30 July 2010
All of these...
29 July 2010
I'm planning on taking Augustine with me to go visit the foster home to see some other kids with another adoptive mom. She gets to go meet her son for the first time. There's so much new-family excitement here.
We love the other adoptive families here. They have been so loving and helpful. Everyone else's kids are pretty healthy. Yesterday we were all in the CWA van and Mamush couldn't stop throwing up. We had to turn around and go back home, and they went on the trip with out us. When they came back they brought some of the right medicines and some reinforcements for our sick boys. We are so grateful to be surrounded by the body of Christ.
We are enjoying a wonderful community of believers here, Americans and Ethiopians.
Your emails are my favorite! Thanks for being so helpful.
How is Beatrice? I really miss her. Last night I was officially away from her for too long. I need to get home.
I think we can wait and have a doctors appointment on Sunday or Monday. I don't know what they need but it would sure be good to have them checked out. They are getting better under the careful nursing of their mama and papa. Can I get an appointment at the Vanderbilt international adoption clinic? If you're feeling energetic and can get us in with the adoption clinic at Vanderbilt on Sunday or Monday that would be great. But I can also look into it when I get home if you are too busy caring for three kinder.
All four of us are showered and dressed for our embassy appointment today. The boys are napping and they are so cute when they sleep. They both still sleep with their bottoms in the air. Moses is a collector. Sometimes he puts things under his chin so he can pick up more stuff.
Augustine cried hard last night. Sometimes they just cry like they are freaking out. It's really hard. I'm ready to get everybody home where we can drink the water, do dishes and do laundry.
I miss Bea.
We have our embassy appointment at 1pm today and tonight our hostess is making traditional Ethiopian food for us. Tomorrow we get up, pack our bags, (Our room is tiny and a total wreak. Awful.) and then we leave for the airport around 5:30pm. Our flight leaves at 10:30pm, but we are going to be the first people in line because you have to request the bassinet seats in the bulkhead at the check in desk and the bassinets are first come, first served. Caleb and I are very hardcore about having bassinets on the flight home.
So, just one more night here!
Love you,
Rebecca
28 July 2010
... are best friends
... are great playmates
... have wild imaginations
... are keeping me mighty busy!
The boys both had some strong cough medicine last night and both slept better. Augustine is still waking up choking and coughing (which is awful!), but it was certainly better than last night. There is an American children's occupational therapist (who knew that was a thing) staying with us at the guest house and she is helping me to observe some of the funny things the boys are doing and try to help them.
Last night we got to hear Moses chat for the first time. He woke up in the middle of the night and just talked and talked. I do love to sleep, but it was dear to hear his words.
I just learned this morning that Marsha Blackburn's office has so far been unable to even get in contact with the Embassy here in Addis. Sobering. I have emailed every contact I have at the embassy this morning. I wish we had gone to the Embassy with the group this morning, but we just didn't have any idea. Hopefully Sheka did us right and turned in the documents for Mamush and requested an early appointment for him.
Rebecca
Dear Ms. Faires,
We just completed the expedited screening of Mamush’s case and everything is in order. We will be happy to process visa interviews for both of your children tomorrow.
Sincerely
//AF//
Adoption Unit
U.S. Embassy
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
2:30 p.m., local time
It's done! Everything is going to work out! We are going to bring them both home! I just got an email from the embassy and they are planning on doing visas for both boys tomorrow!
Sheka, our Ethiopian CWA liason, wanted to see the email to be sure it was true. When she saw it, her eyes got big and she looked at me with a look of surprised congratulation. I am so grateful for the prayers of God's people.
Sheka also told us the CWAE would pay for the embassy fees and we could reimburse CWA when we get back home. This is such a relief because getting cash here (USD or birr) was going to be pretty complicated, expensive and time-consuming.
Now there is nothing for us to do but wait and snuggle these sweet boys.
Thank you, Jesus!
Also, many of you have asked how old the boys are. Moses (named for the African Saint and for the Biblical Moses who was also adopted) is 16 months old and Augustine (named for Saint Augustine of Hippo) is 14 months old.
27 July 2010
So, Scout's been sick. Real sick. I posted about it here, but if you don't remember, we took her to the vet a couple of weeks ago with a limp and left with a good chance that she may have cancer.
The kids are both sick. It's sad. We can't wait to get them home to some proper housing and medical care. Augustine/Firomsa has a bad cough and Moses/Mamush was throwing up all morning. Antibiotics and childrens' tylonol are just not that accessible here. It is frustrating, because we know that at home we could have ample clean clothes and laundry for them, comfortable rooms, lots of warm baths, good and accessible doctors and plenty of any kind of medicine they could ever need. Here, everything moves slowly.
