rest of the older babies were in their cribs the whole time. He was out with us and of course we had a boatload toys on the floor to play with. He went around to every crib and gave each lil one a toy. Oh my heart. This is a kind, sweet spirit of a precious one who has been waiting for almost 2 years and he has learned to love others his midst…that my friends is finding beauty in the ashes.

On Friday, we passed court and he officially became our son! We spent our last day with him soaking in every last second. He fell asleep on J and he laid him down in his crib. So we kissed his sweet cheeks and left him just as we found him when we walked in on Tuesday morning….sound asleep.

Please continue to pray for:

-a quick smooth embassy date…we are praying he is home b4 his 2nd bday

-this time between is way harder than I thought…I find myself in almost in tears when I stop and think too much about it

-transition, bonding/attachment for whole family

-developmental delays/health

-funding for rest of adoption cost

Up next…the ministries we visited, Crocheted Hats for AHOPE, and what we are taking to help 2nd trip