Today is a better day

David and I are feeling a lot better today! We're still pretty tired and sore, but definitely feeling better than yesterday. Elizabeth said yesterday that her stomach and head hurt, but she's been eating fine today. So hopefully we are in the clear. (I did keep her home from school today, just in case.) Josiah is his energetic happy self, even while his four eye teeth are about to pop through any second. We missed his physical yesterday, so we'll have to make another appointment.

Another praise--David found out that he received a promotion with his employer! Yeah, David!!! I'm very proud of him! Hopefully, that will help down the road if we decide to make a change. It also means a pay raise...which is always nice. We have to finish paying off this adoption before we can save for the next, right? ;-)

Sickness...

...has hit our house. Fortunately, only two of us are sick so far. Unfortunately, it's David and myself. The kids are probably going to be watching way more t.v. than they should today, but what do you do? Elizabeth has been a very big help so far this morning. She even went down to the basement herself to put the dogs out. Josiah was pretty calm and cuddly this morning, but there's only so long that can last when you're two.

Thankfully, I am feeling a little better in the last hour or so...at least to functioning level. Hopefully, this is a trend that continues and David starts feeling better before long. Praying the kids don't get it cause it's nasty!

A Few Snippits...

Earlier this week:

Josiah kept putting his stuffed monkey in front of the camera when Mommy was trying to take pictures. But Mommy caught two great smiles anyway!

We were wondering if he would like bagels with cream cheese. What do you think?

Saturday:

Go MARYLAND!!!! What a win!

Hanging out on pile of clean clothes. Where else? (This is while Daddy put together Josiah's bed. Daddy did a GREAT job! The bed is just a bit higher than we remembered.)

Sunday:

After church today, friends and family joined us at Mom Baber's house to celebrate Josiah! We were so blessed! It is so amazing to have a community of friends who have and will support us as we build our family. It's also great to have so many BTDT families for advice and reassurance!

Josiah met, and quickly warmed right up to, Great Uncle Bill!

Hey Grandpa! Ms. Reba gave me this great jacket, and I'm ready to go flying with you now!

Today, Elizabeth received a Cabbage Patch Kid from a friend. First of all, we thought it was pretty cool that her baby has the name "Ruby"...the name of a baby we saw in Ethiopia who is now home with her Mommy and Daddy! PRAISE GOD!!! We explained to her about the adoption papers it comes with, and she really lit up! A little while later, she comes walking down the hallway with her baby in a stroller and says, "Mommy, pretend we're coming out of the airport! Mommy, say welcome home!" (Yes, church family, our kids are well-trained in airport homecomings!) She then started going back and forth to bring home new children. Josiah started pushing the stroller back and forth following behind her as she increased her clan.

The week in review

It's been a pretty good week this week. Josiah is being introduced to more rules, and he is starting to learn that he is NOT in charge. He has been fighting sleep more. Staying up to as late as midnight. We are starting to implement a more regular schedule, so he'll head to bed at the times when we have to be up early the next morning.

On Tuesday, we headed up to the airport. We were so happy to celebrate another family's homecoming!!! They just adopted a beautiful 12 year old daughter from China! And watching their story unfold, there can be no question that God is involved with the timing...even of the little things! A few of us were reflecting on how this is the last family in church in the adoption process. But I'm VERY sure that it will not be too long before another family begins.

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday David worked full days for the first time since before we left. Mommy stayed home and kept the peace. It helped that Wednesday Elizabeth was at preschool for a few hours.

Friday, we all headed to MOPS. David was a draftee replacement to assist with M.I.A. volunteers. It just so happened that David was needed in the room where Josiah was, so that helped out alot. Otherwise Josiah would have stayed with Mommy, as we are not quite ready to leave him.

