Update on Eli

Eli is feeling a little better today after a pretty bad day yesterday and a high fever. We went to the Doctor this morning and we know he has an ear infection. There could be more going on, but we'll have to wait for those results. For now, we're hoping it's just an ear infection and his antibiotic kicks it's rear!

The visit with the Doctor wasn't exactly fun ;o) It was a pretty intense exam, but Eli did well through most of it...until we got to the bloodwork and TB bubble. The first TB bubble leaked, so he had to have another done :o( And they had a really hard time finding his tiny veins for the bloodwork, so that required a few sticks. Once they had a good vein they had to fill 6 vials!!! I'm not sure if I've ever had that many vials done at once!!! But, he's a trooper.

Eli didn't really calm down in the Doctor's office after the bloodwork, but he was more content when we left! He slept most of the ride home, which was good. Then we had our first post-placement visit with the social worker, which went well. Ben handled most of it since I was running late.

We will know more about Eli's labs over the next few weeks. I'll be sure to keep everyone posted. Otherwise, we are all doing well. Eli's quite a little fighter and had some smiles for us this morning. That was quite wonderful! He should back to himself in no time!

Park Pictures

Here are our pictures from the park this morning/early afternoon! We went up to the community playground, but then Maddie just wanted to play in the grass. I guess their grass is better than ours (which is probably true). Oh well! It was nice to get out since both kids were home all day today (Maddie had a Teacher Workday at Preschool).

Things have been going well. Our house still isn't under control despite having my parents in town for the weekend. Somehow we will get in tamed by Wednesday when the Social Worker visits :o)

Right now the kids are both having quiet time (Eli is sleeping, Maddie is reading). Eli has been doing pretty well at night, though he wakes up often recently. We're working on that. And at nap time he likes to sleep for 20-30 minutes every 3 hours!!! Not okay, no Sir! So, we are working on adjusting to 2 longer naps every day. It will all take time.

But all in all, things are going well. We are all adjusting and Eli is generally a happy kid. He is getting so much better at sitting on his own. He can correct himself if he leans too far sideways. However, if he flails and leans backwards, he will fall backwards...which is why Mom is always right there to catch him!

Airport and first pictures at home!

Many thanks to Miss Emma for taking pictures of our homecoming! We got in earlier than expected (if you can believe that's actually possible when flying out of JFK), so I know we caught them a little off-guard! I hope you enjoy our first pictures together. I also took some today of the kids at the park that I will post next.

More Eli pictures

Happy, Chicken Pox Man!

Eli with one of his nannies! I can't remember her name and I could never fully pronounce it, but it was really beautiful!

Eli with another nanny (I wasn't there to get her name, Ben took this picture), and Eli getting his first bottle from Daddy!

Eli pictures

Meeting EliNo, I wasn't crying...of course not!First bottle with Mommy.

First nap with Mommy!

We are home!

We got to Charlotte around 3pm on Saturday and were met by Maddie, Busia (my Mom) and Miss Emma! Then we came back to the house and Jon and the boys came over and spent the afternoon/early evening! There's still sooooo much to share, but I'm still quite exhausted. Apparently my exhaustion last night made me act like I was drunk, which my husband tells me was quite funny. And at about 8pm last night I was sitting on the couch and face planted in to a bunch of toys and passed out. Ben thought I was just joking around but then realized that I was out like a light. He told me this funny story this morning! Somehow I made it up to bed eventually last night (thanks, Mom) and I got about 14 hours of sleep (waking to feed Eli once). Now I am off to bed again. My dad says that I will need at least 3 days to feel somewhat back to normal! I'm hoping 3 will be right since Ben goes back to work on Tuesday!!!

Will try and post some real news soon! For now, know that we are all doing really well, Eli is an awesome baby and Maddie is the best Big Sister EVER! I am NOT kidding! She's a pro! And they are both completely in love with each other which makes my job sooooo much easier!!!!

Thursday - We're almost out of here!

