The rest of Ethiopia and the trip home

I have decided I am going to go ahead and finish writing about the trip this post and then I will do another post of just pictures with captions. It is hard to write and add the pictures and get them all in the right places. So, this will be a long rambling post, but I will do my best to keep it lively!

Monday Jan. 25, 2010 - Embassy day!

Well, mason went down on Sunday night quite easily, a bottle and he was out. He woke up 3 times during the night wanting a bottle two times and a diaper change and bottle the other. It wasn't so bad. He had started out in the little crib pulled up right beside the bed. By the first waking, he was in bed with us. It was a huge king bed, so there was plenty of room, and thankfully, Mason wasn't a roller or kicker. He pretty much stayed whereever he was. We woke up bright and early, took showers and got ready for the day. We gave ourselves extra time becasue we didn't know how long it would take us to get Mason ready. Of course, we had plently of time and were able to make it to breakfast right when they opened. We found if we went then, everything was fresh - i.e. the french toast wasn't dried out and crunchy, and they had all the fillings for the omelets because once an item was out for the morning, it was out. We walked into breakfast, our waiter knew us and knew 'my' omelet and coffee order! It was so nice. Once breakfast was over, we hung out and visited with some of the other families and about that time Mason blew through his diaper. He had not been eating much by way of solids all of the sudden, so needless to say, things were liquidy a lot! I ran up to the room for a quick clothing change right when we were supposed to be meeting to head to the embassy. To be honest, this happened at opportune times throughout the week for me! So, we load up, all 20 of us into a tiny little van and head to the embassy. It took about 45 minutes to get there. It was so facinating to see the culture of Addis. There were people going about their business, kids in uniforms all over, people sleeping on the sides of the roads, goats and cows roaming about. It is amazing! Mason thankfully slept pretty much the whole way there. We got to the embassy and went through the two security checkpoints and headed to a waiting room full of people. Mason did really well at this point. he sat and played and had a bottle. All of the sudden, one of the families from our group was called over the lous speaker, it was their turn! Ours turned out to be next. It wasn't so bad. They ask a few questions, make sure we realize there are no take backs, all that good stuff. The lady was actually quite pleasant! I was kind of expecting otherwise. We finished, got Mason's new birth certificate with our names on it, and the court decree paperwork. It was neat to look at. At this point, we went down and waited for the other four families to finish their turns. Once we were all done, we headed back out to the van and loaded up yet again, and headed back to the hotel. One thing a lot of people talk about is the traffic and driving. There is nothing to describe it besides chaos. I have pictures that will go in the photo post which will help you understand. One thing that happened ont he way home, is that we witnessed the aftermath of an accident. It was really traumatic and affected us all in the van some way. Apparently, a man crossing the street didn't make it and was hit by a car. It didn't look good for the man in the street. What affected me most though, was seeing another man there, holding the down man and crying over him. People were looking on, trying to help, I like to think. We passed on and it was just a brief glimpse of the scene, but it is something I will never forget. The African Union was having meetings that week, so security was beefed up at the hotel. They didn't often check us, but this time they did glance at our bags and pat down some of the guys. We made it back to the hotel to have some lunch (room service - I think) and go down for a nap. The afternoon was fairly uneventful. We just hung out in our room playing with our little guy. We tried to get somewhat organized and prepared for the next day, which was our day for shopping! I was excited to see more of the city and get some souvenirs. So, we headed to bed fairly early and once again, woke a few times during the night, but not too bad.

Now it is Tuesday, January 26, 2010 - Shopping Day!

