Good Morning,,
Wow! It has been seven weeks since Gary and Morgan made their way with many other couples to Addis, Ababa to pick up our precious Henry and Camille. It has been an honor to be a part of their coming to the USA. Boy does time fly when you are changing diapers, wiping faces, feeding bottles, going to Dr appts. over and over and over and over.... Their are so many who helped.. there are those who prayed, those who had soup supper/bake sale/auctions for us, and those who chose to give a monetary gift. Each day and especially when I look into those beautiful little faces, I am thankful for all who helped and supported us on this adventure. In truth so many are still supporting us. Meet and Greats, Baby showers, surprise gifts arriving in the mail and one women who just handed money to Gary as he walked past her at church. Wow we have been so blessed by everyone. Thank you so much..
So how are the kids doing? They are great. Henry is off O2. PTL!!! He is still a little wet towel.. he just has NO muscle's or tone. He has only gained a half pound since getting here. I know he has been sick but I really expected he would tank it on a bit faster then he is. We tank him full of high calorie food all day and night. Really this just validates that he needs his heart repair. We have scheduled his surgery for December 14th. So little Henry will be enjoying the holiday season from the confines of his own home and the rest of us will be going out as little as possible, in hopes of keeping him well. This means our church family who has been SOOO supportive may not see him in person until after his repair. It was initially discussed that he would have his repair the week before Thanksgiving, the change come because the surgeon is taking several weeks off around that time. So Dec 14th it is. Henry is still very personable.. he is very smart as well. The other day I was holding him and cracked a joke.. he rolled his eyes and chuckeled. So I asked him if he was really four or five to that he again looked at me an chuckeled.. so who knows what my floppy boys DOB really is. For spending all his days in a baby bed he has attached very well and seems to realize at least that I am the head lady in charge and not just any old nanny.
How is Camille? She is also great. Camille is a little rougher around the edges then Henry. Last night my husband took the older five to our friends home they have a Dairy farm and each year have a Fall Festival. That left me with the younger four. So we hunkered down in the Living room and played.. Camille who is short, stalky yet a solid muscle(she must have Henry's tone also) she crawled up the couch then down, up the toddler picnic table that is in the LR for just such a reason then down the other side.. under the picnic table up to Dad's recliner over the side.. ok this might not seem like a big deal to a lot of you, those of you with children that have DS well you will understand. Remember it has been 5 years since I had a plain ol regular kid and well her development just blows me away. Camille is taking longer to feel comfortable.. I do think she thinks I am just another nanny even if she calls me mama. Ocassinally she calls Morgan mama also we agree in her mind we are all just nannies. Last Saturday we did spend the day outside in the sun it seemed to really put her in a better mood. That said I am ready for spring.:):):):):) Or to move to South Carolina!!!!
Overall we are doing well, keeping our heads up anyway.. I am well behind the "proper" timeline in getting my thankyou's out.. sorry... we are busy mainly doing those everyday things.. just in mass quantity.
Have a wonderful weekend.. turn your clocks back and enjoy the season...
Tiffany
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
The rest of the story.. a day late... :o)
So here we are at the Tokoul orphanage waiting(could we possibly wait any longer.
There was laundry hanging on the lines, lots of laundry the poor ladies who must wash all those clothes by hand.:( We stood there ready to take the children in our arms as soon as they appeared. Then it happened three nannies with three babies whose were they?? The Waits got there twin girls so cute and the Peobles' little girl were the first to arrive, what a beautiful moment seeing families united after such a long wait. Two more nannies two more babies would they be ours, no the two precious little girls went into Ms. Moore's waiting arms. The Peobles and Ms. Moore went into the little visiting room while the Waits and ourselves hung out outside. Where were Henry and Camille???
