Ok, let’s see…some of the “other” type of stuff.

The documentary…that all went really well. They followed us home on Saturday, and were staying at a hotel just up the road.

They left us alone on Sunday, and then came over on Monday evening to tape our family night. I did not have time to plan anything much, so we decided to just play some games and talk about family. We played duck, duck, goose, Simon Says and “I’m going on a Picnic” (instead of just saying what we’re going to bring on the picnic, going in alphabetical order, the kids... more

We have looked through the AHOPE pictures with her several times, and she doesn’t get sad. She tells us everybody’s names, and ALWAYS points out herself first. She got to talk to her little friend that also got home from AHOPE last week, on the phone yesterday and it was really cute.

She is a very quiet little girl when she is nervous, but once she is comfortable she sings and jibber jabbers pretty non-stop. She has the funniest giggle and laugh. She is picking up lots of English words…yesterday she said clear has a bell “CAKE” when she saw... more

So now it is Thursday, and the kids have been going to school and Josh has been working LONG days, and I am happy to say that things are still going fabulously. (And, it is snowing!)

Belane is less and less jetlagged all of the time…I have had to wake her up after 2-3 hours of nap every afternoon, but then she is going to bed by 8:30 p.m. or so and sleeping all night. The first few nights she was waking up (wide awake) at 5 a.m., and kissing me over and over until I opened my eyes to join her. Today she slept until 6, which was just 10 minutes... more

Sunday was our first day home all together, and it was also our “get everything back on track” day… I washed and rebraided my girls’ hair, went through the mail and bills, looked at all the kids’ school work, helped sort the laundry which was all washed but needed to be put away, etc.

But first and foremost, I had THE MOST glorious and much needed shower of my entire life.

I had been worried that Belane would be very clingy with me and it would be hard to get things done, but she was happy to have Josh carry her around, and she played... more

We crossed the “security line” that only passengers were allowed passed, and were mobbed. I got down on my knees and just hugged and kissed the kids as they came to us. In the first 30 second I was told about a lost tooth, a 100% on a reading test, an injured toe and a shopping trip! I just smiled and cried and hugged them and kissed them.

There is no better feeling for a mom then to have all of her kids together in one place.

Belane was very shy and shell-shocked, but I had warned them that she was timid and would take some time to warm up to everybody.

Josh was there with all of the kids, as were Josh’s mom, brother and sister, two friends and the women working on... more

As we settled into our seats AGAIN, I was really surprised that Belane was smiling. An airplane seat was the last place I wanted to be at that point, but she was great. She checked out her new set of headphones, we made a trip to the bathroom the second the seatbelt lights went off, and we ordered a bunch of snackboxes from the “pay to eat” service on United.

After that she collapsed in my lap, and slept soundly for the last two hours of the flight (for her it was the middle of the night on Ethiopia time). When we landed I kept waiting for the noise and commotion to wake her up, but it didn’t, and I carried her limp body off the plane with the rest of our stuff while she continued... more

It took FOREVER to get off of the plane, but we did…we got on to a shuttle bus, and got on line for immigration. The kids all wanted to run around because they were finally FREE from the airplane seats, and they were a weird mixed of extremely tired and hyper.

Our flight landed late in DC, and we only had three hours until our connecting flight…by the time we were on line in immigration, we were down to two hours. The other adoptive families, who were all ahead of us in line, insisted that Belane and I cut to the front, and I really appreciated the gesture. Truth is, that it was difficult handling everything by myself, and I was sorely missing Josh! Not just emotionally, but for how... more

We got downstairs to check out, and it was sheer chaos in the lobby of the Hilton. Apparently a large percentage of the hotel population was checking out that evening, and there were many adoptive families that were all on our flight. The lobby was just buzzing with people and excitement, and little kids running around everywhere.

I waited in line (and waited and waited) to check out, and our friend and driver Selamneh came in and helped entertain Belane while I got the checking out accomplished. I won’t tell you what our grand total at the Hilton was, but IKES…it was a lot. (We got a great rate, but it still added up. We loved our stay there though, and I would highly recommend it... more

We went back to the Hilton and played on the play ground and did some shopping…ate lunch for one last time at our favorite little place by the pool, and then walked over to the little grocery store to get some fresh snacks for the trip home. We waited around out front of the Hilton, talking with our two favorite doormen, and waiting for Sidisse, the director of AHOPE, who was supposed to come and meet us.

Once she was a full half hour late, (and so was Belane’s nap), I decided to take Belane upstairs for her nap and figured Sidisse would... more

Our last day in Addis was a busy one. I went to bed the night before with the satisfaction of knowing that the waiver had been delivered and signed for at the Embassy…that the waiver was THERE, which meant that the visa would be done in the morning, and there would be no agonizing waiting around to see if it arrived or not.

I spent Thursday afternoon over at the CHS guesthouse, visiting with my friends, Keely and Josh and their sweet baby girl, and some of the familiar CHS employees, who we recognized from Ben’s adoption. When we got back... more