IT'S OFFICIAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We passed court!!!!!!!

I am BEYOND excited to introduce our son to you . . .


Introducing our son Yohannes! from Joel Hildebrand on Vimeo.

Court Update

We had our second court date on Thursday. We were SO nervous and anxiously awaiting word from our agency of the outcome. I think I checked my email every few minutes all day long! We FINALLY got an email from AAI around 6pm on Friday evening. 

Everything went well, BUT one piece of paperwork was missing - our MOWA recommendation letter. MOWA is the Women's Ministry in Ethiopia and they have to write an approval letter for every adoption before the case can be finished. 

So what does that mean for us now? Well, Y is not officially our son until the MOWA recommendation is forwarded to the court. So, we wait . . . again. Our agency thinks that it shouldn't take long to get the MOWA recommendation to the court - they are hopeful we'll have it by next week!

And that is when I can share pictures of our new son! Oh my goodness, I can't wait to share his pictures with you all! He is the most adorable little boy with the cutest smile EVER!

We were also told that we'll most likely be traveling to Ethiopia for an embassy appointment of either December 1st or December 15th! Looks like we'll have Y home before Christmas! And that is the best Christmas present I could ever ask for!

Happy Birthday Vienna!

My baby girl turns two years old today! How is that possible? She is growing up so fast and I don't like it, not one bit! It's crazy how time passes so quickly. I remember when she was a baby and would CRY like you would not believe, seriously, she had an amazing set of lungs (and still does). I remember thinking, "I can't wait until she's out of this fussy newborn stage!" And now I'm thinking back on those sleepless nights and I really do miss them! Crazy. 

But I also love the stage Vienna's in right now. We're starting to see a lot more of her little personality emerge and we just love our Nenna to bits!

Some things Vienna loves:

- her blankie (we can't go anywhere without it). Of course, thumb-sucking also accompanies the blankie.

- the Turkish pop song about Facebook (yes, there is a song in Turkish about Facebook and my kids love to dance to it. It is so cute - my kids dancing, that is, not the song so much. It's getting old quickly as it's usually requested at least 20 times a day). 


- socks, shoes, slippers. Right now Vienna is in a stage where she loves putting things on her feet. Of course, this includes my shoes, Joel's shoes and Colson's shoes too.


- books. Give this girl a big stack of books and she's happy for a long time! She loves to page through the books and pretend she's reading. 

-  making tea. She loves, loves, loves to get our her little tea set and pass out cups of "chai" to all of us and make sure we pretend to drink it.


- being organized (she's her mother's daughter)! She likes to line things up. It doesn't matter what she's playing with (a puzzle, legos, cars, books), she has to line everything up in a nice, neat row. She also loves cleaning up. I never have a problem with her when I tell the kids to clean up, she'll start singing the "clean-up" song and put all her toys away. 

We love you Vienna and can't imagine our lives without you! You bring us so much joy, we are so thankful God blessed us with YOU! Happy Birthday Nenna!

The birthday girl. Complete with pink boots and that thumb!

Coming after the camera

Spending the afternoon at one of our favorite places - the park!

Eating Simit (circular bread with sesame seeds - the Turkish equivalent of a bagel) on a park bench compliments of two sweet old ladies.

My kissing kiddos

Love these two together!

Just in case one picture of the kissing cuteness wasn't enough! 

Telling secrets

I think she was pointing at the kitty she saw. Vienna loooooves kitties!

"I'm on top of the world!"  Well, on top of the slide, at least.

My big girl going down the slide all by herself.

I love me some Vienna Rose!

Ethiopia Court Trip: Days 3 and 4

On Friday morning we woke up at 7:30 to get ready for our court date. We were supposed to be at Layla at 8:30 to leave, but when we got there we waited for awhile until everyone was ready. So we went to find Y to spend a little time with him before school started. We found him playing soccer with a bunch of other boys. We yelled his name a few times before he saw us. He came over to us but seemed more quiet and shy than when we left him the night before. But he let me pick him up and give him a hug and he hugged me back. We stayed with him for a little and then it was time for school.

