First Family Photo

It's not the best photo, but it's all 5 of us as a family. After a long energetic day for the kids, night-time isn't the best time for taking pictures. :)

Pretty Girl

The 3 kids

I've tried attempting some pics of the 3 kids today. My oldest just doesn't know how to smile when he needs to smile. I'll have to get more when Mark is around, but here are a few for now to tie you all over....

13 hours?!

Holy cow! She slept 13 hours last night!! How awesome!!!

I'm attempting some pics today of all 3 kids. I want to get some of all 5 of us too, but have to wait till Mark gets home for that. I'll hopefully be posting those pics today or tomorrow!

A few more pictures from today

Addison 1 week later

In between naps and running today, I've gotten to sneak in some picture taking. I'm not done just yet...I want to get the 3 kids together yet for sure, and hopefully a family picture also...but here are 2 that I've gotten today. How adorable is she?!?! The bench she is sitting on in the one picture was from my sister and her family. Her husband does FANTASTIC woodworking...as you can see!!

We're doing well

We've been home for a week now. Wow! Seems kinda crazy to think that! But all is good. Addison is adjusting to many things very nicely. She's getting acustomed to baby food (which she is completely in love with, no matter what kind it is!), her 2 brothers (now that she's had time with each of them individually, it's not so bad), the time change (there has only been one night during the past week that she woke up around 2, otherwise she's been sleeping thru 10 hours), and other things. She's very happy, most of the time. When you wipe her nose, then it's a different story! It's just a blessing to have her a part of our family--FINALLY!

She has met many new people this week and takes to everyone without crying. She's probably used to having lots of people in and out of her site with families visting the foster care home in Addis. But, it's probably also in her Ethiopian blood to just be happy and friendly anyway!

I plan to post more pics when I get the chance, hopefully this week. I'm also trying to upload pics into a book I'm going to have printed of Addison and our trip, instead of just scrapbooking it myself. I'm trying to beat the sale deadline!! :)

Addison is adjusting well

We are adjusting well. Today is so much better than yesterday! We let her nap yesterday afternoon about 2-3 hours and woke her up. It was great cuz she slept 10 hours last night. We're hoping with a couple more days like this, she'll adjust to Nebraska time just fine! This afternoon she took about a 2 hour nap and is just as happy as can be! And she's been with the boys separately today. Trevor was at school this morning, so her and Caleb played and "talked" to each other a lot. Then her and Trevor woke up about the same time, so they had some time together. I think she's adjusting to having a couple brothers.
She met quite a few people today too and it went so well. All she did was smile as people adored her. I'm sure she thought it was cool being held and passed to the next person. Then when she spotted me, I get a huge smile!
But all is well on our end. She seems to be doing better today and not feeling as if she needs to be held 24/7. She's been playing on her own while I try getting unpacked and cleaned up around the house. It helps lessen the stress a little!
And we've found out she loves rice cereal, applesauce and took to the peas at lunch today very nicely! I'm guessing she's just loving not having only formula!
Here are a few more pics for today...


This first picture is us with Belay. He is a Gladney rep that has a great input in referrals of the children.

This second picture is us with our driver Anbus. Fantastic man!! There are not enough nice words to say about him! And it's thanks to him on why we got our luggage when we did!

This last photo is of Addison one of the first couple days we had her. This has turned out to be one of her favorite toys!

Injera Table

This is what we ate the evening of the Traditional Ethiopian Dinner/Dance. It turned out to be pretty good! (I have to say I was a little nervous.)

Addison and Mark with her main care giver at Gladney's foster care. It is amazingly unbelievable how much these caregivers LOVE these kids. They are the next best people to parents. Extremely touching and emotional experience to meet these fabulous ladies!

Let's start with a few pictures

Here are some pics from the 10th floor of the Hilton...where we stayed while in Addis.

We are home

We landed in Omaha last night just before 7pm. My parents and Bonnie brought the boys down to the airport and was so glad they did! I think the boys grew 3 feet!! My sister and her family also came. It was SO great seeing them all!!

Today is going to be a day with us 5 at home to hang out and all get used to being a family of 5. Get her used to living in our home and these new conditions...although I think she's already enjoying herself! She's taking to the boys VERY well!

So....as we now start Chapter 2...

