ETHIOPIA - DAY 2 (Monday)

Wow.  What an incredible day.

Woke up and went to the Transition House (TH) after another big breakfast ~ Thank you, David!  We were behind the clock when we got to the TH, so the family packages and photos that we were going to do for other AWAA families got detained until tomorrow.  Sorry, families!  We will love on your babes tomorrow, k!?!?  {so looking forward to meeting all of your kiddos!}

Our time with baby "K" was so special again today.  We got to go right into the baby room and pick him up out of his crib!  Just like we were his parents!  {grin}  We got to feed him another bottle today and then we got to help change a dirty diaper.  He's breaking us in!  Ha!  We laughed some more with him {LOVE his sweet smile and giggle!!!}, prayed over him, cuddled and kissed {just couldn't get enough of him!}....and we even got to comfort him when he was getting cranky from being tired.  Sweet boy fell asleep in my arms almost instantly!  He slept like a sweet angel!!!  Our sweet angel from our Heavenly Father.  I so hated to put him down!!!!

Before we came to Ethiopia, Jeff and I had been sleeping with a crib mattress sheet {so it would smell like us and help "K" become familiar with our scent}.  It had yellow doggies on it, so our doodles, Fischer and Kastle, are part of all this too!  The nanny put the sheet on his mattress while I held my sleeping angel.  Okay, so it was twice the size it should be because the cribs are so much smaller here, but the nanny tucked it tightly under the mattress and I laid our son on the sheet in his crib.  Hoping it helps him become familiar with and remember our scent......and maybe even dream of us.  As a family.

My heart was heavy to leave our sweet baby boy, yet it was full knowing that we, his parents, were able to meet his needs and help cradle him to sleep!

I cried after we left the TH today, as we watched a family take their last photos together.  The biological mother came to Addis for Court today, to give away her final rights to her two sons.  The bitter part of adoption.  The boys tried to stand so strong and stoic, and the biological mother struggled to fight back her tears.  I, on the other hand, did not do so well.  I sobbed, in fact.  Trying to imagine what the boys are thinking and feeling.  And trying to imagine what the bio momma was going through.  Loving her sons enough to allow someone else to raise them.  In another country no less!  True unconditional love!

There is a sweet ending to this story, in that the boys do have an adoptive family and they are coming later this week to go to court.  Praise God!

Ugh. The epitomy of both the bitterness and the sweetness of adoption.

We did bring the donations for all the orphanages today ~ and every single one of you who contributed to the donations or helped financially in getting them here, need to KNOW that you blessed many many children abundantly!!!!  THANK YOU for allowing us the privilege of helping you love on these sweet children in Ethiopia!

We visited Abenezer and KVI orphanages aside from the Transition House today.  We visited two of the other orphanages today after a morning with our babe and a lunch with an a.m.a.z.i.n.g pizza!!!   One of the nannies at Abenezer held a traditional coffee ceremony for all of us.  It was awesome!  She showed us how she grinds the coffee, made us some in a coffee pot over hot coals, and served it to us along with a sweet tasting popcorn and some sort of seeds.

 The orphanages are filled with such sweet children!!!  We brought fun play things for the kiddos ~ blow horns, suckers, fruit roll-ups, bubbles, etc ~ and we are amazed at how excited and grateful each child was for something so little.  And simple.

It breaks my heart to see the conditions in which these kiddos live.  Each orphanage does the best they can with what they have, but no child should ever have to live the orphanage life!  Today made us want to bring every single child home with us and donate every single dollar we make to all the orphanages!!!

A smile.  Eye contact.  A hug.  Holding their hand.  That's all they really wanted.  The candy and toys?  Sure, they loved it all, but it was our love and attention that they craved the most.  Remarkable.

My heart ached for the children.  My heart thanked God for providing them an orphanage, since they don't have a family.  I couldn't help but imagine our son and the life he may have had if he had to continue to live the orphanage life.  Tears. my. heart. apart.

THANK YOU, LORD, for allowing us the privilege of raising baby "K."  THANK YOU for all you have done to bring us together as a forever family.  THANK YOU, Lord, for blessing us so abundantly with our son.  He is a miracle.  He is a precious gift.

WE ARE IN LOVE!