Home 1 Week

I can't believe we have been home a week already! I am trying to get used to being a stay-at-home mom until August. I love the being a mom part, I have a hard time staying at home. But we have had a few days that we haven't left the house! Jacob loves being held, which makes it hard for this mama to get much done. But I am so happy to hold him!! The days fly by and I don't know where all the time went. Jacob didn't want anything to do with baby cereal or baby food while we were in Ethiopia, but since we have been home I have been making some baby food and he seems to like it better since it is a little thicker. Here are a few pictures from our first week home!

We are HOME!!

We left Addis on Thursday night and arrived home with Jacob in Peoria, IL on Friday night!! We was excellent on the plane and slept a lot! He was great meeting family and friends at the airport. He'd had enough and was ready for bed around 6:30pm. The first night be woke up confused and kept checking to make sure we were there, but he has been sleeping great since then. He still wakes up to eat at 10pm, 2:30pm, and 6am. Here are a few pictures from Jacob's Homecoming Party!

The Gorge

If you have time while you are in Ethiopia- go to the Gorge. It’s beautiful!! It’s similar to the Grand Canyon in the States. It’s about 1 ½-2 hours from Addis, and so worth it. We had Samuel drive us and it cost $120 for a van (we went with 2 other families). The van seats up to 12 people. Yebsabi will call Samuel for you if you want to go! As we were walking toward the bridge, we saw some baboons- so cool! Brad paid the 22 birr to go a little farther and tried to see the baboon caves. He got some great pictures, but the baboons were out eating grass. Here are some pictures from our day!!

Attachment Plan

Many people have been asking what our attachment plan is for when Jacob comes home. I feel so fortunate that we have been able to stay in Ethiopia with him, that I’m thinking we won’t have to worry too much about others holding him once we are home. He seems to be pretty well attached to us. I know that once we get home to a new place and new people Jacob will go through another adjustment period, but he seems to be pretty well bonded with Brad and I so I’m hoping it will be a short adjustment period. The two main things that we will stick to is only Brad or I feeding Jacob, changing his diapers, and putting him to sleep. Jacob seems to have a few issues with sleeping. For the first two weeks that Jacob was with us, he would wake up many times a night scared and checking to see if we are still there. He now sleeps with one hand on each of us. One day we went back to the Transition House and his nannies were holding him, he kept his eye on me and gave me a look that said “don’t you dare leave me here”. That night he had a night terror. That was scary. We couldn’t get him to wake up or stop crying. But since then he hasn’t been back to see the nannies. As far as other people holding him, we will just see how he responds and go from there. We will see how Jacob responds to people holding him at first. One thing we are going to do is that Brad or I will be holding him in between each person that holds him. He will come back to one of us each time just so he will feel comfortable. We won’t be taking him to the church nursery for a while either. It’s too much like the orphanage setting that he was in for the first part of his life.
We will probably try to stay home for the first week to help him get adjusted to his new house and surroundings. And to help all of us adjust back to IL time. We want to invite anyone who wants to come meet Jacob to come to the Peoria Airport! We will let you know when our plane will be landing in Peoria. We want everyone to be able to give him hugs and kisses and we will see how he is responding to being held with so many new faces around. I’m hoping he will be somewhat awake because it will be the middle of the night Ethiopia time.
We just want to do what is best for Jacob, thank you for supporting us with this!

A Blessing

When we came to Ethiopia we thought we would be the only family staying between court and embassy. But the week after we got here, the Knox family came for court. As soon as Caylene met her Ethiopian kids she turned to her husband and said “There’s no way I can leave them”. She packed as if she was staying, but her husband wasn’t convinced yet. After spending some time here and knowing that Brad and I were here also, they decided she would stay. What a blessing this has been to both of us!!! She has 2 Ethiopian kids, 5 and 3. We both passed court the same day and we had our Gotcha Day together. We have enjoyed experiencing these special days together! Brad has really enjoyed playing with her son and he has helped hold Landon Sada’s hand, etc while we have been out. So I know Caylene has enjoyed the help too! It’s been nice to have another family here to talk to and do things with. Another family was here the other day and told Brad the kids will miss him. Brad said “I will really miss the kids!” I have made so many new friends during this adoption process. Caylene’s friendship will always be a special one because of all the time we spent together in Ethiopia!!

We Are Coming Home!!!!

We just got an email from the US Embassy that said we are cleared and can come in for an appointment on Monday to get Jacob’s visa!!!!! We told Jacob that we are going home and he started cracking up, he was so happy! We are still working on flights, but we should be home on Friday night- one week from today!!!!

I Miss....

As we are getting close to coming home I’ve been thinking a lot about things I miss from home and things I will miss from Ethiopia.
I Miss…
-being with family and friends, Skype is nice-but not the same
-brushing my teeth under the faucet
-washing dishes without boiling the water first
-driving a car
-stampin
-candy- I don’t eat that much candy at home, but since you can’t get the same stuff here I have been craving it! 
-Cherry Coke and Mt. Dew

I Will Miss…
-the people- everyone here is so nice, friendly, hard-working, and humble
-life is so laid-back and easy going
-Job, Yonas, David, and T- so helpful and they go out of their way to help in any way they can
-the kids at the Transition Home
-spending 24 hours a day with Jacob and Brad
-the beautiful countryside

Photo Shoot :)

On a day with nothing to do in Ethiopia, we take lots of pictures of our cutie!!

