Two weeks home.

Yay for Saturdays! We have been home two weeks now and Hanna is settling in quite well. She is sleeping much better, although still waking up a few times a night and still getting Mommy up most days around 5 ish. I do love my snuggles though! I can honestly say at this point going from three to four kids has really not been much different, just now we have a toddler who requires a lot of attention and can't really tell us what she wants all the time. She does an excellent job of communicating most things, but any toddler gets frustrated from time to time with not being able to just "say" what they want. The kids all act like we just always been a family of six. I love the way that are all melding together...our family really does feel complete now. The girls pretty much have decided they are rockstars and run the house...which they do : )

SAY WHAT?!!!

I had to post this picture...I took "L's" braids out last week and combed her hair out. It has gotten so long...she had quite the "fro". So far Hanna is eating pretty much everything and anything...but has a special appreciation for Chocolate pudding and salsa...that's Mommy's girl!

More updates soon!

A few quick trip pics...

Say that fast five times! : )

We've been home one week today, and for the most part it has been a fantastic week. Hanna has done so well and has really shown us her silly and sweet personality. The other kids love her and are doing really well with her as well. Just a few toy territory things here and there, but I'm so proud of all my kids for being so selfless and loving their new sister. The only issue we seem to be having is sleep with her. She fights (and I mean fights) going to sleep at nap time and bed time. I usually have to hold her until she is out cold...she won't let me lay her down or even sit in the rocking chair. Then, she wakes up at least two to three times a night screaming and we go through the whole 30 minutes or more routine. I shouldn't complain...she has done so much better than I thought she would in so many ways, but sleep deprivation is not fun. She was so good on the flight home. She really didn't cry hardly at all and we were lucky to get the bulkhead in the plane and the bassinet! Sweet! She slept in it, ate in it, played in it...yay! We were going to pay extra to upgrade to first class so we would have some room, but by the grace of God a very nice agent at Ethiopian airlines was able to get us the prime seats for FREE! Yay!

We discovered that people don't mind being late...and aren't in any hurry despite anyone else needing to be some where on time. What I mean is we were an hour and a half late leaving Ethiopia, basically because people took their dear. sweet. time. getting on the @$#%$&$* plane. It was unbelievable. It was 24 hours by the time we left our hotel in Ethiopia, until we touched down in Knoxville and boy were we ready to get off. the. plane. We had this screen right in front of us the entire flight and it was agonizing to watch our little plane go every tiny little millimeter toward D.C. Boy were we glad to see this one...

We almost missed our connecting flight and literally ran through Immigration and the D.C. airport with Hanna strapped on my front and Tom and I both loaded down with baggage. I was so relieved when we made our gate just before boarding and almost kissed the gate agent when he told us Tom had time to get us a diet coke...with ICE! For those of you who have travelled outside the country much, you know how much you miss ice. Anyway, that was seriously the best Diet Coke I have ever had in my entire life. Nectar of the gods!
Finally, we were on our way home! That quick one hour flight from D.C. went by so fast, it made my head spin. Here is Hanna's first glimpse of her new home from the airplane...

I think she approves!

Pretty amazing that she looks that happy after that many hours of travel.

Here are just a few more pictures from our time in the hotel with Hanna. You can see what a hoot she is...and that she loves her bath. I'll update with recent family pictures soon. For now, I better get to bed before the first "wake up call" comes.

That's my girl...you should hear the burp she let out after this! : )

Home! Exhausted. Blessed!

Hey all,

We made it home and had a wonderful homecoming. My dear friend, talented photographer, and fellow adoptive Mom, Tracie, shot us coming home at the airport and made this video today. She is awesome! Thanks to everyone who came out to welcome us home!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob79jbqMepc

Many many thanks (not enough manys) to my angelic bestest friend, Dawn, and my amazing Mom for taking such great care of the kids while we were gone. We really just can't thank you enough or tell you how much we love you.

I'll post more pictures when I am not completely sleep deprived ; - ) Hanna is out cold and I am about to join her.

They made their flight home!

WAHOOOOO! They will be home in about 2 hours! Yay!

Welcome home Hanna!!!!

Signing off, Theresa

Landed in DC!