Leaving Addis

It's 6pm here in Addis right now. So, in about a 1/2 hour our driver
will be here to take us to the airport. We're excited to get home,
but I've gotten some butterflies too. I'm ready to give my boys the
biggest hugs ever!!

Not too much longer now boys!!! Mommy Daddy and Addison are on their
way home!!! We love you!

Almost Home

Things have been very busy the past couple days. Friday we visited 3
orphanages. Yes, it's sad when you see some of the things you see,
but it really is wonderful to know those kids have a place to go! And
they are schooled, so it's better for them also.

Yesterday we had a busy day. We went to a bizarre, which basically
was a backyard of a church and people set up booths with things to
buy. I think Mark and I had all our souvenirs bought in 15-20
minutes! It was pretty cool and I know he was happy about that! Then
yesterday afternoon we met Addison's birthmom. It was a great
experience and am so completely glad that we did meet her. It was
emotional, but I have no regrets.

And last night we went with Belay to Dreamland for supper, which is a
hotel outside of Addis about an hour. The food was great and the
scenery was absolutely beautiful! Overlooking a lake made by a
volcano. Excellent view. And we had the experience of losing power.
But it was still a little light out till we were finished, so we could
see. But they also lit some candles too.

We are actually leaving today. In a few more hours. We had our
flights changed once again. We decided to avoid the whole German
Embassy and transit visa deal for Addison. So we'll be returning a
couple days early. We are overly excited to return home to our boys.
And I'm sure they are excited to see us too!!

So, this is the last till we return home. Hopefully we will have an
UNeventful trip this time!!

Addison in her dress

Ethiopian Cultural Dinner & Dance

We have a little time this morning before pickup for the orphanages
today. I was thinking early, but 9:30 is when they're coming.

Last night was pretty fun! We went to an Ethiopian restaurant where
we had injera with many different sauces and meats. I have to say I
was a bit nervous about going. A couple nights ago we ordered room
service and ordered some injera for Addison. I tasted it that night
and was not too fond of the taste. It's basically like a pancake but
it's got a little bit of a tart taste….it's hard to explain. Everyone
told me though, you've got to have it with something, not plain.
It'll take away that distinct taste it has. They were right. It was
pretty good. There was a bean dip that Mark and I both really liked.
We had a chicken sauce that was spicy. I liked it, but didn't eat a
lot cuz of the spicy. It kinda hung with a person for awhile. There
was a spinach dip which was alright, but not too much of it for me.
Lamb, that was good, but watch out for the bones!  I can't think of
anything else. I've got pictures though, so you'll be able to see
that after we return home.
And the dancing was so awesome! They had a band with drums, a
harp-like instrument, a recorder-type made out of wood, and I think
there was one other guy playing something but I couldn't see what it
was from where I was sitting. They had a man and lady out throughout
the night, separate and together, singing. There were also 2 men and
2 ladies dancing throughout some of the songs. It was just awesome!
We got most of the dances on tape, but the one or two we didn't get, I
did get pictures. Travis was telling one of the guys that they were
going to come over our way to get us to do what they were…I thought he
was kidding…he wasn't! Belay was the first and it was SO fun to watch
him dance with the girl that came our way! He knew what he was doing!
Mark was next. And then I did it. A bit embarrassing when you
aren't sure what you're doing, but it was fun! Zach also danced and
it was fun to watch him. He really got into it! A little later a guy
came our way and got a friend of one of the driver's to dance and
Sharon. It seems to be a lot of head and shoulder movements, just
getting it right.

So today we are going to a little pasty shop all together for
breakfast and then we head to the orphanages. I believe Travis said
we'll be going to the older boys home first. We won't see all of them
since they will be in school, but I'm guessing there will still be a
lot of kids. And then there are 2 other orphanages we'll be going to
this afternoon.

I guess that's about all I've got for now. Since I found out the
other picture DID post, I'm going to try posting the one of Addison in
her dress from her caregiver. She's so beautiful in it! Well, she's
beautiful anyway!! 

Trevor and Caleb, mommy, daddy and Addison will be home in just a few
more days! We miss you so much! And love you so much!! We get to
see you Wednesday!

WE HAVE LUGGAGE!!!

