Together for good at last.

 She wanted her nails painted as soon as we got home!

 Brooke and Kewogo doing sidewalk chalk.

 Feeding each other pineapple.

 Going for a bike ride (with training wheels).  She rode for about 45 minutes!

She loves hamburgers!

 Summer is here.  It is my favorite time of year when I get to be with my kids and do lots of fun things everyday.  It is also the time when I get nothing done on a personal level during the day.  Now with 4 to entertain, it is even harder. So I am delighted right now that all 4 of them are playing some made up game and I am enjoying listening to their laughter and conversations. 

Matt made a quick recovery from his sickness and then I quickly got it.  I wasn't nearly as bad off as he was, but neither of us were able to eat solid food for a few days.  When we were finally able to eat (on Matt's birthday- just in time for a great meal and cake!) we felt like Peeta and Katniss at a feast on one of their Victory Tours.  Food had never tasted so good!  Matt was irritated that I had shared the details of his illness because for the next few days after we returned everyone kept asking him how he was feeling.
I will be honest that when we arrived home my first thought was the same that I had when we came home with our other three children.  Which was,  'That was awesome and when can we do that again?' I always loved the whole delivery and holding them in your arms for the first time experience. In fact, after I had Andrew and the nurses were wheeling me out of the hospital to go home, I said to them, "I will see you again next year."  And we did.  I have spent some time being heartbroken over the fact that we didn't capture our "Gotcha" moment on tape.  We couldn't get our camera to work in time and missed recording the best gotcha moment ever.  Perhaps it is for the best.  As much as I would love to have relived that moment by watching it and sharing it with our family and friends maybe that intimate moment was just to be reserved for us and to be replayed in my mind over and over just as I have with the other three. I  clearly remember delivering a stubborn Andrew who didn't want to come out.  In between pushing I stopped to count EIGHT nurses and doctors surrounding me and cheering us on.  With Kewogo we also had lots of people supporting us and cheering us on as we waited and waited to bring her home. That has meant the world to us. It almost seems surreal that this time in our lives have arrived and she is with us for good.

I don't even think I can put into words how well Kewogo is doing.  She has adjusted and done better than we ever could have imagined!  I was prepared for weeks of hard times, tears, sadness, tantrums perhaps, and being stuck at home not going anywhere.  She has been an absolute delight from the time she walked in the front door.  The first couple of days she was home Brooke kept saying, "I feel like she is just visiting."  I knew what she meant.  All of a sudden there is a five year old in your home and she is yours and we kept thinking, "WOW!  She is really is here!" 
I had one day alone with her while the kids went to school on their last full day.  They were very upset about having to leave her and begged to stay home.  I told them they would have an entire summer with her so they went off and Kewogo waved at them as they boarded the bus one last time for the year. My parents were still here which I was thankful for so they could spend some time with her and get to know her a little bit before they left.  They fell in love with her, of course, and she has definitely stolen their hearts.

The first three days she was home we tried to stick to her schedule at Hannah'a Hope as best as possible.  This consisted of breakfast, play, lunch, play, nap, play, shower, dinner, and bed.  She did well with this and by about day three she was not interested in taking a nap anymore.  She didn't want to miss out on all the fun with the others.  We did fine cocooning the first three days and then on the first day of summer when my parents were leaving I had 4 crabby kids.  I will admit I was a little worried that this was a preview of what was to come. We decided to get out of the house and go up to the street to the park.  I couldn't wait to see how she would do at the park.  She loved it! We took Macy which she thought was great as she LOVES the dog!  She and Brooke did cartwheels in the grass and she quickly learned to maneuver the slide and monkey bars.  She wants to do everything her brothers and sister do.  My parents left late that day and then we returned home to find our "new normal."

