My Boys on April 25

Easter 2011 with an Ethiopian flare

Thirteen years ago today, I got the best birthday gift ever!  I gave birth to our oldest son, Cade - the day before my 21st birthday.  Hard to believe he's already 13.  I swear I blinked and suddenly he's a teenager.  It's always bittersweet for me when the kids have a birthday hit a big age milestone like one year old, kindergarten age, etc.  But this time I'm finding that I'm excited about the coming years.  

Cade getting older has made me reevaluate who I am.  For 13 years now, I have seen myself as a mother to small children, an expert in all things poo and puke related.  That was my identity.  I think when the kids are little and it's so exhausting just to meet their needs every day, you kind of forget that you're shaping future adults.  It's been an adjustment to think of myself as a mother to someone who will be driving soon, deciding what he wants to do with his life, and will ultimately leave the nest and fly far and high.  I've been really thinking about this over the past year, especially during the trip Cade and I took to Africa.  His viewpoint added such interesting elements to the trip and his sense of adventure added a lot of fun.  I so love who he is!  He brings such joy and laughter to our lives!  I thank God daily for blessing us with this boy.

Today is also a milestone for our other guy.  Eyob has been home for one month today.  In some ways it seems like it's been a year and in some ways it seems like we just stepped off that plane.  He's come so far, so fast.  It's been a bumpy journey at times, but when I smile at him and he responds by smiling back instead of just gazing at me with those sad, blank eyes, my heart melts into a big ol' puddle.  Last night, we went to our first social gathering since he arrived and he did really great.  We didn't even have one meltdown.  Ahhhh-mazing!  His english improves by the hour, although I do call him my little parrot.  He repeats things over and over without having any idea what he's saying.  This morning, he repeatedly pledged his love to a Walmart clerk while we checked out.  Like Cade, Eyob has a funny personality [haha funny, not weird funny like their dad].  It's such an adventure getting to know him and watching as he becomes more comfortable in his new environment.  He can now be in the same room as the dog, sit in a bath without freaking out, and deal with ice in his cup.  I think the past month has been an epic success. 

Day 5

Sunrise in Ethiopia

We headed out from the Jemimah at at 5:30 on Saturday morning.  We traveled six hours south to meet with Eyob's Abat.  Ethiopia is a beautiful country.  The drive was gorgeous, but also heart wrenching.  Almost every person we saw was carrying a yellow water jug.  People were filling them up at dirty rivers, with muddy water beside the road, and at wells, which were far between.  We were already aware of the water situation because it factored into why Eyob is now with our son.  We do not share his story with people.  It's his to tell.  But, I will say that it has given me a passion for clean water.  Justin has always shared this, but now my dad and Cade are also on fire for it.

Women and children getting water

So, we drove for hours and then stopped at the medical center that Holt is funding.  There's an existing clinic on site and we were able to look around.  I, of course, wanted to see the labor and delivery area.  When I did, my heart sank.  I am a doula and an advocate for homebirth.  My last daughter was born in a pool in our bedroom.  Amazing!  But, I'm also grateful for the medical technology that's available to us when it's truly needed.  This is what women in that region get when they're in trouble and need medical intervention:

L&D Room

 More pics at Shinshicho:

Construction in Progress

The On Site Lab

My Dad talking to the doctor

A sick child in the waiting area

From there, we piled back in the van and drove an hour or two more to Durame.  We had lunch at a place that I don't think saw a whole lot of faces our color.  I met a really nice guy in the bathroom [yep, unisex bathroom] who wanted to know where I was from and all about my trip.  He said I could contact him at any time during our time in Ethiopia if I needed anything and he would come to me.  :)


I hardly ate any lunch.  I was sick about the meeting with Eyob's Abat and spent the time going over the questions I had for him.  After awhile, we headed off to our destination - the care center in Durame.  Eyob was there for a short while, before he was transferred to Addis Ababa for his little surgery.  During the drive, Cade started feeling nauseated from his lunch.  We're not sure what it was that he ate, but we think it was goat meat.  So, he stayed outside the gate with my dad, retching in the bushes while I went in for the little mini orientation.  They soon joined me and we went into the meeting.

Meeting Eyob's Abat was an emotional experience that I still haven't recovered from.  Again, we are not sharing details from this part of our trip.  I can say that he's an amazing, Godly man and we are forever joined by the son we share.

