Ok so summer is coming to a close, HALLELUJAH. A sense of normalcy is going to descend on this house in the next 2 weeks that I'm dyin for people. I am a creature of habit and routine. My day may look slightly disheveled but I have a flow to it and DO NOT like it disrupted. I like knowing what's coming next and that I can trust my handy dandy calendar to guide me through my week. That being said our summer has been anything but normal or routine and I'm just FREAKIN out. I have been quite a bear to live with these days which although I may be well aware of it, my attitude is the same...my poor family...anyway. We have done it all this summer (except the zoo but don't get me started) I led worship with da band at 2 summer camps with a week of "rest" (there is none with 4 BUSY kids by the way), my washer went out (and ringworm keeps creeping back so we've been on overload but I think, I actually think it's gone for good)I'm waiting for my parents old washer and dryer so we can maintain our minimum 4 loads a day to keep going. Went on vacay baby to Seaside OR, that's a whole nother post and maybe pictures if I can get blogger to download, came home and are now just trying to catch our breath! Yikes. I have made a command decision that we WILL not be this busy next year and I will try my hardest to maintain that - I feel bad like we haven't been home long enough to feel like we could get into a routine of life with 4 kids we've just been scrambling all summer long so this school year is a welcome relief. 2 kids in all day school (boohoo and woohoo all at the same time) and 2 little boys that will get some mommy time and some serious working on colors,numbers and letters. We'll see if we can learn these boys a thing or two! :).
Blessings to all and with luck I'll get the pics posted sometime in the next few days.
Kala
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
The Last 5 weeks....
Okey dokey, so I've been BUSY to say the least and haven't had time to post in a while. I am sorry for the delay but I have good reasons like....
ringworm outbreak, scabies outbreak on Henok the same week as ringworm appeared, a positive t.b. skin test on Henok even though he tested negative in Ethiopia...???....a chest xray to determine no t.b. in his lungs, Praise God, working, doing 7-9 loads of laundry a day to try and kill ringworm and scabies by cleaning all bedding-clothing-towels after every use and I'm beyond sick of all this cleaning BUT hallelujah we are done with all of it! I did however get a personal phone call from our Ped. to tell me he wants Henok in ASAP due to his severe scoliosis. So we'll start more dr. visits soon. Hooray!
On a lighter and less whiny note life is getting better and better. I can honestly say I'm beyond the self pity and the Why God did we do this, and tears in the bathroom over frustrations with all the transition and we're into a phase where I feel like Henok's always been here. In fact I have to keep telling myself when he does get a little freaked out "Oh yeah,it's only been a month.." That's how much things have changed. Praise God. His mercy's are new, and he heard the cries of my heart to see this little boy with eyes of love and tenderness. I have called out to God begging for attachment and a sense of bonding with Henok and I and again, God didn't disappoint. I pray every night over Henok and my heart. That I will remain soft and loving when I'm wanting to scream. And yes I still do scream, anybody who knows me knows that. I'm one step shy of a nuthouse some days but it's all good. We're feeling much more close and connected as a family and that is EXACTLY what I've wanted, hoped and prayed for!
Henok is doing GREAT. The other day Hope had daddy take off her training wheels and off she went like she'd been riding her bike without training wheels her whole life! So Henok immediately was like "Oh no she didn't! If she can I can!" So he started saying "off mommy, off off!" And other than the fact the poor kid is so darn short his legs don't touch the ground when he's on the bike (I feel his pain! It's the stinkin story of my life!) he's able to ride without his training wheels too! Mikey thinks he's able to do that but uh sorry bud if Henok's too short you don't have a prayer.
I hope to update with pics, I am soooo horrible at this but honestly we don't download to the computer that much and I'm pleading ignorance. I don't have the slightest idea how to do this and haven't much cared to learn yet so there ya go!
We are leaving town in a few hours for the river where will have his first boat and jet ski ride! Oh man, have I been waiting for this! He has NO CLUE how much fun it will be.