Yes, you read that right!! For some reason the Delta site, after 5
days now, I told Mark it had to be wrong. Our awesome driver over
here, Anbus, took us to the airport today to have us look in their 2
holding rooms for luggage. By golly, all 4 of them were there! I was
just about in tears with happiness!

So we're all sorted out for H. Aid and Addison's things. It's so nice
to know we have clothes now and can look a bit more presentable than
we have! :-)

That's all for now.....We have the Ethiopian Cultural Dinner and Dance
tonite, so I'll probably post tomorrow evening maybe about that and
the orphanages. We go to the 3 orphanages all day tomorrow. So I'll
probably have quite the post after that.

Trevor and Caleb....mommy and daddy miss you! We love you SO much!
Mommy, Daddy and Addison will be home soon!!

no pics

I can't get the pics to post right now. I may try again another day,
or else just when we get home. It's high-speed here, but still slower
than at home.

Getting Addison

What's been going on with us here

Today was a nice day. Since we missed our flight the other day, we
officially met our blogging buddies today. And the 4th family we knew
would be here also. They are all fantastic and all the babies/kids
are absolutely beautiful!!

Yesterday morning, as you know, we did pick up Addison. We decided to
just hang out at the hotel, rest up, bond with her. She has done so
awesome! By noon, easily, yesterday, it's like she's always been one
of our own!  Trevor and Caleb, you will be excited too! Addison
likes to make dinosaur sounds just like you!!!

Today we visited the Gladney Foster Care homes, met some of the babies
there, and saw their traditional coffee ceremony. That was really
cool to watch and see exactly what they do here. Plus with Ethiopia
being the coffee capital of the world…that's how I see it anyway…it
was really cool! And I tasted it. I think I took a total of 3
sips-it did have sugar in it. It wasn't terrible, for me not liking
coffee, but I did not drink it all.

Then this afternoon we went for our Embassy appointment. It ended up
being pretty harmless and it all went thru fine. So hopefully
Addison's things will be done Friday and then we'll head to the German
Embassy Monday to get her transit visa, since we are going home thru
Frankfurt. Germany just started on March 1st, this thing with needing
a transit visa. We originally were avoiding it, but cuz of all the
flight confusion, we ended up switching flights. But as long as we
can go there Monday, tell them we are leaving the next day for home,
that we really need it, we're hoping they get it done for us and we'll
be smooth sailing. If they don't have it done before we leave that
evening, then things COULD get hairy in Frankfurt. But we've had
enough bad, so we're just hoping for all the good now!

And this afternoon Mark started to have something hit him. I don't
think he's sick, but I don't think something settled with him. At the
US Embassy appointment, he wondered if it was nerves, but it didn't
turn out that lucky. He's napping with Addison right now, so
hopefully he'll be feeling better after napping or a night's rest. I
think right now he's just got a headache (and of course won't take any
Tylenol for it)

Tomorrow is another free day, so we pondered going to Entonto
Mountain. But without our snugly (yep, in the lost luggage) I'm not
super crazy about that idea. We'll see how Mark is feeling. He said
he didn't mind carrying her otherwise. But then tomorrow night we
will be going to an Ethiopian Traditional dinner/dance thing. A
caregiver will be coming to watch Addison from the Gladney home…I'm
kinda hoping it's the lady who was her primary caregiver. Just to
give them one last time together before we leave for home.

I'm looking forward to Saturday. Joanna was telling us of a once a
month thing a church, I believe, does here. You go and they have ALL
kinds of souvenir things, for kids up to adults. Otherwise, we do
have shops here at the Hilton too if we don't find all we'd like
there. I have to say, there is a beautiful Ethiopian dress downstairs
I spotted in the window of a store for Addison……OH, I would LOVE to
get that for her! Just not sure how much it is yet.

Well, that's all I have for now. Enjoy the pics if I can get them to
post! The one of the 3 of us is the morning we had just gotten her.
One is with her yesterday loving her new musical toy. The last is of
her in her Traditional Ethiopian dress her primary caregiver gave her
today. We're planning to have her wear it for her baptism as well.
Isn't she adorable in it?!?

We have Addison!

We have our baby girl!! It was so sweet seeing some of the babies
this morning. There was one that was really watching us when we got
to Gladney's Foster Care that we thought was her. But we found out
they have 2 infant care homes and she was in the one right across the
street.