We once again get up early and get going for the day. We head down and have our yummy breakfast and then gather together to go to HH (Hannah's Hope - orphange) and drop of the children so we adults can go out and go shopping to buy souvenirs and then go get lunch at Makush, an art gallery/Italian restaurant. What a great day this turned out to be! Well, as we are all gathering together to load up into the van to head to HH, of course, that is when Mason decides to unload again, all over himself and partly on me. So, once again, we head up to the room for a quick wardrobe change! We pull into HH and it is so fun to see the kids there. The are so excited to see you! Mason was snatched (very lovingly) from my arms, which was great! I loved seeing him so loved on there. We all dropped off the kids and headed out! Dan and I were loaded with our numbers of how many men and women we were buying gifts for and about how many gifts we wanted to get for M. As most people who have followed this blog know, Dan and I had to fundraise about 95% of the funds for this adoption. So, needless to say, there were some very instrumental people who helped in bringing our baby home. Mainly family, but a few others whom we love and whom were extremely supportive. Because we had so many though and only 1 1/2 hours to shop, we decided to buy bulk! When we found something we liked we got X amount of them and figured it all out as to who got what when we got home. Such as scarves and bracelets and the like. We did buy some special things just for us and got some awesome gifts for mason for thought the years. It worked well, but was kind of comical as most of the others is the group were fairly conservative it seemed in what they bought. We had read in blog land that generally you don't get enough and wish you would have bought more. Not knowing when or if we would make it back, we wanted no regrets! So, we loaded up in the van and headed to Makush for lunch! It was fun to go and hang out with the others and just visit. Once again, we were thankful for blogland. Another couple in the travel group as well as us (who frequent blogland and have blogs ourselves) knew from others advice, to order two pizzas. One to eat there and one to take to the hotel. So, we did and it was yummy there as well as later int he room. While there, we were able to look at some amazing art. I had the opportunity to speek with the man who handles all the paintings and he was so encouraging about adoption! It was nice to talk to him. Dan and I picked out a painting for Mason's room and eventually for him to take with to his own home. It is not large, but it is a good size. Well, lunch was over, so we headed out and over to a little grocery store that was in the same building as Makush. It was fun to look around. Most of us bought a little something there from Injera, to spices, to sodas, to hair supplies for the little ones. :) We loaded up with all our goodies and headed back to HH for our little ones. It was so great to go back and pick them up! We were all excited to see our babies! We had to hunt down Mason. We found him up in his room. He was getting a bath as he had cerimoniously just pooped through his clothes, again! It was fun to see the special mother there bathe him and get his all lotioned up and ready to go. Such love for these babes. We finally had Mason in our arms again and we headed down and were given a baggie with Mason's picture book that we had sent, his current immunization record, and a CD of picture of his birth mother. Eventually everyone loaded up to head back to the hotel. At this point is was about 3 in the afternoon. We were all tired and worn out. We all get back to the hotel and head to our rooms to unload. Mason once again fell asleep in the van and we got him up to the room and down for a nap, which was great because Dan and I had the opportunity to really look thorough all we had bought that day. It was fun to lay it all out and really look at it! Mason woke, had a bottle, and we ate some pizza. We played for a while and it was time for bed again! At this point in the week, mason is really taken with both of us and doesn't mind either of us. He does favor Dan though, which is fine, because I know he likes me as well. it is fun to see Dan be a daddy! Dan got Mason all ready for bed and gave him his bottle and got him to sleep. We weren't much behind as jet lag, emotions, and not sleeping all night was starting to catch up to us. We did take a few minutes before going to bed and put the disk of pictures into the computer. It was a very surreal and kind of weird moment. I love that we have it!

Wednesday, January 27, 2010 - Embassy Paperwork day and Dinner Out!

