J Cooper Photography

We are home now but I need to first back track and fill in a few missing days on our travel journal!  Our last day in Ethiopia was a full and exhausting day.  We spent the morning at the hotel packing and re-packing our suitcases and then headed back to Hannah’s Hope for one last visit mid morning.  We spent our time there playing with the older kids…swinging on the swings and taking pictures.  I had one little toddler girl permanently attached to my hip.  She was the sweetest thing and just did NOT want me to put her down!  I was constantly amazed at the JOY apparent in the kids at Hannah’s Hope.   Many of them have had horrid experiences already in their short lives…yet they play with abandon and offer love like they have never been hurt.  One little boy in particular completely stole our hearts.  He was new to Hannah’s Hope…had the deepest, darkest skin, bright white teeth, dimples, and the most contagious smiles you have ever seen.  He LOVED the swings and could have been pushed on them all.day.long.  I can’t wait to hear that this special little boy has a forever family!

{the kids waiting to get the Cliff bars we brought for snacks!}

While Paul took Daniel into the baby house to say his final goodbyes…I went with another couple to tour Bethzatha Orphanage.  Bethzatha is the state run orphanage and has several branches throughout Ethiopia.  Daniel spent a bit of time in the Jimma branch and was then transfered to the one in Addis Ababa.  I mostly went along on the tour to see the conditions and get a feel for what less privileged institutionalization looks like.  I didn’t expect to have my heart broken.  But it was.  We toured the entire complex and spent a bit of time in the baby room.  Daniel wasn’t there long…but the interpreter asked the special mothers if they remembered an infant named Daniel.  They asked, “Daniel from Jimma??”  and showed us the size of a teeny tiny infant.  I was SO excited that they remembered our little guy!  I quickly pulled up a picture of him on my camera to show them and they all started to scream, clap, and jump up and down!  They were THRILLED to see him so happy and healthy (and chubby!)  They showed me to another little baby that was the exact same size as Daniel was…a tiny 2 month old who was barely 5 pounds.  I played and talked with her and just stood there amazed that our chunky little man started life so precariously. 

{the special mothers who took care of Daniel as a tiny infant}

{a sweet little baby who was the exact same size as Daniel when he was at Bethzatha Orphanage)

We checked out of our hotel in the afternoon and spent about an hour hanging out in the hotel lobby before catching the shuttle to the airport.  We had planned to be 4 hours early for our flight to ensure that we would be able to get seats with bassinets (we got the last 2 with the other family).  Unfortunately, our flight was delayed and the wait turned from long to excruciating.  Our flight left 3.5 hours later than anticipated and the 7 hour wait to board the plane had us exhausted before we had even left.  I met a sweet gal in the airport (HI JILL!) who read my blog…that was fun   And we had the company of our travel friends which made things bearable!

We took a 16 hour flight on Ethiopian air with a layover in Washington D.C.  Daniel was a rock star!  He ate, slept, and played the entire journey home with barely a peep.  He is just so easy going and sweet!  We had an AMAZING welcome crew waiting for us at the airport (will journal this experience in the next post)…so many family members and friends…we were floored by their awesome support!  And we were THRILLED to see our kids again…we missed them SO much!

After a quiet night last night we were more than ready to get out a bit today!  It isn’t advisalbe to take the children out into the city so we have been sticking very close to either the hotel or Hannah’s Hope.  Yesterday afternoon and evening we stayed put at the hotel…and it was beginning to feel a bit clausterphobic.  Fortunately, in the late afternoon, one of the other couples stopped by our room to chat and bring by a Nativity set they had found for us on their shopping excursion.  Then we all headed to dinner together.  Having other families here has been such a huge blessing!

We had the alarm set early this morning!  Paul had made arrangements to visit Kind Hearts and our sponsorship child Dagim.  We couldn’t take Daniel with us so Paul made plans to go by himself (I was so sad to miss out on meeting Dagim on this trip but had some good bonding time with our little man).  We first learned about Kind Hearts from a fellow blogger Karen.  She has a huge heart for helping these children remain with their familes.  By sponsoring a child at Kind Hearts you can provide a Christian education, food, water, and medical care for a child for an entire year!  When we heard about the need there we immediately signed on to sponsor a child….my parents did too…and we were placed with sweet little cousins.  Habtamnesh is 6 and Dagim is 7 and they live together as Dagim lost his parents.  The care center helps Dagim stay in his village with his family and attend school there!

While Paul was gone, Daniel and I headed over to Hannah’s Hope for the morning.  He has definitely been getting more and more aware as we go back to visit each day.  Today he seemed fairly confused although he wasn’t sad or upset.  As soon as we entered through the gate the nurse spotted us and snatched him out of my arms.  After playing with him for a few minutes she said, “I don’t know why….I just love him SO much!”  That seems to be a mututal feeling among the special mothers who are constantly kissing and hugging him.  I think because he has been there so long and has been sick so many times, they are constantly watching him and ready to swoop him up at the tiniest wrinkle of his nose.  He has been so loved by so many people there!  One of the workers was telling us that they call him “Black Forrest” because his skin is such a dark chocolate brown! 