For all of you checking in, thanks for following our journey so far. We're doing well and if you live in Yak-town stop by and say Hi! Faithie is still acting like Henok is show and tell so she'd love to introduce you to him!!! (oh and much thanks to Gram Darla who has supplied "teacher" Faithie with her classroom materials to teach Henok english. - she has red pencils for grading and everything!)
Blessings to all,
Kala
ringworm outbreak, scabies outbreak on Henok the same week as ringworm appeared, a positive t.b. skin test on Henok even though he tested negative in Ethiopia...???....a chest xray to determine no t.b. in his lungs, Praise God, working, doing 7-9 loads of laundry a day to try and kill ringworm and scabies by cleaning all bedding-clothing-towels after every use and I'm beyond sick of all this cleaning BUT hallelujah we are done with all of it! I did however get a personal phone call from our Ped. to tell me he wants Henok in ASAP due to his severe scoliosis. So we'll start more dr. visits soon. Hooray!
On a lighter and less whiny note life is getting better and better. I can honestly say I'm beyond the self pity and the Why God did we do this, and tears in the bathroom over frustrations with all the transition and we're into a phase where I feel like Henok's always been here. In fact I have to keep telling myself when he does get a little freaked out "Oh yeah,it's only been a month.." That's how much things have changed. Praise God. His mercy's are new, and he heard the cries of my heart to see this little boy with eyes of love and tenderness. I have called out to God begging for attachment and a sense of bonding with Henok and I and again, God didn't disappoint. I pray every night over Henok and my heart. That I will remain soft and loving when I'm wanting to scream. And yes I still do scream, anybody who knows me knows that. I'm one step shy of a nuthouse some days but it's all good. We're feeling much more close and connected as a family and that is EXACTLY what I've wanted, hoped and prayed for!
Henok is doing GREAT. The other day Hope had daddy take off her training wheels and off she went like she'd been riding her bike without training wheels her whole life! So Henok immediately was like "Oh no she didn't! If she can I can!" So he started saying "off mommy, off off!" And other than the fact the poor kid is so darn short his legs don't touch the ground when he's on the bike (I feel his pain! It's the stinkin story of my life!) he's able to ride without his training wheels too! Mikey thinks he's able to do that but uh sorry bud if Henok's too short you don't have a prayer.
I hope to update with pics, I am soooo horrible at this but honestly we don't download to the computer that much and I'm pleading ignorance. I don't have the slightest idea how to do this and haven't much cared to learn yet so there ya go!
We are leaving town in a few hours for the river where will have his first boat and jet ski ride! Oh man, have I been waiting for this! He has NO CLUE how much fun it will be.
For all of you checking in, thanks for following our journey so far. We're doing well and if you live in Yak-town stop by and say Hi! Faithie is still acting like Henok is show and tell so she'd love to introduce you to him!!! (oh and much thanks to Gram Darla who has supplied "teacher" Faithie with her classroom materials to teach Henok english. - she has red pencils for grading and everything!)
Blessings to all,
Kala
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Life with Henok so far.....
Ok all, I have a MILLION emails and questions - how's he doing? How are the other kids doing? How are we doing? Does he sleep at night? Can he speak English? Yada yada yada. So I will post some VERY honest answers, well cause that's how I roll but also I would hate to paint an unrealistic picture of what it's like adopting an older child. Easy, NO! Worth it - A MILLION TIMES YES!!!
Henok is bubbly, energetic, funny, sweet, and oh so adorable. He is doing so much better than I could've dreamed. I will be honest I do live with anxiety right now, in my spirit I'm just uneasy thinking... "This is all gonna fall apart, he's gonna lose it and I'm gonna officially lose my mind..." I am proud to say that Henok is communicating VERY well for only being home like 11 days, am I counting right? Anyway, let me first answer the questions listed above and try to add detail where I can. Also, we've got some great pics of him on his new bike which is the most wonderful thing he has right now other than swimming at Papa Steve's pool, so I'll have to get those loaded. Ok here goes...
