y'all, despite the last few days being pretty tough...we are SO blessed. during the frustrating and tearful moments throughout the day with our little greer, i just think about the last year of our life and know that he was made to be in our family. while it might be hard, we have such an awesome support system and so many people who have loving reached out to us or prayed for us along the way.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
our homecoming
Monday, March 21, 2011
alive and well!
hey there. we are alive and well, so sorry for the silence. we got home from ethiopia with greer on saturday and this is the first time i've been on a computer since last thursday. life is good, just busier and very different.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
day 3 & 4 in Ethiopia
Hey all, Hope you are doing well! We just finished up our fourth day here in Ethiopia and are preparing to head home tomorrow night. It has been a great trip but we are anxious to be back on US soil and really begin our journey of parenting little Natty {Greer}. Yesterday was a great day of beginning stages of attachment for Natty and I. As I mentioned in my previous email, Ryan went to visit a water project in Dera yesterday with the other men in our group and I stayed behind at the transition home with Natty. From about 10:00 a.m. in the morning until past his bedtime, Natty and I were stuck together. After a couple of hours I think he was finally beginning to warm up to me a bit which was encouraging. We spent a lot of time playing with some of the older kids and just going through his normal daily routine together. Ryan returned home from a very rainy and muddy day in Dera around 6:30 p.m., and Natty was pretty receptive to him for the first time since we've been here. While we are still pretty nervous about the trip home tomorrow, we are hopeful that some of these first steps we've made while in Ethiopia will make the trip less scary for all of us! From what we've seen so far, Natty is proving to be such a sweet boy, but he is definitely strong willed. He does not mind to wear his emotions on his sleeve, and when upset, everyone in the room knows it! Ryan and I can both see some major changes in him since last time we were here. He has grown so much and he seems to have really come into his personality. When he is happy, he loves to babble and sing in his own made-up language. {We double checked with one of the workers here to make sure he wasn't speaking Amharic – Ethiopia's language, and she assured us that he was not!} All the older kids, transition home workers, and nannies seem to flock to Natty, and he definitely loves the attention! There a few children here that can make him smile no matter how upset he may be, and I know it's definitely going to be hard for him to leave this place. Today we spent all day running around Addis Ababa going to various places. We first had to revisit the Embassy this morning as they thought they lost a paper for our friends and travel companions, the Rowes. Thankfully, after making the trip all the way to the Embassy, the paper appeared and all the families in our group were all able to pick up the immigration paperwork and passports for our children. I'm pretty sure that Natty's Ethiopian passport with his US visa is one of the best things we've seen in a very long time! It is such a relief to know that the red tape and craziness of this adoption rollercoaster is finally coming to a close, although we know that the really hard work is just beginning!! After our trip to the Embassy, we visited our adoption agency's {Arise for Children} in-country non-profit organization, Love in Action. We had previously visited there on our last trip with many donations of school and office supplies but we wanted to stop in and say hello again. Love in Action is doing exactly that for many different people in Ethiopia. They currently run an after-school tutoring and sponsorship program for 20 children and a job training program for several at-risk women. We are so thankful to be working with an adoption agency that values not only adoption, but also empowering those who cannot be adopted and their families, all while sharing the Gospel. Later in the afternoon, we truly had a once in a lifetime opportunity of visiting the home of a birthmother whose 5 children have been recently adopted by another family in Louisville because she is HIV positive. To say that the birthmother was generous does not even begin to cover it. She greeted us with hugs and tears, and openly welcomed us into her home, which we soon found out was quite a distance off the beaten path. After a long walk, we finally made it there. It was nothing more than a square mud hut with a couple small rooms, but it was filled to the brim with hospitality and love as many of her friends and family gathered to meet us. They served us lots of traditional Ethiopian food and held a traditional coffee ceremony for us. Despite just finishing lunch before we arrived, we all did our best to eat what we could so that their generosity did not go to waste. We had no interpreter with us so I'm pretty sure we all made fools of ourselves as we tried to point and do ridiculous sign language to communicate back and forth. Even though our 30 minute quick visit turned into over an hour, it was totally worth it. This family was obviously so grateful that their children had been afforded the opportunity to be adopted and it made us think a lot about