I do not want to dwell on any negative, but at the same time I want to be real and let everyone know what adoption really looks like. From the beginning you have to remember that these kids have undergone extreme trauma. We don't even have a comparison to what it would be like to go through what they have gone through. If you compare it to an infant or toddler, I think you get the best understanding. An infant can't talk so they only way they can communicate is to cry and kick and scream. That is similar to how these kids can act ( and did on Wednesday and Thursday). They don't know how to tell us what they are feeling or needing so they are frustrated and it comes out much like a toddler's tantrums. We were told that this is good and that they are grieving early which is a good sign. For one, we can get the hard and ugly out of the way early and on the other hand it means that they were attached to a caregiver and that that attachment can be transferred to us. In the last 2 days I have already seen drastic improvement. I am not fooled to think, however, that we are done with the hard days. There will be more and God will continue to sustain us through them. I told a friend the other night that somehow I had managed not to lose my temper and if only I could parent my other 3 this well! The prayers of many have sustained us...Thank you for praying for us!
I wanted to leave you with a lot of pictures of what we have been up to the last two weeks. We have had some great times and many "firsts". It is such a blessing and a miracle to watch these kids explore and see so many things for the first time. Over the last few days our firsts are...seeing a truck carrying many "makeenas" or cars on it, Mexican food (which was eaten with the tortilla being torn much like injera and used to pick up the meat, rice and tomatos on the plate), snowcones, mom's perfume, watching Dora the Explorer, swimming in a swimming pool...the list continues...
Right after arriving home from the airport the kids made their way out to the backyard. Rachel & Jordan were talking very fast in Amharic. I so wish I knew what they said!
Below: Sisters! Hayley shows Rachel her new room and Rachel picked the top bunk. It was neat to see how excited they were over their rooms and especially thier beds. So many things we take for granted!
Above: Some close friends who couldn't be at the airport came by to visit that night. Rachel was known to love babies and had fun loving on this one. Olivia (the baby) is a twin and also adopted...too cool!
Below: Sitting around the kitchen table together the first night.
Above: Whitney and Jordan "taking turns" on the tricycle. Whitney has hardly played with it before R & J came home. Now it is a favorite toy and the source of many sibling squabbles.
Below: One of my sweet friends has stopped by several times with "happys" as she calls them for either the kids or me. Rachel had fun loving on her little girl.
Above: Whitney holding my new neighbor's newborn baby boy. They moved here this summer from Ohio and already we have a tight bond. Another friend told me that she is part of God's provision for me during this season of life and I believe that to be true. The cool thing? Her baby was born on August 12, the same day as our adoption was finalized in Ethiopia at the US Embassy :-)
Below: Rachel has been a great big sis to Whit. She pushes Whit and Jordan in the infamous tricycle. Whit is really going to miss her when they are in school full time.
Above: On Friday we met some friends at the Abay Ethiopian restaurant. Their mom has been a HUGE mentor to me and the girls were super sweet to Rachel.
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