Day 1

This was one of the first moments of holding and kissing Eden. She looks a little scared but she didn't cry.

This was later in the morning and she had warmed up to me and was playing very nicely.

This is one of the watch dogs at the guest house sleeping on the front porch.

This was a view from the porch outside my room. This is the first morning and I was definetely enjoying the sunshine and warm breeze.

I will skip the details of the long trip to arriving in Addis Ababa. Suffice it to say the flights were good, I slept a majority of the way and was very glad to finally have a bed at the end of the trip.

I arrived at 8:40 into Addis Ababa on Monday evening. I was picked up and deposited at the guest house where I would be spending the week. By the time we arrived to the guest house and I had all my things situated it was 10:00. I soon learned that I was expected to come to the dining room and have some soup before retiring for the night. It was some of the best tomato soup I have ever had! The perfect thing after a long trip.

I woke up on Tuesday morning to an absolutely beautiful morning! I realized pretty quickly that every morning dawns in much the same way - mid sixties, sunny, breezy and gorgeous. I had some breakfast and than waited for my driver to come pick me up. Now, the guesthouse where I stayed was all walled of and gated. The gardens were beautiful and everything was very clean and manicured. Tortoises meander around the yard and there are six watch dogs that love attention. After Wendi my driver arrived the gates were opened and we were on our way to the orphanage. It was a whole different world outside of the gates. I will talk more about the city on another day though - right now I was completely anticipating meeting Eden.

We arrived at the orphanage, Wendi beeped the horn, the gates were opened and I finally was allowed into what had been Eden's home for the past 4-5 months. I went into the office, spoke with the secretary and then waited while she notified the nannies of the arrival of Eden's mother. My head was spinning and my stomach felt very nervous. What if she cried when they handed her to me? What if they scrutinized my mothering abilities? Is this really happening?

And then I heard Wendi outside the window say, "Eden Belachew....." and the rest was said in Amharic so I didn't understand anything. Next thing I new she was in my arms and staring intently at my face. There were no tears just intense gazes. She was more beautiful than I ever expected and I felt like I could easily get lost in her eyes. They were so dark, deep and completely seducing. (not in a bad way of course) You just couldn't tear your eyes away. Her hair, her hands, her pouty mouth - everything was new and beautiful.

They ushered me into another room that accommodates families that are visiting their children. She nestled into my arms, looked at my face and promptly fell asleep. I spent the next little while taking her shoes and socks off, looking at her little feet, finding the cutest mole on her thumb, noticing her long eye lashes, touching her skin, feeling her soft curls and basically just falling in love with this little girl that had occupied my thoughts and dreams for so long. I had such mixed feelings. I was elated to have her in my arms yet felt like a stranger. At least she hadn't cried upon being placed in my arms.

Shortly after she fell asleep I was picked up and taken to the lawyers office to finish up the embassy paperwork for Eden. She came with me and I was so nervous. What if she started crying? She was amazing and during the visit to the lawyers office I was privilege to her first smile. I was mesmerized!! Her smile is huge - there is no other way to describe it.

We took her back the orphanage and dropped her off. I was then taken to the guest house for lunch and to rest. Our daily schedule basically consisted of me having breakfast, arriving at the orphanage close to 10:00, leaving at noon to have lunch, arrive back at the orphanage at 3:00 and staying until 5:00. Since we she was legally ours we could sign her out of the orphanage at whatever point we wanted. Our agency advised that we spend a few hours with her in the am and pm and just allow her to stay in her normal environment until the day we left to come home. I am so, so glad we listened. Everyday I felt more connected and as the days went on it became harder and harder to leave her there. By about day 3 she was reaching for me which felt really nice. Had we taken her right away she wouldn't have been comfortable with us and the transition may not have been so smooth.

The first day I was there I found out she had an upper respiratory infection and she was running fever. The nursing staff and pediatrician were wonderful and checked her over really well while I was there. I of course was nervous but her lungs were clear and she had already started amoxicillan the day before I arrived. As the days went on she progressively got better. After arriving home though and taking her to the doctor we realized she now had an ear infection and was still very congested. (complete side note)

After my afternoon visit and dinner I just spent the evening in my room thinking back over the day and journaling my feelings. I felt so blessed to have finally held my little girl and to have kissed her cheeks. She was more than I ever could have imagined!!

I also met two other families that had used the same agency as us. It turns out the one family lives in Penns Creek!! For those of you who don't know that is only 1 1/2 hours from us. Their little girl is the same age as Eden and beautiful as well. They chose to check their little one out on the second day because they had friends in Addis and other parts of Ethiopia that wanted to see her.

At the end of my first day I went to bed feeling very fulfilled but missing my husband and boys back home. My heart ached for them. I new I was in the hands of God and that they were as well but.......still not very easy. So, I fell asleep dreaming of my boys and my little girl only ten minutes away.