This morning we got to go see our son and his orphanage. Kidane is a wonderful, loving place. The nuns really care about the kids and they are great with the kids. It has A TON of children and babies though that desperately need families. The ones with special needs are the ones that truly touch my heart because I know they would be sooooo much better off in the US with good therapies and medical interventions. One sibling group especially moved me. It was a 9 year old boy and his 8 year old sister. Both are highly intelligent, sweet, sweet, sweet patient kids. The 9 year old has what I think is cerebral palsy like my Clarissa but the nuns are not sure what is wrong with him. He is in a wheelchair and recently had surgeries on both of his legs so they are in casts. The nuns kept saying how intelligent he was. I spent time talking with him and he knows very good English and has the most wonderful smile. The sister is very caring towards him and makes sure he gets what he needs. Wonderful children. You should see the adorable pictures I got of them. I really hope they find the family they deserve.
Now onto the great news. Tadesse is the cutest, chunkiest, most spoiled, most atheltic, most coordinated, most energetic, handsome boy you have ever seen! We had a wonderful day with him. It really all went perfect. He is not going to have attachment issues at all. He is very well loved at the orphanage (all say he is a spoiled favorite, including one of the volunteers from Australia) and you can tell they are speaking the truth just by how much more meat he has on his bones vs the other kiddos. He has the perfect amount of stranger anxiety but after awhile warmed up to us and was affectionate. He makes great eye contact, gives devine kisses and can play soccer with the best of them (if by "them" you mean toddling 2 year olds). He does have a 2 year old attitude and a stubborn, independent, "I can do it myself" streak but that is par for the course with our family :). He and Naomi are going to have to fight over who is in charge at our house. He loved the stickers, cars and Tootsie Rolls we brought him but was not too fond of the formula in his bottle. Hmm, maybe juice or milk will do the trick. He is ALL boy and a big work out. He will be my new weight-loss program as he is go, go, go. He is going to fit in perfect with our boys at home.
We are madly in love with Teddy. And I think we have finally agreed on a name. Tate Tadesse Grove (still calling him Teddy though). It is funny how much Teddy fits him as he is a chubby little Teddy Bear.
Now some bad news. Teddy has scabies and what I think is pnuemonia. And we left all the persciptions at home! So I am going to have to figure out how to use a pharmacy here. His body is literally covered in scabies bites and he iches terribly. Poor kiddo. I really hope it doesn't spread to the rest of household as we have fought that before and it is a nightmare to get away from.
Now the really bad news. I may have to come home without Tadesse. We are going to need a special waiver and the embassy is now saying that it will probably take 15 working days to approve it! This would put me coming home the soonest on Dec 10th which is just too far away for me to be away if I can help it. The embassy is having a conference call with the powers that be tomorrow to discuss it so hopefully we will have more promising news then that. PLEASE PRAY. If not, then we are going to talk with our agency about maybe having another traveling family bring him home with them and we would pick him up in DC. It will break my heart into pieces if I have to do that but it would also kill me to be away from my other kids that long. It is such a difficult position to be put in. After talking to my kids on the phone this morning, I just bawled and bawled. It sounds like they are doing great but I just miss them a lot.
On better news, we take off tomorrow for Bahar Dar and then the next day to Lalibela. Tadesse was happy to return to Kidane after the embassy appointment and after seeing the love he got there it made it a lot easier to leave.
We will keep you posted about travel plans. Please pray that Tadesse and I can leave together very soon.
To my kids, thank you for talking to me on the phone. I am sooooo glad that everyone is being good for Auntie Rhonda. I hope that you guys are having fun. You will love your new brother, he is perfect for our family.
Love,
Kelly
Now onto the great news. Tadesse is the cutest, chunkiest, most spoiled, most atheltic, most coordinated, most energetic, handsome boy you have ever seen! We had a wonderful day with him. It really all went perfect. He is not going to have attachment issues at all. He is very well loved at the orphanage (all say he is a spoiled favorite, including one of the volunteers from Australia) and you can tell they are speaking the truth just by how much more meat he has on his bones vs the other kiddos. He has the perfect amount of stranger anxiety but after awhile warmed up to us and was affectionate. He makes great eye contact, gives devine kisses and can play soccer with the best of them (if by "them" you mean toddling 2 year olds). He does have a 2 year old attitude and a stubborn, independent, "I can do it myself" streak but that is par for the course with our family :). He and Naomi are going to have to fight over who is in charge at our house. He loved the stickers, cars and Tootsie Rolls we brought him but was not too fond of the formula in his bottle. Hmm, maybe juice or milk will do the trick. He is ALL boy and a big work out. He will be my new weight-loss program as he is go, go, go. He is going to fit in perfect with our boys at home.
We are madly in love with Teddy. And I think we have finally agreed on a name. Tate Tadesse Grove (still calling him Teddy though). It is funny how much Teddy fits him as he is a chubby little Teddy Bear.
Now some bad news. Teddy has scabies and what I think is pnuemonia. And we left all the persciptions at home! So I am going to have to figure out how to use a pharmacy here. His body is literally covered in scabies bites and he iches terribly. Poor kiddo. I really hope it doesn't spread to the rest of household as we have fought that before and it is a nightmare to get away from.
Now the really bad news. I may have to come home without Tadesse. We are going to need a special waiver and the embassy is now saying that it will probably take 15 working days to approve it! This would put me coming home the soonest on Dec 10th which is just too far away for me to be away if I can help it. The embassy is having a conference call with the powers that be tomorrow to discuss it so hopefully we will have more promising news then that. PLEASE PRAY. If not, then we are going to talk with our agency about maybe having another traveling family bring him home with them and we would pick him up in DC. It will break my heart into pieces if I have to do that but it would also kill me to be away from my other kids that long. It is such a difficult position to be put in. After talking to my kids on the phone this morning, I just bawled and bawled. It sounds like they are doing great but I just miss them a lot.
On better news, we take off tomorrow for Bahar Dar and then the next day to Lalibela. Tadesse was happy to return to Kidane after the embassy appointment and after seeing the love he got there it made it a lot easier to leave.
We will keep you posted about travel plans. Please pray that Tadesse and I can leave together very soon.
To my kids, thank you for talking to me on the phone. I am sooooo glad that everyone is being good for Auntie Rhonda. I hope that you guys are having fun. You will love your new brother, he is perfect for our family.
Love,
Kelly
1 comment:
Kelly,
I hope you get this! We have worked out things with the "powers that be" and the original time frame I advised you about travel still stands, and things SHOULD NOT take any longer. The specific part of the waiver that was a concern for the delay is NOT an issue any more, so no worries!!! :)
And you should definitely be able to get Elimite or some sort of scabies meds in ET. Ask Gail or a driver to help you with that.
have a great time traveling... I am so glad that Teddy is doing well and you are having a good trip. Enjoy it while you are there... I miss Ethiopia SO much.
Oh, and I LOVE the name Tate!!! It definitely fits him.
Let me know if you need ANYTHING I can help with.
Hugs,
Erin
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