Henok is adjusting well. He has moments of sadness (of course), yes he's 4 so the word "No" or Not right now is guaranteed to tick him off. He eats like a horse although this is slowing down. As much as I want to control his food intake due to not wanting him sick as a stinkin dog I have given in to numerous rolls in one sitting, up to 5 bananas at one time, and 3 and 4 helpings of dinner if he likes it (this is proving to be more difficult in the States than in Ethiopia, he ate anything in front of him there - here however he's gotten quite picky.) So food is an issue at times, but even at that my own kids are picky so whatever.
How are the other kids doing? Great. We knew Faithie would be a rock, she just one amazing kid. Such a first born spirit, sweet, caring, helpful in fact I am counting down til school's out cause she is a great set of hands to help when I'm in the kitchen or folding laundry (which I HATE!). Hopie we knew would struggle and she is. She's trying to find out where she fits. I was told by Hope I don't love her because I wash the boys hair but not hers. I informed her that hurt my heart and by the way she's been washing her own hair for the last year, BUT if she wants me to do that I will, just ask me nicely don't say hurtful words. I don't think she intended to hurt my heart but that's how she's processing this. Now some attention she got is going to another kid, I must not love her. So I'm trying to keep it even steven and that's EXHAUSTING! Mikey has a playmate that loves to mimic him, follow him around, play all the time and be silly so he's good. The boys are on the same language level both learning words, of course Henok will take off he's 2 years older but for now they are buddy buddy for language!
How are we doing? Fine, beat at the end of the day. I'll be honest I used to roll my eyes at parents that put their kids to bed at 7:30. And honestly when the girls were young and Jas was a youth pastor it didn't fit our lifestyle to do that. These days however.... 8pm can't get here quick enough. And after the kids are down... peace out! The only night I've been up late since we got Henok was Sat night and that was because I started The Curious Case of Benjamin Button which I found fascinating. Brad Pitt is hot.. ok I digress. So we're doing good. My patience gets it limit each day and I wish I could love Henok like my other kids, what I mean by that is he's pretty attached to Jas but not to me yet and it's not easy to hug him tight, or he doesn't kiss so it's not easy to try to show love. It feels very forced but I'm trying to create a habit of physical touch with him, hugs, a kiss on the head whatever so that he knows I do love him and want him to get to the point he loves back. I also think I have unhealthy expectations for him, like when he gets upset I get frustrated and literally have to tell myself, ok his whole world changed give him time. I want him to just go with it and he's not there yet, maybe like 80% of the time he's down for whatever but the other 20% tries my patience. I do count my blessings though, he doesn't rage, he cries but no raging. He lets us hold him, he doesn't cuddle but we can hold him. He is silly and sweet and getting used to be in our family so we get to see even more silly stuff from him now that he is trusting us. All in all we're all doing ok.
Henok sleeps great at night, almost 12 hours. He goes down easier than our other 3, and isn't up at 5:45 am anymore. The memo finally got delivered,we Johnstons don't get up til 7am thank you very much! Jas puts him to bed, sings a few songs, rubs his back bada bing bada boom 10 min he's out, see ya at 7!
He is learning English. He knows what we've taught him so far. I use VERY basic sign like eat, hungry, drink, no thank you stuff. That's about it. Anything he touches we try and say the name. He's picking up quick. Everyday he understands more and more of what we say to him. It's nice! There's a man in Yak-town that speaks Amharic and we say him the other day. I realized as much as I want to communicate with Henok, he will more than likely lose his Amharic and that makes me sad. It's a part of him but we don't speak it so unfortunately he will lose it! Boohoo. That is sad.
My dreams for summer have already come true... Henok's home. We've been outside almost all day everyday, we play HARD and it's a blast. We're getting a new play structure that should keep all the kids entertained for HOURS everyday!We've been swimming this last weekend and hopefully many more weekends to come... hooray. The family of 6 will be playing all summer long thank you very much!! For all of you who are saying prayers for us.. keep it up..we sure need it. We're doing very well and I hope to get pics up soon of the kids on bikes. Too much fun!!