After waiting a little while longer, all the adoptive families piled into the van and headed to the court building. It took about a 1/2 hour to get there and my stomach was feeling a little funny. I think it was a combination of being nervous, a little carsick and smelling the exhaust from all the vehicles. The streets were packed!

These are the shared taxis that were everywhere. We have the same thing in Turkey, so I felt right at home :)

A common sight on the roads.

By the time we got to the court building I felt a little better, but still really nervous for our meeting. We went up to the 3rd floor of the building and walked down the hall to a big room where lots of people were waiting. We sat down and waited for about an hour until people from our group started being called back to the judge. We were the last in our group to go. We walked into a small room and sat down. The judge, a young woman sitting behind a desk, began asking us questions. She had our homestudy on her desk and looked at it briefly from time to time. Her questions were very simple: How many children do you have at home? Have your children been informed of your plans to adopt? What does your family think about you adopting? Why did you choose to adopt? Have you met the child you're planning on adopting? Have you received training? Do you know that the adoption is irrevocable under Ethiopian law?

 

Then she looked at us and said: "You're so young, younger than me!" She seemed shocked that we were so young and already had two kids at home. And that was pretty much it; we were in the room no more than five minutes. We didn't get the official: "he is your son" because we have another court date on the 21st (I explained a little about that here). So while we felt relieved that our part was over and excited that everything went well, I knew it wasn't completely official yet. 

 

After that we drove back to the orphanage. Y was still in school so Joel and I went out and got some Chinese for lunch. Really yummy, and again, so cheap! Then we went out to do a little shopping. My best finds were some traditional Ethiopian outfits for the kids, an Amharic Bible and some Ethiopian music cds. 

While we were out shopping we came upon this construction site.

We went back to the orphanage after Y's naptime. As we were signing in, Y came running up to us and I scooped him up and gave him a big hug. He was very excited to see us and it made me feel so good! We sat with him and got out a little stuffed animal (whom we affectionately call Ed) that I had brought for him. Then we got out the Ipod and showed him some videos of Colson and Vienna and he really liked that. 

Another family had brought beads to make bracelets and necklaces so we went into the lunchroom and sat down with Y to make a bracelet. He picked out the string he wanted (purple) and then the beads (clear) and started carefully putting the beads on the string. I loved sitting there watching him work. When Y is focused on something he makes the cutest little face with his tongue ever so slightly out of the corner of his mouth while he's concentrating on what he's doing. It's adorable! I loved learning his different faces. After he finished his bracelet he wanted to make one for Joel and then me. 

After we were done we went out to the swings and Y asked me to help him up. I asked if I could push him, but he didn't want me to. He hasn't learned how to pump his legs to make himself go yet, but he liked to sit on the swing and go really slow. After he was feeling more confident sitting on the swing, he asked me to push him. He would only let me push him once then he asked me to stop. Then after a few minutes he would ask me to push him again. We probably stayed at the swings for close to an hour. I was amazed how he could do one activity for so long. I'm used to Colson who can only sit still for about a minute! 

Kids at Layla playing soccer

It was getting close to the kids' dinnertime then so we asked an older boy that knew English to translate for us. We told Y that we were going to go but that we'd come back to see him the next day. He said no and looked a little upset. It felt good to know that he liked being with us and didn't want us to go, but it was really hard for me to leave him. We both gave him hugs and then walked back to the guest house. We found out later that he cried after we left. 

View of the road leading back to the Ritmo

At the guest house we said goodbye to the other families who were heading to the airport to go home. It was just us and one other family left. The rest of the evening we relaxed and went to bed a little early. 