We had bought $75 dollars worth of Ethiopian food for her to eat the first week home.  She loved this and we would give her this while introducing our food at the same time.  This girl can EAT!  Bananas are her favorite food source and we can't keep enough, "mush" in the house.  Matt had decided to work from home the first week she was home so that he would be around so she wouldn't think that he had just disappeared during the day. At the time we thought it was a good idea but it didn't end up working so well.  He was having a hard time getting work done as he was trying to juggle so much with being gone from the office for so long and was trying to be everything to everyone.  Looking back he should have just gone back to work but hindsight is 20/20. As much as I could be with Matt 24/7 I was thankful for him to go back and for us to settle into a routine.  Part of that routine includes taking the kids to swim team practice in the mornings.  As soon as Kewogo saw them swimming, guess who wanted to swim??!!  I had no intention of taking her to the pool so soon but after she saw them and made it clear that she wanted to get in the water I decided that it looked like we would be going swimming!  I didn't even have suit for her. I got one quickly and we ventured out for a trip to the pool.  I know that hard core cocooners would shake their fingers at me with a "tsk, tsk" but I was following her lead and she was ready.  And ready she was!  Luckily we have a zero entry and she ran in that pool and began swimming around like she had been doing this all her life.  Now we are out of her ET food and I didn't pack anything to take to the pool.  I brought bananas and figured I would just wing the day.  I took her up to the snack bar and decided to let her pick what she thought looked good.  She pointed to a pop tart so that is what I got.  Now I have never even bought pop tarts for my kids EVER so we found this amusing! I bought her a hamburger since she seems to like meat.  She ate the pop tart and then she ate the hamburger.  Later she chose a lemon lime slush, ate part of a soft pretzel and had a pixie stick!  WELCOME TO AMERICA!!  This is how we eat!  The funny thing is is that this is NOT typical for us as we try to eat so healthy in our family, but I decided that one day wouldn't hurt anyone.  The next day she saw a dollar lying on the counter and held it up to me and motioned to go swimming and put her hand to her mouth as if she was eating something.  Yes. This girl catches on quick.  She loved that snack bar.

She is fun, funny, full of joy, radiant, adorable, smart, playful, opinionated, a little bossy, sweet, loving, and a true gift to our family.  I already can't imagine our life without her.

United as a family!!

 Our new friends we traveled with. We couldn't wait to get this shot of our families.

Our first family photo with Kewogo.  Matt mustered enough energy to smile for this picture.

They were immediately drawn to one another. The boys were too, but alas, Brooke probably did end up "hogging"her a little.

Sweet sisters!

Kewogo might very well indeed be a Buckeye someday because as soon as she stepped on the plane to Columbus the pilot was playing the OSU fight song.  She seemed to like it.  I told her that we were going to Ohio and she said, "Andrew, Luke, Brooke."As soon as we stepped off the airplane my stomach started not feeling well.  I truly think it had been a case of mind over matter that I didn't get sick one second sooner.  Who would have taken care of Kewogo if both of us had been sick?  Matt was still feeling horrible as we deboarded and I was very worried about him.  We had been so excited for this moment for so long but now part of my focus was getting Matt taken care of immediately. We walked what felt like the longest walk to baggage claim and as we got closer we saw everyone.  We saw the kids first as they were eagerly stretching their necks to see us.  Before we left for our trip the kids had gotten into an argument over who would get to say hi to Kewogo first.  The boys thought it should be them because Brooke always "hogs the cousins" and they were worried that she would also "hog Kewogo."  That is fair.  I was worried about that as well.  I had told them let's just let things happen naturally and see how she reacts.  When we were finally standing in front of the kids and my parents she simply stood there and smiled.  We introduced each of them one at a time and then introduced my parents.  She continued to just stand there and smile so I told the kids to give them a hug.  One by one they did and that was all she wrote!  From that moment on it was as if she had always been a part of our family.  She held their hands and began laughing and playing with them right away.  It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen.  I never expected that.  I thought that there would be a slow warm up time over a matter of days. As we were collecting our bags they were now running around like they had not just hours ago been a world apart never having met. The only thing I can think of is that we had talked ad nausea about the kids and had shown her their pictures over and over again. I guess she felt like she already knew them.  After we snapped a few quick pictures my mom took Matt to the hospital.  We knew that he was dehydrated and needed some fluids and to be checked out. 

