Gotcha Day

I type this as I sit in our hotel room at 1am and momma can't sleep -  gotta love jet lag!  And the other three members of my family are sound asleep in the bed all intertwined together.  It is a sight that warms my heart.

We arrived in Ethiopia around 8am.  Spent a few unfortunate hours in the airport trying to get our medical supplies through that we brought for the orphanage.  Around 11:30 we finally headed to the hotel, settled in and showered.  For those that missed out on another great memory of this trip so far, I got violently ill on the first leg of our journey. We were flying through the horrible thunder storms on a very tiny plane and well, I more than tossed my cookies.  I have spent the last 2 days trying to recover from that and arriving here I was still very dehydrated. Thanks to those traveling with us who did not get stopped in customs at the airport, I spent our first hour here hooked up to an IV trying to get ahead so I would feel decent picking up the kiddos.  MANY THANKS to Ben for hooking me up!!  

Finally headed to HH around 2ish.  It was a wonderful first meeting again. Mahlet came running around the corner jumping into Jay's arms, then reaching for me.  She was very excited to see us.  Sitota was sleeping, so they woke him from a nap so his meeting was a little groggy eyed.  He warmed up quickly and had so much fun wearing his shades and even dancing for us.

They both waved bye when it was time to go with Sitota saying "beep, beep."  They honk their horns a lot hear, so that's what he calls the car.  At the hotel we had fun playing with both children.  Mahlet is still a bit reserved, but really doing well.  She loved her bath.  She just giggled and splashed and even loved washing her hair.  We colored, played with dolls and put a puzzle together.  I know there will be many firsts for her in the next few days, but today was her first elevator ride and I wish I had a video camera of her face.  She hung on tight and was very intrigued being somewhere different when the doors opened to our floor. She went to bed so smoothly and was asleep in minutes.

Sitota has had the hard time.  He immediately started crying and screaming once we were alone in the room.  Please pray for my sweet boy.  It is a cry you quickly recognized as being terrified.  He has been through so much and the next weeks hold a lot of change for him, this is only the beginning.  Pray he attaches to us and trusts quickly. It breaks our heart and we are doing all we can.  He would get distracted and play with us some.  He did great at dinner, then just terrified at bedtime.  We did see moments of the very fun and sweet boy that he is.  

I ask that you remember all of us, pray for both children to have a peace.  Pray for comfort for them.  Pray for wisdom for Jay and I to know how to handle situations as they arise.  We were prepared for this, but it does not make it easy.  As a mother, you just want to take all the hurt and pain away.  Thank you so much for all your love and support.  We have our embassy appointment tomorrow - tonight while you sleep, then they will be all ours and American and you can see their pictures!!  YAY!! 

Love to you all!

Candi