Natty's own birthmother. We finished up this evening with some last minute souvenir shopping and another traditional Ethiopia dinner. While it's been a great cultural experience, Ryan and I both agree that we'll be glad to get home to some all-American cuisine! Well, that's all that's been going on with us as of late. Our plans for tomorrow are to stick around the transition house all day so we can pack, spend more time with Natty, and prepare to say our goodbyes to our friends here. If you think of it, please be praying for our goodbyes. A few of the nannies have already told us how much they will miss Natty and how hard it will be to see him go. We are hoping that we are able to convey to them our gratitude for taking such amazing care of our son for the last 13 weeks while we could not, but I'm not sure there are enough words to do so. We absolutely love Ethiopia and the people, and will definitely be leaving a little bit of our hearts here tomorrow as we make the long journey home. Thanks for thinking of us and checking in on us while we're away. With much love, Ryan & Lesli |
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
an update from Ethiopia
Hey all, Sorry we are just now getting a chance to send an update on our trip! We are up and ready to go this morning for our 3rd day in Ethiopia so I thought it was long past time to send an email. So far the trip has been wonderful and hard at the same time. We left Louisville on Saturday afternoon for an overnight stay in D.C., then headed out for Addis Ababa on Sunday morning. Our flights were good and uneventful so that was definitely a blessing. Little Charlotte and I did well on the flights, despite my worries, and both Ryan and I were very relieved about that! When we arrived in Ethiopia on Monday morning, we were all beginning to feel the effects of little to no sleep on the long flight and were pretty much dragging from the beginning of the day. After a long wait in the airport for our visas and going through Customs, we were finally on our way back to the West Sands transition home to see our boy again. It seemed like the drive from the airport to the transition home was much longer than I remembered, but after much anticipation, we finally made it there. We didn't even hardly unload our luggage before we headed back to see our little Nathanel (Greer) again. Unfortunately, despite all our pent up excitement over seeing him again, he did not exactly share the same sentiment! In fact, I'm pretty sure our excitement was met by his sheer terror. We had heard from some friends who were here picking up their kiddos a couple weeks ago that he wasn't too excited to see them either, so we were somewhat prepared but it was still hard. The entire time we spent with him in the morning consisted of him crying...actually, I think we could call it wailing...and clinging to his nannies. We have been praying for him to have a healthy attachment with his nannies for quite some time so that we know he is capable of forming a healthy attachment with us later on, and I can definitely say that God has answered that prayer!! In order to keep us awake for the day so we could get acclimated to the new time zone, our wonderful in country host, Woudneh, took us out for lunch at an amazing lodge in the Ethiopian countryside. Let me just tell you, this place was NICE! Apparently it is the hot spot for many foreign dignitaries when they come to Ethiopia and it was quite impressive. For a grand total of $11 each, we were served a wonderful meal, had access to kayaking on a private lake, use of the swimming pool, and received a discount on spa treatments. At the encouragement of Woudneh, several of the women in our group decided to relax at the spa. I received a one hour foot massage that cost a whopping $4, and I think it was probably the best $4 that I've spent recently :) After a great day at the lodge, we were all eager to get back to our kids so we headed back to the transition home. Much to our dismay, little Natty was still not very thrilled to see us. It was about 6:30 and getting dark, but Ryan and I decided to try to take him for a little walk and alone time away from his nannies to see if it calmed his anxieties at all. After about an hour of straight crying, we finally got him to sit in our laps in the living room without too much fussing. However, any time an Ethiopian person would pass through the room, the crying would start again. I think he must have been reminded that we didn't look like everyone else and it set him off again! We finally took him back to his room around 8:00 for bedtime and were feeling pretty worn down and frustrated. I think the mixture of jet lag, pregnancy hormones, and rejection were getting to us so we called it a night early. Yesterday we woke up pretty refreshed but also quite anxious over how the day would go. We had an appointment to be at the US Embassy around 1:00 p.m. and weren't exactly sure how Natty would handle being alone with us for the day. After breakfast, we headed back to his room and were greeted with more tears. We took him back to the living room of the transition home and did a lot more rocking and trying to sooth him. He cried for so long that it actually wore him out and he eventually feel asleep on Ryan. They napped together for about an hour and a half, and he woke up a little more settled and a little less scared. We kept him with us for the rest of the morning and things started to smooth out a bit. We got