We spent most of the morning today playing with the older kids as the babies were all taking their naps.  We played games with them, watched them color, and swung them on the swings.  The kids are so happy to have visitors there and will do anything to get your attention.  I was almost mobbed when I brought out the silly bands to pass out to them!  They are all so precious and I could spend weeks just playing and playing with them!

With each day that passes we are finding ourselves more and more in love with this little guy.  The heartache of the past few weeks has slowly melted away and we have been left with sheer joy and thanksgiving that God placed this baby boy in our hearts.  We can’t wait to bring him home and settle into our lives with all of our kids! 

Kansas City has gained a new little US citizen today!!

We were picked up early this morning to attend our appointment with the US Embassy and are so happy to report that we had no problems!  Daniel has clearance to come HOME!  Our documents will be delivered on Wednesday and we will fly out later that evening! 

He is absolutely amazing and has so much personality!  He has shown some good signs of bonding with us over the past day or two….lots of great eye contact and he even cried when one of the special mothers took him away from me.  He’s giving us lots of laughs and giggles too!  When we were here for our court appointment in November we noticed that he really loved to stare at his hands.  We thought he had just discovered them…but the love affair seems to still be going strong!  We give him toys but he just throws them and puts his hands back up…so funny!  He always seems to make the number four…I guess he just knows his place in line at the Cooper house!

Daniel is still struggling a bit with what we think is asthma.  A doctor here examined him before issuing his Visa and noted that he has bronchitis, which they detailed on his Visa.  The doctors here in Ethiopia don’t believe that children and babies can have asthma so they tend to diagnosis it as bronchitis or pneumonia.  We have some medication for him should he have any problems but right now he seems to be doing fine.  We are anxious to get him home to see our pediatrician and get to the bottom of what is going on though!  He has had too many visits to the clinic here!

Pictures are SLOW to upload here but I will try to send out a few each day!  I can’t wait to get him home to have a little mini session (or two or three) with him where the lighting is good and I have all my fun props.  I didn’t even bring along any photo editing software but I think you can easily see his cuteness without it We are blessed beyond measure and are just so HAPPY to finally have our son in our arms for good!  Can’t wait for everyone to see his adorable chub (there’s plenty to go around) in peron!

In has been a whirlwind experience so far here in Ethiopia!  We left Kansas City around 2pm on Thursday after getting the kids situated.  From there we flew to Washington D.C. and stayed overnight at the Westin (really nice!)  We hoped to take advantage of the fabulous room and get an amazing nights sleep but we were both to excited to sleep well.  On Friday morning we headed back to the airport for our 13 hour flight on Ethiopian Air.  It was a LONG, boring fight but there were plenty of movies to keep us entertained.

We arrived in Addis Ababa around 9am and took the airport shuttle to our hotel after getting our Visas and going through customs.  The hotel staff had our itinerary waiting for us and we found out that we would be picking up Daniel in just a few short hours!  At that point I started not feeling very good but just assumed I had a nervous stomach.  We grabbed some lunch with the other family that is here traveling to pick up their daughter and made our way back to Hannah’s Hope.  Daniel was waiting for us in the family room of the baby house.  When we walked through the door the special mothers yelled “DANNY…Mommy is here!”  Seeing him again was just amazing.  He is still the same sweet smiley boy he was in November…just chunkier and with a few more curls!  We spent a few hours at Hannah’s Hope hanging out with the other babies.  We gave Anat (Daniel’s favorite special mother) a picture frame with a picture of her and Daniel from or first trip…and she was in tears.  It is so special how much this woman has loved our boy in our absense…I will never be able to thank her enough for how she has invested in him.   I handed him back to her and she burst into tears…telling him she loved him…praying over him.  She asked me if I was a Christian.  Then she hugged and kissed me and told me how blessed we are (we couldn’t agree more).  It was an amazing experience.

Once we got back to the hotel in the afternoon Daniel became very sad and scared.  He cried for several hours but Paul was able to comfort him and get him to finally fall asleep.  In the meantime I was defintely starting to feel sick.  I am SO thankful that Paul was here with me to help throughout the night as I was too sick to do anything!  Somehow I must have picked up a stomach bug in the airport on the way here   It was a LONG LONG night but we made it through.  Daniel only woke to be fed and then fell immediately back to sleep.  By morning time I was feeling a bit better and have been getting better and better as the day progresses!

We spent the afternoon at Hannah’s Hope again playing with the older kids.  I wish I could bring every one of them home…they are so precious.  We took lots of pictures for families who are waiting to pick up their kids, jump roped, tickled, and just handed out much needed hugs.  I immediately found my little 6 year old friend from our last visit.  She remembered me and came running for hugs…she needs a family so badly! 