They came and asked us again what our children's names were we told them Metesabia and Meskerem. One of the Waits little girls was also named Meskerem and they pointed to her and said this is Meskerem. Well the girls were obviously twins, that wasn't our girl. The nannies went back inside when they came out a few minutes later they told us we could go in. We walked past the laundry lines to the back door to the building Dad had his video camera out but they asked us to turn it off because of the other children. On the left side of the hallway we could see babies and toddlers in the different rooms.
A small room on the right side of the hallway is where we were told to wait. They closed the door when they left and I was praying they would open it any minute and there would be our kids. A minute later the Waits came in to feed there babies(the nannies had brought them bottles). The nannies and Tesfaye(our driver) came in again asking for Henry and Camile's numbers, thankfully we had been told we would need the numbers so Dad had them ready, then we were left to wait again. I was dying inside could they be at another orphanage, could they have already been adopted, Where were they?!?!?!
Then the door opened and there they were Camille was given to Dad and Henry was placed in my arms, as I held him I thought I never want to let him go. I looked into his beautiful eyes and stroked his soft hair, as my fingers touched his forehead he looked up and smiled. He was beautiful his smile made all that waiting worth it. How could we have lived without him? The Waits were very kind and took some picture for us even though they too had there hands full. I then had to give Henry up though it was only to Dad. Camille looked at us like who are you and what is going on here. Poor thing her face was swollen and she had just had the chickenpox so she still has scabs all over her.:( She didn't seem to impressed with me, but she did like the bubbles Mrs. Waits had brought. While we were holding Henry and Camille it started to rain OK pour outside. I felt so bad for the poor nannies as they ran to get the laundry off the line, all that work.:(
Our time with the kids seemed to fly by(unlike all the waiting before)I didn't want to give them back, but I knew though i would miss them and couldn't wait to see them again they were happy because this was their home. So i kissed them goodbye and gave them back to their loving nannies.
On the drive home we all talked about the kids, how old they were how beautiful they were and of course how we couldn't wait to go back tomorrow. Back at the guesthouse we had dinner and headed up to our rooms. I repacked my diaper bag though I knew we wouldn't be checking them out for a few more days, I was just so excited. I was in another country in a beautiful city with beautiful people and now the children we had been waiting for for so long were real and not too far away. As I laid in bed and prayed for my family close to me and across the world I just couldn't believe how blessed I was. What a wonderful first day in Ethiopia.
Morgan
There was laundry hanging on the lines, lots of laundry the poor ladies who must wash all those clothes by hand.:( We stood there ready to take the children in our arms as soon as they appeared. Then it happened three nannies with three babies whose were they?? The Waits got there twin girls so cute and the Peobles' little girl were the first to arrive, what a beautiful moment seeing families united after such a long wait. Two more nannies two more babies would they be ours, no the two precious little girls went into Ms. Moore's waiting arms. The Peobles and Ms. Moore went into the little visiting room while the Waits and ourselves hung out outside. Where were Henry and Camille???
They came and asked us again what our children's names were we told them Metesabia and Meskerem. One of the Waits little girls was also named Meskerem and they pointed to her and said this is Meskerem. Well the girls were obviously twins, that wasn't our girl. The nannies went back inside when they came out a few minutes later they told us we could go in. We walked past the laundry lines to the back door to the building Dad had his video camera out but they asked us to turn it off because of the other children. On the left side of the hallway we could see babies and toddlers in the different rooms.
A small room on the right side of the hallway is where we were told to wait. They closed the door when they left and I was praying they would open it any minute and there would be our kids. A minute later the Waits came in to feed there babies(the nannies had brought them bottles). The nannies and Tesfaye(our driver) came in again asking for Henry and Camile's numbers, thankfully we had been told we would need the numbers so Dad had them ready, then we were left to wait again. I was dying inside could they be at another orphanage, could they have already been adopted, Where were they?!?!?!
