4 Kids + 1 Dog + 32 family members = 1 busy week

It's now been nearly 2 weeks since we got home from Ethiopia and we are settling in nicely. It's amazing how fast time goes by when you are home. The 2 weeks we were in Ethiopia seemed, at times, to just drag on and on. But with Christmas, work, housekeeping, doctor appointments, restaurant runs, visitors, and everything else, 2 weeks flew by like it was 2 days!

But Em and I are doing really well. Emilee is feeling much better now. She even tackled staying home with all 4 kids....alone! For the entire day! TWICE!! I had to work and Vicki was still away at home, a well-earned respite from the family clan.

Isayas is doing beautifully! The progress he's made in the 2 weeks we've been home is remarkable. It's been several days since a major tantrum, as Emilee has figured out how to diffuse him quickly. He's attaching to everyone in the house really well, even the dog! He pets her, and talks to her, and feeds her his food, and tries to run her over with his trucks. Isayas seems to be thriving in the home setting, surrounded by lots of love and attention, and he just sucks up the cherishment he gets from mom and dad, and especially his Papas, Nana, Grammie, and Grandpa.

Joshua Molla is also doing very well. Our sleep training is doing wonders and we are almost on a set schedule for him. He sleeps from 4:30-7:00pm usually, then he goes back down around 9:15pm for the night, not to wake up again until 7:30-8:00am! YES!!! The rest of the day is still a struggle, as he is like his daddy, never wanting to fall asleep, afraid he's going to miss all the fun! Joshua is still sucking down the "gold" formula. It seems to be working with his bacteria problem, but we'll see the doctor again soon. He's really put on some weight now, he's almost chunky!

Chloe and Maya are also having lots of fun playing with the boys and loving the one-on-one time with mom and dad whenever we can get it. I think I'm going to take the girls bowling soon. You got to start them young, you know.

I hope everyone has a happy new year!

Merry Christmas

We've now been home just over week and things are going very well.

Isayas is doing great compared to what we were dealing with in Addis. While we are having daily tantrums, they are trending towards shorter and shorter. This past week was a little tougher on me, as I had to go to work for most of the week, so I got to spend less time at home. Because of this. Isayas didn't appreciate me much when I had to discipline. But with this long weekend, I've been able to stave off several full-blown tantrums.

We have gotten Joshua Molla on a schedule now, which is helping us with timing of trips out of the house and sleeping time at night. He gets up an average of 2 times a night, and sleeps usually until 5:30-6:00am, which is great, considering that just last week, he was getting up every hour and a half and staying up. We have also been forced to switch to a special formula to help Joshua with some bacteria issues. Unfortunately, it's the most expensive formula on the market, but our baby is worth every dime!

Chloe and Maya are just loving their new brothers. They always want to hold and take care of Joshua. Maya and Isayas get along really well, even rough-housing a little! Chloe and Isayas still have feelers out for each other, not quite sure of their roles yet, but they have their moments. All in all, the family is definitely gel-ing.

Christmas went great! We even traveled more than we thought, heading out to Emilee's uncle's house in White Bear Lake on Christmas Eve and then Emilee's parent's house on Christmas morning way out in Watertown. But the kids all did so well! They were in kid heaven, loving all the presents and good food! I think that Isayas now has about 3,500 cars, trucks, and trains (oh, and 1 motorcycle).

Em's mom got the weekend off for Christmas, so we have been doing this all alone, and we are doing quite well, I think. I can't wait for her to show up on Tuesday though. SLEEP!!!! Whoo hooo! Thanks Mom!

All right. Time for bed now. Thanks for checking in!

Home: Day 2

Here are some new pictures of the kids at home. We haven't had the time or energy yet to get a complete family photo.....it's much harder with 4 kids than it was with 2.....who would have thought?

Things have gone relatively well. Isayas has managed to find every single car, truck, wagon, or anything with more than 2 wheels in the house. He loves his new sisters and is slowly getting used to Central time.

Molla seems to be doing better. His diaper rash is slowly clearing and we are in the process of training him to fall asleep on his own and not just in our arms.

I had the privilege of going to work today for a couple of hours. I have a big change-over on a new project on Wednesday, so I needed to get a headstart.

Em saw the doctor today and she has an ear-infection and Bronchitis. Apparently, she ruptured her eardrum or something on the plane, and that should have been extremely painful, but thank God that it wasn't for her.

More pictures to come soon. I will be uploading most all of them to a website where they can be viewed in a slideshow.

We're Home and We're Happy!

After nearly 18 hours of flying, 28 diaper changes, 7 meltdowns (only 1 from an adult :) ), a 7 hour layover, a wonderful meal at the airport Fuddruckers (Thank you God!) and about 2 hours of sleep, we are finally home!

We got into Minneapolis around 6:30 last night, and my mom and stepdad were there to welcome us with hugs and kisses! All of our luggage arrived and the beautiful Ethiopian table we received as a gift is even still intact.

Besides having a very bad diaper rash that made diaper changes painful for him, Joshua (Molla) did great! Lots of sleeping and eating. And for a 3.5 year old on a18-hour flight, Isayas did surprisingly well. It might have something to do with all the drugs we gave him before each take-off, and when he woke again, and then anytime he made a peep, but that's up for speculation.

But since everyone was really tired when we got in, we were unsure of how the meeting the family for the first time would go. Well, it went very well! Isayas was woken up and thus, very crabby, but since we had our TV on with the Christmas Wiggles playing (to Isayas, it was the biggest TV he's ever seen, so he was enthralled!) he jumped right on the couch and Maya and Chloe flanked either side of him. He gave some little smiles in between the TV watching and the camera bulbs flashing. After that, we showed him the toy room, which we neatly picked up and cleaned, and dontcha know it, he saw everyone of the toys with wheels and pulled them out and had a grand time! He had never seen so many cars in his life!! He was in Isayas heaven!

And he hadn't even see his room yet! My mom had bought a cute little shelf system that was very boyish, with sports images on the side. On top was a big ol' dump truck from my her too. That is the big hit in Isayas' mind. He and the girls played cars for the hour they were up and they had a blast!

It was so good to see Maya and Chloe. Chloe was the most demonstrative when we got in the door. She was ecstatic when we were home. Maya was more in shock than anything. But we both got big hugs all night.