Tonight we ate dinner with the other traveling families (one family is here for their Embassy date tomorrow with us and the other is here for their court date).  It is so nice to have other people to talk to who understand this wild journey!

We will have our Embassy appointment early tomorrow morning (while you sleep tonight).  If all goes as expected we should have Daniel’s visa then so that we can travel home on Wednesday.  We can’t publically show his picture quite yet (don’t worry….I’ll post just as soon as I can!) but here are a few more teasers!

Well it’s 9:00pm and our bedroom looks like this….

And there are HAPPY little piles of all things baby scattered EVERYWHERE…

Which can ONLY mean ONE THING!!  We are leaving TOMORROW!!  We have confirmed travel plans, purchased airline tickets, made arrangements for the little people, called teachers, cancelled activities, shopped, cleaned our house, and packed (ok…still working on that one) all since 11 am.  Our case worker called this morning and said, “So are you ready to get on a plane to Africa?”  To which I responded…”This better not be a cruel joke!”  And it wasn’t!

So just like that….after 15 months of waiting we are going to be Daniel’s parents.  {Hope he likes us!}

Hopefully we’ll be able to blog and Facebook from Ethiopia so stay tuned for updates!  And if you are local and want to come get a first glimpse at his rolly polly thighs and a few slobbery kisses we’ll be flying into KCI around 5pm on Thursday, Jan. 13th

We are completely IN AWE at God’s goodness in our lives {insert BIG HAPPY DANCE here}.  Someone is going to remind me about all this excitement in a few weeks when I’m sleep deprived and covered in spit-up, right?

I didn’t dare dream that we would get clearance today.  After waiting those 2 long, hard weeks….I figured it would come at the very last second (or not at all…did I just admit that?) But…

WE HAVE CLEARANCE TO BRING DANIEL HOME!!!!

We are waiting for confirmation tomorrow on the January 10th appointment date.  We are PRAYING that we will be able to travel to make this date!  (That means we will leave THIS THURSDAY…gulp!)  We are beyond grateful for the effort this took the staff at Hannah’s Hope to bring resolution to his case.  We are humbled by the onslaught of pictures, video, measurements, and updates the traveling families have provided us with throughout this week.  We are AMAZED at God’s grace.  I had a long post ready to publish today about God’s faithfulness over our lives even when we don’t get what we want.  But sometimes God knows when we’ve had enough too…and He gives us a special gift (that we certainly don’t deserve).   The last couple of weeks have been some of the hardest we have ever had.  But God’s grace was sufficient.  We didn’t always have extra…but enough.  And if we didn’t receive clearance today…it would have been enough.  And if they call tomorrow and cancel the whole thing…it would be enough (but oh my…PLEASE let’s not go there!)

I’ll be back to give specifics as soon as we have them!  For now…just a quick snapshot of our 3 kiddos on the front porch…waiting on their baby brother!

I’ve struggled to post much on my blog during the holidays…as things have been…how should I put it?  A bit depressing?  Don’t get me wrong.  We had a beautifully cozy Christmas at my parent’s house followed by a week of house guests.   But I will always remember this Christmas as the “trip that didn’t happen”.  Right now the other families are in Ethiopia with their children enjoying their Gotcha Days.  And while we are genuinely thrilled for them…we are wishing it was still socially acceptable to throw a temper tantrum   I’m just not going to lie.  The past week has been pure Torture.  But we made it.  It’s been a full week since we were supposed to board that plane to our baby boy.  And we’ve lived to tell about it.  And something tells me that if we can’t go for another month…we’ll still live.  God’s grace has been sufficient.

My sister and her family was here this week to distract us from our pity party and we really did have a great time with them.  God gave us a gift of one 70* day where the little girls could ride their bikes and scooter to their hearts content.  As soon as their cousins stepped through our front door…they were off!  I didn’t see them for the entire 3 days.  They picked out their own clothes (which for my girls meant hoodies, white socks, and brown gym shoes) and never brushed their hair…they giggled in sleeping bags in our empty nursery until the wee hours of the night….and played every board game in our house.  Pure heaven for those little girls!  Sam had plenty of grown-ups to “oooh and aaah” over him.  And my sister and mom made great shopping partners.  I hit the jackpot at Home Goods on a few impulse buys which provided some short term relief   And when Mr. P questioned my purchases I claimed them as my “consolation prize” and he knew not to argue any further.

My Dad snapped this cute pic of the three youngest girls enjoying their break from mother-imposed sanitation.  They’re still pretty cute, huh?

The last news we received was on Thursday and it was “nothing new here”.  Daniel’s file is still being processed.  We are PRAYING for good news on Monday.  We are PRAYING that all the paperwork will be returned to the Embassy on Monday and they will provide IMMEDIATE clearance so that we can spend our entire life’s savings on last minute plane tickets later that week!  Nothing would make me happier

Thanks to ALL who have offered encouragement by way of emails and facebook messages!  They are appreciated more than you know!