Day 4 - Ethiopia

As part of our trip to the North, we got to visit the Blue Nile Bridge and Gorge. The Blue Nile Bridge was built by the Japanese and Ethiopians. An older bridge was built by the Italians. On our way into the gorge, we saw some baboons. On the way out, we were hoping to get a few pictures of them. Sammy, our driver, pulled the car over and told us to get some of the bananas (which apparently are very tasty, I hate bananas, but everyone talked about how good Ethiopian bananas are). The baboon consumed about 5 bananas in just a matter of minutes. Mark and I were in the back, so we didn't get any pics, but the rest of the group got some great pictures of the baboon!

The trusty Land Rover!

Don't you want to drive down this road?

Blue Nile Bridge

One other random thing, the Ethiopian calendar is 9 years behind ours. They just celebrated the year 2000. Here's a group photo in front of a celebration sign.

As we were driving throughout the countryside, it was very common to see a cow and a plow. I’m talking about like the kind of plow you would have seen a long time ago. We asked Sammy if he would pull over, so we could once again get a good picture of the plow. He did and we were all happy that we got some great pictures!

We got back on the road and a few minutes later, we caught up with the rest of our group. The van ahead of us was apparently very interested in the plows as well. They were actually out in the field trying out the plow for themselves. They allowed all of us to take a turn trying out the plow. Ethiopians are such kind people. The farmer kept wanting us to actually use the whip to hit the cows.

After lunch, we went to the Portuguese Bridge. It was built in the 16th century. It is partially natural and partially man made. A young boy named Abraham took Mark (my husband) and a couple of others on a “tour” of a baboon cave. The boy told them that it was where the baboons slept at night. None of them were actually in the cave at the time.

Here's a picture of a random girl we met. I think she is so beautiful!

We went to a nearby orphanage for both children as well as the elderly. The conditions we absolutely terrible. The beds and buildings were old and dirty. The children seemed very happy though. We got to listen to them practice reading the scriptures tho their teacher. We saw about 20 children and 15 adults there.

We headed back to the capital. We had pizza for dinner and talked a lot about what the next day would look like (the day we would “collect our children” as the Ethiopians put it). Many of us cried at just the thought of being able to finally hold our children in our arms. We had waited so long for this day.

My Three Year Old!

Tonight Mark headed to band practice, so it was just me and the boys tonight. I was trying to think of something low key, so I decided to let them just play outside. It was hot earlier today, and this evening it finally cooled off enough to actually enjoy being outside. So here I am on the back steps and I look up to see the beautiful sunset. I say "Look Hudson, isn't the sky beautiful?" Hudson replies, "Yes mommy, it is! Look at all those colors. There's green, blue, yellow, pink, and purple!" I say, "You're right!" He then asks, "Mommy can we get in the car and drive there so we can see it better?" I just laughed. He then finished off the conversation with, "God made that didn't He? How did he make that mommy?"

I have felt really bad about not writing here on my blog recently. I have not been feeling well for almost a week now. Hudson started it is all I've gotta say. The next day Behailu got it, and now the three of us all have snotty noses, yucky coughs, and sore muscles. Mark never seems to catch what we get. I really want to finish up the posts of my trip to Ethiopia, but I have spent all of the little energy I have taking care of my kids. I have been sleeping during their nap and going to bed early too. Hopefully all of us will be feeling well soon. I always say that I'd much rather have the flu than a cold because a cold lasts so much longer for me. I thought about taking a picture for you all to see, but I didn't think you'd like to see the crusty noses. ;)

Necessary Reminder; Update on Grandma

"Cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow

For babies grow up, we've learned to our sorrow

So quiet down cobwebs,

Dust go to sleep

I'm rocking my baby,

and babies don't keep."

~Anonymous

Last night I was reading through some blogs and I saw this quote on a friend of a friends blog. It really got me thinking. I know I have read this saying before or something similar, but this time it really hit me! I’ve always struggled as a mom when it comes to spending time with my kids. Having been a kindergarten teacher, I’ve always felt it was most important to teach a child responsibility and independence (since I have seen SO many that lack in these areas). I still do think those are important characteristics to teach my children, but there are other ways to teach them this than trying to get them to play independently or expecting them to always pick up after themselves as soon as they are done with whatever it was they were doing. Today I made an intentional effort to spend time with both of my kids individually. I do give my kids attention often, but today it was purely intentional. I feel like this changes their behavior, especially my 1 year old adopted child who has a huge need for attention. He will get it one way or the other...by me giving it to him by choice or by screaming to the top of his lungs. It was almost as if by spending that time with him this morning I was filling his need for attention. He hasn’t had too many fits today, and I can only hope that is the reason why.