 

My dad and I headed home with the kids and Kewogo laughed with her new brothers and sister all the way home in between looking out the window at all of the new sights.  When we pulled up to our house she just acted like it was the most natural thing in the world to be here.  We got out of the van and when we walked in through the front door she took off her shoes and the kids led her upstairs to her room.  It was as though she had been through that door dozens of times.  She was not nervous, anxious, hesitant, shy, scared, nothing!  Just completely comfortable and at home.  My dad and I watched in amazement.  When she walked into her room she began touching the stuffed animals and then went straight for the dollhouse.  It was Brooke's old dollhouse with tiny pieces and a lot of them and she immediately proceeded to remove every piece from it and place it in little rooms around the perimeter of her room.  The kids played with her for about an hour and then something funny happened.  She heard our dog bark.  Now i had been very worried about how she would react with our very large overly friendly Golden Retriever.  We had put her up before we let Kewogo in the house but now Macy wanted out. When she heard Macy bark her eyes got as big as saucers and I thought, "Oh no.  Here we go.  She is going to be terrified of Macy."  Instead she grabbed my hand and stood up and motioned for us to go see her.  I had Andrew hold Macy back and then Kewogo squealed with delight at the sight of her.  She bent down and instructed Macy to kiss all sides of her face.  Macy has no problem giving big wet kisses so both Kewogo and Macy loved this game.  This went on for awhile and then we let Andrew let loose of Macy and Kewogo and Macy got better acquainted through some play.  Macy didn't even jump which if you knew our dog you would say that is a miracle.  Kewogo did get a little scared a couple of times and quickly jumped in my arms as Macy became too playful. But only a couple of minutes later they were best friends.  Kewogo then began to explore some more of our house.  She walked through the family room and it was the first time I saw her somewhat taken aback.  I don't know what it was about that room but she stopped and stared for a second or two.  Then she made her way into the sun room and began looking out all of the windows into our backyard.  She quickly spotted our trampoline and got very excited and started jumping!  Now how in the world does she know that??!!

The only thing I could think is that she had seen picture of one from other families or in a book.  She and the kids jumped for about the next hour and a half.  She loved it!  It was the most wonderful sound in the world to hear their laughter. Her laughter and voice mixed in with theirs was like pure joy being pumped through my veins. It was also the most beautiful day outside 75 and sunny without a cloud in the sky. I had to stop and thank Jesus for this day and the fact that it had finally come. I couldn't believe that we were all together....except Matt who was at the hospital missing all of these firsts. (Hadn't we missed enough firsts?) He got 3 bags of fluids and they ran a bunch of tests but the doctors diagnosed it as basically, "You drank bad water."  He came home later that evening and we both started on Cipro which we had gotten for our first trip but never needed.  I wasn't near as bad off as Matt had been but I was not able to eat anything. 

The day continued beautifully and after playing outside for a long time we came in and ate dinner.  We still had some injera from our trip so we gave her that and some banana.  She loves bananas! My mom had made a beautiful meal of brisket and I cooked up some potatoes and green beans. Kewogo tried some of it but wasn't a fan. Unfortunately, Matt and I couldn't eat any of it.  Big bummer. We knew that Kewogo was exhausted from the day so I (Matt still wasn't home) put her to bed by 7:30 and she slept 12 hours!  We had decided in advance that she would sleep in our room the first few weeks so we put an air mattress in our room and had her sleep at he foot of the bed.  Many people have asked us how we communicate with her since she doesn't speak English and she doesn't speak fluent Amharic.  From day one we have never had trouble communicating with her.  We do a lot of gesturing and we are able to read each others faces and emotions.  In fact, sometimes I forget that we don't speak the same language.  It just goes to show you that love, joy, sadness, fear, happiness, hunger, tiredness, anticipation, the need for affection, and even the potty dance is all universal.

After I put her to bed I was able to soak in being back home and stand humbled and amazed at so many kind gestures people had made while we were gone.  Two families form our Grace Group at church had brought meals over for my family while we were away. They had done that during our last trip as well.  Our Copley friends had sent the kids a box of cookies and a congratulations balloon.  My Bible Study Fellowship class had put together a huge bag of goodies for Kewogo. I couldn't wait to share it with her and someday tell her all about how these women had been praying for her for so long. I was left speechless at all of this kindness.  I also have to add that I was overwhelmed with gratitude towards my parents for coming back a second time to take the most wonderful care of our children.  They do the most amazing job keeping up with our kids' schedules, feeding them, loving them, and making them feel secure.  All of this allowed Matt and I not to ever worry about what was going on at home.  They are truly spectacular. Thank you Mom and Dad!

Matt returned home looking more alive than when we last saw him and we relished our time back with our family.  As we lay our heads down we listened to Kewogo breathing and felt true peace in our souls.  It was the most peaceful I had felt in months.  Finally, I slept.