Then the door opened and there they were Camille was given to Dad and Henry was placed in my arms, as I held him I thought I never want to let him go. I looked into his beautiful eyes and stroked his soft hair, as my fingers touched his forehead he looked up and smiled. He was beautiful his smile made all that waiting worth it. How could we have lived without him? The Waits were very kind and took some picture for us even though they too had there hands full. I then had to give Henry up though it was only to Dad. Camille looked at us like who are you and what is going on here. Poor thing her face was swollen and she had just had the chickenpox so she still has scabs all over her.:( She didn't seem to impressed with me, but she did like the bubbles Mrs. Waits had brought. While we were holding Henry and Camille it started to rain OK pour outside. I felt so bad for the poor nannies as they ran to get the laundry off the line, all that work.:(
Our time with the kids seemed to fly by(unlike all the waiting before)I didn't want to give them back, but I knew though i would miss them and couldn't wait to see them again they were happy because this was their home. So i kissed them goodbye and gave them back to their loving nannies.
On the drive home we all talked about the kids, how old they were how beautiful they were and of course how we couldn't wait to go back tomorrow. Back at the guesthouse we had dinner and headed up to our rooms. I repacked my diaper bag though I knew we wouldn't be checking them out for a few more days, I was just so excited. I was in another country in a beautiful city with beautiful people and now the children we had been waiting for for so long were real and not too far away. As I laid in bed and prayed for my family close to me and across the world I just couldn't believe how blessed I was. What a wonderful first day in Ethiopia.
Morgan
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Morgan is back..
O+ where did I leave off, yes we were at the Guest house and had another three hours to wait till we would be driven to the orphanage. Oh what would we do, how could we wait... So after being told repeatedly Do NOT eat fresh vegtables or fruits. We went downstairs and what did they serve us for lunch??? SALAD.. and bread..What do you do? They were watching us.. Over and over in our paperwork it warns travelers against this. So we ate it.. (then ran upstairs and had probiotics and prayed)
After lunch we hung out a bit and then our driver Tesfaye (TesfI) took us to the Toukoul Orphanage. It was about a 15 minute drive on the way there we saw lots of people it was amazing the difference in the Ethiopian people alone there were people dressed in jeans and tshirts, suit coats, tattered clothes and traditional Ethiopian garb. All walking the streets together.. some with somewhere to go, some with nowhere to go. Many of the billboards were in English. This is because there are a lot of tourists. Along with the people there were cattle, donkey's, and lots of goats. The goats were obviously unaware that they would be dinner come Thursday which was he Ethiopian New Year.Do you know what year it is there? There were many tarps laid on the ground people were selling anything and everything. books, banana's, meat. The streets in the city were made of asphalt, the road to the orphanage was mud. There are no street lights and many lanes of trafic. There was really no guides for driving you just did. The drivers used there horns to communicate not to just say get out of my way.. kind of like saying I'm over here with your horn. Our driver Tesfaye said everyone gets in about five to ten fender benders a year. However you just move on no insurance calls, no police, no anger no it's your fault you just move on. As we turned onto the mud road and saw the Blue gates of the Toukoul orphanage I could hardly wait to hold Henry and Camille. We know that some wait much longer then we have but when it's your turn... well it's your turn. The man opened the gates, we parked all got out out of the van not really knowing what to do. There were some french people waiting, after about five minutes their children were brought out. There was one couple who got a little boy about two.. he was just clueless that this was his mommy and that she had come to get him and take him to his forever home. He kept looking back at the nanny's for guidence.
It was a good to have this to watch while we waited for our little ones. The question is where are our little ones???????
Unless Henry goes to the Hospital I'll see you tomorrow for The Rest of the Story.
