Ethiopia - 2nd Trip - Day 5

March 1, 2011

I can't believe how significant the month of February has been for us: court date, meeting Eva's birth mother, Eva's birthday, my maternal grandmother's birthday (RIP) for whom Eva is named after, our baby shower, and finally our Embassy date. It's been such a wonderful whirlwind of events.

This morning Eva woke us at 4:30 am. After a bottle of cereal and formula, she was back asleep an hour later. John also fell back asleep and I had the misfortune of staying awake through most of the morning. John & Eva woke up around 9 or so and we decided to go to the restaurant for breakfast. That meant a bath for Eva. Not a happy time for her. We're going to have to work on that once we get home.

I should mention that John and I brought all this baby food with us in an attempt to duplicate the food Eva ate at HH: a mixture of sweet potatoes, carrots and rice. The one thing we didn't want to change, along with everything else in her world changing, was her food. We tried 3 or 4 different times to get the right mixture and she refused every time. So we put the cereal in her formula and also found that she loves sugar water (4 oz of water with 1 packet of Splenda). We knew she needed to get hydrated to help her get over her pneumonia and right-ear infection.

OK...back to breakfast. We headed downstairs and got food from the buffet. John got me a plate of french toast, scalloped potatoes and an omelet. No sooner had my plate been set in front of me when Eva started reaching for a bite of french toast. At first I thought she just wanted to play in my plate, but she really wanted some food............some real food. My girl ate some of everything on my plate....and liked it!! John & I couldn't believe it. We were so excited to see her eating such a wide variety of foods and liking them. Meanwhile, the waiters, waitresses and hotel staff were just loving on her. This one waitress had Eva in her arms and inside of 15 SECONDS made her laugh. We couldn't believe it. We had been trying for 3 days to get an expression other than anger and frustration and nothing worked.

That was the catalyst though. Several hours later, after I awoke from my much-needed nap, John told me how Eva danced, laughed, and smiled. I even heard her saying "da-da" over and over again. That's the first time we heard her speak. What a joy it was to finally hear her voice.

Around 5 pm Almaz came to our hotel and gave us all the rest of our childrens' documents: a SEALED thick manilla envelope and Ethiopian passport. We had an "exit" orientation where Almaz discussed the importance of the documents and getting U.S. documents for our kids.

The 3 of us went downstairs to eat dinner and unbeknownst to us, all the court families and 2 of the embassy families were leaving (1 embassy family left shortly after receiving their documents from Almaz). It was so nice to be able to see them all off and wish them safe travels. One thing is for sure: AGCI families have a wonderful bond, whether we've met each other or not. But getting to actually meet and forge relationships strengthens that bond so much more. It's awesome to see God moving in such a powerful way.

This was actually the first night since we got here that we were able to eat dinner in the hotel restaurant. All the other nights we were getting food brought up to our room. So we sat down and ordered. I got penne pasta. John got an Ethiopian dish. My food came out and once again my girl had her hands all in my plate. She LOVED the pasta. I was so tickled, then John's dish came out and she immediately went for the injera. I fed her a little injera and she spit it out but she kept opening her mouth for more. This was her first time having ALL of these foods and flavors. John said "Maybe she doesn't like injera." I said "She's Ethiopian....how could she not like it? Besides... as much as we'll be eating out Ethiopian, she'll learn to like it." I mean really.....is this child the perfect fit for our family or what? It is truly God's design and plan.

So that was our amazing day. I'm so excited to see a litte bit more of her personality shine through each day. I can only imagine how much she'll blossom in 2 weeks, 2 months, by the summer. I am in awe of this miracle that I am privileged to take care of and raise. She's amazing!!