Well, I just got up at 5:30, as Isayas was wide awake. Not too bad for a 3.5 year old with jetlag. Em and the baby are still sleeping. So is Emilee's mom, who was wonderful during this, as she stayed up with the baby tonight. The house looks beautiful, all decorated for Christmas, thanks to Vicki too.

All write more later today when my head clears. I have a nasty headache. Thanks for all your prayers and support!

Mario and Emilee

We're Coming Home!

We got tickets for tonight! 10:30pm outta here and we arrive Saturday night at 6:30pm!

12/13/2006 12:40 PM

With Molla staying with the nannies in Center C last night, Em and I got some great sleep! Isayas slept all the way through until 7:00am, which was a blessing! After breakfast, I walked Isayas to school and then came back and we all headed out to shop (2^nd time for us). Em found some beautiful dresses for the girls and we picked up a bunch of artwork for the house. The steal of the day for us was a beautiful, hand painted wooden bowl, with the story of Christ told in several mosaic tiles, that we got for $40, and I haggled the guy into throwing in a statue of King Solomon, which is pretty cool.

When we got back, Em and I napped, so we are feeling quite refreshed. Afterwards, we headed over to the Hilton Hotel again to see if we could get on Friday’s flight out of Addis. Unfortunately, we had no luck, but we are going to call again tomorrow to see what we can get. I am hoping that if people don’t confirm their flights by tomorrow, that they will give the seats to those that they know will be on the flight. If worse comes to worse, we’ll pack up on Friday with everyone else and see if we can get on board with our standby status. Em and I are praying that at least one of us can get on (read Emilee) and then Em can carry Molla for the flight. This way, at least one of us can get home to see our girls and give Vicki a break for a bit (thanks for doing such a wonderful job, Mom! You too Mom!)

Isayas and I headed outside after dinner and played soccer again. I love that! I love playing soccer, baseball, and cornhole (funny name, cool game) with my daughters, but there is something special when a father plays with his sons. I am loving that feeling!

We picked up Molla late in the day, shortly before dinner. I was really beginning to miss him. Em asked the nanny if he got up a lot at night for her, and she said, “Oh yes. We just pick him up and talk with him.” Doh! Well, that explains a lot. So now we have to somehow break that habit, so that he can wake, eat, and then go back to sleep for more than 1 hour throughout the night. That should be fun, since we really can’t start until we get back, with the jet lag and all.

Tomorrow we might head over to the museum (we missed it last week) and then to AHOPE, another orphanage here in Addis that people brought donations for. Later in the afternoon, we will be going to the 2 care centers to have the goodbye celebrations for Moll and Isayas. Up to this point, we have seen 2 of these, but we finally get to partake in this one. There are lots of tears and hugs, thank you’s and prayers. Hopefully, this will help Isayas to understand that we are leaving for home. He was rather confused last week when 3 of his friends left, but he stayed behind.

Please pray for attachment and bonding for Emilee, Molla, Isayas, and I here in Addis. Pray that we can get on the Friday flight. Pray for those around us who are supporting us in this adventure!

12/12/2006 12:43 PM

Well, it’s official in Ethiopia: Isayas and Molla are ours! We spent the afternoon at the U.S. Embassy finally, waiting for an hour to answer a few questions and raise our right hands and swear that we told the truth. The past 1.5 years, filling our endless pages of paperwork, enduring grueling investigative interrogation from our social worker, sending check after check to the agency, trying to find the place where we needed to get fingerprinted…etc. And it all boiled down to a 5 minute interview, and then we sat down to wait for the other families to go through the same thing.

Don’t get me wrong. I am quite ecstatic that we are “done” with the adoption process, at least as it is in Ethiopia. But where were the balloons, and fireworks; the juggling poodles and Bob Barker giving me a huge sidehug and a peck on the cheek? Where was the huge celebration that we so richly deserved? It came in the form of a screaming tantrum from Isayas, mad because I wouldn’t let him run away from me and out of the Embassy. Yeah!

After the Embassy, we then headed over the Hilton Hotel to confirm our tickets on Ethiopian Air and to exchange some U.S. Dollars for Burr. Em and I have been praying that we will be able to get on the Friday night flight (we are currently on the Sunday night flight…..boo!) so we went into today hoping that we could at least get 1 seat so that Em could take Molla home early and see the girls.

While Em held Molla and waited in line, I held a very tired Isayas, who eventually fell asleep in my arms. I got to hold him for about 45 minutes. That’s about the time my entire left arm and my right shoulder went totally numb. I then switched with Em, who had a stinky Molla by now. I quickly asked Em how it was going and she said, “Not good.” It looks like we are confirmed on the Sunday night flight (10:30 pm), but we are on the wait list for the Friday flight and we are going to call and visit the Ethiopian Air office the rest of the week, trying as hard as we can to get home!

I must tell you that it is so frustrating to be “stuck” here. Not that Ethiopia is horrible, it’s not. It’s beautiful and fun and interesting. But we’ve been away from home for so long, our hearts hurt from not seeing our beautiful girls, our loving parents, our super friends, and my XBOX 360 (Em says, “Don’t write that! That’s horrible!”). But God is near, we can feel His presence and we can hear Him whisper words of encouragement and strength to us. But we are still very much home sick and heart broken each time a group of families head home.

Well, we dropped Molla off with the nannies tonight so that we could get a complete night’s sleep. He’s gets up every hour or hour and a half throughout the night, and I’ve been doing Molla duty since Emilee’s been sick. So, I think I am going to head to bed now. Tomorrow is shopping again, so that should be fun. We did some window shopping last week, so we kinda know what we what to get this time, especially art. Ciao!

Sunday December 10th

Prayer request:

Molla's sleep schedule is all messed up now. For some reason he only sleeps in 20-60 minute shifts, and then he wakes up. Sometimes he's hungry, sometimes not. But Em has been up with him the past 2 mornings at 4:00am.

Isayas gets up early each morning too. He should be sleeping until 6-6:30, but he wakes up at 5:00am.

Pray for strength, energy, and sleep for all of us!

12/9/2006 12:36 PM

Saturday. A day of rest and relaxation. A day of winding down from a long week of work. Except when you are a parent.

We woke up nice and early, with me getting up with Molla at 4:15am and Em getting up to a wet Isayas at 5:00 am. Most everyone else in the house had jet lag, so they were already up, so Isayas’ semi-frequent screams of delight while playing didn’t bother anyone.

