Day 6 - Thursday

We had Maya with us all night last night.  She did so well and slept through most of the night.  We did have to wake her at 10:00 for her medication and we woke her again at 1:00 to eat.  She is sleeping in this little crib next to Dave.  We would have let her sleep through the night but she was becoming very restless and probably would have woken up on her own.  She is an amazing little girl.  We haven't had luck feeding her through the bottle but she does love eating from a cup.  We have a cup from the care center that we are using.  About an hour ago, she just had approximately 6 oz of formula.  She is a happy girl right now. 

**Okay, just has our first poopy diaper.  Wow - I'm not used to that smell.

Today we had breakfast at the other guest house.  There are two guest houses and 11 couples.  Three couples are in the traditional guest house and the remaining couples are in the modern guest house.  Let's just say we got the short end of the stick as we are in the traditional guest house.  The food is prepared in the modern guest house so we must venture over there for our 3 meals.  It is a short walk but a muddy one as the roads are not paved.  Since it is the raining season, the roads are mostly water potholes and muddy.  I guess I could have left my flip flops back home.  

After breakfast a few couples went shopping.  We brought Maya along and she did very well.  She really likes car rides and fell asleep instantly.  Dave carried her in the baby Bjorn which seemed to work well.  After shopping we headed back to the modern guest house for lunch.  I finally was able to eat and it tasted very good.

We are now back at our guest house relaxing and spending time with Maya.  We are also going to start to pack our things as we head back tomorrow night.  It will be nice to get home as we are missing our dogs, a warm shower, and our bed.  Of course it will be sad to say good-bye to the other couples we have met as well as to the city where our girl spent the last six months. 

Theresa 

Day 5 - part 2

We had our good-bye ceremony at the care center with all the families, adopted children, and the nannies.  It was a very special time as this is when the nannies say their good-byes.  Maya has been in the care center since she was 9 days old and the nannies have become very attached to her.  One nanny made a point to come over to us to hug and kiss Maya as well as hug Dave and I.  We all cried at that moment.  It means the world to us to know that Maya has been so well taken care of.  She is such an outgoing little girl with so much personality.  It seemed to us that Maya was very well liked amongst the staff.  We could never thank CHSFS enough for giving us our precious Maya.

Once the ceremony was finished, we headed back to the guest house for dinner.  I finally had a chance to call my mom to check on things as she is house watching and taking care of our dogs for us.  While I am on the phone, Maya begins to scream.  The nice cook offered to take her from Dave and tried to calm her done.  After some long screams, Maya finally ate some food from a cup and went to sleep.  We have never seen that side of her and didn't know what to do.  Thankfully it all turned out okay.

Theresa

Hossana trip - Sunday

On Sunday we drove south of Addis to the city of Hossana.  We left the guest house at 5am and each family took their own Toyota Land Rover.  We didn't have much chance to get ready that morning as Massi, the house director, knocked on our doors at 4:20 am.  All of use quickly threw on some clothes and headed over to the other guest house.  I did have one of the guards walk me back to my guest house so I could put in my contacts.  On the way back, I ended up stepping in a large puddle of water.  The nice guard grabbed my arm and guided me back.  I should mention that the sun rises at 6am each day and sets at 6pm each day.  Ethiopia is on 2 12 hour clocks and they start at 6am and 6pm.  Let's just say that it was extremely dark outside when I was walking to and from the guest houses.

Day 5 - Wednesday

I just wanted to post a quick update on our days activities so far. We woke up early this morning and went to confirm our flights back (you need to do so in person or they will cancel your flight...). At the first office we stopped their computers were down and since we needed to also change Maya's ticket, we couldn't do so w/ the computers (you could only confirm) - so we dropped everyone else off at a spot to do some shopping and myself and one other went to another office to make our changes. We hope that Maya has a ticket for the way home...

I then connected back up with Theresa and the rest of the group half-way through their shopping trip. We purchased a lot of cool souvenirs and coffee. We hurried back to the guest house to eat and change as we had an afternoon appointment to meet the woman and policeman who found our daughter. It was very nice of them to make the trip from Butajira to Addis Ababa, it is a 2 hour drive by vehicle and I must imagine much longer via bus. She confirmed much of our daughters story and provided additional details which are very special and someday we can pass along to Maya.