But we are here and all is good. Gonna check on the luggage and see
where it's at. Hopefully enroute here via the Ethiopian Air flight to
land tonite. If we're lucky!! The foster care home gave us a bag
with some supplies for today. Thank goodness for that!

So, for now, this is what we know. Today is a "free" day, so we're
just hanging out with Addison and probably gonna nap a bit today.
Slept ok, but still only 6 or so hours last night.

We'll have to try pics another time. It's not sending them too fast.

More soon.....

We are in Addis

Hello everyone! Mark and I did finally make it to Addis last night,
but I have to admit it was WAY too eventful for me!!

We started in Omaha for Cincinnati. Got there and our flight was
delayed from 4:30 till 5:45. I was worried, but figured we'd wait it
out. 5:45 came and went to a new delay of 6:30. They then decided to
just cancel our flight. Of course I was beside myself and got my
crying out. Then I was just determined. Mark and I walked all over
the airport. Ended up getting a different flight to DC, with
instruction from our travel agent, but was to the other airport there
and still too late for our Ethiopian Air flight. Delta ended up
putting us up in a nice hotel and paid our taxi to get where we needed
to go.

Day 2 we started by trying to figure out what we needed to do now to
get here. Our travel agent gave us a couple options, cuz we took out
travel insurance. It was a great decision if you are ever wondering
if you should or not! Anyway, we could wait till Monday to get the
flight out on Ethiopian or we could cancel that all together and get
on a different airline. Of course that's what we did.

Everything was going well. We made it to Frankfurt Germany after 7-8
hours uneventfully. I had good feelings about yesterday before and
after that flight. I was doing well. We were getting on a bus for
them to take us to our plane for Addis and still all was well. It was
another 8-9 hours to Addis, but I was doing ok with only cap-naps here
and there. We landed in Khartoom Sudan for a refuel and a few
passengers to get off. We were told about 45 minutes and would be
back in the air. Yeah, not so much! 2 hours later, when we were to
be LANDING in Addis, we were just finally taking off. Something about
the fuel in the wings wasn't matching up in the cockpit, so they had
to check things manually.

But we arrived in Addis last night about 10ish...mind you, with NO
bags...but as we expected. Once we were here, we got our Visa and
headed to the baggage claim counter. The man there was so helpful!
He checked the slip we had from Delta and said there are comments to
send the baggage here to Addis....so I do have hopes that it WILL
arrive in the next day or two here. (I'm crossing my fingers!)

Travis and his 2 great kids were at the airport to pick us up last
night. It was nice to see a familiar face...or someone we were to be
finding. We are about to go get Addison in about an hour. I'm set
and ready to go--thankfully we had a set of clothes in our carry-on.
Mark is getting ready as I'm down posting. We have nothing for
her....diapers, formula, clothing, etc....but Travis wasn't too
concerned about that. The only thing he did say was our trip has to
be the worst they've heard of. No baggage took the cake! :-)

But we're here and all is well for now.....just pray for luggage! Post later

we have made it to frankfurt....we leave in about 4 hours now for
addis. so far so good. we have rain here, but nothing to be
concerned about. by noon on monday, nebraska time, we should be
landing. all for now

crystal and travis....had the german hard rolls on our flight....yummy!!

Not in Addis yet

Keeping this short....we aren't in Addis yet.  Our flight out of Cincinnatti to get us to Dulles in DC last night was cancelled.  We fortunately took out travel insurance and are able to get out on a different airline there Monday night instead.  Otherwise we wouldn't be getting there till Tuesday night.  So, prayers are still all good....hopefully we'll be holding our little Addison Tuesday instead of Monday.....but each plane we get on is one step closer. :-)

Ethiopia, Africa....Here We Come!

I did sleep well last night. I was in bed about 10 and woke up a little before 6. It was an hour before my alarm was to go off, but I didn't wake up last night at all, so I'm not complaining. There was a reason behind me not sleeping well the night before! God wanted me to get a good rest for today!

Yes, TODAY, we are leaving for Ethiopia. I was telling the girls at MOPS yesterday...when you say, "I'm headed to Ethiopia" I don't think a LOT of it, just cuz I've been saying 'Ethiopia' for a year now. BUT, when I say, "yep, I'm headed to Africa".....THAT gives it a whole new meaning!!!