We are still trying to figure out what we can do to get Moses home too. It may come down to wiring money at the last minute. This is Caleb writing, by the way... so if I've repeated something you already know, please forgive me. Rebecca and I are taking turns with sick kids, so today, conversation has mostly involved parenting and not paperwork.
We have both kids in pack'n'plays, and Moses finally fell asleep after his continuing stomach issues this morning. We pray that he sleeps well.
ok. I'm repeating myself now. Thank you so much for loving our little girl. Thank you also for staying on top of the money/travel issues that lay ahead. We are grateful for your many prayers.
There is One God and Father of us all... and we trust that He is caring for these boys better than we can in our weakness and insufficiency.
Praying and changing diapers,
Caleb
26 July 2010
Good to get your email! We are at the guest house waiting for our ride and we should get to meet our boys in about an hour. Wow, right? Suddenly our whole lives are going to change. Well, I guess our lives changed two years ago. But we finally get to see some fruit. And, oh my, are we excited to see our sweet little fruit.
The roads really are mud. I mean, they are paved, but there is mud everywhere. It's a lot for Caleb to take in, interestingly. He's not reeling, but he has so much to say. Last night and this morning he has been processing everything he is seeing out loud. He rarely does that. I can't hardly get a word in.
Right, sorry, too much typing, I'm nervous-excited,
Rebecca
We have both boys and we have not stopped moving since. They have changed our Embassy date to Thursday. Hopefully having more time before the appointment will give us more time to get a visa appointment for Mamush. I think CWA will submit Mamush's paperwork on Wednesday.
So, here's the update. Mamush has a passport. All Mamush needs is permission from the US Embassy to have a visa appointment on Thursday with Firomsa.
Since our embassy appointment has been postponed two days, and we don't receive travel visas until the day after the embassy appointment day we are a little nervous because we might not get it in time to fly out. [their flight leaves midday Friday]
Love you, sorry I don't have time to write more.
As soon as we got the boys back to the guest house they both fell asleep on the bed and Caleb and I just laid there and looked at them. I have given them both baths and they are out in the courtyard playing soccer with Caleb.
Love
25 July 2010
Raechel,
We just arrived in Addis this morning. We had an overnight flight and we both slept well, in spite of the stewardesses waking us up every two hours to bless us with more beverages. We bought our visitors visas, changed money and made it through customs with great success, but then waited almost 3 hours for the CWA driver to pick us up. But all is well, the timing confusion is cleared up and we have been deposited at our guest house. It is winter here and also the rainy season. In Vienna we were so blistering hot that we chose where to walk based on shade. But here it is damp and very cold. It's very strange to be suddenly in a different hemisphere.
The US Embassy here knows our wishes to take Moses [Mamush] home earlier and we are trusting that they will see it through if it is possible. It may not be possible, so we are also trying to be gracious and prepared for that outcome.
I wish I could show you a picture of our room and our guesthouse. It makes me think of Peru, except wetter. The bathroom and cold shower for our room are outside across a courtyard. When we want to use it we have to go out in the rain. Someone here asked when it would stop raining, and our host smiled, "September."
We have opened our Africa suitcase to get out our winter clothes and in that suitcase we packed our our little boy things. It doesn't hardly seem possible that we have brought these things here for a purpose, that we will get to use the lavender baby lotion and the special Hippo shirt tomorrow. We are glad that we don't meet the boys until tomorrow. I think we both need a day to adjust to Africa and rest because, wow, we're going to meet our sons. It's a big deal.
There is another family staying here who is adopting an 11 year old boy from Shashemene. All the CWA kids have been staying together here in Addis while they wait for their parents (really, while they wait for paperwork). The 11-year-old's new father asked him if he know Mamush or Firomsa, and his sweet little face lit up and he explained that he and Firomsa had come to Addis from Shashemene together. We are glad these two will see each other again during this week at the guesthouse. It makes our hearts glad. And we are such fans of Firomsa (and Mamush) that it thrills us to even meet someone who has met them.
We can use the internet here at the guesthouse, so I will try to update you every day. I'm still kind of reeling, so I'm sure my descriptions will be clearer tomorrow.
Love and love.
Rebecca
22 July 2010
17 July 2010
14 July 2010
13 July 2010
- headbands
- oven mitts
- carne asada
06 July 2010
... proof that she did come with us!
05 July 2010
I had a pretty handsome date. :)