We had a breakfast of scrambled eggs and sandwiches, and then it was playtime! I took Isayas and headed outside to the driveway, where we played cars and soccer with the guard. Meanwhile, Emilee did dishes, washed some clothes, and took care of Molla (I definitely had the short-end of the stick on that one! J) All the while, the new parents who arrived last night headed out to see their children for the first time! Exciting!

Lunch was fun, full of good conversation about their first meeting with their new kids and about tomorrow when they head down to Hosanna to hopefully meet the relatives of their new adoptees. While this great conversation was going on, Emilee happened to look over at Isayas to see how he was doing on his meal, when she noticed that he was asleep, with the table in his mouth to keep him upright! Hilarious and devishishly cute! He ended up sleeping about 3.5 hours!

Tonight, some of us headed over to the pizzeria for our 2^nd dinner (they serve soup here for dinner every night. While it’s great and tasty soup, sometimes you get a little sick of it!) Isayas thought it was the best thing ever! It was his first time in a restaurant and of course I forgot to take pictures! But he and I shared a margarita pizza and I bought him a Marinda (orange pop) that he slowly savored over the course of his 1.5 pieces of pizza. Mind you, this was after he had about 3.5 bowls of soup! This kid can eat.

We are planning on taking a taxi tomorrow to the Orthodox Evangelical Church here in Addis. I guess that starts at 9:00am. Should be interesting! The rest of the day we’re not sure what we are going to do. Maybe take a trip to the Hilton for something different. They have a pool there. And pastries! And there’s a park right across the street. Everyone else will be going to Hosanna, and that’s a 9 hour car drive total, and they spend about 3 hours in Hosanna. So they won’t be back until around 5pm.

Moll and Isayas are doing well. Both are a little sick still, but Isayas is getting much better with his tantrums. Or maybe we’re just getting better at handling them, as we have changed strategies a bit. Thanks to each of you for your prayers. We can see the fruits of them already!

12/8/2006 12:26 PM

Today was another day of driving around Addis, trying to get the paperwork finalized before the weekend, so that things are on track for next week. First stop was a doctor’s office, where the boy’s got weighed and examined in about 5 minutes. The doctor signed off on them and we ran back downstairs to the car to head to the American Embassy.

Once there, we had to walk about 3 blocks to get to the entrance, as the street was closed for some reason. We here then frisked for fire arms again and then we walked up to the window to explain why we were there? When asked for our passports, we unfortunately did not have them, as the “lawyer” told us that we shouldn’t need them. So he had to bring the boys in one at a time, so that they could get their blood drawn. I felt so sad for Isayas, as we could see him through a door, sitting by himself while waiting for his turn. He was so brave. He was also so full of water, that he made the “I have to pee right now” face! But he came out a champ, with a smile on his face and a band-aid on his arm. Molla’s turn was worse, as he cried and cried. It seemed like it was taking forever for them to draw some blood!

So that was the last of the run-around until we head to the Embassy next Tuesday. Looks like everything is still in place for us to leave next Saturday.

Isayas may have a UTI. Going to the bathroom hurts, so he and Em went to the doctor right before lunch, but the doctor’s were all on lunch, so they came home, frustrated and very hungry. I then took Isayas later in the day, and he had labwork done. It looks like we may need to get some medicine for him.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that Isayas got his head shaved yesterday, as he has ringworm. We thought that he just had a few on his head, but after a nurse shaved it with an actual straight-edge razor blade, he saw that his whole head was covered. He also has some on his face and arm (FYI, ringworm has nothing to do with worms. It is a fungal infection. I mention this because we will most likely get it too….so don’t be alarmed.) A little Lotrimen will take care of that.

All the families left tonight, on their way back home to start their new life with their new children. It was a hard day for Em and I. We got very home sick, and a little down with the thought that we had another 8 days to go. But God has us here for a reason, and we just prayed that He would open our eyes to His calling.

Well, Em and the boys are sleeping right now. They are exhausted and went to bed early. Not sure what are going to do this weekend. We are basically just waiting around until next Saturday, so we pray that we can keep the kids occupied in a country where we have no car, house, or toys. We think we'll be heading over to a large park outside the Hilton tomorrow.

12/7/2006 1:02 PM

Today was adventurous! We started off the morning by going to the Ethiopian Immigration office to get Isayas and Molla’s passports which entailed getting pictures and approval for urgent processing (we had to skip the museum. We'll do that next week). It was amazing because the Immigration agency building has hundreds of people waiting just to get in line to get inside the building. For what, who knows. But there were a lot of beggars and mobile sellers walking around. But we were able to just walk through the gates, get frisked for fire arms, and then fill out paperwork and walk from office to office. We were blessed to have a knowledgeable “lawyer” from CHSFS do most of the work, as everything is in Amharic. When we got to the office where we needed to plead our case, the man was nice enough to look at us and just sign it to approve its urgent processing. The passports should be available tomorrow for us.

We go back just in time for lunch, and then most people just crashed in the afternoon, taking showers and naps before we headed out to each of the care centers for the goodbye ceremonies. Lots of tears and hugs ensued.

We had a new family join us today, so it was nice to have some new faces around to converse with! The night was pretty uneventful also, as most people were pretty wiped from the week and starting to get ready to pack for the plane ride home.

Molla is doing much, much better! We have been giving him amoxycilliin for his ear, probiotics for his diarrhea, and we have switched him to soy. All of this has seemed to have done a world of good, as he has been sleeping much better, there is no more spitups, no more diarrhea, and he appears to be putting on wait! Praise God!

Isayas is still Isayas; very strong willed. This has caused some clashes between him and us, and we are still trying to figure out how to deal with this. It’s tough because we want to set boundaries, but we also want to treat him like he’s a 2 year old, in order to help build the attachment that he needs. Pray for us in this. His “episodes” are difficult.

12/6/2006 1:19 PM

Internet was down yesterday, so let me catch you up.

Yesterday was a quiet day. I walked Isayas to school in the morning and that was a lot of fun. The rest of the day was spent holding Molla when he was awake, as he is sick now. We found out yesterday after visiting the doctor at the clinic that he has an ear infection. He also is having diarrhea, so we have been trying to push pedialyte.