As far as having that time with my 3 year old, Hudson and I did puzzles this morning together. I know he loved every minute of it! Not only was it time for us, but it was also a learning opportunity since one of the puzzles was an alphabet puzzle. I didn’t do anything else during this time, just give him that attention.

All this to say is that the quote above really got me thinking.....how much longer will Hudson ask me to play legos with him, want me to do puzzles with him, ask me to “way (lay) with me for a few minutes mommy.” Before I know it both of them will be heading out the door to school and these days will be so much more than gone. It makes me sad to think about those days, but I am making the effort to treasure every moment I have with them now and I encourage you to do the same!

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Update on Grandma

My grandma seems to be doing much better. She was moved back to Suite Living. I am very thankful that she was able to return to her “apartment.” I think it gets very confusing to elderly people when you change their daily routines/circumstances. She will be in a wheelchair at times. She is receiving physical therapy three-four times a week and she also has home health care coming in a couple of times a week to help with bathing, etc. Thank you so much for asking about her and praying for her!

Wordless Wedsnesday on a Thursday Morning....woops!

Ethiopia - Day 3; Update on Grandma

Around 10 AM we left our hotel to head for our trip to the North. We drove for about two hours, making a few stops along the way to take pictures. I am so thankful that we got to take this trip. Once you get outside of the city, life in Ethiopia takes on a whole new perspective. The countryside was absolutely gorgeous, but sad as well. Ethiopia was much more mountainous than I first realized. There is also a lot of farmland and farm animals.

Here is a picture of two women walking back to the city after cutting down some limbs in the forrest. It would be a very long and hilly walk for them.

Here is a picture of the Blue Nile River and Canyon. Someone said it is the largest canyon in the world....not sure about the facts though?

Here is a picture of a house we saw along the way....

We stopped at the Debre Libanos Monastery. Because they were working on the road that day, we had to park a distance a way and walk up to the monastery. Along the way, we saw huts built from practically nothing and poor people begging. It seemed so contradictory to have such poor conditions with this massive, beautiful church right beside it. We each had to pay a small entrance fee for a tour. Removing your shoes is a requirement. There were many stained glass windows, each depicting a different Bible story or character (Moses, Aaron, Peter, the Ten Commandments, etc.).

After visiting the monastery, we hiked up a mountain to a Cave Church. Previously, a monk lived there for 29 years completely alone. He rarely came down the mountain. Even now, there is a monk living there, but he only serves for 2-3 years at a time. There was a separate nearby cave where the monk slept and ate.

Before we headed back to our cars, so nationals invited us into their home to have some homemade drinks. We all took a cup out of courtesy, but only a few of us actually tried it!

We headed back to our hotel in the North, where there was only a generator and no electricity in our rooms. They needed the generator to prepare our dinner, so everyone headed to bed pretty early that evening. They did bring around candles and matches for our rooms though!

It is so difficult to narrow down my pictures. I took SO many throughout the entire trip. Sorry if this is overwhelming.

And one more thing....apparently Ethiopians are shorter than most Americans!

My crazy husband!

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My sister called just a few minutes ago to let me know that my grandma seems to be doing much better. She is being released from the hospital tomorrow and thankfully, she will be returning to assisted living. I was really hoping that she wouldn’t be moved as I am sure this would just confuse her even more. She will probably begin to use a wheelchair as they are worried that she could fall at any moment. She will also have someone coming in to help her a couple of times a week to help with baths, etc. Helen (my sister) also said that she was up and walking around, more alert, and feeding herself. Thank you so much for your prayers.

My mom and Grandma, Christmas 2008:

Grandma.....

My precious grandma was admitted into the hospital yesterday. Please pray for her. I don't want you to pray that she won't die, I just don't want her to be in pain. If you know my grandma, there is no doubt as to where she is going when she dies. She has probably been the best example to me of what it means to be a Christian. Early yesterday morning they found my grandma laying on the floor beside her bed. They have done some scans of her brain and it is very obvious that she has had several mini-strokes. My mom says that she has been sleeping most of yesterday and today and she is not eating well. She does have several bruises on her body from numerous falls over the past week. Right now she is being monitored/observed in the hospital thru tomorrow. After that, we don't know if she will go back to assisted living or if she will need to go somewhere where she will receive more 1 on 1 care. Thanks for your prayers.