I spoke to my sister-in-law last night before leaving today (also a tickled-to-death godmother to Addison!) about us leaving. Just like she said, going to Africa is a huge deal! But, going to Africa to get our daughter is a HUGE deal! I don't think she could be any more right!!!

So as our Chapter 1 begins to come to a close, I thank you all as friends, family, and fellow bloggers. You have all helped us get thru our good and bad times. It has now all paid off!

So, keep checking this over the next 11 days. I plan to try posting as much as I'm able to...especially for my boys! Stay tuned for more to come.....

Tomorrow....Already? Finally!

It's amazing to think we are actually leaving tomorrow. I can tell it's starting to sink in somewhere in my mind. I woke up around 4:00 this morning and could not get back to sleep! And what did I wake up to? A dream checking in at the airport in DC!

I'm hoping for a great day today...and a nap this afternoon! :) But a good morning at MOPS and a nice afternoon with the boys. And hopefully Mark won't get stuck too late at work tonite.

I'm feeling good about everything though. Except leaving my boys for a week and a half, but Trevor's tears the past couple days have been due to Addison not being home yet. He's such a dear! But I explain that mommy and daddy are leaving Saturday to go get her....when we come home she will be with us. Then he's feeling better. I have to say, I'm kinda glad he's crying about Addison not here yet instead of Mark and I being gone. It'll make it much easier on this lady when we go to leave tomorrow!

Almost there baby girl!

Just 3 days to go

It's been a good day.  We are officially packed.  I am done at the Y till after we get back and get settled.  Lots of things are falling into place nicely.  I'm just hoping all goes well at the shop the rest of the week for Mark.  They've been QUITE busy, so I can imagine once we get back it'll be ugly for a few days!  But we won't think about that now....we're now focusing on bringing home our baby girl to join our family.  I just can't wait to hold her!  Now that things are coming together and slowing down, I'm finally realizing that in 3 days, we're not just hopping on a plane to go somewhere, we are hopping on a plane to get our daughter!!

SOOOOOO much better!!!

Ok, I am feeling SO much better this evening!!!

I have, again, got my packing down to 4 bags. Thanks to my fantastic sister-in-law, she let us borrow her luggage. Our plan was just to use 1 of her's, something bigger than the one I had this afternoon. After Mark got home tonite, I brought the other one in....and against his words, I had him bring in the 3 smaller bags we had. I transferred most of it into "sissy's" bigger bag and the rest into the other one of her's. According to the scale I have here, the bigger one is right at 70 pounds, I think. The other I have room to play with. It's 60-some. But I'll still have Mark use the UPS scale at work tomorrow so we know for sure.

I'll quit talking about all my horror stories of packing now. Besides feeling better about my final decisions tonite, I don't want to scare you future travelers into thinking it is your worst nightmare!! Gotta remember that in situations like this, I stress just a tad easy!! :)

Nope, I spoke too soon :-(

Mary called this morning just to check how things were going before leaving this weekend. I have to say, I'm glad she called, BUT I'm not excited about repacking AGAIN, after talking with our travel agent!

I have to say, I have always been a LITTLE nervous about using the oversized bag anyway, but after talking with our travel agent, I'm just not gonna take the chance. She said she wouldn't be concerned other than the fact we're changing airlines in DC. So with it weighing in at a whopping 92 pounds this morning she was afraid it would end up not going on the plane. It would be shipped, or something else would happen to it.

So in just a short while, I'm headed BACK up to Platte Center to repack that suitcase into 2 separate ones. But my plan is to just do it up there so I can re-weigh the 2 new bags while there. So....cross my finger....by the time I get back home I will be in a better mood again!

I'm telling ya....I just can't wait till those suitcases are checked and out of our hands. I am just having NO fun trying to figure out WHAT to take and HOW we'll get it to our destination!

I'M DONE!!!!!!!!!!

I now have a very relaxed feeling over me.....I'm done packing!!! I have a curling iron to pack yet on Friday, but I'm not counting that as not being done!

So, I now will hopefully be finishing up Addison's room tomorrow. And finish cleaning up the living room. Well, get the suitcases out anyway.