Theresa here...

Stacy, Tom, and Hanna have landed in DC! However, their flight was an hour behind schedule so they are trying their best to make their next flight. We'll know soon whether they made it or not. Keep them in your prayers! This has been a looooong flight/journey home and they are ready to get back.

They are coming home!

It's Theresa here again...I got an email from Stacy today! They are in the air right now on their way back home from Ethiopia, and they are very excited to be coming home with Hanna and to get back to their other 3 precious children! Here is her update... (The email message doesn't seem to want to sit still so pardon the strange spacing below, haha):

"Hanna is doing fantastic! She is so funny...silly and playful and very loving
with both of us already. Last night when I was trying to get her to sleep, she
just kept kissing my face all over. she'd turn my head from side to side and
kiss me over and over. I loved it! She's had a few meltdowns, but for the most
part, has already bonded very well with Tom and me. All of the staff at the
hotel want to hold her, but she only wants us....Yay! By the way, for all the
AGCI people, the hotel is awesome! The food is great, the staff have been so
nice and accommodating...we even have a workout facility and hairdryers. I'm
missing the other kids like crazy and can't wait to see how they all do when they
are all together. The Casa de Chaos is about to get even louder!"

So far everything is on schedule, but the possible delay could happen in the morning, so I will update her blog if I hear of any delays from her. Let's keep them in our prayers that this long flight will whiz by and go very smoothly for them!

Update!

Here she is!!!!

Hey everyone! This is Theresa, a friend of the family.

I got a call this morning from Stacy, but it was actually 5pm on Monday in Ethiopia. They said that the flight to Ethiopia was long and that they didn't get much rest, but they have been having an amazing time in Ethiopia! They met Hanna yesterday and she walked right over to them while holding the hand of her special nanny. I can tell that they are already smitten by sweet Hanna. While talking to me, Stacy was laughing at how Hanna kept going over to Tom and giving him kisses! They said that she is spunky, silly, stubborn and very sweet. She is sleeping and eating very well. They love their hotel and the new Hannah's Hope. They had their Embassy appointment this morning and it went smoothly. The travel group of 10 families is meshing so well and they are having a great time. Tomorrow they are going to do some shopping and they feel that Hanna will do just fine hanging out at Hannah's Hope while they shop. Stacy said that Hanna is definitely a momma's girl and loves to be held by Stacy...but she is really warming up to Tom, with kisses and playing with him. Stacy said that she thinks that Hanna is going to fit right in with the family. The special nannies at Hannah's Hope remember L, who was the first child adopted from Hannah's Hope Ethiopia, and they have been kissing her picture that Stacy and Tom brought to show them. Their update made my day! And I know you guys were anxious to hear about them. All is well!

Christmas Pics and Travel news...

The boys were just a "little" excited about getting to open presents on Christmas Eve. We went out for an early Mexican feast and then to the candellight service at church, so by the time we got home and "jammied-up" they were pretty wound up.

The CHRISTmas de Chaos was really lovely, and really not too chaotic. My Mom went to Florida to spend the holidays with my sister, and most of the rest of our family was here for Thanksgiving, so it was just the five of us, laying around in our jammies, enjoying way too much food and playing with new toys. The kids really had a nice Christmas and Santa was good to them too.

J2 was so excited that Santa brought him an art easel. He loves to color and paint and draw...definitely one of his favorite gifts.

L, or course, got lots of "Cars" stuff.

And J1 was attacked by a giant squid...that came with their pirate ship...

I have to say that I was quite proud of all of them for being happy for each other's gifts and for sharing all of their gifts so well. Now, if we could just get that "cleaning up" part down...

ADOPTION TRAVEL UPDATE:

Mommy and Daddy leave very early Friday, Jan 8th for Ethiopia. We are all soooo excited to bring H home finally. We will arrive in Addis on Jan 9th and hold her for the first time on the 10th. My friend, T, will be updating the blog if I can get through to her by phone or e-mail (sometimes tricky over there), so stay tuned. I hope to see many of you at the airport when we return on the 16th, but be sure to check here for any changes to our travel plans. We love you all and thank you so much for your prayers and support as we welcome a new daughter into our family.