Hopefully there are 2 pictures attached. One of Ben, Eli and I with one of Eli's nannies (Mom, if you read this show the picture to Maddie so she knows we have him now!!!). The other gives you an idea of how happy our little man is! He just looks at me and gets that silly grin! And he LOVES to laugh!!!!   Today was so much better than yesterday, health wise! I woke up feeling good (not great), but I'm still taking the antibiotic just in case!!! I ate 2 meals today (breakfast and dinner since lunch was on the run so I had a granola bar around 4pm). We went to the TH in the morning and dropped off our packages and donations and took pictures for families (families hopefully you have a few in your email if the internet keeps agreeing with me)! Then we went shopping! That was fun but SO MUCH more expensive than I thought! We got a little spend happy! We are done now, though! Tomorrow we are going to get some coffee and that's it! Especially since we're out of cash and need to go to the ATM before we can buy coffee!   I don't have too much to report today. Eli did better sleeping last night which was a big help. And since he's 8 months we went ahead and started him on cereal. It will take him a little getting use to, that's for sure!   We are looking forward to leaving tomorrow and have Eli's passport with US VISA in our custody!!! Can't wait to be on our way home! SOON!

Wednesday

So, today was my lucky day to be sick.  I seem to have faired better than Ben...so far.  I was lucky enough that I never actually got sick, but I was doubled over in pain for a good 6-8 hours straight today.  As someone described it best, I think, "It was like a bear was clawing out my stomach!"  I love Eli, I love his culture and homeland, but I am ready to be home.  This has been such a difficult trip so far and we all just really want to be HOME!  Clean water, a schedule, our own beds, etc.   The group had the morning off then went to the transtition home to drop off donations and care packages and then to the market.  Well, the bus nearly left without Ben (I was here sick) and didn't load our care packages or donations :o(  So we will head back tomorrow on our own dime to take care of that.  Ben was able to get a few pictures and video of the kids, but we'll take more tomorrow when they get their packages.    Eli is a great kid, but he's VERY clingy right now.  Ben wasn't able to set him down at all today.  And I was up holding him alllll night last night (which I'm sure didn't help me feel better today).  He will be sound asleep, but as soon as you set him down he SCREAMS!  Not just a little cry.  And then you pick him up and he's silent again.  So, he is now in bed and Daddy is holding him, which he plans on doing all night.  We'll work on getting him liad down when we're home and he's not keeping up a whole Guest House!!   Hopefully tonight and tomorrow will be better.  And then Friday we leave the guest house around 5 to head to the airport, I believe.  Though nothing runs on schedule here.  As Robel said, "Europeans have the watches, Africans have the time."  So true!  Everything moves at its own pace here.  But it all works out.   There is some encouraging news coming through for the families that are awiating visas, but nothing final yet.  As you can imagine, people were on the phone all day again today and some were back at the Embassy.  Still no visas, so keep praying!   Our suitemates from the Rwanda program should be leaving tomorrow.  I think when I talked to them last night everything had finally worked out.  They've been gone for 2 weeks, so I know they're ready to be home!   Well, I think that's all for now.  Keep us in your prayers!  We will be home in a little over 72 hours if all goes well!!!