to change his clothes into his outfit we brought for the Embassy appointment and finally changed his diaper for the first time too. He was definitely feeling more comfortable with us, and we were very relieved! Plus, he looked super cute in his new shirt, jeans and shoes :) We headed off to the Embassy with the 2 other families in our travel group and Natty did great pretty much the whole time. At the Embassy appointment, we quickly realized that it was a very similar set-up to the DMV! We took a number when we got there and waited for it to be called so we could go up to the window for our interview. After waiting about an hour and a half, we were the first family in our group to be called up. The interview was very quick and easy...maybe lasting 5 minutes total...and then the man behind the window announced that his visa was approved! We were relieved, but even more so when all the families in our group got their approvals as well. Woudneh will go Thursday morning to pick up his passport and immigration papers so that we can be on our way home Friday night. Per Ethiopian law, adoptive families cannot go out in public with their children, so after our appointment we were whisked back to the transition house. We spent the next hour and a half or so with Natty playing in our room and all was going pretty well until the end. I think a mixture of hunger and tiredness played a role, but he quickly melted down and decided that he wanted nothing to do with Ryan or I. It was really hard after having such a better day with him, but we know that we're still making progress even if it's slow. We returned him to his room before heading out to the Crowne Hotel for a traditional Ethiopian dinner and show. The dinner was great and so was the show. We are so grateful to be traveling with other amazing families, and have really enjoyed our time with them in Ethiopia again. After dinner, Natty was already long asleep so we didn't go in and disturb him. We were all tired and the transition home was experiencing a power outage so we just decided to turn in for the night a little early. Today, Ryan has headed off with the other men in our group to see a water project being done in Dera, Ethiopia by Hope Arising (www.hopearising.org), which Woudneh's wife, Betty oversees. I decided to hang back at the transition home so I can spend some extra time with Natty in his normal environment and see if I can get some tips from the nannies on our little guy. I cannot believe that in 2 more days we'll be saying goodbye to all the amazing people here and this beautiful country. It makes me sad to think about taking Natty from everything familiar but I also know that God has blessed us and him with this opportunity so we're trying to make the most of it! Please keep praying for our attachment with Natty. We have a feeling that our trip home could be a very long one as he grieves the loss of things that are familiar to him and embarks on a totally new journey. Anyways, I know this update has been super long. If you've hung in to read it all, thanks! We are so appreciative of each and every one of you and can't wait to introduce you to our son :) Blessings from Ethiopia and hopefully I'll update again (in much shorter fashion) soon! Love, Ryan and Lesli |
Thursday, March 10, 2011
getting SO close
oh my word. i cannot believe that we board our first plane headed back to ethiopia in less than 2 days. i really don't think it has hit me yet that it's finally happening and it may not until we see the gate at the west sands transition home again. although just knowing that i will never have to be on a different continent than my son again {unless of course, one of us chooses to do so}, makes my heart happy!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
burdened for ethiopia
since friday i have felt so burdened to pray for adoptions in ethiopia. as many of you have probably heard, the rumor mill is swirling with news that MOWA {the ministry of women's affairs - the division that oversees adoptions} in ethiopia, has threatened to cut the amount of adoption cases processed each day by 90%. instead of processing 50 adoption cases per work day, MOWA is saying that they will begin only processing 5 case per day beginning march 10, 2011. this still hasn't been confirmed by the ethiopian government, but is definitely the "talk" of the ethiopian adoption community right now...
2) the Ministry’s resources should be focused on the children for whom intercountry adoption is not an option
Monday, March 7, 2011
wow. i can't believe we're only 5 sleeps away from leaving for our second trip to ethiopia!! i was beginning to think this would never happen and now i'm panicking a little about whether or not we can get everything in order before our trip. ah, the craziness of life always sneaks up on me! oh well. my to do lists can always wait...i've got a little boy to love on and bring HOME. and i doubt he'll even care if i've organized all my fabrics in my sewing room by color, washed the dogs, cleaned all the blinds, dusted ceiling fans, taken books and clothes to go0dwill, etc :)
Saturday, March 5, 2011
our first meeting
Friday, March 4, 2011
flights are booked.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
travel dates confirmed!!
we have an embassy date of tuesday, march 15!! we are still working on our flight arrangements and logistics but i'm so happy to know that this time next week, we'll be down to our final days at home with just the 2 of us!