Cade and his new friend

Cade's friend giving him a mango as a gift

From there, we went to the orphanage to love on babies!  There were 50 little babies and many, many nannies.  It's a cheerful, clean place and we enjoyed our time there.  An older boy, probably about five or six years old, befriended Cade and dragged him all over the place showing him around.  Cade loved it.  I was dying to hold every single one of the babies, but only held a few.  It made me happy to know that almost all of them were already matched with families.

Children outside the orphanage

Finally, we got in the van one more time for the two hour drive to Awassa.  Oh my goodness, that drive!  I was so sick the whole time.  The road was bad and I think the emotion of the day was overwhelming me.  It was such relief to arrive at our hotel, which was very nice.  I immediately collapsed on the bed and slept until Cade woke me up for dinner.  I still couldn't eat, but my dad and Cade did.  

Lewi Hotel in Awassa

Cade and I took some meds to help us sleep and next thing we knew it was morning.  Turns out, we slept right through an earthquake...

Days 3 & 4

God's beautiful creation

Day three was another travel day, but only twelve hours this time.  We hopped from London to Amsterdam.  Seriously, what is up with that airport?  There is no train to connect the terminals so it's A LOT of walking.  Most of the moving sidewalks were not on and quite a few of them ended at a door that went no where.  Just a door.  Cade got quite a kick out of it.  So, we hung out there for a couple of hours, met some other Holt families, and then got on our final plane to Addis!

Addis here we come

It was a great flight.  The plane was only about half full and many of the passengers were Ethiopian.  That happened on our first trip, too.  I love how the flight seems like a social occasion for them.  Many of them moved around the plane, laughing and talking and having a good time.  Fun.

We landed around ten local time, I think.  Our driver was there as expected, but there were too many people and bags so he had to call for another van.  Eventually we made it to the Jemimah Guesthouse and it felt like arriving home.  Love that place!  We quickly settled in and fell into bed exhausted.  

Our old friends, the rooster and the cow, helped us to have a restless night. Someone seriously needs to eat that rooster.  The call to prayer at four and five in the morning partnered with them to ensure that our sleep was limited.  We rolled out of bed exhausted, but excited that the day had finally arrived when we would see Eyob!

Headed off to Holt

The driver was right on time [what!?!] and we zoomed off to the Holt offices to go over embassy paperwork and the agenda for our trip.  I was nervous since Justin was not traveling with me.  I had to bring extra paperwork and several notarized things and if I messed it up, well we were basically screwed.  But, everything was in order and I was soooo relieved.  We sat through a little presentation, paid for our trip down south to Durame, and got to look through our file again.

All of our paperwork

From there, we went to lunch at a restaurant with an amazing view of the city [Top View???].  We got to know our travel group, Cade told some bad jokes, and we had yummy food.  All of us were anxious for the afternoon to get started.  Four hours with our kids!

At the restaurant

Eventually, we piled back into the van and ended up at Niana, Eyob's care center.  I was relieved to find it as clean and bright as his previous one.  We were with two other families.  Their kids came in first, one at a time, and ran into their parents' arms.  Pure sweetness!  Finally, here came Eyob.  I opened my arms, said his name, and.....  he veered off to the left and ignored me completely.  Haha!  So Eyob!  So much like our middle daughter, which we'd been saying since our first trip.  I scooped him up anyway and gave him a bunch of mooshy kisses.  I introduced him to his Poppy and his wehn-dem [brother].  More mushiness.

Eyob obviously overjoyed to see me again

The afternoon passed with us playing with our kids and trying to figure out what our role was when they would fight and whack each other on the heads.  There was a lot of interest in playing with a power supply, which seemed to be okay with the nannies, but was freaking me out!  I thought it would reflect badly on me as a parent if I sat and watched Eyob electrocute himself during our first real span of time together.  I don't know.  Maybe it's just me?  

The most popular 'toy'

We went outside to play and the van was already there.  The kids got in it and climbed all around and had a great time.  Until it was time for us to leave.  Until I realized that Eyob thought this was it and that he was going with us.  Until they had to drag him out of the van.  He screamed and reached for me and, of course, I started bawling.  I was okay until that happened.  I knew I took custody in a day and a half and I was really okay with leaving him.  But his reaction just tore my heart out.  I later heard that he asked for us the rest of the day and all day Saturday, wanting to know when we'd be back for him.

