Introducing

Okay, I've tortured you long enough. Oh, and yes, they have names!
Without further adeu, we're so proud to introduce the two coolest kids
in Addis Ababa: Bamlak & Hiwot!

Today was a very emotional day to top off what has been a roller
coaster ride of a past week and a half. I'm going to keep this post
strictly adoption related, although I will say there's been a ton of
really heavy stuff going on that has just compounded our stress
lately.

Last Wednesday, we received a call from our agency coordinator.
Actually, I got an email and a message on my cell - both stating that
she wanted me to call her as there had been an "interesting
development" in H's case. I don't have to tell anyone experienced
with adoption that this is NOT something you want to hear, especially
4 days before boarding a plane for your children's court hearing.

My stomach turning, I called her and got some pretty shocking news. I
won't share it here as it is H's story to keep for herself, but it was
very difficult to get on the plane and go through the first couple of
days here not knowing what was going to happen. Needless to say,
things have worked out the way they were intended and here we are,
parents to two more amazing, beautiful little miracles!

Our court hearing today was less than five minutes, our coveted MOWA
comment was there and the hearing concluded with those four glorious
words: "Congratulations, they are yours!."

The highlight of our day was definitely our visit with the kids. They
sang "Mommy...Daddy...Mommy...Daddy..." for the entire three hours we
were there. They rarely wanted to be put down. We're starting to see
their personalities a little more and it's interesting to imagine how
they're going to fit into our family. We can see that food will be an
issue, as will sharing toys and attention - those things all to be
expected. They are both incredibly smart and pick up on things very
quickly. We're still pretty surprised at how tiny they actually are.
The measurements they give us each month correlate to Esen and
Marissa, but in person, they definitely don't match up. H is wearing
a 2T and B is wearing a 3T. Guess I should've held onto some smaller
clothes!!

There's another very sweet family here from Tennessee who are adopting
a sibling group of three from the same orphanage, H's best friend and
B's best friend among them; so we've enjoyed spending time with them.
We're enjoying the restaraunts, shops and went to the National Museum
this afternoon. The only thing we're not enjoying is the pollution -
my sinuses and lungs are truly hurting.

Tomorrow is a light day as all the "business" is done. We see the
kids, have lunch, visit another orphanage and probably do a little
more shopping. I love it here, I can't imagine leaving B & H
behind. I can't imagine that final goodbye, but at the same time, I
miss Esen and Marissa so much. We Skyped last night and it was so
hard not to just scoop them up and hold them. Soon, very soon, I
hope, we will all be together.