Blessings,
Kala
Henok is bubbly, energetic, funny, sweet, and oh so adorable. He is doing so much better than I could've dreamed. I will be honest I do live with anxiety right now, in my spirit I'm just uneasy thinking... "This is all gonna fall apart, he's gonna lose it and I'm gonna officially lose my mind..." I am proud to say that Henok is communicating VERY well for only being home like 11 days, am I counting right? Anyway, let me first answer the questions listed above and try to add detail where I can. Also, we've got some great pics of him on his new bike which is the most wonderful thing he has right now other than swimming at Papa Steve's pool, so I'll have to get those loaded. Ok here goes...
Henok is adjusting well. He has moments of sadness (of course), yes he's 4 so the word "No" or Not right now is guaranteed to tick him off. He eats like a horse although this is slowing down. As much as I want to control his food intake due to not wanting him sick as a stinkin dog I have given in to numerous rolls in one sitting, up to 5 bananas at one time, and 3 and 4 helpings of dinner if he likes it (this is proving to be more difficult in the States than in Ethiopia, he ate anything in front of him there - here however he's gotten quite picky.) So food is an issue at times, but even at that my own kids are picky so whatever.
How are the other kids doing? Great. We knew Faithie would be a rock, she just one amazing kid. Such a first born spirit, sweet, caring, helpful in fact I am counting down til school's out cause she is a great set of hands to help when I'm in the kitchen or folding laundry (which I HATE!). Hopie we knew would struggle and she is. She's trying to find out where she fits. I was told by Hope I don't love her because I wash the boys hair but not hers. I informed her that hurt my heart and by the way she's been washing her own hair for the last year, BUT if she wants me to do that I will, just ask me nicely don't say hurtful words. I don't think she intended to hurt my heart but that's how she's processing this. Now some attention she got is going to another kid, I must not love her. So I'm trying to keep it even steven and that's EXHAUSTING! Mikey has a playmate that loves to mimic him, follow him around, play all the time and be silly so he's good. The boys are on the same language level both learning words, of course Henok will take off he's 2 years older but for now they are buddy buddy for language!
How are we doing? Fine, beat at the end of the day. I'll be honest I used to roll my eyes at parents that put their kids to bed at 7:30. And honestly when the girls were young and Jas was a youth pastor it didn't fit our lifestyle to do that. These days however.... 8pm can't get here quick enough. And after the kids are down... peace out! The only night I've been up late since we got Henok was Sat night and that was because I started The Curious Case of Benjamin Button which I found fascinating. Brad Pitt is hot.. ok I digress. So we're doing good. My patience gets it limit each day and I wish I could love Henok like my other kids, what I mean by that is he's pretty attached to Jas but not to me yet and it's not easy to hug him tight, or he doesn't kiss so it's not easy to try to show love. It feels very forced but I'm trying to create a habit of physical touch with him, hugs, a kiss on the head whatever so that he knows I do love him and want him to get to the point he loves back. I also think I have unhealthy expectations for him, like when he gets upset I get frustrated and literally have to tell myself, ok his whole world changed give him time. I want him to just go with it and he's not there yet, maybe like 80% of the time he's down for whatever but the other 20% tries my patience. I do count my blessings though, he doesn't rage, he cries but no raging. He lets us hold him, he doesn't cuddle but we can hold him. He is silly and sweet and getting used to be in our family so we get to see even more silly stuff from him now that he is trusting us. All in all we're all doing ok.
Henok sleeps great at night, almost 12 hours. He goes down easier than our other 3, and isn't up at 5:45 am anymore. The memo finally got delivered,we Johnstons don't get up til 7am thank you very much! Jas puts him to bed, sings a few songs, rubs his back bada bing bada boom 10 min he's out, see ya at 7!
He is learning English. He knows what we've taught him so far. I use VERY basic sign like eat, hungry, drink, no thank you stuff. That's about it. Anything he touches we try and say the name. He's picking up quick. Everyday he understands more and more of what we say to him. It's nice! There's a man in Yak-town that speaks Amharic and we say him the other day. I realized as much as I want to communicate with Henok, he will more than likely lose his Amharic and that makes me sad. It's a part of him but we don't speak it so unfortunately he will lose it! Boohoo. That is sad.
