Adoption Travel Journal - Day 5, Feb 23, 10 - Tuesday

Today proved to be a harder day. Fikadu was sad most of the day and Abush was very upset at meals. It felt like we started off pretty strong and as the days went by, it was more challenging. Since we treated the boys for scabies the first night, the treatment proved to work, but the intense itching and bumps were very uncomfortable for Fikadu. I had limited supplies to care for his itching. We used some antihistamine but needed some anti-itch cream.

We got up and washed the boys up and went down to breakfast. Fikadu loves it when he sees his friends at meals. He just lights up when we can eat together. It will be hard when he won't have his buddies once we get home. I am praying that the boys become better friends as they grow up together.

Most of the families decided to go shopping today. If you chose to go shopping, you have to take your children back to HH or one of the parents have to stay behind. Since we have 2 kiddos and they both prove to take one parent's attention, we decided to not go shopping. It would just be too hard for the parent who stayed behind and we didn't think going back to HH would be good for our bonding. Instead I sent some birr with one of the other families and asked for a few little things.

Since we stayed behind we spend the day in our room here at the hotel. We got the family suite which is 2 rooms and a little sitting room.

Here is one of the rooms with the bigger bed. This is where I slept with Abush.

Here is the other room where Fikadu and Chuck slept. This room had a window which let in some light and a breeze and lots of noise.
Here is the hall that connected the 2 bed rooms. All the furniture was really large and clunky. And much of the drawers and shelves were falling apart.

Here is Chuck in the bathroom. You had to step up 2 steps to go inside and Chuck hit his head many times in the door way. You had to remember to duck to get in. A big blessing was being able to flush the toilet paper (something that isn't customary in Ethiopia).Here is the hot water heater that we used to heat the water. Ours only worked a little bit.Here is the little sitting room when you first walk into the room. Then you go up about 5 steps to get to the hall with the bathroom and bedrooms.


The boys just had a hard day today. Fikadu pouted and sulked about everything. He didn't want to eat, he was rejecting and pulling away from me. It is pretty common for the boys to throw a fit when they don't get their way. They didn't eat at meals and just had a hard time. By now, we are all tired. Chuck and I haven't slept hardly at all and that is catching up to us. We are also not eating much so we are tired and exhausted. I've noticed how winded I am when I climb several flights of stairs (the altitude in Addis is around 7,000 ft). We all took a nap after lunch and that helped pass some of the time here at the hotel. Our water still isn't working great so it is hard to get the shampoo out of my hair. It seems to look worse after I wash it. All of that adds up to just not feeling like yourself.

Chad and Courtney came over to play in our room for a little bit. It is so nice to have them to connect with. We have enjoyed our travel group so much. The blessing of having Christian families to share this experience with is a huge blessing. I really didn't know how important having a Christian agency would be, but it proved to make our whole experience throughout the adoption so much better.

All the kiddos here have coughs and colds and runny noses and ear infections...the list goes on. They share everything so the germs get passed around a LOT. I put both boys on antibiotics the day we got here. I also used eye drops and ear drops on Abush. I was very thankful I brought the right medicines. I was able to share some with some of the other families in our group.

Regina and Siti came to play in the afternoon. We ended up going to dinner with them. It was the only day we had 3 meals in the hotel restaurant. The other days we would snack for one meal in our room. We ordered injera for the kids and they ate it right up. Most of the time, they say no to the food at first and then give in and eat it.

I finally took some Tylenol pm to help me sleep, it was a better night but still we were up a lot of the night. Still trying to figure out these little guys and make sure we can help meet their needs. Each day if full of both good moments and some hard ones too.


Dear Sweet Peas,

As hard as it is to watch you grieve and cope with the changes in your life, I am thankful that you are doing so. I pray that someday you can find true comfort and peace in Christ alone.

Love, Mom