Later this afternoon we have the goodbye ceremony at the Care Center where we take full-time responsibility for our children. It is supposed to be a very special ceremony where the nannies say goodbye. It is going to be especially hard for the three nannies who have taken care of Maya (Nejibya) as she has been in their care from a very early age.

Tonight she comes home with us and we will have Thursday and Friday to adjust before beginning our 30 hour journey home. :)

Day 4 - Tuesday

Hello everyone - we had another busy day so far.  We got back to the guest house late last night as we had dinner with our friends who are also in town.  Our friend is from Addis but lives in Fargo.  We had dinner at a very nice Italian restaurant which was great.  Dave is a big fan of Ethiopian food but I don't care for it as much.  I am craving a cheeseburger right now but will have to wait until we are back in the USA.  I also have to note how cheap the dinner was.  My meal was 48.00 BURR which is $4.80.  The same meal back home would have cost me at least $12.  We did have a great time with our friends and were so glad they were able to take us out.  Our adoption agency has a schedule for us and keeps us close by so we don't get to see much of the city.

Today we had a busy morning driving around Addis.  The goal was to do some shopping but it didn't end up that way.  I ended up getting motion sickness and still have it.  The driving here is unexplainable  and something that we have never seen.  There are no stop signs, stop lights, traffic rules of any kind, and people walk on the street.  It is amazing there isn't many car accidents.

This afternoon we went to the USA embassy to get a visa for Maya.  Before we left, the nannies brought the children to the guest house.  Maya was dressed is a very cute dress and was very happy.  She did fall asleep on the ride there and snored!  At the embassy she focused on the Monday night football game.  Yes, they had the game on a day later.  And...we have determined that Maya is daddy's girl.  She snores and likes football!  The embassy went extremely well and we are officially her parents.  Honestly, I am so happy and I love that girl so much.  She is so sweet and happy.  She even took some of the bottle today from Dave!  She struggled with it yesterday but did take about 3 oz today.  We are so pleased.  If we haven't mentioned it before, they cup feed all the babies here as it keeps down the infections.  Maya has never been breast feed or bottled feed until now.  We hope she continues to eat from the bottle as it will make a better trip home.  Oh...I have to say that the nanny yesterday told me she doesn't like bottle and that she will give me a cup tomorrow when I take her home.  It was kind of funny to be honest.  The nannies just love her so much and know her so well.  It will be hard for Maya to leave them as she is very attached. 

We are off to the Crown Hotel tonight for a traditional Ethiopian dinner and dancing.  Although I don't feel well, we are still going.  It should be very interesting.

Take care everyone and we hope to see you all soon! 

Theresa

Hello from Ethiopia!

Hello, can you believe we are starting our third day here in Ethiopia. We will try and provide you with enough detail to give you an idea of the adventure we are going through.

Ethiopian Airlines
We flew out on Friday morning, having no issues getting to the airport and checked in. We quickly connected with four other families using the same agency as us and another using a different agency. It was nice to find others who were in the same situation as us. The flight itself went with no issues outside of being confined to very small space for 15 hours. The food was good and we were fairly on schedule.

We arrived in Addis Ababa and claimed our bags and converted some dollars to local currency with no issues. There was a drive waiting for us as well as another couple that had flown in earlier that morning. As we caravanned with our bags to two vans waiting for us, we saw the first images that told us we were not in the U.S. anymore. There must have been a 1/2 dozen men cutting the grass using hand held cutting knives and another group following and picking up the grass...

We piled all of our bags into one van and then we squeezed into the other. We rode back to the guest houses where we had about 10 minutes to drop our bags and then pile back into the van and off to the office. We did some paperwork there, got a ride back to the guest house to eat lunch. After lunch we got a ride to care center to meet our daughter!

Meeting our Daughter!