The honest truth

I haven’t written for the past couple of days....partly because I’ve been busy, but mostly because I don’t want to complain. I’m having a hard time seeing much positive in my life right now. Behailu’s screaming tantrums have become worse and more frequent after getting the green light from my pediatrician to begin ignoring this toddler behavior. I think ignoring this behavior is best, but every time I hear the blood-curdling scream in the back of my mind I worry that it may effect him later (that I am ignoring him rather than trying to comfort). I only worry because he is adopted, it is so much different than raising a biological child. Biological children positively know that you love them and that you always will. I want Behailu to know this too, I just don’t know exactly how to instill this in his little head and heart. Any of you adoptive parents out there who read this, I would love to hear any advice you have on this subject.

I talked with my mom this afternoon. I knew it was going to be bad when I heard her say, “I’m taking your grandma to the doctor tomorrow morning.” She informed me that my grandma had gone to the hairdresser today (as she does every week). The hairdresser called my mom to let her know that she noticed my grandma was in considerable pain and that she had trouble sitting in the chair to get her hair done. My grandma lives in an assisted living home for the elderly. Apparently Suite Living (the place she lives) did not call my mom to tell her that my grandma fell last week. If you know my grandma at all, you would know that she is not the kind of person to complain about something. So if she does, you know it’s serious. The hairdresser also told my mom that she could tell a major difference in her mental capacity since last week’s appointment. My grandma is the sweetest lady I have ever met. She would do anything for anyone and it hurts my heart to think that she is in pain and has been in pain for over a week now.

The one positive is that I have been getting back into my business more. I decided to take a break once we brought Behailu home, just to give us that adjustment period. I actually look forward to working! I am very excited about new things I am doing and have a couple of booths coming up in the next month. I really enjoy what I do. I love coming up with new ideas and giving people something that they truly appreciate. Here is my most recent work:

Girly Burpcloth

Big Sister shirt - I've had these for a while, but finally was able to add curly hair instead of just straight hair!

Ethiopia - Day 2; Sweet Friends...

Ethiopia - Day 2

I awoke to barking dogs at 4AM, an hour later I heard music for a call to prayer. This happened a lot throughout the trip. Other families talked about cats meowing outside of their window. Being right in the middle of a busy city was a very different experience for us. On day 2 we headed out to The Holy Trinity Cathedral and St. George’s Cathedral and Museum. Here are a few facts that we learned that day:

Rastafarians (Jamaicans) came from Ethiopia. They take their name from the 1st Emperor.

The Ethiopian church has their own language “Giz,” different from the official language, Amheric.

Church music is written in a language (Giz) that may take a whole lifetime to learn. Only the priests and elders learn church music.

Military generals had lion’s fur around the collar of the uniforms.

There was recently a division between the church and politics in Ethiopia.

The Ethiopian calendar is 7 years behind the calendar we use.

That evening we had dinner at a Ethiopian Cultural Restaurant. There were 4 people playing instruments: a bamboo flute, drums, a violin-like instrument, and a 6 string (similar to a guitar). There were 3 male and 3 female dancers. The dances and music was really cool to watch. The people moved SO fast while they danced. The food was interesting to say the least. Neither Mark nor I liked it, but we tried it anyways. Everything was ground up very finely, almost reminded me of the texture of baby food. Here are a couple of pictures from that evening.

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Today was a wonderful day. I got to see my good friend Melissa who used to live about 15 minutes away from me.....now she lives over an hour away. We are still great friends, but we just don’t get to see each other near as much as we used to. Today Melissa made the long trek down with her two kiddos to visit. Hudson and MaKenna have been friends since they were just a couple of months old (they are just over a month apart). They loved to share each other’s pacis, crawl around on the floor together, go swimming, take baths together, and jump on the bed (which they both get in trouble for!). We even spent the night at their house a couple of times, just for fun. It is sad for me to think about the day when Hudson will realize that Kenna is a girl (eww!) or the day that Kenna will think that Hudson has cooties because he is a boy. For now though...neither see the difference and both love each other dearly.

Bathtime!

Kenna's daddy had fun flinging them around in this tub.

My teddy and your ducky:

Camping trip:

My dear sweet friend and I:

Boating fun!

Waiting for our turn to ride the horse and carriage:

Today:

Ethiopia, Our Great Day Together, and $5.89!

Ethiopia:

Here is a picture of our first meal in Ethiopia. We went out for lunch after having less than an hour to get settled into our room at the Sadula Lodge. The food was definitely not Ethiopian, but it wasn’t American either. We had pizza, and it was pretty good, just a little different tasting. As you can see in this picture, we are all exhausted!

After lunch we stopped to get some bottles of water. Everything is really cheap there. It’s wonderful. We bought a pack of six large bottles of water...not just for ourselves, but to be ready for making bottles in just a few days!

Another piece of advice for anyone planning on staying at the Sadula Lodge: they do not have a clock or anything in the room. I wish I would have brought a (battery powered) travel alarm clock.