Tomorrow is Maryland football and the delivery of Josiah's new bed. We opted to skip the toddler bed and go straight to a set of bunk beds. We'll be leaving off the top bunk for a while still, though. And on Sunday he'll be subjected to a welcome home shower. Daddy's looking to run somewhere else during that time. (Can you tell Daddy wrote this part? He may try, but he WILL NOT succeed!!!! Mwaahaaahaaa :-))

Josiah's vocabulary continues to expand. He talks constantly, but some of the words we are understanding pretty clearly are dog, cat, car, up, no, all done, uh-oh, uh-uh, uh-huh, and water. Of course he says mommy and daddy. He's also using a few Amharic words with us that we didn't hear before: Nah--come, woosha--dog, demet(sp?)--cat.

Josiah's had several successful events this week. For the first time he successfully wore normal (non-sandal/non-croc) shoes. He also took a bath, fully sitting down and getting hair washed, without fighting (a couple of whimpers, but no hindering actions). He even hungrily downed our attempt at Doro Wat with dried out Injera. Though, he was very frustrated by the breaking injera.

We've been amazed at how "easy" things have been so far. We really haven't seen any behavior that is anything more than what can be expected from a two year old, and we've definitely be watching. We know that it is ONLY by the grace of GOD that the transistion has been going so smoothly. And we fully understand that it may be a while before he really grieves. He has had a lot of loss in a very short amount of time. We also are pretty certain that with the two strong personalities granted our children, there will be a "Clash of the Titans," as David puts it. I'm so glad we have had the chance to bond and grow in love with our son first.

Adoption Clinic

Today we went to the International Adoption Center in Fairfax, Virginia. We got confirmation on some things, like how Josiah compares to the normal American child. He weighed in at just under 20 lbs and is just over 30 inches. Josiah did not like the doctor invading his personal space, and demonstrated how well his lungs worked. There was a period of time where the doctor just observed how he interacted with some toys, the nurse, and Elizabeth. Next we'll go to our pediatrician for blood tests...that'll go over so well. Yeah, not really!

One of the things the center is participating in is a survey on the stress that the parents (NOT JUST MOMS!) have while adjusting to the changes of a new person in the family. It is an anonymous survey, but hopefully it provides new information to parents who are about to go through it. Anyone who has adopted children internationally can take the survey, and info. can be found at http://www.adoptionclinic.org/research_home.htm.

Abbara

I wanted to make a post about our driver during our time in Ethiopia. Abbara was our only driver for all eight days (poor fella). For us, he's a "must have" when it comes to having someone safely transport you around Addis.





Abbara is a Christian. He did not come out directly and say it (I did ask him at a later time), but his actions showed it. He did his best to put others first, and he did it for everyone. He joined us for church, and we witnessed him worshipping from his heart. His van has scriptures written all over it, and the music he carries with him is praise and worship music--both Amharic and English. Although, sometimes he listens to talk radio to keep up with the latest soccer...I mean football...news.

Abbara is currently unmarried, but his future is bright. If you watch him with the children, you can see the compassion he has for them. He enjoyed interacting and playing with both Elizabeth and Josiah.

I do not know his personal opinion on adoption, but we watched as he tried to help with the bonding process. He was willing to allow Josiah come to him, but he tried to encourage Josiah to go to Demarie or I. He said he had worked an an orphanage in the past.

As a driver, even with the busy crazy streets in Addis, he was incredible. We always felt safe in his taxi/van. He was very aware of his own vehicle and the surroundings--other cars, people, animals. He was also very protective of us whenever we were out of his vehicle. He's very quick with a tire change, too! We paid for his services per day, but if he thought we were paying too much, he would return some of the money.

He is a good man, and a good friend. Anyone who meets him, please pass on greetings and hugs from the whole Baber family.

First Week Success (Pictures Added!)

We've made it through an entire first week successfully! Everyone seems to be on some type of normal sleep schedule (at least pretty close to the correct time zone). There has been some pouting and battle of wills--on all sides, but we have been amazed at how easy-going Josiah and Elizabeth have been.

It's been amazing to watch the growth in Josiah, even after only a week. He is eating well, taking to all sorts of different food, expanding his menu daily. We went to an Ethiopian restaurant on Saturday, and he pretty much showed us how to eat cultural food (and he ate more than his fill). I suspect he'll be growing quickly based on the rate he eats.