Tuesday

What a day!  I will start by asking you to all pray for the Gilsons, Koebnicks and Spotts.  They all have paperwork problems and were not able to get their visa today.  Robel and the families plead their cases today since the mistakes are mostly problems in the wording and specifications that came from USCIS, but to no avail.  So the families are now all working frantically to get everything taken care of so they can ALL travel home on time!  It was a very rough day and they could all use your prayers.   It was a long day in general.  We went to the TH first thing this morning, picked up the kids, got right back on the bus and went to the Embassy.  Some of us made it through security and in to the waiting room only to find out that they hadn't had time to get to our stuff and we would have to come back at 12:30.  So, we came back to the TH and got Eli bathed and changed, etc. then went out to lunch with some of the group to the Zebra Cafe...I'm sure it's a great place but the service was slow (and we were in a rush) and everyone ordered pizza only to find out there wasn't any pizza.  So, everyone ordered spaghetti for themselvess and their kids...you guessd it, NO SPAGHETTI!  So, you can guess how that meal went.   After lunch we rushed back to load on to the bus to get to the Embassy (Ben, Eli and I held things up since Ben needed to get changed since he had changed out of his nice clothes and in to a t-shirt!).  We got through security again and began the wait.  First the Wings (Pass), then the Haglers (Pass), then the Lanzillottas (Pass - wahoooooo), then the Cornetts (Pass).  Then...nothing.  So, we wait and wait.  Well the Monbergs needed another piece of paper from the clinic so Famy rushed and got that taken care of...but still they weren't called.  The Monbergs were finally called and passed.  But it was only bad news for the other 3 families.  We stayed there from 1-5 trying to get all of the families through, but no luck!  So, they have all spent the evening on the phone or running to the TH for medicine, and a bunch of other stuff.   We didn't make it to the TH to take care packages and pictures for families today.  I believe that's on the agenda for tomorrow, but I haven't heard anything official yet.  Everyone was completely exhausted by the time we got back from the Embassy!  Then I had dinner (Ben is still under the weather, but not getting sick any more, thankfully) and we got Eli to bed.  Which brings me to what you really want to hear about...ELI!!!   He is beyond wonderful!!!  He is a complete Momma's Boy right now..  Mommy always makes him smile and laugh.  But Daddy is so proud because he loves to say, "Dadadadada" all day!  He has chicken pox, but they don't seem to be bothering him.  It seems like they're on their way out, so that's great!  He was such a happy little man today and quite a trooper!  He really only cries (which is very rare and very short) when he's tired or hungry!  Otherwise he loves to play with anything within his reach and he loves to watch EVERYTHING going on around him!!!  It's so fun!!   I met 2 of his nannies today very quickly at the TH and they both gushed about how much they loved him.  The Nannies really are great at the TH and love and kiss the kids constantly.  Our little guy was well taken care of until we could get here!!!  Now he is dreaming away in our room with Daddy.  He was in his bassinet, but woke up a little while ago still a little hungry (which I expected since he had only eaten 2 oz before bed) and Daddy refuses to put him down!  So Daddy is listening to his iPod and relaxing while I am blogging :o)   At present I cannot even begin to imagine how the rest of the week will play out.  But, please pray that we all get or stay healthy.  Mrs. Monberg is recovering nicely and seems to have her short term memory all or mostly back.  And Ben is definitely on the mend.  Hopefully he will be able to get a few continuous hours of sleep tongith, and that should really help!  And I could use the help!  He's been pretty weak, so it's been mostly Mommy on duty.  And it will be Mommy on duty all night so he can rest.    We miss you all terribly and cannot wait to come home.  In theory we could leave Thursday night, but I don't think it's worth the change fees and it will give us an extra day to enjoy this beautiful country!

Today was a long day and I have a feeling tomorrow will be similar!  But it was a mostly happy day.   I was woken up this morning by Ben begging for antibiotics.  Not even 24 hours in Addis and he already had the funk!  So I gave him everythingI could think of then had breakfast and did the paperwork.  Brought it upstairs for his signature when it was ready.  Then the group (less Ben and Matt - see the Monberg's blog for that story) went to lunch at Lucy's then to the TH to meet the kids!  A truley awesome scene!!!  Wonderful!  So sad Ben missed it :o(   Eli was wide awake and alert and he loves to see EVERYTHING!  He has chicken pox, but seems to be getting over them.  They don't seem to bother him, so that's good.  And I've already had them, so I'm not too worried.  Gave Eli his bottle the last hour we were there and he fell asleep eating it and was out the rest of the time I was tehre despite the noise, light, comotion, etc.  Super dooper sweet!!!  Also found out he bunks with the Cornett's baby, too awesome!   After the TH we went to the spa for massages!  Well worth the less than $20.  It was my first massage and I laughed a lot of the time because I'm so tickleish, but it was still great.  Then back tot he TH and on to the Ethiopian restaurant!  It was really fun and Robel was there with us to help explain some things about the dance, food, etc.   Now I'm back in the guest house and have everything packed for tomorrow!  We have our Embassy appointment TOMORROW MORNING instead of Wednesday afternoon.  And we JUST found out!!!  But I think I'm ask packed as I can be!  Tomorrow we will pick up the kids by 8:30, go to the embassy for our appointment (who knows how many hours we will wait), then to lunch, then back to the TH for care packages, pictures, donations, etc.  Keep the Gilsons and Koebnicks in your prayers sine they are both waiting on a few things in order to get everything done tomorrow!  Pray that everything runs smoothly for all of us tomorrow and we all remain healthy (and the 2 group members who are sick get fully recovered).   Will post pictures tomorrow if we have power and time.  I need to use some else's computer in order to shrink the files since the netbook doesn't have the software.  Something I meant to check before we left, but it's a little late now.  Sorry for any typos.  This keyboard is tiny,s o I'm still getting used to it!   We have met our suitemates now.  It is a sweet familiy that is adopting from Rwanda through AW.  They already have their ADORABLE son and are here to go to the Embassy since Rwanda's embassy only has 1 staff member...or somthing like that!  They are here through Thursday!   All in all, things have gone well so far.  I slept straight through last night.  I didn't hear ANYTHING with my earplugs!!!  MAke sure you TWIST them before you put them in so they stay in!!!    I'm pretty exhausted now so I'm going to go to bed.  We may or may not have power tomorrow.  Guess we'll find out in the morning!