My dreams for summer have already come true... Henok's home. We've been outside almost all day everyday, we play HARD and it's a blast. We're getting a new play structure that should keep all the kids entertained for HOURS everyday!We've been swimming this last weekend and hopefully many more weekends to come... hooray. The family of 6 will be playing all summer long thank you very much!! For all of you who are saying prayers for us.. keep it up..we sure need it. We're doing very well and I hope to get pics up soon of the kids on bikes. Too much fun!!
Blessings,
Kala
Monday, May 25, 2009
Thursday May 21st
Today was quite a busy day. We fly out at 10:50 tonight which I haven't figured out if that's a good thing or not. Henok should sleep and thanks to Dramamine I'm sure he will (hehehehe)but I just hope he isn't wired when he does wake up! He's a million miles an hour from the time he wakes up til bed. There's no rest for this kid all day long, too much wiggling to rest, so I'm stressin about the plane ride.
Today we visited the fistula hospital where they help the women of Ethiopia in childbirth and repair of obstetrical fistula's if they occur during childbirth. Ok here's the scoop if you didn't watch Oprah 2 years ago when she visited and helped fund this hospital. The women in Ethiopia have small builds, are married VERY young like 12 and 13 in the villages, have extremely small pelvises and babies too big to fit. So when they go into labor they are laboring for like 5-7 days and the babies get stuck in the pelvis, and the pelvic bone and babies head rub against each other creating a tear that creates the fistula. Fistula's cause incontinence and the women are shunned from the society for their horrible smell. Not only do they labor for 7 days, the babies usually are still born and the poor girls have no home. So this wonderful hospital helps repair fistulas, has a maternity ward for those expecting, operating rooms for C-sections when necessary, a recovery center and a special refuge for the women (about 1.5%) that cannot be cured of the fistula. Those 1.5% of women are employed by the hospital for various jobs and live there for the rest of their lives. It is a beautiful sanctuary of hope and a beacon of promise to a country of women who desperately needed aid! The hospital also teaches mid-wifery to women that can go back to their villages and aid others that can't get to the hospital. Such a wonderful experience. Jas and I bought a painting done there of a woman holding her new baby. It's beautiful and our payment helps fund the hospital. Bonus!!
We also went to the orphanage that is loosely affiliated with our orphanage in Ethiopia, Hannah's Hope. It's where Henok was relinquished. We went in and saw the children eating and I started to cry and had to go watch Henok whoop up on some adults in a fun game of soccer cause I just couldn't look at these faces that may or may not find their forever parents.
As I watched Henok I kept thinking, he's a life full of promise. He's got some MAD soccer skills, can shoot hoops in basketball and has more energy than I could dream of having. He is a bundle of potential and with God he could do more than my mind can comprehend. So I am thankful to be apart of his life! As with all my kids, all I want for them is to find their passion and go with God wherever that may take them. Mission field, to be a teacher, pastor, work with kids, whatever it may be - just go with God!!
** We did survive the flight, Henok slept a bunch, so did I. He was great on the plane when he was awake. He's got this show off personality that makes everyone giggle! Too cute. He did however get overly tired and started this incredibly annoying whine thing. So I just held him and endured all the stink-eye glares for having the kid who won't stop whining. Yeah loads of fun!! We made it home at 11:30p.m. to Yakima. 39 hours of travel. Too much for us to put up with, but hallelujah we made it. Now comes the fun part..... adjustment and transition.
Thanks for following our journey to Henok thus far, it's been an exceptional experience. Hmmm....I wonder what's next??