Saturday morning we woke up around 8:00 and got ready and ate breakfast. We walked over to Layla to spend the morning with Y. We spotted him, but he didn't see us right away. When he saw us, his face lit up and he came running towards us and jumped in my arms. Seriously, the best feeling in the world! I hugged him tight and he squeezed me back. We went and sat down with Y, but it wasn't long before we were surrounded by other boys and girls. My hair was attacked again and pulled in all sorts of directions. We whipped out our camera and took lots of pictures and videos of the kids and then showed it to them. They loved that, but it did get a little chaotic and a couple of fights broke out. 

We asked if there was a room where we could spend some time alone with Y. An older boy about 14 years old showed us where we could go and stayed with us to translate. He was such a sweet boy and I'm so glad to know he has a family coming for him in a few weeks. We sat down at the table and pulled out some notebook paper. I wrote Y's name and then he copied it. Then I wrote out "Mommy" and "Daddy" and he copied that too. He's very good at writing and really focuses on what he's doing (again with the really cute face). Then Joel drew him a picture of a truck and a house which he loved. 

Then it was snack time so we went with Y to the small room where the kids his age eat a snack and watch a movie. Every time before the kids eat, the nannies wash their feet, legs, arms, hands and face. The morning snack was an orange. After Y was done eating we went out to play soccer. Joel and Y had fun kicking the ball around and it wasn't long before more kids joined in and soon a game was formed. It was almost time for Y to eat lunch and take a nap, so we said goodbye, hugged him and told him we'd be back after his nap. 

We asked one of the drivers to take us to Little AHOPE (an orphanage for HIV+ kids) so we could take pictures of some kids who had families waiting for them. Then we went to print out some pictures of Y and us that we could leave with him. We ate lunch at a place called Kaldi's that was like Starbucks but a TON cheaper and better! Then we walked back to the guest house to rest for a bit. We were both a bit sunburned and not feeling the best. Addis is about 8000 feet above sea level, so because of the altitude it is easy to get sun burned quickly and also very tired even if you only walk a short distance. 

Joel sportin' the umbrella.

Around 3:30 we went back to Layla to see Y. He didn't seem as excited to see us this time because he was in a hurry to get to the room for snack time! He gave us a quick hug then went in the room and sat down to wait for his snack. The nanny called his name to go back and wash up. After all the kids washed up they put on a movie and passed out a snack - kolo (crunchy roasted barley grains) - which seems to be a favorite snack in Ethiopia.

We had brought some bubbles with us, so after Y was done with his snack we told him to come outside with us. We got out the bubbles but as soon the other kids noticed, I was surrounded by a mob of excited kids who quickly snatched all my bubbles but the one bottle I somehow managed to hold onto. I had fun blowing bubbles with Y and a few other kids. Y really liked blowing and catching the bubbles and I loved hearing him giggle! His laugh is just contagious.

After awhile Y made some motions to his ears and we figured out that he wanted to watch the videos on the Ipod with the headphones. I am SO glad we brought it, Y wanted to watch the videos of Colson and Vienna over and over and over again! Then we went to a quiet room where we could spend some time alone with Y. He wanted to watch Colson and Vienna again.  We also looked at the pictures we had printed out of us and him. He would say, "Mommy," "Daddy," and his name. 

Soon it was time for the kids to eat dinner and time for us to leave. We were leaving late that night to go home to Turkey, so it was time to say goodbye to Y. I told myself that I wasn't going to cry, but oh my goodness, this was the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life! All I wanted to do was scoop Y up in my arms and leave with him right then and there. We sat down with Y and had one of the older boys translate for us. We told him we had to leave for a little while, but that we would be back to get him. We told him we loved him and we prayed for him and held him tight for a little while, both of us fighting to hold back the tears. Then Y started crying and the older boy reached for him and held him in his lap while we stood up to leave. Y buried his head in the other boy's chest and started sobbing. It just broke my heart in two! Seriously, walking away and leaving my son behind was the hardest thing ever! I managed to hold it together until we left Layla, but cried on the walk back to the guest house. All I wanted to do was run back and comfort Y and bring him with us! The rest of the evening was just really hard, we missed Y so much!