Leaving Ethiopia and the trip home



One happy little traveler!!!

     We shared one last meal together at The Riviera Hotel.  I had my favorite Shiro and we got an extra order of injera for Kewogo to make it on the trip home in case she wouldn't eat anything on the plane.  We were sad to say goodbye to all of the familiar faces at The Riviera.  We will just have to go back someday.  AS soon as we were all packed up and ready to go Kewogo became so hyper!  She kept talking about getting on the airplane and going to America to see Andrew, Luke, and Brooke.  She was literally bouncing off the walls with excitement.  On the way to the airport my type A husband is stressing out because we were 10 minutes late leaving.  A favorite phrase of Ethiopians is "No worries, no problem." I kept saying this to Matt as well because he gets so anxious when we travel.  His response is, "Yes, but what happens when there is a problem?"  So we get to the airport and every person we encountered kept telling him, "No worries, no problem." It was hilarious!  And, of course, we had no problems.  They were right!

Kewogo had a great time exploring the airport.  She thought the escalator was a thrill and she shrieked with delight as she rode it for the first time. She was a little concerned going through security but did great. Matt and I thought it was funny because everyone kept thinking she was a boy! She did have pants on but they were pastel colored and she had floral shoes on.  By the end of the trip we weren't amused anymore and were annoyed.  I guess I will need to get this child some headbands with bows!  She already has her ears pierced so that is a plus. Before we boarded the plane Kewogo turned to look back at the airport and said, "Ciao!" (which means good-bye).  She did is with such happiness and with a huge smile on her face.  She was ready to go and did not appear at all scared or concerned.  This made me happy and sad all at the same time.  Happy because we were finally going home, but sad because she was leaving all she has known in her tender five years and I know she can't fully comprehend what it means to leave behind everything she has ever known.  It was 10:15 when our flight departed and well past her bedtime.  I thought she would sleep immediately and she might have if someone didn't make the ridiculous choice to leave the lights on and serve a meal!  Who wants to eat at 10:15??!! We want to sleep, people!! The flight attendants continued to serve dinner for what seemed an eternity.  It was also the most disgusting food I have ever seen (notice I used the word seen because it was barely tasted except for the stale roll) in my life!  I really don't think it was real food.  When they FINALLY turned the lights off she fell asleep and so did Matt but I didn't.  In fact, I hardly slept any during the past week.  On our first trip in April I slept great.  This trip was a different story. I also simply cannot sleep on airplanes.  The lights came on again a couple hours later when we landed in Rome to refuel.  Great.  I finally dozed off after Rome when Matt told me when I awoke that he had been sick for the past two hours.  Oh.no.  My poor Matt continued to be sick for the rest of the nine hour plane ride to DC. It is the worst feeling as a wife to feel so utterly helpless.  There was nothing at all anyone could do.  When the plane touched the ground Kewogo said, "America. Andrew. Luke. Brooke." Precious.   As we deboarded all of these strangers kept coming up to me saying, "I am so sorry about your husband."  Everyone had so much compassion for him. We had a very long customs line and a four hour layover in DC and his sickness continued all the way home to Columbus.  I truly can't imagine anything more miserable!!  Luckily at least Kewogo did very well on the flight and slept for half and then played for half.  (I also watched a very good movie called 7 days in Utopia for anyone who is interested in a good family movie (10 and up and is centered around golf).
While Matt made a bed for himself on a bench in DC I took Kewogo to get some lunch.  Now what on earth am I going to feed her for her first meal in America?  I found a pizza place that served spaghetti which I know she eats but when I pointed to it she shook her head and pointed to a chicken breast instead!  OK then! This tiny little girl sat down and polished off an entire chicken breast. Even more amusing than that was her reaction to her water.  They don't serve ice in ET and I forgot to request no ice.  Keowog thought it was hilarious that her cup was so cold and kept wanting me to feel it. Then, when she took a drink of it she would laugh at how it felt in her mouth. I love watching her senses come alive during these little new discoveries. We reconnected with Matt who had been able to get some sleep and I changed Kewogo into an Ethiopian dress I had bought on our first trip.  I had bought Brooke a similar one which she was going to wear to the airport. We were thrilled as we boarded the plane to Columbus as we couldn't wait to see the kids and get Matt taken care of.

