Love!

All I can say is that WE ARE IN LOVE!!! Yesterday was a dream come true in every way!

Our kids are absolutely amazing. We were able to spend nearly 2 hours at their orphanage yesterday. The first meeting of them was quite overwhelming for all 4 of us! I choked back most of the tears in effort not to scare them, but emotion was right under the surface for both of us. Brian was immediately handed Baby T and I took Lil' A.

Baby T fell asleep in Brian's arms within 10 minutes of meeting her and she slept for over an hour on his chest. She made the most adorable sleeping noises and wrapped her little arms around his belly. She's got daddy wrapped around her little brown finger already!! Her hair is filling out and is soooooo silky and curly. She has chunks all over her arms and legs. We've yet to see a smile from her, but that's my goal today. :)

Lil' A was momma's boy yesterday - his 29 month birthday. He was so content sitting on my lap, staring at us with his enormous brown eyes, and he fell asleep on my lap in the counseling room when we were hearing about their history more. He slept on my lap for over an hour, too. We just held them on a bed and talked about how beautiful they were. Very surreal moment!!

They didn't cry once, but they did seem quite overwhelmed with us. Their eyes are as big as saucers. They loved their little monkey and bear security blankets. :) We hope to pass court on Wednesday so we can begin posting pics like crazy!! I think we took a couple hundred pics. :)

The Tikuret orphanage is wonderful - incredibly clean, organized, well kept, and joyful. All throughout the orphanage there are signs that speak of God's love and family. The mission and vision for the orphanage are proudly displayed in the greeting room. All the nannies are attentive to the children and they seem VERY well cared for. It's a relief for this momma, but definitely know the 1on1 attention is needed.

We're headed back to their orphanage this morning to spend a couple more hours with them. Baby T turns 9 months today. It's so great to be able to love on them on their monthly birthdays! Our family is together!!!

More news after our 2nd visit...

Today's the Day!

Today is the day when we meet Lil' A and Baby T for the first time! We are undoubtedly excited, nervous, intrigued, and curious as to how our first meeting will go. Will Lil' A run to us or cower in insecurity? Will Baby T be sleeping when we first see her? Will she smile [we've only seen her smile once in a picture]? What will their personalities be like? How big or small is Lil' A [pictures and measurements make him appear to be a little bitty 2 year old]? What will their little minds think when they see their new parents? What will our reaction be like - laughter, tears, beaming faces? Will we be able to fully capture the moment on camera and video?!?!? Mounds of questions fill us, but we cannot wait for that moment! We've been in this process for 20 months, and today is finally here. It's hard to wrap our waiting and expectations and prayers into this day.

One thing is: we are well rested! We got back from our escapades yesterday around 4pm and were really sleepy. We took a "nap" and woke up at 11pm! Oops. So, we read until about 12:30am and slept until about 6am this morning. We are ready to go today!!!

We'll keep you posted about how today goes. Thanks so much for all the prayers, comments, and messages. We feel carried and walked with here. I wish you could all be here. Ethiopia is truly remarkable!

Hello Ethiopia!

We're here! After 20+ hours of airports, flights, and a mini 1 hour layover in Frankfurt, we arrived in Addis late last night. Our travels were hassle free and pretty seamless. Brian and I travel well together, so it was fun. ;) When we stepped out of Addis' airport, Bole, the night air was crisp and fresh. We took some deep breaths and I burst into an inner "I love Africa!"

Our guest house is incredible and the people we've met have been wonderful! No complaints anywhere!!

Today we spent the day going to Ethiopia's National Museum to learn more about our kids' RICH, historic birth country. Brian took lots of pics! We also were toured around town by our translator, Masti, who gave us a great inside look into his country. Brian asked him over lunch where in the world he would like to travel outside of Ethiopia, and he exclaimed, "I love Ethiopia. Why would I want to go anywhere else? Ethiopia is the best!" There's clearly a strong pride in their country. We also got to do a little shopping, including buying some presents for our kids' future milestones in life. Our favorite stop was the ALERT Compound, a leprosy compound started by the Ethiopian government 60 years ago as as way to isolate the disease - and it's people. All the proceeds of the items we purchased goes toward sustaining their way of life in the compound.

We're doing great (I'm physically feeling awesome, too! Thank you.)! Hope to do some more sightseeing tomorrow, awaiting our big day on Monday when we get to meet Lil' A and Baby T. In all, it feels amazing to be here. Something truly comes alive in me when I step foot onto this continent. I can't stop smiling...

All our love from Addis Ababa!