Our travels so far...

Wednesday/Thursday   We're in Dubai! Our flights have gone well so far. I never realized there was more turbulence when you went over the Atlantic, but I guess it makes sense! We are now settled in the hotel awaiting room service (I have no idea what food they served on the plane since we never received our menu, and I am not an adventurous eater!) Emirates Air was nice and there were so many movies and shows to watch, music and radio to listen to and video games to play. Definitely helped to pass the 14 hours a little more quickly! I think I slept about 4 hours and Ben thinks he got about 2. The seats didn't have near the legroom I had hoped. It was about the same as any domestic flight. All in all, things are good so far. When I left Ohio Maddie was sick and had a fever, but I hear from her caretakers, Uncle Scott and Auntie Nayne, that she seems to be feeling better today (Thursday). That helps because it was really hard to leave her :o( That's all for tonight. We have to pay for the internet here, so I will probably just save these up and post them Saturday before we leave or Sunday from the airport (I'm hoping it has free Wi-Fi). The airport is REALLY nice! It's insane! Can't wait to see what else this city will surprise us with tomorrow. So far we've seen a little bit of the airport and the mile or so between the airport and hotel, which is mostly just more airport compound.   Friday   Today was a pretty laid back day. We left the hotel around 10 to go to the mall, grab some breakfast, look around, grab lunch, etc….not the best plan! It's Ramadan here so there is a fast from sunrise to sunset. We thought that restaurants still served food, you were just screened from the general public, but we were wrong. You cannot eat or drink ANYTHING (including bottled water - it's 120 degrees here) outside. So, we got to the Emirates Mall (Mall of the Emirates), walked around and found no place to sit down to eat. So we found a French bakery and grabbed a few croissants and pain au chocolates with tea to go. But it had cost us $30 to cab to the mall, so we weren't going to leave as soon as we got there to return to the hotel room to eat and have to pay to take a cab somewhere again! So, we walked around for a while, but didn't buy anything since it's so super expensive, then came back to the hotel, ate our pastries and ordered room service for lunch. After lunch Ben took a nap and I looked for stuff we could do in the afternoon. That search was fruitless since, once again, it is Ramadan. A lot of the entertainment is closed until sunset or just closed for the month in general. That or it's so expensive that we can't really even consider it. So, we decided we'd walk and try to find the Irish Village. Not a great idea when it's 120 and you can't take bottled water, haha! So we walked for about 10 minutes, turned around and came back. Then it was close to sundown so we walked down the street to Chili's for dinner. We're in a huge city with great food, but most of the restaurants get VERY crowded at sunset because a lot of places have big feasts. Not to mention I couldn't justify paying another $60 in taxi rides! So, Chili's it was!!! Now we are in the room. FYI - Ben just got back from the grocery store and you cannot buy contact cases in the grocery store. You have to go to a mall!!! So I will be putting my contacts in glasses tonight (since I forgot my case at home, humph) until we can go by a mall again! Tomorrow we are going to try to go to the beach in the early morning (when it's only 90-100degrees), then we will either go to the Irish village or go to the mall to see a movie. You can see movies during Ramadan (I guess because you're not in plain sight of the public). But, all of the movies are old. It seems like it takes 1-3 months for movies to be released here. Longer for TV shows. Then we'll get a good night's sleep, wake up at 5am Sunday here (9pm at home) and head to the airport. So, for those thinking about coming to Dubai, I think this place could be a lot of fun it if weren't Ramadan and we didn't have such a limited budget. There are so many fun things here, but none of them are cheap and half of them aren't open until next week! And most of it you could