Reunion

Today was an exciting day for Delylah she was reunited with her former cribmate baby Meron. Meron's parents are very special because they told us about the adoption agency we used and because of them we were sent our daughter who of course was rooming with Meron while in the orphanage. I truly think it is a blessing that Delylah will grow up with having this friend around with a common bond. We also had dinner with Kim, Michael, and Sheridan who we must also give credit to because they introduced us to Meron's mommy and daddy so of course their friendship lead us to our second daughter. Life is so funny and so much is meant to happen yet on a daily basis we never think about how one little aspect plays a huge role in our lives later on.

Daddy protested a bit but before dinner I took Delylah to have her ears pierced. Hopefully she does not yank them out like her big sister did several times but she was a champ only cried for about ten seconds.

I am also happy that my good friend Jamie is at home tonight with her new little one Abel. I was in Ethiopia for a week and she was there the next week so I truly missed one of my best friends who I talk to on a daily basis. So glad she is home.

Home One Week

Lennah cleaning off the table from Dinner

I am going to catch up the last week in one post. So we actually did really well adjusting to US time and Delylah is going to bed between 7 and 8 at night and on a bad night only getting up twice. She has slept through the night once since we have been home but that is still not too bad. Lennah has done exceptionally well as a big sister and we have been very surprised by this. Don't get me wrong she has her moments where she wants mommy and I have Delylah but we have been trying to teach her to help and she has not knocked Delylah unconscious yet so we must be doing well. Lennah will go get bibs for Delylah and help hold bottles. We have also had some quality time baking cookies. Acutally I spooned them out while Lennah touched them and licked her fingers but she enjoyed her special time. We even had her clean off the kitchen table and she did a really good job I barely had to go over it again.
I took Delylah for her well visit and she is a big girl at 17 lbs 8 oz. She already outweighed Lennah over 2 lbs and she is a month younger than Lennah was when she came home. We are having some problems with her eating she refuses to eat from a spoon. To get veggies, fruit, and cereal in her she is having basically formula cocktails. She will drink anything from a bottle but really is lazy when it comes to the spoon. Her stomach issues are getting better thank goodness because her diapers were not pretty in Ethiopia. Also she is the total opposite of Lennah. Lennah was wild, refused to sit still, and a good eater. Delylah is laid back, calm, will actually sit in a high chair, car seat, etc., and a poor eater. It is a nice balance because Lennah keeps us on our toes and having two of her would have been a big challenge.
Today, we also took the girls to the Aquarium to entertain them. Lennah was not as exicited as I thought she would be. Delylah was of course just chilling out in the baby carrier with Daddy and Lennah was more interested in climbing the stairs rather than checking out the cool marine life.
Here are some photos of the past week now that we are officially all caught up

Home Sweet Home

Well, it is hard trying to catch this blog up from my trip and that is why all my posts about my trip were so short. But we arrived at the airport early last Friday morning and coming up the escalator I had heard Lennah loud and clear. I was so excited I could hardly contain myself. I missed my family too much. My mom, Keith, and Lennah were waiting. My dad had to take my brother to work and did not want to risk my plane being late so they did not come. However, I did get out in time and were able to meet up with them before my brother went to work so they could meet Delylah. Keith and I took the kids home and had some quite time before my parents came back over to hang out with the girls. Amazingly Delylah stayed up until around 530 pm so I was only about an hour and a half away from her target bed time when she gets on a US schedule. Lennah obviously missed me and wanted to spend time with mommy.

Coming Home

Delylah is the easiest baby in the world. To start off our journey we had our four hour flight on Ethiopia air to Dubai. While waiting to board the plane I met a Canadian couple who also adopted a 7 month old. She was so cute. They told the people with babies to come to the front and wait a minute. While I was waiting someone else told me to board the plane. I should have waited because the Canadian couple was upgraded to first class. I probably would have had a more spacious journey but all was well because Delylah was a breeze. We had an 8 hour layover in Dubai and it was not bad at all. I hung out with the Canadian couple because they had 12 hours to kill. I also met a woman from the States who moved to Kuwait and converted to Islam. That was an interesting conversation. I was so relieved that the airport had a Starbucks and a McDonalds because I missed American food desperately. We had a 15 hour flight to Atlanta and I have to say there is no way I could have done this flight if it was Lennah and I was alone. Delylah slept fairly well in the bassinet which meant that momma actually got some sleep. People were very nice and constantly were offering help. Considering we had almost 30 hours in airports we all did quite well.