Em and I managed a 1 hour nap in mid-afternoon, and then hungout at the guest house until I had to pickup Isayas at school at 4:00pm. Everyone else at the house was at the U.S. Embassy, finalizing their adoption in Ethiopia. They didn’t get back until 7:00 or so…..they had a very long day. We get to look forward to that next week!

Today was a fun day. I again walked Isayas to school in the morning, we dropped Molla off at the clinic for the day so he could be observed by the doctors and nannies, and then we headed out with the rest of the parents for SHOPPING! While Ethiopia has the largest open-air market in the world called the Markato (we drove through it, but did not stop), we went to much safer and less-hectic shops in Addis Ababa. Em, of course, dove first into the clothes shop, picking our dress-ware for the entire family, plus she got her beloved gabbi, and traditional Ethiopian fabric that has many uses, including blanket, shawl, table cloth, and pan degreaser. We also bought some gifts for the family, so expect some nice Christmas presents when we get back!

When we got back, we had a formal tour of the different locations of Children’s Home Society and Family Services here in Addis. They are doing a wonderful thing here, and they are so well organized for being only 3 years into the project. And the vision for CHSFS extends beyond adoption, with clean water solutions for remote villages, free education for those in financial need, purchasing land for new care centers, etc. Please let me know if you are interested in giving a donation…we have seen with our own eyes that nearly every penny gets redirected to those in need in Addis Ababa.

Tonight went well. Many of the parents now have their kids here at the guest house, so it has gotten quite loud! Isayas had some of his friends and classmates here, so they played well for a while. Isayas is still learning how to share, so we had a few “incidents” tonight, that we had to wait out and show him who loved him and who was in charge of him now.

All the kids are down to bed now. We are resting, trying to wind down for the day.

Praise God that Em and I are through courts now! Tomorrow we head to the Embassy for immigration paperwork, and then we do the official “Embassy visit” next week with the rest of the new parents coming in this weekend.

We are still doing well, getting used to Ethiopia and beginning to really love it! I even bought some of the most wonderful Ethiopian shoes today (think Jellies, from the late 80’s!) that are amazing! I don’t even feel the rocks on the side of the street when I walk now!

Tomorrow, we see Lucy. Until then….adios!

12/4/2006 11:39 AM

Today was another exciting day in a series of extraordinary moments. We woke up at 7:00am, and consumed some delicious porridge and eggs (seriously, the porridge is the most wonderful thing I’ve had in a long time. Sorry Em, Mom, and Mom!)

Em and I then split up, with Em spending the morning with Molla at Care Center C and I went to be with Isayas at school. When I got there with the rest of the parents, we walked around the corner of the building to witness the mass potty break about to happen. All the children who’s parent’s were there, though, kinda skipped the potty and ran over to us with smiles on! We had a great day, learning how to politely respond to “How are you?” and “How old are you?” We left shortly after snacktime.

Emilee got to spend some good time with Molla, holding him and cuddling him. He had to get some shots today, so they whisked him away shortly before Em had to head back to the guest house.

We had a short meeting with the Ethiopian agency director and then had lunch and a short break. All the parents then headed over to Care Center C to visit with the doctors and discuss the boy’s health. Molla hasn’t gained much weight in the past 3 months, so we need to keep on eye on that. Also, he has been sick several times recently, once so bad when we were in Italy that they had to take him to the hospital for IV fluids. Em and I think that they don’t give him his antibiotics long enough to fully help him heal.

Isayas is always very thirsty, most likely because they don’t give the kids much to drink throughout the day, but they also said to test him for diabetes, just to be sure.

Well, Isayas and Molla are staying with us tonight. Molla has done exceptionally well, talking and cooing, being very content, and us now sleeping. Isayas is still the same, doing really well for a while, and then breaking down when he is told not to do something or when a toy is taken away from him by another kid. We had several rough spots, with biting and hitting. Also, putting him down to bed was quite the chore. He quietly wept (more like a whine though) for 25 minutes, before I tried to wipe his nose, at which time he decided to really cry. I quickly picked him up, held him tightly in my arms, patted his back and “shhh-shhh” for 20 minutes until he fell asleep.

Em and I are tired, but very much happy with our boys! We also heard some good news today! The judge pushed our case through today! We only have to wait an extra 5 days for the government to process the boys birth certificates and visas! Yeah!

Good night! And sweet dreams!

12/3/2006 10:33 AM

Today was life perspective changing for me. I headed down to Hosanna this morning to meet with any of the boy’s family that wanted to show. It takes 4.5 hours to get there, and we had a caravan of 4 SUVs that took us down there. The last 70 km is unpaved road, so the going is very slow and bumpy. My chiropractor is going to love me when I get back!

The whole way down was breathtaking and heartbreaking. I could not count the number of mud huts with thatch roofs, 7 and 8 year olds herding cattle, toddlers running around without shoes or pants, women and men carrying buckets of water or wood or whatever crop they were going to sell.

I could not count the number of smiles that I saw along the way on the faces of these men, women, and children. While their lives might be difficult financially, it seems that they are happy and content to some extent, as it’s the only life that they know. Nearly every child we passed had a huge smile pasted on their face and gave us the biggest wave they could.

This trip helped me to remember that I am rich in many things, but money isn’t one of them. It helped me to remember to keep my priorities straight, to be content in the things I have; family, friends, health, home, job, and faith.

After we arrived at the care center in Hosanna, we were given a tour of the facility. Once in the back yard, we were told that the families were coming in to meet us. No sooner had I put down my bag and was about to get my camera when they announced that Isayas and Molla’s father and brother were here! I quickly walked over to the father and we shook hands for what seemed forever, smiling at each other and thanking each other in our own language. The director did some translating and then before I knew it, we were done and the next families came together.

When all the families were introduced, I grabbed the photo book that Emilee had made for them (remember, she stayed behind with Isayas) and the map that Emilee ripped out of the airplane booklet and walked over to him and the brother to show them the boys and where they will be living. A translator came over and helped us to communicate our thanksgiving and appreciation for one another. Something that I will never forget, and something will be able to give the boys as they get older.

Meanwhile, Emilee woke up to Isayas lying in his bed, smiling at her. They went to the bathroom (he was dry!) and played for a bit. Once again, Emilee had to say “No” to something and he began to cry and wail. Please pray that we will be able to correct Isayas’ naughty behavior in such a way so that he does not melt down each time, just as the nannies do.