He has even progressed to getting in the big bathtub with Elizabeth!...even if he stands up the whole time. We've gone from sponge bathing, to standing in the toddler tub next to Elizabeth in the big tub, and now to standing in the big tub!

Our week ended with Josiah sharing kisses and bonding with sister on Sunday. He was more than happy to go to each person and give them a kiss. He enjoyed tackling Elizabeth first before giving her several. mmmMAH Elizabeth!

Is there anything sweeter than watching new siblings loving on each other AND getting kisses initiated by your sweet son? Not much, if anything!

It was good to have Demarie's family in town for the weekend. They were a tremendous help. Mom Allen was here a few days before we left, went to Ethiopia with us, and then was here for a week after we returned. We would be singing a totally different song right now if we had not had her help all this time! (This is Uncle Brandon and Josiah)

Now the honeymoon week is ending somewhat. All the extended family is gone, Elizabeth starts preschool, and David begins heading back to work. The new normalcy will be defined and life begins as a bigger family. We WILL someday get some more details about our time in Ethiopia. There were so many amazing people, and I think we're still trying to process it all somewhat. I'm also realizing some of the pictures I thought I had are on my mom and dad's cameras, so we'll have to get those to share with you, too!

We want to pass out a "Welcome" to Lily, and say "Congratulations" to the new mom and dad. We are excited for them and this new precious life God has blessed us all with! She is just BEAUTIFUL! So is Mommy! :-)

First Few Days Home - by David

Ahhh... the first few days home. Time shifting is so much fun. We've been working on getting bed time later and waking up later, but we still have early risers (before 5am) children. Demarie has been waking up with them, and hopefully it doesn't take to much longer to get them to adjust.

Josiah likes to eat. We are finding all sorts of different foods he'll eat. The variety is large enough that it shouldn't be too hard to meet the need. He does a good job drinking plenty of fluids.

Josiah is afraid of the cat. And his screaming reaction has generated a fear in the cat of him. Hopefully they get along soon. He's a little scared of the dogs as well. But they both are bigger than he is (one is 2.5 times larger) that it makes sense.

Uncle Brandon made it into town Wednesday night, and Grandpa should be here tomorrow evening.

Tie Over Photos

Here are some photos to tie you over until we get more posts.

Our very first meeting.

Our second meeting started with waking him from a nap.
The third day, he started taking to us, and showing us his charm.
Here's a shot of Elizabeth showing us how much she enjoys Ethiopia.Daddy and Josiah relaxing at the hotel.
And last, but not least, his first CFA experience.

We Are Back in the U.S.A.

Below is the short on the rest of our week (follow-up to the last post). Additional posts will have pictures and expanded information.

- Thursday David started with a few hours of computer support at the Bethany office. Lunch saw us and the other family at Milkyas' house with his family and most of the Bethany staff. The afternoon consisted of us at Yezalelam Minch and a chance to observe a good-bye ceremony for the young lady and other Bethany family. There was shopping at Birtukan's shop, good-byes to the other family, and resting at the hotel.

- Friday started again with David continuing computer support at Bethany. After lunch we did several hours of shopping and then visited "Lucy" at the museum. We enjoyed a cultural dinner with several of our new Christian friends.

- Saturday was the last day in which it started with David performing computer support for Bethany. After lunch, we went to Bora (a children's amusement park) near the airport. Then back to the hotel to begin preparations for home.

- Sunday started with Demarie having been sick overnight. She spent most of the morning and afternoon resting in the hotel room. The rest of us went to the church Nesibu's family attends. We finished packing and rested at the hotel before heading to the airport to travel home.

We safely landed Monday morning, got through customs and immigration, and enjoyed the warm welcome of friends and family. Josiah has already enjoyed his first Chick-fil-A. Most of us were asleep before 6pm, and have started waking up this morning (Tuesday) after 3:30a.