Submitted to Embassy

Today we found out we were submitted to Embassy!!! AWAA tried to submit us last Wednesday, but they were missing a paper in the morning, thankfully we were in country and we rushed over to the AWAA office, signed the paper and they tried to submit us again. When the AWAA employee went back, the cashier was gone for the day. Thursday was a holiday and they don't accept paperwork on Fridays. So since we had been partially submitted on Wednesday (our agency's designated day)we were allowed to be submitted on Monday! We are so happy that we are on the last leg of this journey! We have LOVED our time in Ethiopia, but we are really missing home too.
So the US Embassy has 7-10 days to review our paperwork and decide to clear us to come home or investigate more. Another AWAA mom that is in Ethiopia waiting now too, talked to Jeff, the US Embassy adoption man and he said they are trying to review the files in 2-5 days. He said there was a chance we could be home at the end of next week! I'm trying not to get my hopes up, because nothing is for sure in the world of adoption! But I'm excited to think we will be home, with our son, soon!!!!

Tips for Traveling Families

After spending 6 weeks in Ethiopia, here are a few things you might want to know…

-flip flops are fine, I’ve worn them everyday
-bring a USB jump drive to be able to print pictures
-bring air freshner for the room
-you can buy an adapter in Ethiopia, if needed, Yebsabi also has a few they will let you borrow
-bring a blanket to sit on at the Transition Home
-bring books to read with the kids, they all love to listen to stories- Five Little Monkeys was a favorite
-print pictures of the kids you take pictures of while in ET, they love them
-nannies love for pictures to be taken and printed for them also
-AW’s plan is for you to eat at Yebsabi each night (except for traditional dinner night) and its $7, I would bring some meals that you can make in the microwave. Some people were too tired to go anywhere else or wait until Yebsabi’s dinner was ready. It’s nice to visit with the other families, but I didn’t always like the choice at Yebsabi either. I was glad we had a lot of our own food. Zebra Grill and Kaldi’s are within walking distance too.
-most meals cost us about 200 birr ($12)
-it seems most families spend about $400-500 in one week. It depends how much you spend shopping
-not everyone loves chocolate as much as we thought they did; everyone is very appreciative of anything you give them
- you will want to bring something for Yonas, Job, T, David, guards, maids, receptionists, AW office staff, and nannies. Something small is fine for them. You will be very appreciative of how Yonas, Job, and David go above and beyond for you!
-before you go into court, you can ask if your MOWA letter is there, this made it a little less stressful once you are actually in the room with the judge
-we flew Delta/KLM, they were very nice, but next time it would be worth flying Ethiopian Air to have one less connection
-bring as many diapers and wipes as you can, they are very expensive in Ethiopia
-get out of the city to see the countryside; we went to Awassa, Nazeret, and the Gorge-beautiful!!!!
-visit your sponsor child if you have one, such a wonderful experience
-try to have a list ready before you go shopping, you don’t have much time
-ATM’s are within walking distance to Yebsabi (about a 10 min walk), I’d bring cash if it’s a short stay, but know that its close if needed
-laundry at Yebsabi is easy and great! It gets expensive over time, but for a short stay its worth it
-the calling cards are available right outside of Yebsabi; they cost 100 birr (about $6) for about 8 minutes to call the US- the front desk at Yebsabi can help you
-bring: a flashlight (power goes out often), flavored packs for water, snacks, food to hand out, toilet paper, and hand sanitizer
-there is an Ethiopian Resturant across from the TH, its good and only costs 16 birr ($1) for the fasting platter (no meat)

Before I left I wanted to know what the store had so I knew what I could buy there. Here are some things I found at the supermarket: milk, cereal, bread, noodles, chips, canned veggies, and expensive cheese. Most toiletries are easy to find too.

If you are staying between trips, I would bring as much food as you can pack. I would also bring peanut butter and jelly (you can get bread in Ethiopia) to pack a lunch. You can stay at the TH all day if you have your own lunch. There is also an Ethiopian restaurant across from the TH that we ate at a few times. There is also another guest house, Polaris, very close to Yebsabi. It’s cheaper and the staff is nice. There isn’t a microwave or internet, so we bought both and still saved tons of money. With the help of Job, we were able to buy an internet stick for $120, plus we have to load the green mobile cards on it-so worth it! But staying at Yebsabi is worth it if you can afford it. It’s so nice to see all the new families coming!
If you have any other questions you can email me, I’d be happy to try to help! tara_mowen@yahoo.com

Life is Changing with Jacob Jafar!!

We knew life would change when we became parents. We were so excited for the change and becoming a family of 3!!
Here are a few ways that our life has changed the last 2 weeks we have had Jacob with us:
-our hearts melt with every giggle and smile from our sweet son!
-I spend at least 23 ½ hours with my son attached to me, he loves being in the Moby wrap or snuggling
-he likes to be held by mommy and daddy, when others hold him he keeps his eye on me
-I don’t know how to eat a meal with 2 hands anymore, I will be glad to have a high chair at home!
-we haven’t gotten a good nights sleep, Jacob wakes up 4-20 times a night
-when Brad reached to hold my hand, he got the pacifier in my hand instead 
-a baby now sleeps between us- Jacob wakes up crying every 10 mins (I’m not exaggerating) when he is in a crib or bed by himself. We have tried 4 different types of beds, he doesn’t want anything to do with any of them, so he is sleeping with us
-we are getting faster at making bottles, he cries louder and louder the longer he has to wait
We know this is normal for most parents, but its all new to us! We are exhausted and LOVING it!!! Jacob is the light of our lives and we are enjoying every minute with him!!! We are so thankful god chose us to be his parents!!!