We were all brought into one room to wait to be called to meet our children. Amazingly Theresa and I were called first to meet Maya Nejbya (pronounced Neji-bia). We were told to follow the social worker and as we walked into the room we were being filmed, which will be included in the DVD they are creating for us.) She is so amazing - she smiles and cuddles and is absolutely the most beautiful baby - still a bit hard to believe that she is our daughter. She is so loved by everyone at the care center, from the nannies to the photographers - they all stop to play and kiss her each time they see her.

The Trip to Hossana

Time is short, we'll post more later but here are a couple of pictures!

Seeing Maya again

We were able to go see Maya again on Sun night - this time we brought the camera and video camera. Some pictures below - isn't she amazing!

She really is the most amazing little girl - she has the flu and was obviously not the same happy girl as she was the day before, but she didn't fuss or cry. We spent over an hour with her on Sunday, just getting her familiar with us.

Some of you may know that they cup feed the infants here at the care center due to the fact that it easier to keep the cup sanitized vs. bottles and nipples. We watched the cup feeding on Saturday but today Theresa had the opportunity to feed Maya. It was very interesting to see Theresa feed her for the first time - I was able to capture it on video!

We are off!

We are finishing up our re-packing here in D.C. and will soon be heading over to Dulles airport to check into Ethiopian Airlines for our flight to pick up our daughter. Neither Theresa or I slept much last night - luckily I picked up some meds from the doctor to help us do so on the way over... :)

Hopefully we will be back online and blogging no later than Monday. Have a great weekend.

Cheers,

Major storms pound Chicago

Just noticed the reports that Chicago saw horrible weather today, 186,000 people without power. One of the main reasons we left a day early was to give us time in case something happened going through Chicago specifically that would cause us to miss our connection in D.C.

We are sure glad we made that decision...

Major Storms Pound Chicago

Washington D.C.

Hello everyone...we made it to Washington D.C. last night after a very long day of traveling.  We had a few delays in Chicago but finally made it.  We slept very well as we were both tired. 

Today we spent the day walking around the mall area.  We took the metro which was an interesting and painless experience.  We then walked and walked and walked.  My feet are killing me!  I guess my new sporty shoes don't have as much cushion as I thought.  Good thing CVS Pharmacy is close to our hotel as I need to find some new insoles. 

I called home to check on my mom and doggies.  All are doing fine except Sebastian has yet to warm up to my mom.  He should eventually after a week and a half. 

Well we are off to get some food and to CVS Pharmacy.  We have to get up early tomorrow so we can get to the airport.  Our flight leaves early morning.  As Dave said to me earlier today, "It's a good thing we got all this walking in today so we can get all stiff tomorrow by sitting in the plane for 17 hours". 

Don't you envy us? 

Theresa

 

Packed and on our way!

OK - we are packed (all 8 bags!) and currently sitting in the airport in Fargo waiting for our flight to board. We thought we would drop you a cute picture as Toby decided that the best way for us to not leave was to jump on our bags (or he just wanted to come with.

Talk to you all soon.

David 

One stressful day...

Well everyone - we are just a few hours away from boarding the plane on the first leg of our journey. We had a major hiccup today after we received Maya's birth certificate (see photo attached!) - we ended up having to spend the day changing airline tickets due to the agency screwing up some paperwork.

Back to our trip - we leave tomorrow for D.C. where we will spend the day - not sure what we will do yet, but at a minimum we will head down the Mall and see the sights there. On Friday AM we board our 17 hour flight to Addis Ababa - Theresa has her DVD player and movies, I have my books and MP3 player - we'll see if we make it there without killing each other...

We finished our packing tonight - we have quite the load with 2 backpacks, 2 carry-on's and 4 checked bags. As a frequent traveler, we will soon be the type of people that I hate when flying (there is a reason I board before everyone else on the plane...) we will take pictures tomorrow and post them for your enjoyment. Theresa's dad told us to pack lightly - let’s just say we failed in that respect.

We will be trying to update this blog throughout the week so keep coming back and reading our story. Keep us in your prayers to arrive safely and have a memorable meeting with our daughter. Thanks for your continued support.

Chat with you soon!