So on Wednesday, the only thing we had to do was meet with Almaz in the afternoon to pick up our paperwork that we receive from the embassy to take to immigration when we get back to the states and go to dinner to a local Ethiopian restuarant. So, we once again, woke, got ready for the day and headed down for breakfast. After breakfast, we headed up to the room and just took it easy. We played, took turn napping, and just enjoyed being parents. We ordered room service for lunch and just hung out in the room. When it was time to meet with Almaz, we headed down and she had Mason's passport, which was fun to look at and the emphamous manila folder of paperwork. It is something that the embassy put together which is emphatically NOT to be opened. We are instructed to deliver the envelope to the person at immigration when we come back into the states. Almaz then spends some time telling us her heart for the Ethipian people. She is such an amazing woman. When this is over, we are done. We head back to the room for some rest and relaxation before getting ready for dinner. Later that afternoon, we were picked up and taken to an amazing Ethipian restuarant for some 'local' cusine and some amazing dancing. We really enjoyed this time and have some great memories. It was our first opportunity to eat Ethiopian food (besides what they had at the hotel), which we really enjoyed. We also really enjoyed the dancing. Mason was totally enthralled by the music. he loves music and that was the first time we were really able to see it. It was a late night and Mason ended up falling asleep there at the restaurant. We finally loaded up and headed back to the hotel. We wanted to get to bed because the next few days are going to be very long. Wednesday was one of the most relaxing days there.