So our time in Ethiopia was the best and the worst all in one: meeting Y was the most amazing thing and leaving him for an unknown period of time is pure torture!

** Thank you for praying for us! We could definitely tell people were praying, meeting him and getting to know him could not have gone better! Now we're just praying that the time passes quickly until we can go pick him up and be together forever. We are missing him like crazy!

Ethiopia Court Trip: Days 1 and 2

The morning we left for Ethiopia, we dropped Colson and Vienna off at Adam and Melanie's around 10:30. We stayed with them for about an hour, ate an early lunch, then said goodbye. I was worried they would cry when we left, but they did great! They were both really excited to be spending the next four days with their cousins. Oh my, but I knew I was going to miss them like crazy! It was hard to leave them, but at the same time we were so excited to be going to meet Y. It's a strange feeling having kids in two different countries! I just have to say a SUPER BIG thank you to my sister (who still needs to get with the program and start a blog) and brother-in-law who watched five kids, age six and under, for four days! They are seriously awesome!

We walked back to our apartment to grab our bags and meet our neighbor who was driving us to the airport. We got to the airport and had about 2 1/2 hours to kill before our flight to Istanbul, so we found our gate, and passed the time by talking excitedly about what meeting Y would be like and taking a bunch of pictures of ourselves. Hey, we were bored!

The flight was pretty uneventful and short although we were seated next to a really nice man that talked with Joel the entire time and played Sudoku with him. We found out that he lives about a 1/2 hour from us and he even invited us out to his summer home to go fishing. I'll tell ya, Turks are some of the nicest people! I was feeling a little sick by the time we started descending into Istanbul and was so happy when we finally landed and my stomach settled.

When we got to Istanbul we had to get our bags and then re-check them since we were flying on a different airline to Cairo. When it was time to check in, the guy behind the counter asked us if we had our visas for Ethiopia. Ummm, what? We told him that we were getting them at the airport in Addis Ababa and I nearly had a heart attack when he told us we needed to have them now because the immigration laws had changed. We told him we were sure we could get the visas at the airport, so he went to talk to another guy and sure enough everything was fine! Whew! But there for a few minutes I was totally freaking out. Joel, of course, was calm, cool and collective. He's awesome like that!

We made it to Cairo a little late so we had to rush through the airport to catch our connecting flight to Addis. We made it just in time as they started boarding the plane a few minutes after we got there. I spotted another couple that I just knew had to be an adoptive family, but didn't have a chance to talk to them right then. Sure enough, when we got to Addis we met them and found out they were adopting a little boy and were there for their court date too. By the time we got our bags and met our driver it was about 3:30am. We were exhausted and ready to crash! The streets were deserted as we drove through the city. When we got to the guest house we were shown to our room and we hit the sack!

We woke up around 9:30 and still felt really tired, but at least we got a few hours of sleep. We met some of the other AAI families who were staying at the Ritmo Guest House. They were all very sweet and it was fun to get to know them during our stay there. We ate a quick breakfast of pancakes although neither of us were feeling very hungry - this was the day we were going to meet our son! I was so nervous!

The guest house we stayed at.

After breakfast we walked over to Layla with another family. I.was.so.excited! We didn't think we'd be able to meet Y until after school and naptime, but they said we could interrupt school for a bit. One of the social workers led us to a small building where Y was having class. She stood in the doorway and called his name and he came out. And there he was! Finally, the moment we'd been thinking and praying about for so long, and there he was in person. No more staring at a picture, here was our son in real life! It was such a crazy moment. 