After getting Isayas to calm down for a bit, he again broke down, so Emilee ended up heading over to Care Center C to be with Molla for a bit. Isayas perked up and had some lunch and then ran back upstairs and smiled at Em and snuggled by her. Emilee decided to leave Isayas there overnight, so she said her goodbyes and came back to the Guest House to rest.

The rest of the night is going to be spent resting and relaxing, getting ready for tomorrow. I think we are going to bring Molla back here, and I will spend a lot of the day with Isayas in school and then bring him back for the night to see how it goes. Again, prayer would be greatly appreciated!!

12/2/2006 10:18 AM

Today, we had 6 new families join the fray. There was introductions, stories shared, and catching up (a lot of us knew each other from the adoption forum we all contribute to).

After a quick meeting to discuss rules and expectations, we all headed over to Care Center D (where the big kids stay when not in school) and some of the families got to see their kids for the first time!

Then we headed over to Care Center C, where the babies are, and we got to see Molla and Isayas again (Isayas is there on the weekends to be with his brother).

These were both rather quick meetings, as the kids had to get ready to eat and then have a nap, which is what many of the parents did too! After naps, most of us headed over to the care center where their kids were. Em spent most of the time with Molla, holding him, feeding him, and playing with him in his room.

I headed outside to play with Isayas and the other kids with the HoverDisc that we brought. Isayas loved it! We ran around and threw that thing until it had about 14 holes. I tried to get some good photos during this time, and got a few, but Isayas really wanted to play with the digital camera. Being the good dad that I am, I had to say no, since it really isn’t a toy. Well, that didn’t sit well with Isayas, who proceeded to cry, and cry. It wasn’t until I brought him up to Em and she gave him some cookies that he stopped. He was good for about 10 minutes, and then he began to cry again, especially when he said we had to leave. Em decided right then and there that he was going to spend the night with us, so we brought him back to our room.

On the way over, he fell asleep in Em’s arms, and didn’t wake up for another 2 hours, even with Em and I trying to wake him after 45 minutes!

When he woke, we gave him some more trucks (which he absolutely adores), gave him a bath (which he smiled through), and then tried to dress him. This started more tears, and they didn’t stop until we fed him bread with honey. They must not give the kids much to drink, as he absolutely sucked down about a liter of water.

We then played with trucks and dinosaurs for another 2 hours until we said in Amharic that it was bedtime. He gleefully put on his pull-ups and then hopped into bed and literally fell asleep within 3 minutes.

Sigh…off to bed for me. I have to get up at 4:15am to get ready to leave for Hosanna at 5:00am.

12/1/2006 1:28 PM

Today was another fun and exciting day. We managed to sleep in until 7:15am. Mornings are noisy, with children waking and doors slamming, but we felt good, especially after our nice cold showers! :)

Later in the morning, we got to head down the road to the school where the children are most of the day and got to spend about 45 minutes with Isayas in his classroom! They were learning how to count to 6 and different parts of the body. Even though we've only "known" him for a day, we were so proud of him as he counted correctly to 6 and was able to name many of the body parts we were pointing to.

Later in the day, Em and I joined a new family that arrived today down to Care Center A, where the babies are. We held Molla for about 30 minutes, kissed on him and talked to him. He seems to be processing us, trying to figure out what is going on. But we got a few minor smiles and some beautiful black eyes staring at us!

We also heard some good news today. Well, good and bad. The bad is that the courts messed up Isayas' paperwork too, calling him Isayas Mollas. That won't work. So because it was the courts' fault in all this (and this is the good news), the officials here at Children's Home believe that when they talk to the judge on Monday that he'll move things along quickly that day. So it looks like we'll only have to spend an extra 5 days here waiting for the paperwork, hopefully leaving December 16th.

Whoo hoo!

11/30/2006 1:25 PM

Well, we just got back from a whirlwind morning, afternoon and evening. We arrived at the Ethiopian International Airport on time at 7:45am this morning. We then stumbled our way through the lines to find where we apply for a visa to enter the country and then pay for it. Then we waited for a while after we got our luggage for our pickup. His name is Masi and he is awesome! While we waited, a driver for another adoption agency in town who knew Masi called him a couple of times to see where he was at and he even taught us about 2 pages of Amharic while we waited! What a blessing!

We then drove through Addis Ababa. It was very strange to come from Minnesota, then to Rome, and then on to a developing country like Ethiopia. The poverty here is heart-breaking, the land is beautiful, the people are radiant, and the smell is…well….different. But good different.

We got settled into the guest house when soon after, we were told we were to going down to the school to see Isayas! Wow! So we hurried our stuff together and jumped in a car with the director’s wife and we got to see Isayas! That is the picture you see to the right, the first time Em and I saw him. He is so handsome. And beautiful. We had to leave soon thereafter as he had to nap, but we came back 2 hours later to bring him to see Molla (Joshua) too! And oh my….his pictures don’t do him justice! His eyes are huge and dark, and his eyelashes are even longer in person! And he has put on some weight, even after a bout of bad diarrhea earlier this week. I forgot my memory card back in my laptop, so I wasn’t able to take pictures. Yes, I know, I am kicking myself on your behalf. Sorry.

Isayas was very, very hesitant about us, being very quiet and just plain limp for most of the 1st couple of hours. He was off in his own world I think, trying to process everything and protect his already broken heart from anymore damage. Molla was bright and cheery from the start, only crying because he was hungry. Em got to feed him and put him to sleep! She loved it!

While Isayas was cold to us to begin with, he quickly warmed up to us later on, as we went back to the school to have a celebration for the kids that were going home this weekend. Full of songs, goodbyes, and cake, we stood off to the side watching. We could see Isayas looking for us every now and then, so every time he did, we gave him big smiles and little waves. He seemed to bask in that! Afterwards, he laughed and played soccer with me and Em, had me play “rocketship” with him by counting to 3 and the lifting him in the air, and then he gave a huge smile when we said our goodbyes and that we would be back tomorrow.

Em and I are so thrilled that each boy seemed healthy and on track for their age. We are so excited to see them tomorrow again!

Tonight, we went out with many of the other parents who are leaving tomorrow or Saturday and enjoyed authentic Ethiopian cuisine and entertainment in the form of Ethiopian dancers and music Awesome night!