Thursday and Friday and Saturday, January 28 & 29 & 30, 2010 - the adventure! -

Oh, if you've made it this far, you should be excited now!!! This is where things get exciting! We wake up, get ready, and do breakfast. You know the routine. Well, we head upstairs and start getting things packed. What a mess we have. Mason takes a pretty good nap, which helped the matter. Thankfully, when we packed to go there, we put an extra army duffel bag in each of the robbermaid tubs we took. That way we would have room to take home all our stuff, minimize our carry ons and also pack up our coffee and gifts we bought. After working on packing, we headed down to meet the others and we all loaded up and headed to HH for a couple hours to hang out with the kids and just say goodbye to everyone there. It was a great time. Once again, we got to see in person how much Mason was loved. We spent some time playing with the other kids and enjoying just being there. Dan and a couple other guys went out to see if they could find some CD's of local music. They were gone pretty much the whole time, but I think they enjoyed their little adventure. Dan took a bunch of pictures of the city, which have been fun to look at. We head back to the hotel and finish our packing. We had one bag full off coffee. Literally. We were aloud 50lbs. per bag. We had 20 kilos of coffee which equals 44lbs. That bag smelled really good! We were able to pack all our gifts in clothing and other soft things we had bought (thankfully, everything made it home in one piece). Well, we got all packed up and check out and went down to the lobby with all our stuff to wait to go to the airport. We were leaving the hotel at around 6 (I think). 5 of 6 families were leaving Thursday night, one family had to stay until Friday. We were headed out on a flight at like 11:55 pm. or something like that. It was late. We loaded up into the hotel bus and headed to the airport. We got there and had to sort all the luggage onto racks and push it up to the airport intrance. We couldn't even head up the walkway to the aiport without showing our passports to a guy. Once we got to the doors, we automatically went through security even before checking in. All luggage went through scanners again. We finally made it through the security and headed to check in. Unfortunately, our windows weren't even open yet. We had to wait and hour or so before they opened. It did give us an opportunity to fill out the exit visa form, so we were prepared. There were four families in our group on the flight, so we all hung out together while we waited. We get checked in and find out there are no bassinett seats because there are 13 infants on our flight and who knows how many other children, it seemed like a lot on the plane. So, we get through everything and up to where the gate is and wait once again. Dan walked around a bit and I just hung out. You have to go through security again when they open the gate and there is no bathroom in there, so we hung out until the last possible minute before going through that security gate. We got through and once again sat and waited. They finally called for boarding and we were off! It was so exciting to finally be headed home. Things were pretty uneventful at first and thankfully Mason was pretty easy going. There was only one crying baby on the plane, which I though was amazing, and the poor parents were doing everything they could for the baby. Well, about an hour into the flight, we had to land in Sudan, that is where the fun began for us! Mason decided to throw up all over Dan, the seat, himself, and a little on me while we were grounded. Due to the way the wardrobe changes had gone throughout the week, I was prepared. I packed 10-12 extra outfits. NO JOKE! I was prepared for him!!! We got Mason all changed and cleaned up as best we could. Key is, I only packed one extra shirt in the carry on for us because all week, he had only pooped and not so much on us. I wasn't thinking we would need it. So, one hour into the trip, we already stunk! Well, we changed Mason and took off again. Thankfully, through the whole trip, he was happy. He was never cranky. Not much longer into the trip, he pooped through his clothes. This is where the serious diarrhea started. Remember, we had a happy baby the whole time, we couldn't really complain. He was drinking his bottles as well, so we weren't worried about dehydration or anything. We went through the four outfits in the diaper bag quickly and by about halfway through the first flight, we were down to a clean shirt and he was wrapped in a blanket from the waist down. We got off the plane with enough time to take the dirty clothes out of the diaper bag and put them into the regular carry on and dress Mason as well as add the rest of the clean clothes into the diaper bag. We had another 8+ hour flight to go and wanted to be prepared. Same thing this flight. By the end of it, he had pooped through the clothes, a blanket, and was in our last outfit. We made it through immigration in Minneapolis and had a little under an hour to get through the security point and get to our gate. We were praying for a gift shop along the way to buy any outfit we could find! Thankfully, we rounded the corner and found a gift shop. We paid more for a onesie and a pair of pajamas than ever before or since. $68 later, we had two more outfits! At this point, we are praying they will get us to Denver and we could figure out something else there. We had a little longer layover there. Well, we are now in Minneapolis, Mason is in his last clean onesie that we had brought, we are on the moving walkway, trying to get to our gate, Dan is on the phone with his mom, and I am holding Mason. Get the picture. Cute little family, heading home. Well, Dan all of the sudden goes "Tara, he's pooping out his onesie!" Low and behold, our happy little boy was pooping out his diaper and onesie, down onto the moving runway. Dan hangs up the phone really fast and pulls the outfits out of the bag, and hands me the little paper bag they were in. I sit Mason on the bag, we can't really clean the floor, because all the poop had seeped through the holes of the walkway and I am just trying to contain the poop on the bag. We were really laughing by this point and so thankful we had found two new outfits! The first bathroom we spot, I go into with Mason, the diaper bag, and one of his new outfits. Of course, the only bathroom where there was no changing table! Thankfully, it had a huge counter top. I laid Mason down, was working on changing him and cleaning him up. One lady in there felt pity on me, as I was laughing about it all and asked if she could help. I politely declined. She did not need to get her hands in that mess! I got