Elijah's Birthday, and Our Forever Family Day

We sit here at 9:00 on Monday evening, sitting in awe of the little cute one sleeping in our room.  We have Elijah in our room, and we are officially a forever family.  It is also Elijah's 2nd birthday today, and what a birthday it was for him, and for us!  He got a forever family, and we gained a son! Here's how the day went.

We woke up around 9:00 this morning and headed out to get some supplies.  We knew that Elijah would be coming home with us today, so we needed to make sure we had some diapers.  We knew his approximate weight, so we figured we could find them somewhere.  We found them in a market, just down the street from us.  It is great that we will be able to run out and get them whenever we need it.  We went to New York, New York for macchiato (sp? - for those who don't know, this is supposedly to die for in Ethiopia, an incredibly rich coffee, that everyone seems to love.  I'm not a fan of coffee, so I did not partake, but Hilary loved it), and a little breakfast.  We got back to the hotel around 12:00, and prepared for the trip back to the orphanage to pick him up.  We were told that we would be picked up around 1:30, so we were ready to go around 1:00.  As we sat there waiting, we ran into a couple that are adopting their child, and are also from Winnipeg.  Who knew that there could be so many Winnipegger's in Addis right when we are there.  We spent some time chatting about adoption, and some other things as we waited for our ride, who finally showed up around 1:45 or so.

As we got into the van, we re-met another couple that were attending court today.  It was a great experience to go to court in a bit of a different situation than we had originally been, and with no stress of that appearance.  We chatted about our different situations, and it was great getting to know them.  They now have a son that is right around the same age as Elijah.  It also sounds like she may join us at our hotel so that our boys will be able to play together.  What a blessing to have so many adoptive couples around.  It is awesome also that so many adoptive couples are so willing to share their stories.  Hopefully as a group, we can continue to share the positive stories that are our adoption stories, not necessarily easy, but positive.

After court, Hilary and I had to go to the agency offices to sign the waiver form that would allow us to take Elijah from the orphanage.  We went in and had a great discussion with Martha about timelines, and the process, as well as signing the document.  We now would have the authority to take Elijah out of the orphanage as we wait for the next step to be completed.

We got to the orphanage, and went straight into an isolation room with this couple.  We spent some time in this room chatting with them while we waited for the kids to join us in the room.  We were able to see Elijah on his potty, and he seemed to recognize us right away, and his face lit up.  It was a cool experience.  The kids were brought into the room, and we played with them, and of course took some pictures...  It was cool to interact with this other couple and their child as well as with Elijah.  He was generally quite relaxed as we fed him, and got him to warm up to us again.

At around 5:00, it was time go, and we started saying goodbye to the nannies.  Oh the nannies... we could tell that they loved him.  They all wanted to say to goodbye, and hold him one last time.  I think he was a bit shocked here, and didn't cry or complain at any point during this.  He even waved goodbye to all the nannies, and we left.  We got back into the van, and rode home... Eli was a model child.  He sat on Hilary's lap, enjoying the scenery around him.  I'm not sure he had ever really been in a vehicle before, so I think this was a new thing for him.  We arrived back at the hotel just the 3 of us.

Riding to the hotel, as a family of 3!

We got him into the baby carrier immediately, and he seemed to like it.  He seemed to be quite relaxed in the carrier with Hilary.  He had a sippy cup we had given him at the orphanage, with him, and would NOT let go.  It was very cute.  At some point during the evening, I had him on my lap, and he was just about falling asleep.  It was early, so we tried to keep him awake just a bit longer.  We got him to sit on the potty, and he did his business.  We dressed him in his pajamas, and laid him down to sleep between us on the bed.  It took a bit of Hilary singing to him, but he fell asleep, and is sleeping now.

We have a child, and he is with us.  Praise the Lord.  We are enjoying this first evening together, but we know that it will not all be easy.  We have absolutely no idea what tomorrow will bring.  When will he wake up?  Will he have problems with us at first?  We will continue to trust that the Lord has the situation in His hands, and that we will take whatever comes our way.  Thanks again, everyone for your prayers and encouragement as we've taken this next step.