I’m tired. Until tomorrow!

11/29/2006 7:03 PM

We are now on the airplane, flying to Ethiopia. At the airport in Rome, Em and I were able to get checked in just fine, with no extra charge for our overweight luggage, which was a worry of ours from the beginning. We were blessed because we ended up in the business class line, since there weren’t too many people there yet, and we think the lady got confused, as someone in the next line was forced to send luggage home with her mother! Praise be to God, because we were able to check all 4 pieces of luggage, when we thought we could check only 2!

This was especially wonderful since the plane was packed full, and the flight attendants were barely able to get all the compartments closed. Many people had to put their large bags under their chairs or down in cargo.

The snack, or “dinner”, was….um..interesting. Chicken that was more rubbery than rubber, Em had moldy vegetables, and the Italian gentleman sitting next to me turned his nose up at the dessert, since it came from Venice. But the butter was good.

Em and I are still in this surreal swirl. We can’t believe that we just left Rome, a beautiful city that gave us so many wonderful memories. And now we are hopping over Africa to Ethiopia, our boy’s homeland for what may be weeks……to see our boys! OUR BOYS! Surreal.

We love reading your comments and emails, they help give us strength and make us smile. Keep ‘em coming!

Well, I need to get some sleep, as we are losing 2 more hours. We will be 9 hours ahead of you guys in Minnesota.

Oh yeah, the picture is of me and Em after the Vatican museum, which took 3.5 hours!

11/29/2006 8:34 AM

We are just cruising around Rome, hitting some last-minute landmarks before we fly outta here. We went to the Vatican Museum, where we saw lots of Egyptian, Roman, Etruscan art and something called the Sistine Chapel or something. Not sure what that was all about, but it was pretty cool.

We then hopped on the subway and headed over to the Spanish Steps, which are both Spanish and steps, and that's about it.

We ate some lunch and we are back at our favorite internet cafe to update you before we head out.

Our plane leaves at 11:59pm tonight for Ethiopia, to arrive tomorrow morning right before 8:00am. We should be nice and fresh for the court appearance first thing in the morning :).

We don't know anything about the internet access over there. So the updates may dwindle after this. But we'll see!

Thank you all again for your prayers and thoughts. We definitely appreciate them and can see the results of them already!

Mario and Em

Our Coliseum Pic

Just me and the Colisuem. Em is a good photographer, isn't she?

Our day from Monday....so it's late!

11/27/2006 4:00 PM

What an amazing day. We slept in, due to the fact that we were up from 1am-4am….we are almost over our jet lag! Yeah! We then proceeded out to the plaza in Campo de Fiori (a 1 minute jaunt) where it was transformed from a bustling party plaza the night before into a huge open air market, full of fresh flowers, fruit, and even mobile butcher shops! We bought some bright red strawberries and then followed a narrow street down to a bread shop we had visited the day before. There, we added to our breakfast; a fresh apple and walnut turnover for me (it was so fresh, that I even bit into a stray walnut shell!) and Em chose the chocolate croissant.

We then headed over to a small hole in the wall café (which most are in Rome), where we ordered 2 café lattes and stood at the bar as we drank them, which is customary in Rome.
After that it was off to wait for the #62 bus. We waited, and waited, looking at the electronic sign, which said it was only minutes away. Once the sign no longer posted #62 as an arriving bus, we decided the 20 minutes we wasted was long enough. We then hopped on these tour buses that just go around the city and stop at 10 different locations. You can get on and off all day long, and it has headphones so you can hear the audio of the tour. And it’s a double-decker! Cool!

We rode that for a while and decided to get off the bus once we hit the Coliseum. We wrote about that earlier, but it was just spectacular the sites there. We went from the Coliseum to the Forum, which is right across the street. The Forum is full of the archeological treasures of ancient Rome, from the famous Arch of Titus to the picturesque tria columna of the Temple of Castor and Pollux. It was extremely fun , yet powerful.

We then enjoyed a late lunch at a small pizzeria, where Em decided that a meat dish looked good, but after finding out that it was an additional 9 euros and that it didn’t taste too good to her, I had to choke it down to get my money’s worth! At least I wasn’t hungry aftwards!

Finally, we walked and walked, trying to find somewhere where we could get wireless. Rome needs to go WiFi….you would think it’s some kind of ancient city or something. Well, praise be to God, as he lead us to a small café called News Café, where as long as you ordered something, you could you their high-speed WiFi for free. We were able to see our precious girls and video chat with them, and give Emilee’s mom and dad an update. It’s only been a couple of days, yet we dearly miss our girls! These next few weeks are going to be tough!

Well, that’s enough for now. We are off to bed, as we have a big day tomorrow visiting Vatican City, and then preparing ourselves for the trip to Ethiopia.

11-28-06 4:00am

It is 11am here in Rome, and we have just gotten back from visiting Vatican City. We hopped on the local Metro and got off right in front of St. Peter's Square. We managed to look inside where the Pietra is (absolutely breath taking) and the memorials to many of the pope's are there too. But Em tripped on a cobble stone 2 days ago, and today her leg is really bothering her. She was limping really badly and she iced it at the Vatican information station and we decided to go back for some rest. So she is back at the pensione, on the roof overlooking the the courtyard from the previous posts' picture and a beautiful church in back, reading a book.

Thank you eveyone who has posted so far for your support and prayers. Em and I can feel your prayers halfway across the world. We feel such peace and know that God is in control of everything. We spent a long time in prayer last night, in praise of Him and in thanksgiving of such wonderful family and friends!

I am going to head out now, in search of some Ben-Gay type stuff, only it's called Voltaren and it smells a lot better. Oh, and Em wants a walking stick, just like her family had when they visited Europe :) so I need to find one.

I will try and post more pictures and a synopsis of our day yesterday. I am at an internet cafe right now, so I am not using my laptop. Ciao for now!

11/27/2006 11:30 AM

A pic of the view from our room. Sparse inside, but it does the job. The view is quite nice of an inner plaza.

11/27/2006 11:12 AM

We just heard back from the agency. They want us to go to Ethiopia still, and we will go before the judge there to plead our case. So it looks like we'll have to stay at least another week in Ethiopia to wait for everything to get processed before the Embassy visit.

We are still the process of deciding if both of us will stay the extended time, or if one of us will go on ahead with Isayas as planned.

