What happens when...

Q. What happens when one of your kids has a stubborn case of Giardia (intestinal parasite - water born - from ET) for two months that requires multiple poop checks and rechecks?

A. "Playing doctor" for my younger children takes on a WHOLE new meaning....um...like...complete with taking real, true live stool samples...

Oh my goodness...don't even ask....

Suffice it to say, next time they're playing so well and quietly upstairs, with the occasional visit asking for small Ziploc baggies, I'll be asking what the baggies are for... :)

"All the day..."

Ellie just came into the kitchen as I was cooking and told me she told Yonas about Jesus...how he died on the cross for us, loves us, etc....and I was like, "Wow - that's awesome, Ell!"

It wasn't two minutes later and Yonas ran upstairs saying, "Mom! Yonas - Jesus! Yonas - Jesus!" And I said something generic like, "Ya, buddy, Jesus!" And he said, really, really quietly, almost in a whisper, "Mom - Jesus hug Yonas all the day!" (Almost like, "OH! I know Him!")

And it just struck me - how God has truly been with this sweet little boy throughout all of the traumatic and dramatic changes in his short life...4 homes in the past 8 months, 3 languages, multiple caretakers, a new mamma and daddy...I've often marveled at how in the world he's done so well. And I've always known it's been God. A total, marvelous God-thing. But to look at this bright-eyed, thriving, beautiful, beautiful boy, and hear that sweet, genuine little whisper...it's an inexplicable image for me - my little Yonas being hugged and supernaturally protected by the Almighty God "all the day"....wow.

Yonas

Thank you Jed & Vicki!!! These are priceless...

"So, How's It Been Going?"

Is a question I've gotten a lot the last few weeks since we've been home. This week marks one month since we met our sweet little man, so I thought it would be a great time for an update.

The past few posts I've mentioned and/or shown pictures and videos of how great it's going. And it is. It seriously is going really great. Yonas is such a little lover - he freely gives hugs, kisses, and "love you's," and accepts and seeks my comfort whenever he's sad, grouchy, or hurt. That was probably my biggest concern/fear and I've been so pleasantly surprised in that arena.

That said, Yonas is also NON-STOP action-man. Seriously. He keeps me going from the moment he wakes up. I've really been trying to wake up before him in the mornings just to getting a running start, but he usually beats me. And first thing - really first thing out of his mouth as he climbs, sleepily and wobbily into bed with us, is either, "Mom, hungry - sucker - pizza!" or "Mom, bike!" or "Mom, bye-bye!" or "Mom, bath!" And then the rest of my morning is spent saying, "Isch (Ok) buddy, Koy (wait) - first, let's get dressed." And he's totally "isch" with that...he obeys and gets dressed. THEN, immediately after he's dressed, he's ready for pizza, bike, and bye-bye again. Soooo, then I talk him into some sort of breakfast food other than pizza (seriously, it would be pizza 24/7 for this dude) saying, "Koy, Yoni, pretty soon we'll ride bikes and go bye-bye!" Whew. So, by 10 am, when we're all ready to go for the day, I'm pooped! :)

But, I'm so thankful to say, the last few days we've fallen into more of a routine (what do ya know - 2 wks. before school starts when it'll totally change again!) :) So, he's getting to the point that he can anticipate what's next and therefore have a smidgen more patience for what's next in the day. AND, big praises here, he's actually been taking a nap the last couple of days! "Rest time" for all of us has been huge. We all desperately need it to make it in one piece until dinner-time. I'm really, really thankful for this.

And language-wise, it really has not been near the issue I thought it might be. A lot of this has to do with the fact Yonas has a definite opinion on EVERYTHING...and he makes it particularly clear if we can't get it the first couple of times. :) And he's catching on like crazy. Today I said as we were crossing the street and he looked like he might make a run for it, "Yonas, NO -makeena (car)!" To which he replied, " No, Mom, car." Like, "Give me a break, mom, you don't know what that's called??!" :)

So, my spunky, full-of-life, strong-willed, lover of a boy keeps each day fresh, new, and full of surprises. It reminds me a lot of the 18 mo. old stage that I loved so much but which exasperated me to no end with my other 4 kiddos. There are daily discoveries and milestones met, but also disasters diverted and patience stretched beyond what I ever thought possible. All rolled up in my little bundle named Yoni...

And here's a pic from our town coffee house's steps with all of our kids and two of their cousins, Carys and Moses: (see Yonas with his sucker and cowboy boots? He'd have it no other way. And neither would I.)

