We Are Here and Have Samuel

We are in Addis. It is everything you imagined it to be and quite a humbling experience. The poverty is unbelievable. Today, we met Samuel and I cannot describe how precious and wonderful he is. We realized, as we looked at him from the back, that he has a rat tail...you know the things we wore in the 80's...a long string of hair braided. Oh what a touchy subject. I hope he lets us cut it soon. We are having a great time. Showers are short and a little cold. I am roughing it in a way I've not experienced before. Internet is horrible...more to come later.

It's away we go...

To say the least, it is an exciting time in our household. Our bags are officially zipped and ready for take off, and we've gathered all the necessary documents needed to travel to a foreign land. But, today as we were preparing last minute details, it became necessary for us to take our oldest dog, Duke, to the vet. And, wouldn't you know, it was bad news. It seems that Duke is in need of a urinary operation, and while it is mild in nature, it means that while we are away my sweet baby will undergo a surgery.

You must understand that Duke and Cameron are indeed my children. I will be the first to admit that I spoil my pets and treat them better than I treat my spouse! Pathetic...you bet, but at least I've come to terms with it.

Monday, as I prepare to meet Samuel, Duke will be transported to our veterinarian clinic. It seems as though I'll have two sweet boys in need of a lot of TLC all on the same day. I am so thankful we have hired the most wonderful woman to stay at our house and provide love and affection to Duke and Cameron while we are away.

In 12 hours, we will be leaving for the airport... My cup runneth over. Indeed this will be some of the greatest moments of my life. I look forward to sharing pictures and commentary along the way - assuming that we will be able to blog in Ethiopia.

Preparing for Departure and Arrival

I believe it is humanly impossible to describe the sense of joy and gratitude we feel as we prepare to meet Samuel in person. It is frantic around our household these days - packing, re-packing, and checking off the many tasks we must accomplish before boarding the plane. Meanwhile we've received word that Samuel is having a difficult time with this transition. While we expected this news, and perhaps even prepared ourselves for this news, it saddens the spirit to think of a lonely little boy wondering how his new life is going to unfold.

My sister-in-law said it best, "I can't imagine having to let go of my child; we would all starve to death before I could let them go." Although I have not yet met Samuel, I can attest to this kind of love - the kind that makes you want to hold on for dear life because you can't imagine losing something which has become the biggest part of you. But, as one who is about to receive such a precious gift, I am in awe of the kind of love Samuel's mother has for her child - she did what I cannot fathom doing; she did what was best for her child rather than her own heart. How unselfish is she; how undeserving I feel in moments like these.

I must admit that there are times the insecure and unprepared part of me feel nervous about this new relationship. "Will he cling to me? How long will it take him to love and accept me as his mother? Am I really doing what is best for him because I feel such grief for her?"

I realize these thoughts are silly, but they are human and they represent what we in adoption world rarely speak of - fear... Fear that your child won't be able to love you because he/she has already given their heart away or that you'll never be able to measure up to the kind of love he/she received in their early years. Yes, it is perhaps naive and childish thinking, but it is representative of where we are in this process.

Four more days... I have never been so anxious in all my life to board an airplane! 17 hours, baggage claim, visa, unpack and sleep - then wake up to meet SAMUEL... Ah, I like the sound of that! Hurry up already...

The Road to Samuel

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In just 10 days...

In 10 days we will be boarding a plane to meet the sweetest face I've ever seen! We will be staying at the Wolde Ayat House and have heard wonderful reviews from Debbie Walton who stayed there recently. This house is 3 doors down from where the Roberts family will be staying - finally we get to meet all of our blogger friends in person! If all goes well, we'll introduce Samuel to our family on May 7th. It is a surreal feeling as we begin packing, re-packing, and making numerous lists of all the things we need to do in the meantime. Today, when we received the above picture, we became even more anxious to become a family of 3

The rest of the story...

Our first court date was March 26th and at 11:00 Mary called to inform us that there was no one available to hear our case and it would therefore be moved to the next day. Obviously we were down-trodden as we were anxious to make Samuel a permanent part of our family. The next day, March 27th, Mary called again - this time with news that our paperwork was deemed incomplete and we had been rescheduled for April 10th.

It's hard to describe the sense of loss you feel when your court date is not successful. While you prepare yourself for the worst case scenario, it is still just as painful when you get the news. So we waited for what seemed like forever for our next court date to arrive.

I think Todd said it best when he said, "It's hard to even get excited about court dates...in fact, I find that I dread them." For me, this was the most challenging part of our adoption process. We received our referral on January 4th and months rolled by without our ability to get closer to him.

Finally, April 10th arrived only to bring more defeating news. This time we were told that there was a paper that needed to be signed off on and the person who had authority to do so was not available - therefore we were moved again to April 11th. This was our 4th attempt at a "court date".

Thankfully, a sweet little voice called at 8:46 on April 11th with the news that we were the proud parents of Samuel. I cannot describe the juxtaposition of emotions you feel - it's almost cynicism paired with feeling of utter gratitude. And, just when you feel ready to bask in the glory, you realize you have 2 weeks to pack, make travel arrangements, finish projects at work and mentally prepare for the process of becoming a family. To say the least, it feels as though you are swinging on a pendulum.

But, we made it and someday we'll share this story with Samuel - reminding him how special he is and how special his adoption story is to us. Needless to say, I am anxious to meet our newest family member in person.

Finally...

Introducing the newest Treat, Samuel Quinn...

Finally, we are a family of 3.

Swipe with Pride

So, what does one do when one is waiting on a court date and feeling a bit anxious? One goes surfing...blog surfing that is and when they come across something as fabulous as Amharic Kids, they swipe the idea with pride and take full credit for it! Thanks Rebecca for recommending such wonderful website!

For those of you who have not visited the site, you must check out the Amharic Dictionary section which not only gives you a visible reference to the word, it will actually "say" the word when you click the play button.

I can now say Dog - "Woosha"
And I can say Bicycle "Beeseeklayt"
And more importantly I can say, "ewedeshalo" to Samuel when he begins to cry and scream, and throw a temper tantrum when he meets us for the first time... Ok, so maybe, "I love you" won't be the right thing to say at that moment, but it will come in handy I'm sure!

Check it out for yourself:Amharic Kids