We might get a senator involved, to get the U.S. side of things expediated.

We still would love thoughts and prayers!

11/27/2006 6:53 AM

Em and I are now sitting on some steps inside the Coliseum. You can feel the heaviness of history in the air. We prayed as we walked around the Coliseum to enter it, thanking God for our religious freedom and for those that have been persecuted before us. While it is beautiful, it is also disturbing to realize the purpose of this arena.

I know the pic isn't the Coliseum, but I like it. It's from yesterday.

11/26/2006 7:06 PM

Well, despite the bit of bad news we received today, we did still manage to walk around a large portion of old Rome. It is amazing to travel along the little side streets, it looks just like the pictures, with narrow roads and tall buildings, even clothes hanging on clothes lines from window to window!

The highlight was probably the Pantheon. It is in the Piazza Della Rotunda and when you first walk into this large open plaza, you can’t help but be drawn to this huge, extremely well preserved ancient building. There are scores of people milling about, taking pictures and sitting within history. We of course joined them. What’s looks fun too in the plaza is that there are several cafés and restaurants right there, where you can enjoy a meal or snack out on the patio, all the while gazing upon the Pantheon.

We also managed to make it to Trevi Fountain, which is amazing and beautiful. We hear that it’s even better at night, so we need to make another trip over there, but today, we just hit the wall here. Took some pictures, bought some wine, and headed back to the penseone for a nap (which ended up being 3 hours of drop-dead deep sleep).

We went to a little restaurante in Campo De Fiori, where we are staying, for supper. Had amazing an caprese salad and some delicious pasta with a creamy red sauce. I don’t think we can ever visit Olive Garden or Buca di Bepo’s again. Amazing!

Well, we are now up at 2:30am Rome time, since we slept too much today. I’ll think we’ll watch King Kong now. More updates to follow!

11/26/2006 10:25 AM

Alright, we've hit a snag. We just got word from the adoption agency in Minnesota (through an email that we missed by 2 hours!) that Molla's paperwork was not processed properly in conjunction with Isaya's, we apparently it goes back to court to get processed. This normally takes a couple of weeks, so the agency is saying that we most likely won't be able to travel until December 22nd.

As you can see, this is a bit of a problem as we are already in Italy!! While it's lovely and spectacular, with this news it puts a bit of a damper on things.

Please pray that God's hand is in this and that the details are worked out, one way or the other. Please pray that God gives us peace and joy, even in this time of uncertainty.

We are going back to our hotel to see if we can make some phone calls to get more info.

11/26/2006 12:09 AM

We are about to complete our 7.5 hour cross-Atlantic flight into Rome. Got to watch Talledaga Nights (dumb) and dinner wasn’t too bad (salad and a hot sandwich). Got only about an hour or two of sleep total, but it was often interrupted with turbulence and the occasional smack in the face as someone quickly walked by on their way to the bathroom.

It was strange seeing the sunset in Newark at 5:30 and then seeing the sunrise a mere 6 hours later. Can’t wait to see how I feel later today, which will be the middle of the night to my body.

Em and I so excited to get into Rome and get settled in our hotel room and then start roaming. We’ve already exchanged the lowly dollar for the mighty Euro, with the exchange rate being $0.68. It didn’t feel too good to give the lady $300 and only get back $200 in Euro….grrrrrrr.

Well, off to wait in line so the can rifle through our luggage. Ciao.

11/25/2006 11:36 AM

Woke up this morning and of course, was running a little late! I had to still pack my backpack and do a few last minute things. We got out of the house and headed to the airport only 30 minutes later than we wanted, but so far we’re only missing extra camcorder tapes….DOH!

As we got dropped off by Emilee’s mother, the realization that Mom and Dad were actually leaving hit Maya. The fact that we really weren’t taking her with us got the tears and sobs going. That was hard. But Chloe and Vicki (Emilee’s mom) were troopers and were so happy for us.

It took us exactly 23 minutes to check our baggage and go through security. So much for the Thanksgiving rush.

We are now on the plane (which is quite small, I might add) heading to Newark, New Jersey. We keep thinking about our boys and how are lives are about to change forever. That we really have 4 kids now, and that simply going to the grocery store or giving baths is forever going to be different…but worth it. I can’t wait!

Well, I just enjoyed the onboard snack: Trail Mix, Peppercorn Parmesan Cheese spread and crackers, pepperoni and M & M’s. Unfortunately, I can no longer talk to Em, as our breath smells most rancid, but I am quite full and ready to take a sleepy now.

Just under the wire!

Whew! Looks like we just got in! It's official over in Ethiopia, Isayas and Joshua are ours now! We have exhaled and can now continue our frantic packing process.

We leave this Saturday, November 25th for Rome! Whoo hoo! And then we get to meet our boys in Addis Ababa on December 3rd or 4th. Amazing.

Thank you Lord!

Wow!

Well, we got a call from the adoption agency last Monday, and they gave us the good news that we can travel early!! Yeah!

That is.....if the courts process our papers in time. Based on they speed of those ahead of us, the adoption agency made a best guess and gave us that info, although things are very precarious right now. We have plane tickets booked to leave this Saturday for Rome and then on to Ethiopia, but if they can't process the birth certificates before we go...then we need to wait. Arrrggh!

So, I still have hope that we will be leaving this Saturday, but who knows! It's all in God's hands at this point. More to come....

Gettin' Ready

Well, it looks like we will be traveling the week of December 11th, as we are expected to be in Addis Ababa by December 15th. We will be spending a week in Addis with out boys, waiting for the paperwork to be completed.

As we don't have out itinerary or plane tickets yet from the travel agent, we aren't sure when we'll be getting back, but it will most likely be December 23rd or 24th. It's gonna be a crazy Christmas!

More details to come...

"I have some wonderful news for you..."

That is what Emilee heard on the afternoon of Thursday, October 12th when our social worker called us with "The Call!" She proceeded to tell Emilee that we were referred 2 boys: Isayas (age 3.5) and Molla (age 4 months). Our social worker explained the boys' story about their family and how they came to the care center in Addis Ababa, a story that we will save for our boys to tell another day to those they wish.

After the intial phone call, Em called me at work and I basically just sat there, stunned, listening to Emilee tell me all about my new boys. BOYS! Wow. It took nearly the entire weekend for everything to really sink in.