Eyob all ready to go

We went back to the Jemimah and they had a traditional dinner planned for us.  We went into the kitchen and helped make injera and other things.  I made a mess with the injera batter all over the floor, but Cade and my dad did really good.  We ate and then headed upstairs to bed.  We had to be out the door at 5:30 the next morning...

Traditional dinner

Jemimah staff and injera maker [left]

 

 

Days 1 & 2

I was blessed on this trip to be accompanied by two really cool guys - my dad and my 12 year old son.  We decided to stop in London for a day on the way to Ethiopia.  The first part of the trip is easier to tell with pictures.  Otherwise, the whole post would go... and we walked and walked and walked and saw ____ and then we walked and walked and walked and saw....

Day 1 of our trip was all travel, with A LOT of luggage.  We had two big suitcases full of donations - formula, most of my cloth diaper stash, and some other items sent by friends.  We also had hundreds of crackers donated by our friend Robert, who works for Frito Lay.

We packed up the tank and headed to the airport.

We left Albuquerque at about one in the afternoon.  It was Cade's first time to fly and he loved it!

 

We flew to Atlanta, and hung out there for about two hours.  

 We arrived in London around nine in the morning their time.  We dropped our bags at the Yotel at the airport.  Such a fun place to stay!  It's like a futuristic space pod.  A tiny little room with all the amenities and right in the terminal we needed to fly out of early the next morning.

We jumped on the Tube and saw the sights.

 Fish and chips for lunch!  Yum!

After a long day of sightseeing, we headed back to the airport.  We loved London and I hope to go back with Justin sometime, when we have time to explore.  I feel so lucky that I got to visit both London and Paris within a four month time frame!  Before bed, Cade and I scoped out the airport shops to find Cadbury chocolate that my friend, Dawn, said we had to try while we were there.  She was right!  So good!  Justin is still talking about the candy bar I brought him.  Then we collapsed into bed, but Cade and I woke up around two in the morning.  I chatted with Justin on Facebook and waited for it to be time to head out...

One Week Home

Hard to believe we've been home for one week tomorrow.  It's not all sunshine and roses, but we're doing okay.  Our first visit with the international pediatrician went very well.  No surprises, including the fact that the attempt at a blood draw was a disaster.  After the trauma of getting an IV placed last week in the hospital in Ethiopia, Eyob started flipping out as soon as he had an inkling that a needle was headed his way.  I cried in the corner was brave and strong, but could hardly take it as I watched him go through it again.  They finally gave up and we have to go back in a month to try again.

Eyob is terrified of our dog and she in turn is terrified of him.  This is our biggest issue right now and I don't think we've made any progress this week.  We did have a victory this morning, though.  Eyob sat in the bath without crying and even splashed his hands around a little.  This is a huge step from where we started last week, which is just barely getting his feet wet before he couldn't handle it.  Baby steps, right?

I tried taking the littles [Maci and Eyob] and two of the bigs [Tatum and Kierstyn] to Big 5 to buy baseball socks.  KJ has to have them for tomorrow at 9 a.m. and I didn't have a choice.  Oooooweeeee!  We ended up with one major head to floor contact, one temper tantrum from Eyob, two tantrums from Maci, one pair of cleats I didn't mean to buy [but moooooom, they're cute and PINK], and one frazzled, sweaty mama begging the 8 year old to take the debit card and pay before they could throw us out.  Our picture may or may not now be posted on the window as being banned from the store.

The rest of the gang is as busy as ever.  Soccer, baseball, youth group, kung fu, the list goes on and on.  I was worried about having to take Eyob to games and practices.  We did a trial run last night and he was the most popular kid at soccer practice.  Not only that, he turned into this little flirt, talking and blowing kisses to all the girls.  His daddy was so proud.  

I hope to start sharing about our trip soon.  I am still jet lagged.  I cannot seem to stay awake past about 8:30 at night.  I remember this from the last trip....*yawn*.

Finally, the most important thing of all, Eyob said to me this morning, "I love you, Mommy".  Even though he was repeating after one of his sisters, he was looking right at me.  I'll take it.