Last Day in Ethiopia

My last day in Ethiopia turned out to be my most enjoyable one. To start off the day my driver took us back to lunch at the Old Milk House. From there we visited the History museum where Lucy is housed. It was a small but quaint museum and gave me a little insight into the history of the country. I took lots of pictures so I could share with Delylah someday. From there we visited the orphanage to have Delylah's farewell ceremony which is just one of the nannies freshly roasting some coffee beans over a charcoal type smoker and then grinding the beans fresh. It was interestin to watch this process done by hand. Although it was a nice day is was very sad to spend so much time with the kids and not be able to take more children with me. A lot of the kids tug at your heart and we really would have liked to be able to adopt an older child along with Delylah. However, our it was strongly urged to us that we not adopt out of birth order. It is just so hard knowing that many of those kids many never have a mommy or daddy. From Delylah's orphanage we visited the other Enat orphanage to take some pictures for some other waiting families. Later we went to dinner at a nice hotel restaurant and I headed back to the guest house to pack. I did not do as much shopping as I would have liked because I was so nervous about going out in a foreign country alone.

Day 4 Ethiopia

Day 4 was another quiet day in Ethiopia. We stayed around the guest house and just napped and had a mommy and Delylah day. Honestly, I was so impatient and really wanted to come home because I missed my family terribly and could not bear to be away from Lennah for so long. It was the first time that I was ever apart from her for more than a day and I just felt like it had been forever since I had seen my big girl. It was also extremely lonely because communication was terrible and I had hardly spoken to Keith. I have been apart from him at least once a year because I go to NY to visit friends and family but we can talk 3 times a day and here I was not able to just pick up the phone and call my hubby.

Day 3 Ethiopia

The other family at the guest house and Magda

Abraham and Delylah

View from the Old Milk House

Day three was much more exciting than Day 2 because we ventured out a bit more and had out embassy appointment. To kick off our adventures, Abraham our driver took us to lunch at the Old Milk House restaurant. I actually enjoyed the food quite a bit because since we stayed local on the second day I ate at the Italian restaurant for lunch and dinner; so obviously this was a nice change. We later went shopping which I just picked up some traditional outfits for Delylah and some gifts for the family back home. We finally got to the embassy and everything went smooth. I had been so worried up until this point that something could go wrong and they tell us that we would not have our visa by Wednesday causing me to get stuck in Ethiopia (because of returning missionaries Flights are booked up until after labor day). I felt so relieved that my fears were not coming to pass. Our druver later took me to Baldi coffee which is Ethiopia's version of starbucks. He later took me to a traditional Ethiopia restaurant for dinner. I am not too keen on Ethiopian food but the veggies were quite good.

Day 2 Ethiopia

Well, the second day of my journey was actually quite quiet. Delylah and I stayed at the guest house. We just hung out and bonded and mommy caught up on sleep while Delylah napped.

Getting Delylah

After my first bath

Delylah and one of her nannies

Mommy getting me dressed

Delylah and Emebet

When I first saw Delylah

Abel

I did not enjoy my flight from Duabi to Ethiopia. The plane probably came out of the Soviet Era it was so old. I got off the plane and it took forever to receive my luggage and almost noone else was waiting so I thought my luggage was either lost or stolen but finally after a long wait it showed up. Then to really get me worried our agency reps were not at the airport when I first got out. I totally freaked and did not know what to do. When I finally found a way to call the states and waste ten bucks to make one phone call our rep showed up apologizing about the wait. I just did not want to be in a foreign country with no where to go or not knowing what to do. I checked into the guest house, took a shower, and was off the meet our newest angel. I did not know what to expect and was probably delirious from exictement, fear from traveling alone and everything else one could imagine. When I got to the orphanage the first child I saw was my very good friend Jamie's child Abel who is a hoot. I was so excited to see him because in our last adoption she got to meet Lennah first so this time I will not have to go a long time without meeting her newest addition. I took pics of some of the kids while I waited for Delylah. They finally brought her in and I have to say I think I was more in shock. The first adoption I was overwhelmed and this time I think I was more in surprise that yes now I am a mommy of two. I got to change her into one of her new outfits and hang out with more of the kids. Honestly, I left quite depressed because I wanted to take the kids with me. Delylah and I spent the rest of the day hanging out and getting to know each other. I was really sad that Keith and Lennah were not there for the experience.