We love this boy!!!

Hello everyone! Well, as you can guess by now we have had some serious difficulty posting from Ethiopia. I’m so sorry! It’s the one thing that’s really bothering us both, as we have so many people checking the blog to see how we are – family and friends. Phone calls are terribly hard – as the internet removes the option for Skype and the only phone we can use is $1 a minute. Yikes! There is no internet in our guest house and we must first arrange for transportation to a local hotel that does offer it, and then we pay by the hour for usage. The only problem has been that the internet was down even at the hotel. So we have had no way to let you know that all is well and that we have wanted so badly to share our little boy with you. In addition, Blogger is not viewable here, so I can’t even post for you.

Special thanks to Robyn for being our go-between, especially when she has her own new baby at home! We so appreciate her being willing to take the time to post for us and upload the pictures for you to enjoy.

Today was only our second day in Addis but it feels like we’ve been here much longer. To be honest, I slept terribly the first night. Tossing and turning – the room was too warm and Anton was snoring (sorry AB!). Also the bed is extremely hard. Like sleeping on the ground, almost. I could hardly bear it. We both woke up with neck aches and headaches. After some pain relievers and a wonderful coffee and breakfast, we were feeling much better. More importantly, we were ready to go see Quint again! Have I mentioned what sweet boy we have? In case you can’t tell from the pictures, he is such a happy baby. We have yet to hear him cry, though he finally fussed just a little tonight when he got tired. But it lasted for less than 10 seconds before he was dozing off on Daddy’s shoulder.

Anyway, we visited him this morning and he was just all smiles when he saw us. It lit us up inside and out to see him smiling and happy. We only spent a couple hours with him, but it was absolutely wonderful. We were able to speak with his doctor and she was very kind and caring. She clearly has such a passion for the children and was so happy that Quint was going home with us. When she walked into the room, I was actually crying a little because I was just so filled with love for him and so happy to be his mommy – so grateful for him – so she saw me and she said “Oh no! Is something wrong with your eyes?” I said “no, no! I’m so happy – happy tears”. She smiled and laughed and gave me a knowing look. He does have a little cold, so she gave us some antibiotics for him and that was a relief!

We did leave him for lunch and his nap and went back in the afternoon for what would be our final “visit”. We signed our paperwork and officially became his full-time guardians. It was such a great moment to shake their hand and thank them for the gift of our son. What an amazing journey this has been for us!

We returned the guesthouse as full-time parents and either we are just really good (HARDLY LIKELY!) or God has blessed us with a wonderful son. He is such an amiable and likeable baby. He charms us all with every smile and giggle. He makes fast friends because he is so sweet natured and he is a joy!

We gave him his first bath and he really liked it. He splashed and played and it was so fun to see him enjoy the water! Yaaay for summer and swimming!!

We feel so goofy at this parenting thing and he is so forgiving of our foibles. Backwards diaper? No problem, Mom – here’s a grin! Bonk on the head getting out of the Baby Bjorn? No worries, Dad – here’s a giggle. He’s just a sweet little guy.

Our first feeding was interesting – a little touch and go as I wasn’t sure what he would like, and not sure how to adjust the measurements – might have watered it down a little. He was only partially interested. Regardless, he was so sleepy that I knew it was time for bed.

First time getting in our jammies was so sweet; he was tired but full of smiles for me. I placed him in his crib and it was lights out in three minutes. Just right to sleep, where he still is now – four hours later. Quiet as a mouse. Sweet boy…

Truly friends – we are overjoyed at this miracle. He is so very easy to love and to be with him is to seriously fall in love. I’ve no need to sugar coat our affection for him. His smile melts your heart and his laugh is infectious. We are so grateful to have him and there are no words I can put to it to express our happiness.

We think we’ll keep him. Tee hee!

More to come as we can…and a big hug!

cb