We arrived home yesterday afternoon, right on time. I have never, ever, ever been so happy to be home.
Joshua Gebeyehu packed up and ready to go!
Gebeyehu got very upset when the doormen came up to our room to carry down all our bags. He was near tears and just clung to me. He really did not let go or relax until we were half way through check in at the Ethiopian airport. He was not going to be left behind!
We left our hotel in Ethiopia at 7:30 PM (Ethiopian time) to head to the airport. We got our luggage pushed back in - not so easy when my arms were full of Gebeyehu. Mom and Krissy had their work cut out for them. We stood in a long line to get our luggage through security, then in a long line for our boarding passes, then in a long line for immigration, then upstairs to wait for our flight. At the Ethiopian airport you go through security yet again to wait at your gate. This room does not have a bathroom. Wouldn't you know it as soon as we were through all this tape, Gebeyehu had to shinty matah (use the bathroom). I tried to talk him into using his diaper, but NO way. Luckily for both of us, in Ethiopia children are doted on like no other place I have been to. They let us out and back in in record time.
I was so relieved to be on the first flight! The Ethiopian airport stressed me out! I was just totally paranoid that they would not let me get my son home. Joshua Gebeyehu was sitting happily with his seatbelt on for about 4 minutes. Then the seatbelt freaked him out! He cried long and loud, until he fell asleep. He slept for about 5 hours on the first flight 8 hour flight from Addis Ababa to Amsterdam. Then they turned on the lights to feed us breakfast. He hung out happily... until seatbelts had to go on to land. Then he made his presence known to the entire plane.
We had a 4 hour layover in Amsterdam. Grandma Donna and Krissy fed him his first soda andPringles. I had suggested orange juice, but they claim orange soda was the closest option. He really liked the chips - he's a bit of a carb-o-holic.
His favorite thing at the Amsterdam airport was the luggage cart. We played car - bbbbbbrrrrrrooommmm beep beep. Joshua Gebeyehu's second favorite game only thing more fun is CHOW! He loves to pretend he is going chow (bye-bye).I am trying to block out the 8 hour and 3 min. flight from Amsterdam to Minneapolis. He slept for the first hour after screaming because he had to wear his seatbelt for take off. Then he woke up because they brought around lunch. He played nicely for a while then needed to shinty like every 10 minutes. (More like bored than tiny bladder) That is about the time I started to count down the minutes until we landed - there was 5 hours 50 min. left in the flight. UGH! He really was a trooper except when the pilot turned on the seatbelt light. Most of the stewardesses just ignored his lack of seatbelt, mind you this pilot was very cautious, the seatbelt light was on A LOT! There was one stewardess that insisted he wear it. He screamed every time. Now you have to understand, no one wears seatbelts in Ethiopia. In fact the driver our agency uses actually encouraged him to stand in between the front 2 seats so that he could talk to Eyob - the driver. Great fun for a toddler, but terrifying for this American mama. Anyway, he was so completely exhausted plus he hated the seatbelt plus he could not understand why it could sometimes be off and sometimes had to be on. It was terrible. He cried so hard when he had to be buckled, which was heartbreaking and I felt terrible for the other passengers. God takes such good care of me though. By the time we landed I learned that the family directly behind us was bringing home their newly adopted 5 year old. The older man next to me has a daughter my age that he brought home from Korea. He hugged me at the end of the flight and told what a blessing she was and that it would be alright, when he could have chewed me out for making his flight loud and miserable. The woman in front of him told me about bring her fourth child home from Russia. This daughter was seated directly in front of my sad son. Despite the fact that Gebeyehu cried for around 2 hours of the flight - did I mention he only slept 1 hour - people were so nice to me as I got off the plane.
We got out in Minneapolis. As soon as we got in line in immigration someone noticed we were bringing home an adoptive child and pulled us into another line. Within 15 minutes of landing in the US, they had all of us processed and were stamping Joshua's visa as a US citizen. When the kind immigration official told us "Welcome Home!" I nearly lost it. When I heard Chad's voice on my cell phone a few minutes later I did. It was such a relief to have him on US soil safe, sound, and fully ours.
Krissy had been totally craving McDonald's. Don't you know it, there was one right inside of our luggage recheck. She had much fun feeding Joshua Gebeyehu his first french fry dipped in chocolate milk shake. He was not such a fan!We found our gate for our final flight, cleaned up a bit in the restroom, and watched Gebeyehu entertain everyone waiting with a rousing game of CHOW! He would yell "Chow!" blow many kisses, climb on a chair and pretend with much noise and fanfare to drive away. Big ROOM ROOM ROOM, BEEP, BEEP BEEP, BBBBBRRRRRMMMMM. He always made sure each of us - Krissy, Grandma Donna, and myself said "Good-bye or Chow!" One time Krissy said, "Bye, I love you!" And he repeats clearly "I wove you!" It was the most beautiful game I have ever played! He had the other passengers eating out of the palm of his hand.
We boarded our final flight and I along with my family at home was begging God for a quiet sleepy ride. We had the opportunity to put him in a window seat on this flight. He sat in the window and watched all the mackeenas (I have no idea how to spell Ethiopian words, I can barely spell in English - so they are all spelled like my 2 yr old Amharic speaker says them.) Then we yelled "Chow" to them as we took flight. I had snuck his seatbelt on during all this excitement and he did not notice. We watched Minneapolis disappear and saw the most beautiful white fluffy clouds appear and he FELL ASLEEP!
We were greeted at home by a wonderful group of family and friends. Gebeyehu was so sleepy he could barely keep his eyes open. It was midnight Ethiopian time when we arrived at our airport plus he had only slept 7 hours on 3 different planes over the course of 30 hours, so he was a sleepy boy. My friend Mary photographed everything at the airport and sometime I will post those photos.
Not long after we got home, I asked Joshua Gebeyehu if he wanted to go to Papa (they taught him to call his dad papa at the care center). I got a big sleepy nod. Just like he had done with me the week before, he was thrilled to snuggle into his papa's arms.
There were posters and signs welcoming him home all over the house! (Also banners at the airport, his siblings and cousins made t-shirts, etc... but will post more on that with photos)
It did not take long and all five kids were giggling and playing. It was so good to see them all together. Gebeyehu entertained us all with his cheesy grin and silliness. Then he had a bath with his Daddy. The miracle that ended the day was him cuddling up with me in the rocking chair and rocking to sleep without a tear. (Going to sleep has been very hard - all else has been easy though and I will get to all that in the next few days.) He woke up between 1 and 3 AM crying/yelling "Nay Mama" (come mama). Chad pushed me out of bed. I was way asleep and he was not sure Gebeyehu was ready for him to be the one to get him in the night. I grabbed him and brought him to our bed. I slept the rest of the night caccooned by Chad on one side and Joshua Gebeyehu on the other. It was so so good.
Gebeyehu woke a little disoriented this morning - go figure! But it did not take long and who he wanted was Papa aka Daddy aka Ababa. Joshua Gebeyehu calls Chad all of these names. We played lots today, snuggled lots today, went for a ride in Mama's mackeena, took a nap - Joshua cried for Ababa when I rocked him. Chad came and got him and there was not another tear. We woke him up from his nap, hoping to help his poor little body clock adjust to the 8 hour time change. He spent the last hours playing with the Tonka truck his Grammy gave him for Christmas, weeks before we had seen his face. It is so so good to be home.
I will post about each day in Ethiopia, especially his "Gotcha Day." It may take a little while. I am really tired. Gebeyehu is handling the time change better than mama. Thank you for your prayers and all the support. Bringing Joshua home was everything I hoped and more. I look forward to sharing about it with you.