I gave him a hug and he hugged me back, a little unsure at first. Then I motioned I wanted to pick him and he climbed right into my arms and held on tight. It wasn't a stiff hug at all, no, he just kind of melted into me and was holding onto me as tightly as I was holding onto him. It was seriously the best feeling in the world! Here was my son, whom I had waited so long to meet! Here he finally was, in my arms! After a bit, I reluctantly passed him off to Joel and Y went eagerly into his arms too. The whole moment really did feel surreal. I just couldn't believe it was finally happening. I had thought about what this moment would be like for so long and it was better than I could have ever imagined (I do have a ton of pictures that I just can't wait to share!)

After a little we went and sat down on the steps at the edge of the soccer field with him. I held Y some more and we asked him a few questions and the social worker translated for us. Y was pretty shy at first and didn't talk much, but he had a huge smile on his face the whole time. The social worker gave us a tour around the orphanage and I carried Y around the whole time. We saw where he had class and met some of his classmates. They were writing out the letters of the alphabet. Y sat down and started doing his work too. He did his work very seriously and was very focused. I was so impressed by how nicely he wrote. When he was done, he gave the paper to his teacher and then we went to see the room he sleeps in. He is in a room with about a dozen other boys. He proudly showed us where his bed was; he sleeps on the top bunk. We asked him if he likes the top bunk and he said yes. We told him he'll get to sleep on the top bunk when he comes to live with us. We continued our tour and we took turns carrying him. He loved it, I don't think he wanted to be put down, but I was getting tired by the end of tour - our son has got some weight to him!

This is what you first see when you walk through the blue gates into the orphanage.

After our tour, we went to the soccer field and Joel and Y kicked a soccer ball around for awhile. This boy has got some serious skillz :) He was showing us some tricks with the ball and I was cheering him on from the sidelines. After Joel got tired we went and sat down on the ground and gave Y some water. He had a cold; his nose was running and he had a pretty nasty cough. I noticed later that most of the kids at the orphanage had the same cough. We pulled out our camera and showed him all the pictures we took. He would point to Joel's picture and I said, "Daddy." Then he would point to my picture and I said, "Mommy." He repeated us then and it was just the cutest thing ever hearing him say "Mommy" and "Daddy." It was getting close to lunchtime then so we went and found the social worker and had her tell Y that we would be back to visit him after lunch and his nap. He gave us both really big hugs and kisses and then I very reluctantly put him down and we left Layla. 

We were hungry too, so we walked to restaurant close by and got some pizza. It was pretty good and sooo cheap! Then we walked back to the guest house to rest for a little before we went back to see Y. Around 3:30 we went back to Layla and walked into a small building where the kids his age were watching a Thomas the train movie. When Y saw us, he ran to hug us. Then we sat down with him and got out the picture that Colson had colored for him, which also happened to be Thomas train. His face lit up when he saw Thomas and he held the paper very carefully and looked over every detail. All the other kids wanted to see the picture and Y very willingly shared with them, but always kept it in his sight to make sure it came back to him. It was so sweet. It was time for snack then and the nannies passed out bananas to all the children and Y sat in my lap and ate his banana. 

Then I left Joel and Y together so I could go and take some pictures of the children who had families waiting for them. I took my job very seriously and tried to take lots of pictures and a video of each child. I know how much it means to get pictures of your child while you're waiting to bring them home. Then I went back and found Joel and Y who were sitting together watching the movie. After the movie the kids were getting a little crazy. They surrounded me and wanted to touch my hair (one little girl kept kissing it) and push buttons on my watch. They were all so cute! Then we went outside and sat down with Y. One of the social workers brought out the welcome bag we had sent him and Y pulled out the photo album and carefully looked at each picture and would point at me and Joel when he came to a picture of us. Then he pulled out the red shirt we had sent him and motioned that he wanted to put it on so Joel helped him. Next he got out the little wind-up truck and I motioned for him to play with me. We had fun sitting on the ground and driving the truck back and forth for all of 5 seconds before the other boys saw and wanted to play too. So we sat in a big circle and played with the truck while Joel was making origami for some of the kids. I loved seeing more of Y's personality shine through as he was interacting with his friends. He is such a sweet little boy!