Dictated by Morgan typed by her Mom
After lunch we hung out a bit and then our driver Tesfaye (TesfI) took us to the Toukoul Orphanage. It was about a 15 minute drive on the way there we saw lots of people it was amazing the difference in the Ethiopian people alone there were people dressed in jeans and tshirts, suit coats, tattered clothes and traditional Ethiopian garb. All walking the streets together.. some with somewhere to go, some with nowhere to go. Many of the billboards were in English. This is because there are a lot of tourists. Along with the people there were cattle, donkey's, and lots of goats. The goats were obviously unaware that they would be dinner come Thursday which was he Ethiopian New Year.Do you know what year it is there? There were many tarps laid on the ground people were selling anything and everything. books, banana's, meat. The streets in the city were made of asphalt, the road to the orphanage was mud. There are no street lights and many lanes of trafic. There was really no guides for driving you just did. The drivers used there horns to communicate not to just say get out of my way.. kind of like saying I'm over here with your horn. Our driver Tesfaye said everyone gets in about five to ten fender benders a year. However you just move on no insurance calls, no police, no anger no it's your fault you just move on. As we turned onto the mud road and saw the Blue gates of the Toukoul orphanage I could hardly wait to hold Henry and Camille. We know that some wait much longer then we have but when it's your turn... well it's your turn. The man opened the gates, we parked all got out out of the van not really knowing what to do. There were some french people waiting, after about five minutes their children were brought out. There was one couple who got a little boy about two.. he was just clueless that this was his mommy and that she had come to get him and take him to his forever home. He kept looking back at the nanny's for guidence.
It was a good to have this to watch while we waited for our little ones. The question is where are our little ones???????
Unless Henry goes to the Hospital I'll see you tomorrow for The Rest of the Story.
Dictated by Morgan typed by her Mom
Friday, October 9, 2009
How's it goin?
Well to most it would be hectic, to much work and we have even had a couple people insinuate that it is not worth it...WHAT!?!?!? not worth it.. Oh my my my, what some people miss out on .. Now I must be honest the one thing I prayed to not get was those little scabies.. and oh did we get them.. along with ringworm, Giardia, ear infections, colds, a short hospital stay, a little girl that wants to be held every second of the day (yes we do hold her) and a little boy on Oxygen. Nope would not trade it for the world.. my comment is often "What else would I be doing?" and I mean it. My next response is, always better to obey God then to not.. (learned this the hard way) do I get an Amen??
It has been a lot of work so far. Somedays I wonder if we should have gotten an older little girl, but then we left it up to the Lord to choose out daughter so no worries.. Just a few more diapers.
They are both wonderful last night we were all in the living room, this is where we spend a lot of time, especially since little Henry only has fourteen feet of tubing for his O2. Henry was in his bumbo and Maggie had her hands on his cheeks just talking so sweet to him. When Camille cries (which I must say is kind of often) she pats her and says it ok baby it ok baby... She is such great big sister. Praise The Lord...
One special treat I received when Henry and I came home from the hospital. Was a particular little man I love soooo much stood up and walked over to me.. My little Peter is a very cautious little guy so walking well is just to edgy for him. He is doing a great job and although he does not walk full time yet.. he is getting there. To be honest I am grateful to have one boy that is not all dare devil..
Back to Henry, I am not pleased with his breathing. since coming home instead of weaning him from his O2 we have actually bumped him up a bit. There has not been much time in the last three weeks to look over his medicals from the orphanage , so yesterday was the day, after looking them over it appears he has spent a fair amount of his life on oxygen. Not sure how this affects us at this point however I am a bit unhappy that the Dr did not tell this to Gary especially since he was on oxygen just a few days and possibly up to the day Gary and Morgan met him. That is not nice and really the only complaint I have about the whole process.
Today Peter goes to the Dr (ear infection/low grade fever) I am taking Henry with me.. you know slip him in.. Dr's love that don't they?? Just for a second opinion. Better go get breakfast just gave Henry is bottle, Peter is looking like if he does not get a cheerio he might fly away
Have a great weekend
Tiffany
It has been a lot of work so far. Somedays I wonder if we should have gotten an older little girl, but then we left it up to the Lord to choose out daughter so no worries.. Just a few more diapers.
They are both wonderful last night we were all in the living room, this is where we spend a lot of time, especially since little Henry only has fourteen feet of tubing for his O2. Henry was in his bumbo and Maggie had her hands on his cheeks just talking so sweet to him. When Camille cries (which I must say is kind of often) she pats her and says it ok baby it ok baby... She is such great big sister. Praise The Lord...