probably do back in the States, just not all in the same city. Not to mention, I just am not in the "vacation" mind set right now. I can't really sit back and enjoy myself and spend a lot of money knowing that in a few days I will be surrounded by people who haven't eaten in days and my $60 on cab fare could buy them food for months! And I am ready to hold my son!!!!!! Definitely ready to have Eli in my arms and experience at least a little of his culture. On a side note, we heard that Maddie is better today and just congested. We miss her terribly and it was really hard being out today without her. We saw so many fun things for kids which made us miss Maddie even more!   Saturday   Okay, so my recommendations for those going through Dubai are DON'T come during Ramadan and go downtown! We went to The Dubai Mall today for my contact case and we liked that mall so much more! It's also downtown and right outside of the Burj Dubai (will have to show pictures later since I just spent 30 minutes trying to upload but was unsuccessful). Pretty cool! They have an ice rink, amusement park (not open during Ramadan, ergh), fashion area, Gold Souk (like a big are filled with stores that sell gold and jewelry), aquarium and an outside water show (think Bellagio). So, it was pretty entertaining! And much closer to our hotel than the Emirates Mall. That was really about all of our day! We insisted on staying at the mall until sundown so that we could eat and watch the water show (I'm telling you, they don't even play music before sundown, it's definitely different than America). Tomorrow morning we are having a car take us to the airport at 6am and we leave for Addis at 8:15ish. We will try and blog more often from there, depending on the internet speed and what days we do/don't have power!!! Can't wait to be back in the States and back on a normal time schedule. I feel like we're tired all the time here. We sleep at night, but then we're tired again soon after because when we wake up here people are going to bed at home! Our internal clocks are soooo confused!!! Wish us safe flights!   Sunday   We have arrived at the guest house safely with 2 other families (the Koebnicks and the Monbergs). We will be sharing a suite with an unknown family that is set to arrive tonight. No ide who they are, but they'll be sharing the kitchen and living area with us for the next week, so I bet we'll know them well soon! Things so far have been as expected. But the ride on the road wasn't bad at all like others had said. Maybe I've been on too many NYC cab rides to recognize "bad" driving ;o) We have settled and moved in what we can. We don't want to spread out too much since we'll be sharing with others. So our tiny little room is a bit cramped, but we're not really here for a vacation ;o) I think we will head to the grocery store in a little while to get a lot of water. We also might want to eat something for lunch at some point! Or we'll just have some of the snacks we brought. Hoping to crash early tonight since I only got an hour of sleep last night (I was excited and ready to go)! Oh, and we have Eli's birth certificate now and his birth date is stated as January 15th. Probably won't change it when we readopt in the US unless we change it to January 19th in honor of Pa (my grandfather). That's all from Addis for now!

Last post from Charlotte for a little while!

Maddie and I are leaving early tomorrow morning for Ohio. Then on Wednesday Ben and I fly to Dubai! The next time I post I will either be in NYC or half way around the world! Pray for healthy and safe travels. And keep little Eli in your prayers; many changes are coming his way in a very short amount of time.

Now, I leave you with the first song I heard after hearing that Eli was offically ours! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2NDIq82H5s

A video of our surroundings in a little over a week...

A family that just got home a few weeks ago posted this video. About 2 minutes in they give you a tour of the guest house where we're staying and the sights and sounds that will be around us. If you're curious about a little part of what we'll be experiencing in 10 days, give it a look!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rysTcVbyXdo