Travel day 2

6-14-11

We woke up this morning several times before finally deciding to to get up at 7:30 a.m. We watched our last little bit of t.v. for a while and began to get ready to go to the airport... We have now been on the plane for about 5.5 hours-ugh-the plane air is kicking up my allergies and I am hot and sticky. Did I mention that I am not a good road trip person so this plane ride is going to be terrible!!?? At least the end result will be well worth the trip!

I do have to say that I am still astounded at the number of actual Ethiopian people on this flight...I have never been so moved by the eyes of people before in my life. I am beginning to understand why people say this trip will change my life. Seeing the Ethiopian children on this flight even makes me tear up!

Side note- Michael saw the actual "crazy adoption" woman who we purchased his shirt from!!! (Man-up for the fatherless shirt)

Here's to hoping the next few hours fly by!

-Mama 2 be

Have I mentioned that I miss her? I want to be right back in that moment holding her and looking at her. I miss her. -Mama 2 be

Travel day 1: 6-13-2011

Today we left for Little Rock airport at 1 p.m. Michael's parents came to tell us goodbye before my parents drove us. We said goodbye to Amel and we were on our way!

Two hours later we arrived at the airport and began our departure to our little A.J.! Before we went through security we did have a chance to eat with my family for the last time until after returning home. After another round of goodbyes we went through security and headed to board our plane!

We arrived in Atlanta at 7:30 p.m. and then caught another flight to Washington D.C. We landed in D.C. at 10:30 p.m. where we stayed overnight until we boarded for Ethiopia!

The whole day was a whirlwind of emotions and we were very eager to meet our little girl, which was now just a matter of hours away!! Ethiopia here we come!!

Holy Ground

A few quick notes about our recent trip to Ethiopia...

Exodus 3:5 has God telling Moses, "Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground." Every single day we took off our sandals to go into the upstairs rooms of the foster home to collect our beautiful daughter and to love on the other babies there. Every single day we took off our sandals to enter the visiting room off of the court yard to play with our beautiful daughter and the other children. These were truly places of holy ground. This passage was shared this morning in church and I was shaken to the core as I realized the sacredness of the places we had recently spent time; God is truly working wonders in his holy way for the children that we placed eyes upon.

One other thing has continued to shake me since we traveled to Ethiopia: I saw the face of God and the love of Jesus Christ in a man named Yohannes Mulugeta who we called Joni. Joni changed me. I want people to see me in the same way that I saw Joni. Joni was a very loving man and our trip would not have been the same without him.

Lastly, I will count the days until I get to hold my daughter again. I love her more than I have ever loved anything. Anything. Leaving her on that last day was the most difficult thing I have ever had to do and I hope to never have to endure that again (albeit I know that I will endure this pain as a parent many times in AJ's life).

the light of my life

Before I blog the details of our trip and our day to day events I want to talk about our little girl.

I want to talk about the pain I feel now having left her in Africa. Saying goodbye to her was the most painful thing I have ever done. My heart breaks at this very moment. Not having her in my arms is killing me. I feel empty and lost. I feel like I've lost half of myself. I will not feel whole again until I have her home safe and sound. She is the light of my life and truly a gift from God.

She has changed our lives forever and we could not be happier about that. In the few days that we were with her she showed us how great life can be and how hard it can be at the same time. She has shown us what God looks like. We miss her more than words can say. We love her more than words can say. -Mama

Tomorrow Tomorrow!!!

Well we leave tomorrow to start the journey of meeting our daughter!!!! We will not officially leave the states until Tuesday, but as of tomorrow we are about 1 day away from seeing her and holding her beautiful little face!!! Love u baby girl! -Mama 2 be!!

Four days!!!!

5 days left until we leave to see our little girl!

Today was our preliminary court hearing and we really don't know how it how it went. We have asked if A.J.'s birth mother was able to appear and if our MOWA letter was present but all we received back was that everything went fine. Sigh. I hate this unknown period. Ugh.

On another note, I have been reading that many families have been receiving very quick turn around between court and embassy!! This is very encouraging! I hope that this is how it happens with us! Please pray that this is the case! -Mama 2 be!

P.S. We just found out that A.J.'s mother appeared and gave her consent!!! However, our letter was not there ugh, but one small step for us!!

Time in a bottle

Well last night I stayed awake for over an hour after I had turned the T.V. off. I thought I was ready to go to sleep, but I guess my mind had other plans. I couldn't stop thinking about the up coming court date for both us and A.J.'s birth mother. Was she going to take back her decision to give her child up for adoption? Was our MOWA letter going to be present at court? Is this adoption story going to have a happy ending? All these thoughts played over in my head again and again all night. Somehow after over an hour of me playing out every scenario in my head I fell asleep. When I woke up I decided that I would only think happy positive thoughts about seeing our little girl, however I have already broken that vow. One day lacking until our preliminary court hearing and only 6 days until we travel. Please pray with me that we will get to bring home our little A.J. very quickly and that all will go well with court. I know I have asked that several times but it's very important and it needs to be said more than once. We love you baby girl! -Mama 2 be!

7 days!!!! -Mama 2 be!

Single digits!

We are finally in the single digits!!! Only 8 more days and then we are off to see our beautiful girl! I am becoming so anxious it's crazy!! I can't believe we will actually be holding our little girl soon! I still feel like this is all a dream of course I know it's not, but who really gets to travel to Ethiopia and see their daughter for the first time???? It doesn't even sound like it could really happen! Wow I love this little girl already!! -Mama 2 be!

A little sunday surprise!

Well I don't normally blog on the weekends, but I received a little gift from a couple who were recently in Ethiopia! They took pics of our beautiful little A.J.!! I cannot share the ones of her face, but I can share this one!





Aren't they adorable!!!!???? -Mama 2 be!

11 days until we leave!!! -Mama 2 be!

Changing it up

Okay so I'm sure you've noticed that the number went from 15 to 12 in a day lol! Well I have decided to change the numbers to reflect the number of days left until we leave for Ethiopia rather than the number of days until we land in Ethiopia. I realized that we may not have internet access to blog the last two days seeing as how we will be traveling. So, yeah 12 days!!!! -mama 2 be!!

Clouds in my coffee, clouds in my coffee

15 Days baby!!! -Mommy 2 be!