After awhile Y wanted to go swing, so Joel took him over to the swingset. He was getting more comfortable with us and started opening up and talking a lot more. Of course, we had no idea what he was saying, but it was so darn cute! We got by with lots of hand motions. We stayed at Layla until early evening. I was not ready to say goodbye, I wanted to spend more time with Y, but it was time to go. We gave him hugs and told him we'd be back the next day and he seemed okay that we were leaving.

We walked back to the guest house and hung out with the other adoptive families that were staying there, all really awesome families like this one. For dinner we went out with a group to a traditional Ethiopian restaurant which was a lot of fun. The food will have to grow on me, but I definitely want to learn how to make some dishes for Y. 

There were dancers that were doing traditional Ethiopian dances and they were amazing! Seriously, I don't know how people can move their bodies like these guys were! It was a really fun night, then we headed back to the guest house and went to bed, excited to see Y again the next day!


Days 3 and 4 to come soon :)

We're Home!!

We're back and we had an AMAZING time! Oh my goodness, just amazing!

The good news is that I have a TON of pictures of our son to share. The bad news is that I can't share them quite yet.

To make a long story short, there are two court dates in Ethiopia. The first court date is when the guardian or orphanage staff (depending on whether the case is relinquishment on abandonment) appears in court to consent to the adoption and the second court date is when the adoptive family appears to consent to the adoption. Our situation is a little bit backwards and the court date that was supposed to be the first one is actually our second, if that makes any sense. So the next court date is scheduled for October 21st (when the guardian appears to consent), and Y will not legally be our son until the 21st and, of course, I can't post pictures until then. Bummer, I know!

I don't have much time to write now, but I will say that Y is amazing!! I can't wait to share pictures and tell you all about him. Our time with him could not have gone better! Leaving him behind was the absolute hardest thing I've ever had to do and we are praying like crazy that the time passes quickly until we can go pick him up and bring him home! 

Over the next few days I will try to post about our trip, I know it won't be nearly as much fun without pictures, but you'll just have to wait for those until after the 21st. 

We haven't slept much in the last two days and I'm spending lots of time catching up on snuggles with Colson and Vienna and trying to tackle the mountain of laundry. Which reminds me of a not-so-funny story. Every time I do a load of laundry, there's a little trap-door thingy (like my technical term?) at the bottom of our washer that I need to open and empty extra water out of when the cycle is finished. Well, this morning after draining the water I forgot to close the little door and I started another load of laundry. About 20 minutes later our neighbor below us came knocking on our door telling us that water was leaking from his ceiling into the shower. When we checked our bathroom (where our washer is located) it was flooded with about 4 inches of water and was was leaking out into the hallway! I was so embarrassed and we apologized profusely to our neighbor who was such a good sport about the whole thing. I wish I could have blamed it on the jetlag, but there is no time difference between here and Ethiopia. Oh well.

Anyway, off to start another load of laundry, and yes, I'm double checking the little door before I start :)

Will write more soon!

Leaving tomorrow!!

We're leaving tomorrow for Ethiopia! We will be meeting Y in less than two days!! I've been so excited I haven't slept well the past week, so I'm kind of glad our travel plans weren't confirmed until last minute or I wouldn't have been sleeping well for the past two months!  I'm so excited yet SO nervous at the same time. What will he think of us? Will he be scared? Will he be shy? Will he like us?

  
I just can't wait to see him in person after staring at his pictures for so long! I can't wait to give him a big hug, find out what his favorite color is, his favorite food, what he likes to do, what his personality is like, etc. All that we know about him so far is what is written on two pieces of paper! There's just so much to learn about him and I'm excited to find out!
 
I have to get back to some packing and then I'm going to TRY and get some sleep! 

Please pray for us!!! Here we go!!!