One special treat I received when Henry and I came home from the hospital. Was a particular little man I love soooo much stood up and walked over to me.. My little Peter is a very cautious little guy so walking well is just to edgy for him. He is doing a great job and although he does not walk full time yet.. he is getting there. To be honest I am grateful to have one boy that is not all dare devil..
Back to Henry, I am not pleased with his breathing. since coming home instead of weaning him from his O2 we have actually bumped him up a bit. There has not been much time in the last three weeks to look over his medicals from the orphanage , so yesterday was the day, after looking them over it appears he has spent a fair amount of his life on oxygen. Not sure how this affects us at this point however I am a bit unhappy that the Dr did not tell this to Gary especially since he was on oxygen just a few days and possibly up to the day Gary and Morgan met him. That is not nice and really the only complaint I have about the whole process.
Today Peter goes to the Dr (ear infection/low grade fever) I am taking Henry with me.. you know slip him in.. Dr's love that don't they?? Just for a second opinion. Better go get breakfast just gave Henry is bottle, Peter is looking like if he does not get a cheerio he might fly away
Have a great weekend
Tiffany
Sunday, October 4, 2009
New news
Well first let me say that Morgan is waiting patiently to continue her Note from Morgan column, however, Henry's Pneumonia has got the best of him so she is at home doing I am sure a better job of being me then I do most days.
Yes Henry has had his first Ambulance ride.. I think for his second birthday we will take him for a train ride then he will have covered several methods of transport by a young age.
Henry has been on antibiotics for a couple weeks and breathing treatments several times a day. However it's just not cutting it so Sat am I guess his tiny body had enough and when checked had a temp of 103.5 so the Dr said take him in.. There is a frustrating story that finally got him downtown but I will share that later.. the hospital is so full we are actually in the original wing so I have come down to the Ronald McDonald room to shower. So my Henry is waiting for me.
Please pray for complete healing for Henry's lungs. and any and all bugs we have inside and out..
Happy Lords day,, Praise God he is in America where there is a hospital for him to go to...
Tiffany
Yes Henry has had his first Ambulance ride.. I think for his second birthday we will take him for a train ride then he will have covered several methods of transport by a young age.
Henry has been on antibiotics for a couple weeks and breathing treatments several times a day. However it's just not cutting it so Sat am I guess his tiny body had enough and when checked had a temp of 103.5 so the Dr said take him in.. There is a frustrating story that finally got him downtown but I will share that later.. the hospital is so full we are actually in the original wing so I have come down to the Ronald McDonald room to shower. So my Henry is waiting for me.
Please pray for complete healing for Henry's lungs. and any and all bugs we have inside and out..
Happy Lords day,, Praise God he is in America where there is a hospital for him to go to...
Tiffany
Friday, October 2, 2009
Technical Dificulty
Just a little not to say that Morgan has run into technical difficulty... which trasnslates as we were at the Dr's all afternoon and our wonderful friend had a get togther for us and some of our friends so the could meet Henry and Camille tonight. By the time we got home... all the kiddo's were out so Morgan went on to bed. So Morgan's post today will be post-poned to tomorrow.
Goodnight
Morgans Mom.......
Goodnight
Morgans Mom.......
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Today's post from Morgan
We have been home for a few weeks now and they have been wonderful. Yes I said wonderful even with the scabies, ear infections, ringworm, and pneumonia. It's great to be home, seeing Mom with Henry and Camille..... that's wonderful.
Our trip really was an eye opening experience. The beauty of Addis and the Ethiopian people, yet the devastation and trials they endure. On the plane ride to Ethiopia there was an aire of excitement, people going to visit family, people going home, and people like us going to pick up the new special member or members of their family's. We met several families who were also adopting on the plane one of which was with our agency, the Waits. We also met a couple named Travis and Shannon who were adopting a 10 month old little boy, they were with a different agency. Shannon was wonderful to talk with and I was very disappointed that we would not get to have the joy of spending the week getting to know them better.