Kala
Today we visited the fistula hospital where they help the women of Ethiopia in childbirth and repair of obstetrical fistula's if they occur during childbirth. Ok here's the scoop if you didn't watch Oprah 2 years ago when she visited and helped fund this hospital. The women in Ethiopia have small builds, are married VERY young like 12 and 13 in the villages, have extremely small pelvises and babies too big to fit. So when they go into labor they are laboring for like 5-7 days and the babies get stuck in the pelvis, and the pelvic bone and babies head rub against each other creating a tear that creates the fistula. Fistula's cause incontinence and the women are shunned from the society for their horrible smell. Not only do they labor for 7 days, the babies usually are still born and the poor girls have no home. So this wonderful hospital helps repair fistulas, has a maternity ward for those expecting, operating rooms for C-sections when necessary, a recovery center and a special refuge for the women (about 1.5%) that cannot be cured of the fistula. Those 1.5% of women are employed by the hospital for various jobs and live there for the rest of their lives. It is a beautiful sanctuary of hope and a beacon of promise to a country of women who desperately needed aid! The hospital also teaches mid-wifery to women that can go back to their villages and aid others that can't get to the hospital. Such a wonderful experience. Jas and I bought a painting done there of a woman holding her new baby. It's beautiful and our payment helps fund the hospital. Bonus!!
We also went to the orphanage that is loosely affiliated with our orphanage in Ethiopia, Hannah's Hope. It's where Henok was relinquished. We went in and saw the children eating and I started to cry and had to go watch Henok whoop up on some adults in a fun game of soccer cause I just couldn't look at these faces that may or may not find their forever parents.
As I watched Henok I kept thinking, he's a life full of promise. He's got some MAD soccer skills, can shoot hoops in basketball and has more energy than I could dream of having. He is a bundle of potential and with God he could do more than my mind can comprehend. So I am thankful to be apart of his life! As with all my kids, all I want for them is to find their passion and go with God wherever that may take them. Mission field, to be a teacher, pastor, work with kids, whatever it may be - just go with God!!
** We did survive the flight, Henok slept a bunch, so did I. He was great on the plane when he was awake. He's got this show off personality that makes everyone giggle! Too cute. He did however get overly tired and started this incredibly annoying whine thing. So I just held him and endured all the stink-eye glares for having the kid who won't stop whining. Yeah loads of fun!! We made it home at 11:30p.m. to Yakima. 39 hours of travel. Too much for us to put up with, but hallelujah we made it. Now comes the fun part..... adjustment and transition.
Thanks for following our journey to Henok thus far, it's been an exceptional experience. Hmmm....I wonder what's next??
Kala
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Wednesday May 20th
Wow, nothing could've prepared us for this day. In our hearts we knew we wanted to meet Henok's birth mom, and we also knew we'd be emotional but that doesn't really scratch the surface of seeing the woman who doesn't get to see her baby grow up. Who out of faith and love handed him over to give him a chance and not starving and to get an education, and to have his needs met and be loved.
When we dropped off the kids to the grandparents house the night before we left, I had kissed Faithie on her head told her I loved her and laid on the bed with her. She looked at me and started to tear up and said she was sad cause she would miss me. And we both just laid on the bed and cried. Then Hopie came in and she started to cry so I just grabbed them and we cried together. This is the longest trip I've been away from my babies and it was incredibly hard to say goodbye for 8 days. Then I thought of Henok's mommy. What was it like to hug him and then walk away without being able to say, I'll see you in 8 days? With only a wish and prayer of something more for him? That's what tore at my heart even more as we prepared mentally to meet her.
So we got up, went to breakfast where Henok put away a substantial amount of food and headed to the orphanage early to play and try to talk with Almaz about what to expect. Our meeting was to take place at 8:30. So right around then a lady walked in, looked at us and went to sit down. I didn't know who she was but I almost started crying. It turns out she was going to court to finish the paperwork for her baby to be adopted by someone. Whew, ok not her - so where is she? So I was down watching the little kids sit on the potty's because at like 18months they are on their potty chairs and they sit there til they go, and sing songs and act silly. So who wouldn't want to see that?Seriously, it is adorable.
All the sudden Almaz came down and said "Ok she's here". She saw me, I saw her and we grabbed each other and just cried. Some people she is staying with who were there when Henok was born also came to say goodbye and to meet us.
Wow, Henok looks just like her. She was quiet and sweet and cried almost the entire time (so did I!)
