Our Journey to Cooper....Days 3 and 4

Tuesday was our third day in Ethiopia....and donation day!!  We woke up, had breakfast, and brought ALL of our donations down to be loaded in the van.  Now, when I say ALL of our donations, I'm talking about 3 huge duffel bags full...everything we collected from our church preschool, from friends, even diapers from a fellow AWAA mom...so much stuff.  Not only was it in duffel bags, but it was also divided up according to where we would be taking it.  The majority of it was going to the AWAA TH (where Cooper currently is), but I also knew we would be visiting Kid's Care Orphanage and Kingdom Vision International (KVI).  Tim and I, also, wanted to visit AHOPE, so I had a separate bag for them.  So thankful for the large and x-large Ziploc bags.  They made it so easy to just pick up and go!  But, before we did our visiting of orphanages, we met with Duni, our AWAA facilitator, in-country.  She sat us down, talked with us and the Cassidy's about our adoptions, and went over how court would work.  She told us that we probably would not pass court because we probably would not have "the MOWA letter". This letter is vital to passing court and basicly says that the country of Ethiopia sees you fit to adopt one of its children.  A couple of weeks prior, there had been some changes made to the MOWA system and they were cutting back on the number of letters that were written.  So, we felt confident we would not pass and did not expect to.  We knew we would be given another court date in the next couple of weeks...disappointing, but things could be worse.  She went on to say that because Cooper was HIV+, she was going to plead one more time with MOWA and try to get that letter.  So, now we had a small glimmer of hope that seemed to grow as the hours went by.  We were not scheduled for court until Wednesday, plenty of time for the hope to grow.  

After meeting with Duni, we were driven by, David, our main driver to the TH.  We gave them all of our donations, gifts for the nannies, and delivered care packages that other AWAA families had sent for their little ones. Even though this was quite hectic, it was a lot of fun.  I so enjoyed getting to take pictures and serve these families.  I've been on the other side of this, waiting in anticipation for new pictures, and it was a pleasure to be able to help others.  I even got to take pics of some of our best friends' 5 month old daughter.... priceless!  After all the hullabaloo, we spent a couple of hours with Cooper.  Not as much time, but better than nothing.  He was happy and seemed to even recognize us...maybe...a little.  I did notice, that one time he followed Tim around the porch with his eyes.  It's really hard to explain, but when you are going through this, you look for every possible sign of attachment and pray really hard for your child to form a bond with you.  So, crying when a transition is made, looking in your eyes when giving them a bottle, following you with their eyes....are all good signs.  

Yes, those are my shoes in the background.  Fellow AWAA families traveling soon: please don't make the mistake I did of wearing lace-up shoes to the TH...wear slip-ons. I had heard this, but was thinking comfort over convenience.  Won't do that again!  You are constantly taking your shoes on and off....mine happened to be off here :)

After being at the TH, we ate lunch at Blue Tops Restaurant and then went to Kid's Care Orphanage.  Such sweet kids, here.  They sang some songs for us and played a few games.  Tim even got in one of them.  We were also served coffee and popcorn, while burning incense (This is a customary coffee ceremony that occurs when guests arrive....They even do this in some shops).  We bought a few Kid's Care t-shirts and handmade puzzles from an employee at the orphanage (one of my favorite things I bought).   

Next, we went to KVI orphanage.  We gave them our donations and visited with the children there.  I had put together some treat bags for each of the children, containing a small toy or two, a pencil, and a piece of candy.  It was so hilarious (kind of), to see the kids not like what was in their bag and ask for another.  Wow. Here's my two cents, for what it's worth....If you plan on doing this, make every bag  exactly the same.  Kids will be kids. Overall, we had a great time at the orphanages, the kids were so 

sweet, and it really opened our eyes to the need for adoptions of older kids. 

We had dinner, that night, at Family Restaurant, with the Lester and Benkert families that run the Drawn from the Water ministry.  It was so great to hear their story and learn all about what they are doing in Ethiopia.  

Wednesday was COURT DAY!!  We had breakfast and met Yonas (our AWAA guide) in the lobby around 9:30.  He took us to the Ethiopia Federal Court building, where we would meet with the judge.  I will never forget this building, the waiting room we were in with 30 other people.  Every seat along the wall was taken, so we stood up in the middle of the room, the only white people except one couple from Europe.  I definitely felt like everyone was staring at us.  I later learned that all of "these people" were birth moms and birth families.  They may have been wondering if we were adopting their child.  We waited for about 30 minutes when Yonas said, "We are going to wait a little longer.  Your letter is on its way."  Just like that, so non-chalantly.  What!!???! Our letter!!???  THE letter!??!!  The one we were told wasn't going to be here??!! Tim and I could barely contain ourselves.  I remember asking Yonas if this meant what I thought it meant, if we were going to pass.  Cautiously, as only Yonas can, he said, "This is good news." The next hour drug on for-ev-er.  Finally, we were called in.  The judge asked us a few questions, closed our passports and said, "He is all yours.  Congratulations." AAAGGGHHHH!!!!!  This was totally God!! I instantly thought of all of our family and friends back home...some we don't even know personally, friends of friends that have heard our story, Cooper's story.  I was reminded of all the prayers being said for us that night.  While everyone in the states was asleep, we were in court.  Thank you so much for being a part of this journey.  You will NEVER know what it has meant to our family!  We just became a family of 6! 

Because our court appointment lasted so long, we ended up missing our trip to the coffee factory (We will definitely be doing that when we go back for Embassy).  We went to lunch at Makush, and then went to the TH to see Cooper.  That afternoon, we had an appointment with his HIV doctor, who is at a clinic about 30 minutes away.  When we arrived at the TH, Cooper was not there.  We found out that he had spiked a fever and they had taken him to a clinic down the street to have some blood work done.  The blood work came back fine and he ended up just having an upper respiratory infection, but that was enough craziness for me!  He came back to the TH, and we loaded him back up to head to the HIV clinic.  Remember 30 minutes away....in a van...no carseat....holding a sick baby that is running a fever....80 degrees outside....no air conditioning....on the bumpy roads of Addis Ababa.  Not a fun trip!  We made it, had a great visit with the doctors, and went back to the TH.  I think we spent more time in the van, than we did with the doctor!  

It was so hard having to see Cooper so sick....I felt confident he was getting pain reliever for his fever, but not sure how often, and knowing he needed his momma, broke my heart.  He finally fell asleep and I left him that way, in his bed.  

We went to the Boston Spa that night.  Tim and I both had 1 hour massages and I got a pedicure....a great treat and definitely worth it.  By the time we got back to the GH, it was around 8:30 and neither of us wanted dinner.  My emotions were all over the place and I was ready for some sleep.  

blue taxicabs

Look familiar?

a man sewing on the side of the road

the view from the top of the GH