Mason changed, the counter sanitized (since we still were carrying that around) and back out to Dan. We made it to the gate it time to rest for about 5 minutes before they called us to board. We board the plane and are in the very last row. The flight attendant was a really sweet grandmother lady. She gave us a couple blankets for Mason, just in case. While we were getting settled, Mason was sitting on the seat and somehow, we both looked away because the next thing we know, he is on the floor, halfway under the seat in front of us with a big rug burn on his forehead. Poor baby! He cried a little, but thankfully, it wasn't too bad. About halfway through the two hour flight, we had our final mishap! He pooped through the onsie and all over the blanket they had given us to wrap him in. (It was cold on the plane and we had no pants covering his legs). So, once again, we get him cleaned up and changed (once again, into our brand new last outfit), throw away the blanket and wrap up the clothes in another bag. We used more of those diaper disposal bags for dirty clothes than dirty diapers. Let me tell you, our laundry was ripe by the time we got home and all the bags were opened. I can also tell you, I learned well how to manuever a baby changing table in an airport bathroom, I was an expert by the end of the trip! The lady on the plane gave us another blanket to take with us, just in case and we headed out. We got everything together and headed to the main terminal to see the family. We did have one more flight to go, but have a lot of family in the Denver area, so we had a family greeting waiting there as well. We finally come out and were so excited to see Dan's dad and step mom, two brothers, brother Jer's girlfriend, sister Trista, and her two kids. They were so excited to see Mason. We greeted and took pictures. Then we were off to go find our checked luggage. Praying it all made it to Denver. We had a four hour layover until our flight to Garden. We met up with my dad and his friend at baggage claim. We were late enough getting there that they had taken all four duffels off the rack and had them lined up for us. We got a cart and got them all loaded up to head up and check in for our last flight. We got upstairs to check in and there met Trista's husband there. He had just gotten back from a business trip. We got all checked in to go to Garden. They let us check in an extra bag, so we check everything we had except a loaded diaper bag and backpack. We all had dinner in the food court area. I have to tell you Taco Bell tasted really yummy at that point! Mason was doing great and having a great time! Eventually, we said our goodbyes, and headed through our last security checkpoint to get to our gate and head home. We had about an hour to kill and then an hour long flight and we would be home! We got to the gate and checked in. We waited a while and then found out our flight had been delayed to 8pm. Ok, we could handle that. It would get us home at 10 local time. Come 8, we find out it is delayed again until 10. They said something about the pilots needing to rest. We wander around, hang out, take naps, all trying to kill time. Come 11 or so (its all kind of a blur right now on specifics), we find out the flight is cancelled. They can get us home the next day at noon. Now think about this. Had we decided to forgo the last flight and just drive home, we would have already been there. We are worked up and mad and tired at this point. Not just tired, complete exhaustion has set in, but it had set in right next to adrenaline. At first, we decide to just drive home. It is the middle of the night, but we are so jet lagged, our bodies don't know what time it is. So, we call Dan's sister, who lives about 15 min. from Denver International and ask her if they could bring us the van and if we could borrow a car seat. All we wanted was to be home!!! They do so, with much protesting. Well, in the mean time, our parents are calling (both moms and step dads were here in Garden at our house waiting), telling us they didn't think we should drive. So, needless to say, they all convince us to stay in Denver for the night. They show up at the airport and are relieved (and probably a bit frustrated by this point) that we are staying. We load up and let me tell you, it was not good. Mason fought against the restraint of the car seat the whole time to Trista's. That was not a good start to our trip home. We were just praying at this point that he wouldn't scream the whole drive home (5 1/2 hours). That night at Trsita's house was probably the worst night we have had as a family. Mason did not sleep well and screamed a lot! Which of course meant, Dan and I didnt sleep well either. Trista at one point came down and asked if we needed anything. We felt really bad! So, we got up and got a shower and put on our yucky dirty clothes. Mason was loaned some old clothes from cousins, so he was the only fresh one of our bunch. Thankfully too, by this point, the diarreah had stopped! Our last blowout was that last flight home! We finally get things together. Load up in the van my aunt had loaned us to get to Denver in the first place, and hit the road. Unfortunately, it was not a fun trip home. The minute Mason hit that car seat, the screaming began. I even had a bottle all ready to hopefully ease him and put him to sleep. That backfired. He literally screamed for 3 1/2 hours. We stopped at this one little town for gas and hit their drug store. I bought every time of passifier they had and any toy that looked entertaining. To no avail, he hated the passifier (never did like them) and wouldn't have anything to do with the toys. At one point, we put in the Ethiopian music CD we had bought thinking it might help. Nope! We turned it up enough that it drowned him out a little. The whole time this is going on, Dan is up front driving trying to be comforting to me, and I am in back next to Mason, trying to comfort him. He couldn't understand why I wouldn't just take him out of the seat and hold him. It was a LONG trip! He finally fell asleep and slept the last hour and 45 minutes or so. Once we got to the edge of town, he woke up and the crying continued until we pulled into our driveway and got him out of that seat. By this point it was approximately 2:30 in the afternoon! It was a long day! Our parents were here to great us, and my sister Bobbie Jo and her family showed up shortly after. Everyone was so excited to meet Mason. It was not the way we wanted to make it home, but we got home nonetheless!


So, that is the 'story' part of the rest of the trip. Next I will get the pictures in order and posted on here. Planning to this evening and then maybe tomorrow, I will catch up on the last four months! :)