Brothers

Ethiopia: Days 5-10

Ok, where were we? :)

A little recap...Sunday, July 5th, our trip south to Hosanna. I couldn't end this day without more pictures of the beautiful countryside and people.

But first, a picture of the trusty bus that took us everywhere we needed to be...I'll never forget that smell of exhaust or the way our driver would hoooonk his horn way before he'd ever think of braking for an animal or person in our way...

And the donkeys - had to get a picture of the donkeys for my animal/horse crazy kids. This was a common sight...

This was the woman who prepared the coffee ceremony for us in Hosanna after the candle ceremony with the birth families...

A panoramic view of the countryside...Yonas was born in a hut like these...his father was a farmer like a majority of the people in this area....

This handsome boy kept fighting off his friends with a long stick so I would take his picture alone. He made me keep taking them until I got one he liked.... :)

Monday, July 6th, we all got to bring our kids to the care center for the morning to play. This is where we congregated a lot of the time - mostly to eat. And did we eat.....yum....

This is Yonas and his sweet buddy Degefa...

We did tons of this...pushing the kids on the little trikes and car, and then they'd roll down the hill...

And then when we old people got tired, we tried bringing the kids in to color and play - but that didn't usually last very long....

We always ended up back outside. :) And these were the bikes the boys were determined to get working - completely flat tires and no seat. If we would've known, we would've stuffed one in a big duffel to donate...

On Monday afternoon, we took the kids back to the care center and we got to tour AHOPE, the CHSFS Ethiopia offices, school, and health center.

Here we are at AHOPE... we weren't allowed to get any pics inside here or at our agency's care center...

The school...

The pharmacy right next door to the health center...

The museum...this is where "Lucy" is kept...

We passed this spot so many times in Addis. I was always so intrigued by all of the goats right there smack dab in the middle of the city, right next to the road...

There were also so many fruit stands - I thought they were so pretty and kept trying to get just the right picture to blow up and hang in my kitchen - so we have tons of random fruit stand pictures. I think this is my favorite so far...

Tuesday, July 7th, we had our farewell party for the kids at the care center. We were not allowed to take pictures, which made me sad. It was so precious. All of the kids came down the stairs in authentic Ethiopian dress with stickers all over their faces (Yonas has a left-over on his chin in this next pic.) The big boys sang a song, and then we all clapped and cheered as each child got his/her hand painted and stamped in a big memory book. Then we stood around the children and prayed. First there was an Amharic prayer said, then an English prayer, and a member of our group also contributed a traditional Hebrew prayer. It was a beautiful thing.

Then in the afternoon, we were off to the Embassy. This is our Embassy dude...

And when we came home, we ate dinner, and spent our first night together. He went right to sleep...

Wednesday, July 8th, we spent the day at the guesthouse - the kids were officially ours!!!

We spent a lot of time hanging out with our awesome travel group. I seriously love these guys. There's just something so special about sharing such a life-changing experience with people. We started as strangers, but now feel forever connected through the time we shared together and the bond our kids had before any of us even entered the picture...

Yonas and Hizkiele (sp?)....

And Degefa and Mituku had birthdays!!!

The wonderful kitchen staff even made them a birthday cake. But this is what Yonas thinks of cake...I think I'll be putting his b-day candles on a big ol' pizza... :)

One of our moms even brought the party gear...the boys had such a blast. Along with lots of sweet babies and two precious toddlers, our travel group had 4 big boys - two seven year-olds, a five year-old, and Yonas, the smallest of the big guys at three years-old....

Thursday, July 9th, we had an Ethiopian cooking class in the morning...the smell was heavenly...

And after the class, we all met in the eating area for one last coffee/popcorn ceremony...more heavenly smells...frankincense, roasting coffee, and popping corn...ohhhh....

At about 5, we packed up the buses, collected all of our documents, said our good-byes, and headed for the airport...

And this is what Yonas thought of the airplane...it was hilarious...

I don't have any pics of us arriving home yet, but hopefully will share those in the near future. I've had such a hard time capturing this trip with so few words and pictures, but hope I caught at least the essence of it.

So now we're home, and beginning a whole new journey. One I can't wait to start sharing....

Top Three Stupidest Things Strangers Have Said to Me Since We've Been Home

1. As a conversation starter..."Did he bring back any diseases?"

2. After seeing Yonas pouting and sitting by himself at the pool playground because he's too young for our town's swimming lessons (and by the way, who wouldn't be ticked, especially if no can explain it to you why your siblings can swim but you can't?)..."Do you think you'll ever have a loving relationship?"

3. "Do agencies let white people adopt black kids, or did you have to fight for it?"