Such a great feeling...I hope there are more of those this week!

Raining on my parade

Now, not only am I having packing problems, I also just realized we are arriving home Wednesday, not Tuesday. One more day away from my boys....I'm not super excited. I think I was thinking, since we're leaving Addis on Tuesday--we are 8 hours behind--so we'll arrive home on Tuesday. But we leave there late Tuesday night and it's only 8 hours difference, which puts us back here Wednesday afternoon. It makes sense after I looked at our tickets a little closer.

I just can't wait for the moment that our bags are checked and we're sitting on the plane. At that point, there's nothing else I'll be able to do with the suitcases till we arrive in Addis. That will be a great feeling.

I suppose....back to a little more packing.

Gotta take a break!

WOW! I'm glad I read the Albertson's blog today, which then took me to Ethiopian Airlines' website. Becca commented on carry-on baggage being 15 pounds. I'm thinking ONLY 15 pounds!! The carry-on with only my snacks has got to be over 15 pounds. Yep, I was right! So I'm staring at my 4 things we'll be using for carry-on's and I'm just stumped. I just keep staring and staring....nope, not getting any better. They are losing any pounds. So, I'm stuck.

I'm thinking we're gonna end up with a 2nd backpack. I don't think Mark is going to be greatly happy, but I don't think we'll have a choice. The carry-on I wanted to take, it's maybe half full when it hits 15 pounds. So I'm not going to take that with wasted space. Just not necessary.

Well, I smell yummy cookies almost done in the oven. And I suppose I better get back to staring at the carry-ons and figure out what I need to do!

Less than 1 week to go

We have less than a week to get everything together, as well as ourselves, before traveling. I think, packing-wise, I'm pretty much ready to go. I have one more shirt to pack for Mark, otherwise it's my couple last minute things after my Friday morning MOPS meeting. I packed the boys today, and again, we're down to the last minute things to pack for them too.

So, what's left? Well, while the boys and I went to watch my nephew's soccer game yesterday, Mark stayed home to get a little cleaning done. He got most of the kitchen, I just have to go thru a little mail yet on the table. And we gotta finish getting Caleb's things out of Addison's room. I have to say, considering everything that WAS on my list to do in 2 weeks time, I'm impressed with what we've accomplished!

And speaking of which, I suppose I better get back to work. I would like to get Addison's room cleaned up today if possible. That gives me a guilt-free week of playing with the boys and going to my MOPS meeting on Friday! :)

6 days to go....and counting!

Hallmark (Product) RED

We are down in the single digits!! YAY!!!

I'm just taking a quick break between the packing we have left and cleaning up a little bit. Got an email from Hallmark....LOVE the store anyway, but I'm a fanatic for their (Product) RED line! Not only is it awesome, but they also donate 8% of the sales to AIDS in Africa. How awesome is that?!?!

So, they had some Christmas cards clearanced out...of course I got a few of those. How perfect for this Christmas with Addison's first Christmas with us! I've also got a few other things from them. The little journal I bought to take with us on the trip is also a Hallmark RED item. Just love it!!! Check it out online or in stores!

One more smile!

 

Thank you Rooneys!!

Thanks so much to the Rooney's for the wonderful pics and video of our baby Addison while they were there picking up their baby boy!!! And I have to say, thumbs up to them!! They got the first pics of her smiling!!! YAY!!!!!

Check, 3/4 check, Little bit of a check?!

We have finished our paperwork today and it has been faxed to Belay. It's a nice feeling to have that finished!

3 of our 4 suitcases are packed and ready to go. The 4th is packed, but I have a few more things we'll be checking, so I gotta finish that once Mark has a chance to bring it inside for me. So, that's almost a check off my list. (Still gotta get the carry-ons situated though)

And I started in 1 of the 3 rooms I/we want cleaned up before we leave. Our living room is where we always are.....so that means we have toys, movies, mail, etc to get sorted thru and picked up. It's always nice coming home to a clean home, no matter the situation. Just don't want to clean the second you get in the door. But I got a start on our living room today. A huge pile of mail and paperwork has been finished, gone thru, thrown, or whatever needed to be done with it! GREAT feeling! Now if I can just get my boys to cooperate with putting their toys away!! :)