David and Theresa

Last Day at work

Today was my last day at work for 10 weeks.  I am so excited to have a break.  The last time I had more than 2 weeks off from work was when I was in middle school.  Of course this isn't a sit around kind of break as I will be caring for our first child.  We leave on Wednesday of next week which gives me Monday and Tuesday to get some last minute things done.  Of course we still have all the packing to do and hope to get much of it done this weekend.  Dave also has some work to finish up before he feels comfortable leaving.  There is so much to do and plan for when you are away from home for a week and a half.  Luckily for us my mother will be staying at our house and caring for the dogs while we are gone.  I don't think Toby and Sebastian think they are so lucky

 

I can't wait to share photos of Maya and our trip.  I'm sure Maya has changed some since her 2 month picture.  We are sure excited and anxious to travel.  We will meet our precious daughter a week from tomorrow.  YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Theresa

Feeling a little better...

This afternoon, Dave and I visited with a couple who have recently adopted from Ethiopia.  We asked numerous questions about their trip that we were unsure of.  We asked questions about the flight over and back, how many outfits do we need to pack for Maya, how many bottles do we need, etc.  I also asked about how many photos they took.  I heard about one family who took 1800 photos during their trip.  I want to ensure I have plenty of memory cards along.  We did make a stop at Best Buy today and purchased another battery pack and memory card.  Dave says we should be good but I'm not so sure. 

 

Hope you all had a great weekend.  Only 5 more days at work for me before I begin my personal leave.  I am taking 10 weeks off from work so I can bond with Maya before she begins daycare.  I'm looking forward to it.

 

Theresa

Getting Closer

On Thursday of last week, Dave and I got the last of our shots and boy did they hurt!  My arms ached for a solid two days!!  We also got some prescriptions to take with us which we have filled from the pharmacy.  On Friday night we did a little fall shopping for Maya.  We ended up purchasing some really cute fall clothes.  Of course we had no will power and bought more than we intended.  We also did some shopping at Target.  According to our packing list that has been given to us by previous travelers, it appears we have what we need to take with us.  The only thing missing is an extra memory card and battery pack for the camera (which is crucial!).  

 

Now that the shopping and the laundry is done, we now need to start packing.  I'm feeling better today about the trip now that so much is done and we have purchased what we need.   Regarding packing, I learned yesterday that I need to bring two long skirts along.  One is for our trip south and one is for the trip to the embassy.  This will be a challenge as I don't own very many skirts and what I do own is mostly knee length.  If anyone is out there reading this and has something I could borrow, please let me know

 

Hope you all are having a great weekend.  Until next time...

 

Theresa

Update on Maya!

Just a quick note today - hope everyone is doing well.

We received an update on Maya yesterday and she continues to grow consistently. She now weighs around 13 pounds and 22.44 inches long. Per U.S. standards she is very small but her wiight is at the 80% ranking in Ethiopia.

 

We leave in two weeks - can you believe it??

 

 

Here is our only photo of Maya at this time - she is 2 months old in this photo. Isn't she absolutely adoreable....!!! 

Good News!

We are officially parents!  Maya finally made it through court and we are now set to travel August 22.  We are over the moon!!  Dave left town for work early Monday morning and I told him not to tell me the news until we talk in the evening.  Of course I was an emotional wreck all morning worrying that she wouldn't make it through court.  I finally called Dave on my way home for lunch to see if he had heard.  Dave  had heard but didn't want to tell me.  He reminded me of how impatient I am but I didn't care.  Dave finally told me the good news.  I started to scream and cry.  I quickly pulled over as I was still driving home when he told me the news. 

 

Our tickets are booked and we are flying Ethiopian Air.  We will fly into Washington DC on the 22nd and depart for Addis early on the 24th.  We decided to spend a full day in Washington DC. 

 

This weekend we will be hosting Dave's family at the lake.  Starting next week we will need to kick it into high gear.  We still have lots of shopping to do as well as packing.  My sister is planning on driving to Fargo for a day to help me finish my packing.  Since she is a mom of three she will know exactly what I need to bring.  We do hope we will get a medical update on Maya before we travel but no gaurantee.

 

Lastly, I know many of you are dying to see a picture of our precious little girl.  I will have Dave post one once he is back home.  I'm not very savvy with computers, sorry.

 

Theresa