A week of adventure

We did it! Big news from the Hunt household this morning. WE HAVE SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT! Whoop, whoop! Gadisa has been with us for a week and a half and the middle of the night greets us stumbling around half asleep to make a bottle. Some nights it's been waking up twice to feed him, other nights just once. Now granted, I know a lot of 7 month olds already sleep through the night, but not our little guy (until now). All the new stuff he sees every day, the time change, the entirely different world...all of it, keeps him restless. So, when I heard the little whimpers in the baby monitor I hurried in to him and then realized it was light outside. I checked the clock and sure enough it was 6 am. I'll take it!

Our first week has been full of adventure. For all of us. We've tried out the stroller (which is a big hit), the Johnny Jump Up (not so sure about), the swing (another favorite). We like sweet potato, carrots and as of this morning LOVE pears. I adore watching him try new things. Everything is new to him. This little guy has spent months in one room. I watch him just stare at things and take them in. I love it! He's met everyone at our office, made a trip to Target, a visit to the amazing toy store downtown and visited two doctors. A lot to cram in one week.

Both his doctor's appointments went pretty well. He's tiny they say, so we were told to feed him as much as he wants. Which is good because we thought we were overfeeding him. He has a few of those pesky predicaments that children in orphanages come down with, but we are treating them. He's gaining weight quickly though. From Monday - Thursday he gained 13 oz! He had some vaccinations yesterday and it took everything in me to not cry when he did. I am quickly a very protective mommy.

The diaper situation has been interesting. Our goal was to do G Pants. They are a biodegradable insert inside of a cloth cover, but also have a cloth option. Well, the first one did not go so well. Then a good friend told me how to properly put them on. Now, I think we are rolling! It's funny how excited I am about diapers now. I did try the good, old fashioned cloth diapers and it was definitely an amateur attempt. So, I need to work on my technique. Overall, we're doing pretty well. We are ecstatic to have him home. I just look at him and become overwhelmed with happiness and amazement. I love, LOVE being his mother.

Home Sweet Home

We made it home Saturday evening. It was the longest, hardest bout of traveling I have ever done. 32 straight hours of traveling from the time we left our hotel in Addis until we arrived home at our house. We felt a tired that made us sick to our stomachs. Gadisa had a rough time on the plane from Rome to DC. My mom and sisters met us at the airport and took us home. It was amazing to have them stay the night and have dinner made for us. We finally got decent sleep last night.

I would definitely recommend future travelers to make sure you are rested up before you travel. There's so much to do to prep your home and life before you make this big life adventure, but I am not kidding when I say you will be worn down to pieces globe trotting to pick up your child. I think it was especially hard because we adopted an infant who does not sleep through the night yet.

Being home feels so good! This morning I was up bright and early with the birds chirping and I sat on the porch with G. The same porch that I sat on for months and months daydreaming about him. There he was in my arms, in the rocking chair letting me soothe him and just listening to birds. It is amazing to have him home, to have him in our house. I just keep pinching myself. He has been in a wonderful mood today. He has been super smiley and I can't stop kissing him!

So... about Addis Ababa. It is eye opening. An experience we will never forget. Unfortunately, I did feel sick most of the time we were there. I was very careful about what we ate, but the pollution is very strong that it was overwhelming every time we were in a car. The people are so gentle and upbeat and they love babies! He was constantly played with by everyone. A lot of Ethiopians speak English so we were able to communicate well for the most part. We took a ton of photos. I have so much to tell Gadisa about his home country as he gets older.

We were able to check on some children for other waiting families and it felt so good to be able to update them. Our friends got their referral while we were there and we were able to visit him as well. We are so excited for them and their family. I can't wait for them to bring this beautiful, sweet boy home!!

Tomorrow we go to the doctor. There are few things we are concerned about, but hopefully they are minor. He seems to be adjusting very well. He does not have a problem letting anyone new hold him and I had planned to be hesitant about that at first, but he likes people and seems comfortable. He's such a snuggler!

US Citizenship

Well, Gadisa is now officially a US Citizen. We passed through our Embassy appointment today. Whew. He must have been nervous because as soon as it was our turn at the window (where they quiz you on the situation to confirm the adoption and give their official citizenship status) he threw up. Nice. We have both been pooped on, peed on and puked on. The triple P's. Ahh...parenthood.

We are repacking our suitcases to head home tomorrow. It's been a very long trip. I'm more than ready to get into the swing of our new life!

Oliver Gadisa Lyric Hunt

Finally, our son. Blogger has not worked for me here for a few days so I'm excited to finally update the blog. We met Gadisa on Monday. He is absolutely beautiful, amazing and oh so precious. Life will never be the same. We went on Monday to do paperwork at the adoption office and they surprised us by having him there. We thought he was in the orphanage, which was where we were headed next. He was lying on the floor of the nursery when we walked in. I went in first and he greeted me with this huge smile. My heart completed melted. We have our Embassy appointment in a few hours and to our surprise this little paperwork issue that was resolved seems to be unresolved...AGAIN. Hard to believe. We are anxious to come home and just hope we are able to stay on course with leaving tomorrow night. Josh is at the adoption office right now trying to work out what the issue is.

We have learned that he is 7 months old, not 6 months. His birthday is November 10, 2009. Although, he seems tiny to me and the size of a 5 or 6 month old. He's got a cold so that's making him a little fussy. He loves to be held and cuddled. He loves his daddy! Josh can make him laugh and smile...it is so adorably cute. He also likes to watch the World Cup matches on TV, so him and his dad will definitely get along well in that sports department.

We have named him Oliver Gadisa Lyric Hunt. I have loved the name Oliver for years. Gadisa is his Ethiopian name and it's a name from the region in Ethiopia that he is from. Lyric...well, that is our tie to music. A song lyric can make you laugh, cry and soothe your soul. To us, he is Gadisa. That's how we've known him from day one. So, I think this little guy will go by both Oliver and Gadisa. A little confusing I understand, but he's just cute enough to pull off two names. So, whichever name you prefer to call him is good with us. We are so absolutely head over heels in love with him.

Arrived in Addis Ababa

Arrived in Addis Ababa a few hours ago. These overnight flights are very tricky for a decent sleeping cycle. Even though the flight was shorter than it was from KS to Rome, it was on a smaller plane than an international flight normally is on. Very uncomfortable for 6 hours. VERY.

Here is the little face that we'll be looking at tomorrow. I can't believe the day is finally almost here!! Ahh...those ears. I love them so much!

Headed to Addis Ababa

We are waiting to board the plane for Ethiopia. We can hardly believe it's time for this portion of the trip. The days are flying by and the time difference is tricky to catch up with. We lost part of a day while flying to Rome and that's thrown us off a bit. Before we know it, we'll be meeting our little guy! We had a lot of fun in Rome, but it was a very quick trip. We've got about a 6 hour flight to Addis Ababa and we'll be arriving there around 8:30 in the morning. I'll update you when we get settled into our hotel. We're just about through these stupid colds. So happy about that!!

Paperwork update

Just got an email from our adoption agency that the Embassy has emailed them and stated they have the proper paperwork needed for our case for our Embassy date now. Yea!!!!!!!