Here are a couple of interesting views from the lodge.

A woman “washing” dishes

Scaffolding. Don’t you want to work there? Scary!!! We saw that kind of thing all over ET.

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Here at home:

Well, today was a much better day than yesterday. I knew it would be...it had to be! This morning we were outside quite a bit. The weather has been so nice here recently, perfect for the boys to play outside. Both Hudson and Behailu had so much fun swinging, running, and making silly faces for the camera.

Oh yeah, Zachary got to swing too. I love my 3 year old!

This evening we went to a Block party our church hosted for local neighborhood children. Several backpacks and school supplies were given out. We also rented some inflatables/bounce house type things. Hudson was so excited about going to the “party.” Once we got there, he kept saying to me, “I want some party mommy.” I could not figure out for the longest time what he was talking about. Finally, he said “I want some cake!” I had to explain to him that this kind of party was not a party that had cake like a birthday party. Such a funny kid! I wish he’d stop growing up....

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Savings!

I’m so proud of myself for finally taking the time to figure out the best ways to use coupons, rebates, Walgreens’ Register Rewards, Rite Aid’s Single Check Rebates, Kroger’s deals on doubling coupons, etc. This week I got a GREAT Deal at Rite Aid. I got all of this for just $5.89. I had an in-store coupon as well as a coupon for every item I purchased, and on top of that I will get rebates on 3 of the items. I got all of this for what 1 box of their cereal would have cost me (not that I would every pay $5 for a box of cereal anyways)! The total would have been over $30 with out all these deals!

Advice for Future Ethiopian Travelers and Why I need Earplugs!

Mark and I made the mistake of waiting a couple of days to book our flight with Ethiopian Air. Who would have thought that so many people would be flying from the US to Ethiopia? I wouldn’t have...but I learned my lesson the hard way. We had to be put on a waiting list for the flight we should have booked the day we found out our travel dates. Woops!

Second of all, we left D.C. at 11ish in the morning. I think it was actually supposed to be more like 9 or 10, can’t exactly remember, but what I do remember is that every flight we took with ET Air, we always had a late departure. Since we flew out in the morning, that means it was yet again morning when we got to ET. So we were basically awake for another day with as much sleep as one gets on the plane (20 minutes). We traveled with 6 other families. One of the families took a flight that left D.C. at night, meaning that when they got to ET, it was evening. They were up for a couple of hours, then went to bed. I think that is definitely the way to go!

Here’s a pic of me with all our luggage. We took lots of formula and baby clothes for donations...it’s not ALL my stuff!

I highly recommend taking Dramamine. I am not really the kind of person that is effected by traveling, but man....that stuff knocks you out. Take it just for that reason alone. But don’t make the mistake like I did and take it after you get to Ethiopia......just makes you more tired!
Somehow, even with the drama of us booking too late, we ended up with exit row seats! Now, don’t get too excited for us. Exit seats are great and all, but ET Air overbooked the flight....so what do they do when that happens? Not what you think, I can guarantee that! They put someone in the jump seat across from us! Not a crew member, A PASSENGER! So here we are, face to face with someone we don’t know for a 16 hour flight.....let’s just say I noticed some odd habits. The guy used the toothpick (which toothpicks will come with EVERY meal on the plane) to clean out his EARS! GROSS! Like I said....face to face, how pleasant. My husband is ridiculous!

Once we got to ET and met up with our contact, we loaded all of our luggage on top of the van. Everyone kept wondering....”how many more bags can fit on there?” Apparently, a lot!

Shot from the plane over Africa. This picture does that actual experience no justice!

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Well, today was one of the many hard days I’ve had since bringing Behailu home. Some days he’s happy most of the time, other days he screams 75% of the day. Today was the latter. And I don’t mean crying....I mean SCREAMING. I don’t think I can even scream as loud as he does. He screamed even when I held him at times (usually not being held is the reason for screaming). I’m not really sure why he was screaming. The only thing that I can think of right now is that part of yesterday and all of today he has started to drink out of a sippy cup rather than a bottle. Actually, we still use the bottle, we just purchased a spout like a sippy cup spout to use on the Avent bottles we already have. Behailu definitely is in love with his bottle....perhaps he’s now going thru withdrawals.....
I was actually looking forward to today in a way. I didn’t have much to do on my list, am pretty much caught up on my monogramming orders, and I thought it would be fun to have a fun day, just the boys and I hanging out at home, Hudson riding his new bike, Behailu trying to ride Hudson’s new bike...etc. Well, it just didn’t happen. Perhaps tomorrow will be a better day.
Just look at this face!