Em and I are in the process of getting everything ready. Their rooms, their clothes, paperwork, finances, etc. We have no word on travel yet, but our guess at this point is that we will be traveling in mid-December, but this all depends on how fast the courts process paperwork in Ethiopia.

Pray for us as we prepare for this amazing adventure and trip. Pray for our boys in Africa, that they stay healthy and happy, that they are well taken care of and that all of us will be prepared for this very strange, yet fateful blending of families.

Oh yes, if you would like to see pictures, please email me at starrio@gmail.com and I will send them to you. Unfortunately, until the adoption is final, we are unable to post any pictures of the boys.

Patience....

Well, so much for my declaration from August that I would post more frequently!!

It's now October 8th, and still no word. While we are moving up on the list as those above get their referrals, it's still hard to wait and wait. The courts apparently just opened this last week, and they are backlogged. From what we hear, we need to wait for this first round of people to get accepted by the courts and then have travel dates before we really hear much.

Which is really hard, since we kinda though we would have heard something by now.

I am also anxious about the end of the year. We want to travel before Dec 31st, for work reasons, for holiday reasons, for tax reasons :). But I know it's all in God's timing.

Still Waiting....

It's now August 19th and we are still waiting. No surprise really. The courts are still closed in Ethiopia and CHSFS is holding all referrals until sometime in September. Em thinks Sept 1st they'll start handing them out again, but my thought is Sept 15th.

So we wait patiently for a call and email with pictures of our kids and medical information. In the meantime, Em and I really need to get our shots....that will be fun. I think we have to get between 5-8, depending on what we don't want to catch in Ethiopia.

I have secured about 3 weeks of vacation time at work, so I am hoping that we can go this year....as my vacation time doesn't carry over. But I am sure work would make an exception :)

As the referral quickly approaches, the fact that we are adopting (and adopting two!!) is starting to kick in. I am very excited for the adventure we'll be having, traveling to Washington DC, Ethiopia, somewhere in Europe....but I also realize how difficult it will be when we get home with a couple of kids. But that too is an adventure that I am so looking forward to.

We got a little practice last week, as we got to babysit a co-workers 8 month old...Chloe and Maya loved it!! They were so happy to have a baby and they were very maternal and took good care of Dylan!

I'll post updates more frequently now, as we approach referral day!

Aaaahh! I need to catch up!

Well, as you can see, it's been a while since my last update. With summer, work, two little girls who don't stop until I drug them to sleep (that's a joke Child Protection Services, just a joke), and house projects, I forgot to update our adoption blog. So sorry Mom! Here's some new info.

We finally finished ALL the paperwork for the adoption, and we were approved by the government (yeah, we aren't criminals!) so we are now waiting for a referral from the adoption agency. Our agency stops handing out referrels as of June 15th due to the fact that Ethiopia's government shuts down for 2 months (August-September) during the monsoon season. So, we have to wait now, probably until Sept/Oct to get our referral.

We have been approved for up to 3 children, but our preference is for twins first, then sibling groups, and finally a single child. We have no gender preference and the oldest we child we will be able to take is 3-3.5, because Chloe will be 4.5 and we want to keep her as the oldest.

So now we wait, and wait, and wait! We are still working on the basement (yeah, mom, still! Sorry it's taking so long), but we are almost done! Next I am going to be building a bunk bed for the girls and they will move in with each other at the end of August (hopefully) and Em and I are going to be working on some fund raisers to help pay for the adoption.

#5 More Paperwork

Well, we had our 2nd meeting with our social worker a couple of weeks ago and everything went great! Cory came to our house and met the girls, saw where the girl's rooms, and asked us more tough questions. When it was all done, she said we were approved for at least 2 kids! Yeah!

She also left us with a bunch of paperwork to do (our dossier) while she finalized the home study. This involves fingerprints, money, birth certificates, money, signatures, money...you get the idea. This process can take a few months due to government red tape, but once this is done, we will be ready to wait for a referral.

So in the meantime, we are still working on our basement. The tile is down and grouted, we are just cleaning now and getting ready to seal. We are also working on getting a new fridge that has more room for the new mouths to feed! So we are busy busy busy!

#4- Homestudy

This past week, Em and I had the 1st of 2 meetings with our social worker (Cory) at Children's Home Society and Family Services (CHSFS). These meetings allow our social worker to get to know us better to be an advocate for us in the adoption process.

So we spent 3 hours on Tuesday, answering questions about our childhood, our family, our lives today, etc. Man, was that tough! Opening yourself up to display your strengths and weaknesses is hard enough, let alone in front of someone we just met.

We scheduled our next meeting for the 1st week in April. This will have Cory heading out to our house to finish the interrogation (ha ha!)

My mom and I are nearly done with the painting of the walls in the basement after some hard work from me and Andy with patching and drywalling. We are now getting ready to lay the tile (Andy is going to help with that too!). Things are looking good! I think we'll spend a lot more time down there now!

#3- The wait begins

Well, we have our self-study into the agency and we are waiting for them to schedule the homestudy meetings and put their paperwork together. This will give us time to get some more books on Ethiopia to learn more about the culture. We also want to learn more of the language that the child might speak. There are several dialects, so we need to figure out which ones are most common.

My mom is going to help me redo the basement, painting, tiling, and bsically cleaning things up down there. This should give us some more room to breathe and play (and work in my case).

It sounds like the wait is still a little longer than normal, so we are preparing ourselves for an October trip....but August is still a possibility!!

2/23/06 - #2

This is hard! Both Em and I have been working on the Self Study for the past 5 days and we are finding it tiring work! There are 19 questions that require some in-depth answers that are at times very personal and private. I didn't think it would be this difficult.

But Emilee is pretty much done, having written hers on legal pads, she is now in the process of typing it up. I began typing from the beginning, and I am little more than half-way through the questions.

The plan is to be done by Monday afternoon, in time to send it out in the mail and get it on it's way to CHSFS. Once they recieve it, they can begin the home study process. Yeah!

The Journey Begins

2/19/06- #1

With our initial application sent in and our attendance in PAC (Pre-Adoption Classes), we have officially begun the adoption process! Yeah!

The next step is to complete our self-study, a 8-10 page answer to about 12 questions relating to our lives. This information will then be used in our homestudy write up by our social worker.
We have just begun this, and it's tough writing it up!