Saying Goodbye to Hannah's Hope

Friday, June 1st - Saying goodbye to Hannah’s Hope


This morning Kewogo woke up well rested and obviously feeling much better. We concluded that yesterday’s illness was perhaps due to motion sickness due from the long van ride to the embassy. In fact, she is feeling so much better that today has been one of our best days with her yet. After breakfast we went outside to play and she was on fire just laughing, running and being silly. We went into the conference room at the hotel and we played hide and seek (she is a master at this!) and I taught her some gymnastics and yoga. We definitely seem to have quite the sporty little girl. We had one of our best play times yet. We have seen her show grieving behavior a couple of times a day. She will all of a sudden get very quiet and we simply hold her and sing to her and then she falls asleep. We were told that her grieving would show itself in the form of ‘tantrum throwing’ or sleeping and so far it seems sleeping is the way she processes grief. She doesn’t stay asleep for long and she soon becomes playful again.

We were picked around noon to say our goodbyes at Hannah’s Hope and pick up her visa. She kept saying that she did not want to go to HH and when we pulled up she got a concerned look on her face. I think she thought that we were taking her back there. We kept saying, “We have to say Ciao, Almaz.” (Almaz is the director of HH. She seemed secure in this and went through the gates with no problem.) She immediately saw some of her special mothers and ran up to hug them. They beamed when they saw her and kept talking to her a mile a minute. The older kids were at school and the younger ones were eating lunch so she sat down and ate with them. The special mothers doted on her and stayed right by her side. I can imagine how hard it is for them to watch the children they have loved for so long leave. Almaz then went over a few last things with Matt and me. As she was finishing up the older children came running in the door and ran over to the three of us and began hugging and kissing us. I truly think my heart melted at that moment. It was so amazing to watch them love on Kewogo as they know it is her last day. After the kids and Matt left the room Almaz said the last thing she wanted to talk to us about was how to take care of Kewogo’s hair. I love this!!! I expected it to be something attachment related but no, it was all about hair! She told us what to expect from Kewogo’s hair and how it would grow and things she will probably like to do with it in the future. It was awesome. Almaz says that she knows how important hair is in the US and that as she grows she probably won’t like her short hair very much (her hair won’t get very long at all). It will definitely be a learning experience for all of us and I appreciated that Almaz gave it such serious attention.

It was then time to wrap up our goodbyes. First we said goodbye to the older children as they were heading back to school. Luckily this went quickly because my heart couldn’t have taken anything longer. It is amazing how these children have become such a part of our lives and we will never forget them or the affect they have had on us. Next, we made the rounds at HH and made sure Kewogo was able to say goodbye to all of her special mothers. One mother in particular held her for a long time and talked and talked to her. I was having the hardest time trying to fight back tears as I knew she was speaking only words of love to her. I was amazed as we watched Kewogo make the rounds and show strength in her goodbyes as we knew it was most likely difficult for her despite her excitement of going home with us on a plane. Once we felt that she had experienced all of her goodbyes and showed us she was ready to go we got in the van for our final trip back to the hotel. When we retuned we went in and ate lunch and Kewogo was in rare form. If she was sad she didn’t show it. She loves to play tricks on us and blame the other one. She also put on my sunglasses, stuck her hands in her pockets and pretended to strut as if she was walking down a fashion runway. Yes, this child will fit in perfectly with our family!

Then it was back up to the room to Skype with the kids before school. She loves hearing their voices and had fun calling out their names. I just have to interject one parental bragging moment. So yesterday Matt and I had sent Andrew a message telling him good luck at his baseball game and I told him to get some hits. He told me he would get some hits for Kewogo. Well, he did just that! One home run, a triple, and a single! Sorry to brag but it was his first home run ever and I thought it was pretty cool that he said he would do it for her. Next, the three of us took a nap and I began packing. We are sooo ready to begin our journey home! Last time we left here I was so sad to be leaving her behind and this time I am bursting at the seams to get home to our family so the kids can meet her and we can begin experiencing our new family life. When I look at this sweet child and the more we get to know her there Is NO doubt that God had chosen her specifically to be with our family. It was His plan all along and I cannot stop praising Him for taking a tragic situation and using it for good and for His glory. I know that there will be many rough days ahead as we move forward but I feel secure in the knowledge that we won’t have to go it alone as God has been present through every step of the way.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, and who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28-29