Almaz read the letter we wrote her, gave her the album and then we asked what she wanted us to tell him about her and what could she tell us about his father. She said she tried and that when she was pregnant she moved from the village and bounced around til she found friends to take her in. She gave birth at home and tried to raise him but just couldn't do it. She said she hasn't talked to Henok's father since she left the village (we thought he was dead so that was confusing) and her parents have no idea she had a child and adopted him out. The family she stayed with had a grandmother figure who adored Henok and passed away a year ago and they wanted to see him one last time. So then we took a few pictures and she walked away.
I am so thankful for the meeting and am glad to have that piece of this puzzle for Henok. What surprised me was Henok's indifference to seeing her. He didn't go to her, cuddle with her, he barely acknowledged her. We had to tell him to go kiss her goodbye. I guess when she visited him throughout the last 10 months it was the same way. He didn't get worked up when she came or left. Almaz thought it was because he remembers how poor they were and being desperately hungry and having nothing. That he has already seen we are different and he doesn't want to go back to the other life. My heart did break for her, to see her son not being overly affectionate broke my heart and once we can communicate I'd love to see what he remembers.
After we took some pictures before she left Henok told them he was going to America on an airplane where the buildings are high. (thank goodness for translation!) It was quite cute.
So one more day in Ethiopia and then off to real life.....
When we dropped off the kids to the grandparents house the night before we left, I had kissed Faithie on her head told her I loved her and laid on the bed with her. She looked at me and started to tear up and said she was sad cause she would miss me. And we both just laid on the bed and cried. Then Hopie came in and she started to cry so I just grabbed them and we cried together. This is the longest trip I've been away from my babies and it was incredibly hard to say goodbye for 8 days. Then I thought of Henok's mommy. What was it like to hug him and then walk away without being able to say, I'll see you in 8 days? With only a wish and prayer of something more for him? That's what tore at my heart even more as we prepared mentally to meet her.
So we got up, went to breakfast where Henok put away a substantial amount of food and headed to the orphanage early to play and try to talk with Almaz about what to expect. Our meeting was to take place at 8:30. So right around then a lady walked in, looked at us and went to sit down. I didn't know who she was but I almost started crying. It turns out she was going to court to finish the paperwork for her baby to be adopted by someone. Whew, ok not her - so where is she? So I was down watching the little kids sit on the potty's because at like 18months they are on their potty chairs and they sit there til they go, and sing songs and act silly. So who wouldn't want to see that?Seriously, it is adorable.
All the sudden Almaz came down and said "Ok she's here". She saw me, I saw her and we grabbed each other and just cried. Some people she is staying with who were there when Henok was born also came to say goodbye and to meet us.
Wow, Henok looks just like her. She was quiet and sweet and cried almost the entire time (so did I!)
Almaz read the letter we wrote her, gave her the album and then we asked what she wanted us to tell him about her and what could she tell us about his father. She said she tried and that when she was pregnant she moved from the village and bounced around til she found friends to take her in. She gave birth at home and tried to raise him but just couldn't do it. She said she hasn't talked to Henok's father since she left the village (we thought he was dead so that was confusing) and her parents have no idea she had a child and adopted him out. The family she stayed with had a grandmother figure who adored Henok and passed away a year ago and they wanted to see him one last time. So then we took a few pictures and she walked away.
I am so thankful for the meeting and am glad to have that piece of this puzzle for Henok. What surprised me was Henok's indifference to seeing her. He didn't go to her, cuddle with her, he barely acknowledged her. We had to tell him to go kiss her goodbye. I guess when she visited him throughout the last 10 months it was the same way. He didn't get worked up when she came or left. Almaz thought it was because he remembers how poor they were and being desperately hungry and having nothing. That he has already seen we are different and he doesn't want to go back to the other life. My heart did break for her, to see her son not being overly affectionate broke my heart and once we can communicate I'd love to see what he remembers.
After we took some pictures before she left Henok told them he was going to America on an airplane where the buildings are high. (thank goodness for translation!) It was quite cute.
So one more day in Ethiopia and then off to real life.....
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