Gotcha Day

Yesterday was absolutely wonderful, but much different than planned! We arrived in Addis at about 8 in the morning, but spent the next 2 hours getting out of the airport. Between being at the end of a long line for tourist visas, and then a big luggage hassle, it just took forever. The suitcase that has all of Kerry's and my clothes didn't arrive, but is scheduled to get there this morning, so that's on our to-do list after our embassy appointment. As annoying as it is, I'm just so glad that it wasn't the suitcase that had all the boys' stuff in it. Kerry and I had a change of clothes in our carryon, and we were able to go down the street to a little store and buy a few toiletries that we couldn't do without for a day.

After going to the guest house, we called the agency to check in and see what the plan was for the day as far as picking up the boys. We were told before we left that Yeb's orphanage did a farewell party for kids when they got picked up, so we decided to get Tam first then go to the party and pick up Yeb. We brought traditional clothes for the boys that we were going to change them into before they left their respective orphanages, and just envisioned it based on what we knew. Like everything in life, it didn't turn out at all the way we thought. The agency driver picked us up and asked I f we could swing by Yeb's orphanage first because there was an infant that was going to be moved to Tam's orphanage. We figured we could talk to the orphanage director or the nannies about the party plans for later, so that was great. We got there, found Yeb, but there were no party plans, and since there weren't, they told us we could take Yeb with us right then. Since the driver was waiting for us with a nanny and the baby they were taking to Tam's place, the photo op with traditional clothes went out the window. We went to Kibebe Tsehay, Tam's orphanage, and waited for a few minutes while they got him up from a nap and got him ready to go. We played outside while we waited, and I had time to realize that Yeb looked about 10 pounds lighter than last trip because he was wearing underwear instead of a cloth diaper. However, that realization somehow didn't lead to the thought that he would need potty breaks, or that he probably needed a potty break NOW due to his consuming a bottle of water during the drive. I'll blame it on the jet lag, which we were starting to feel.

Tam was led out of the building he had been napping in, and he recognized us, and seemed happy to see us. His orphanage doesn't do a goodbye party or ceremony, so we snapped a few pics with his favorite nanny and piled into the van. I think the car rides were a highlight of the day for both boys. The level of excitement they had is bout the same as American kids at Disneyland, minus the Disney meltdowns. Not joking.

Right after we started driving back to the guest house I thought that Yeb was asking for his water bottle, so I gave it to him, but would find out about 10 minutes later that he had really been telling me that he needed to go potty. Oops. Tam spent the drive alertly looking out the window at all the cars (again, imagine Disneyland excitement here), Yeb fell asleep sitting up next to me and I was finally able to convince him to lay his head on my lap. Kerry and I were really feeling the lack of sleep, and Kerry slept most of the drive, and I fought it, too. By the time we got to the guest house, it had started raining. We groggily piled out of the car, and I tried to get my brain to figure out how to get Yeb out of the car And into the guest house without getting pee all over the only clean shirt I had at that point. We knocked at the gate but it took a few minutes and a few more knocks before someone let us in. We stood there waiting, in the rain, without talking because we were all so tired, and then Yeb, who was fortunately standing on his own at that point, went pee again. It ran out of his pants and somehow flowed directly into one of his high top shoes without laces. We're talking halfway full here.

So whenever I hear a story like this I usually look at this moment in the story as the rock bottom moment, or the sad part that is the flip side to the happy ending. But standing there as a family (minus Kate) In the rain with a shoe full of pee just made me so happy, and was much more like a wonderful beginning to the story of the boys joining our family. Kerry and I just laughed like crazy, and then got in the guesthouse and got those boys all cleaned up.

The rest of the afternoon and evening went really well. The boys were both ok with us giving them lots of loves, and the communication factor that I had started to stress about wasn't a problem, either. Between gesturing, pointing, and facial expressions, we all seemed to be able to figure out what everyone else meant.

Bedtime went a lot better than expected, too. Kerry rocked Yeb to sleep, and Tam wanted to lay down on the big bed with us, so we all piled on and fell asleep. Kerry woke me up about a half an hour later so we could put Tam in his bed and get us ready to go to sleep. Everyone slept really well. Yea!