When the plane landed people clapped, it made me wonder how much louder the clapping would be when we landed in the U.S. after the long flight with babies.
We then went through the airport and got our visas, next they looked at our passports and we went to claim our luggage. Dad left me by one of the luggage carousels with our carry-on luggage while he went to find our checked bags and a cart to carry them. While he was away three of our four bags showed up, I hurried to pull them off the carousel before they disappeared. The last bag didn't show up thankfully until Dad came back , we then got them on the cart and headed for customs. there were three long lines so we picked one and were set to wait but then a security guard asked us if we had any valuables Dad showed him his Camera and he let us go around the people in line. I'm not sure why we got to go around but I am thankful.
We entered the terminal and started searching for the sign with our name [which it turns out they didn't have]. We were standing in the terminal thinking we would just wait until it cleared out a little bit when someone asked if we needed to call a taxi we told him not yet. As soon as he walked away a man came up and asked if we were Americans coming to adopt. When we said yes he pointed to a group standing a ways off to our left, the Waits were in it so we knew it was the right group.:)
We headed out to the parking lot and loaded the bags into the two vans that were waiting. The guest house was just a few minutes away. When we got to the guest house the "guards" and drivers carried our bags to our rooms. We were on the fourth floor and by the time I reached our room I was out of breath( I think it was the elevation not my being out of shape.) :):):)
We had to wait until 3:30 to go visit the kids because that is when they would be up from their rest. The next three and a half hours seemed to take longer than the plane ride, we were so close yet we couldn't get to our little ones fast enough. Tick Tock Tick Tock..... I'll be back tomorrow.....
Morgan
Our trip really was an eye opening experience. The beauty of Addis and the Ethiopian people, yet the devastation and trials they endure. On the plane ride to Ethiopia there was an aire of excitement, people going to visit family, people going home, and people like us going to pick up the new special member or members of their family's. We met several families who were also adopting on the plane one of which was with our agency, the Waits. We also met a couple named Travis and Shannon who were adopting a 10 month old little boy, they were with a different agency. Shannon was wonderful to talk with and I was very disappointed that we would not get to have the joy of spending the week getting to know them better.
When the plane landed people clapped, it made me wonder how much louder the clapping would be when we landed in the U.S. after the long flight with babies.
We then went through the airport and got our visas, next they looked at our passports and we went to claim our luggage. Dad left me by one of the luggage carousels with our carry-on luggage while he went to find our checked bags and a cart to carry them. While he was away three of our four bags showed up, I hurried to pull them off the carousel before they disappeared. The last bag didn't show up thankfully until Dad came back , we then got them on the cart and headed for customs. there were three long lines so we picked one and were set to wait but then a security guard asked us if we had any valuables Dad showed him his Camera and he let us go around the people in line. I'm not sure why we got to go around but I am thankful.
We entered the terminal and started searching for the sign with our name [which it turns out they didn't have]. We were standing in the terminal thinking we would just wait until it cleared out a little bit when someone asked if we needed to call a taxi we told him not yet. As soon as he walked away a man came up and asked if we were Americans coming to adopt. When we said yes he pointed to a group standing a ways off to our left, the Waits were in it so we knew it was the right group.:)
We headed out to the parking lot and loaded the bags into the two vans that were waiting. The guest house was just a few minutes away. When we got to the guest house the "guards" and drivers carried our bags to our rooms. We were on the fourth floor and by the time I reached our room I was out of breath( I think it was the elevation not my being out of shape.) :):):)
We had to wait until 3:30 to go visit the kids because that is when they would be up from their rest. The next three and a half hours seemed to take longer than the plane ride, we were so close yet we couldn't get to our little ones fast enough. Tick Tock Tick Tock..... I'll be back tomorrow.....
Morgan
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