Before we left for Ethiopia, Bek and I had dinner with our friends Adrienne and Darren, whose baby boy Henry was born on the very same day as Bedilu. I asked Adrienne what is the one thing that Darren does that makes her life easier as a new mom. I immediately regretted it.
"Darren changes all the diapers."
Inevitably, despite all the best intensions, more parenting responsibility falls on the mother. Probably because things just occur to moms more than they do for dads. Adrienne said it is such a relief to know that that is one thing she doesn't have to worry about or even negotiate. It's Darren's deal and that's that.
Adrienne and Darren got that piece of advice/wisdom from their midwife so they were dropping knowledge on me like a soiled diaper.
So in good humor and good spirit, we made a ceremony of it. Darren knighted me in the First Order of Pooper Troopers.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
Home at last!
Just a quick note to let you know that we are home safely after a very long journey. Thanks to all for your love and support and the comments on our blog. We're totally jet lagged and off schedule, as you might imagine. Ethiopia is 10 hrs ahead of California.
Here's a pic from SFO, where we were warmly greeted by some close friends, including Cork, Beer & Roo, Di & little Ansel, and Jill who picked us up in my car. Bek and I big had some woozy vertigo after the long travel and little sleep, so thanks Jill for getting us home safely. And thanks Jill and to cork mike and ruby for the yummee meals to go!
Oh, and another wonderful surprise greeted us when we got home...
Welcome Bedilu from the Fines!
More to come about how we are and the journey. But for now, sleep...
Here's a pic from SFO, where we were warmly greeted by some close friends, including Cork, Beer & Roo, Di & little Ansel, and Jill who picked us up in my car. Bek and I big had some woozy vertigo after the long travel and little sleep, so thanks Jill for getting us home safely. And thanks Jill and to cork mike and ruby for the yummee meals to go!
Oh, and another wonderful surprise greeted us when we got home...
Welcome Bedilu from the Fines!
More to come about how we are and the journey. But for now, sleep...
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Rainy Season
The weather now is so different from our first trip. It's rainy season now, and they can be torrential! Though this is "summer" the weather is surprisingly cool. I guess the rains bring relief from the heat, but it wasn't even ever that super hot when we were here in April. I guess it's the elevation? With the rains came blackouts. we had power outages for a few hours in the late evening. good thing we brought headlamps! but being in the dark made us tired and everyone went to bed early.
I forgot to mention that Bedilu has a chest cold. You can actually feel some knocking around in his lungs. Apparently it is not uncommon this time of year, as several other of the babies also have the chest cold. Poor baby B! But he's still a happy fellow. We got to hang with him at the guest house for a an hour and half yesterday afternoon. He was awesome for the first 40 mins. super vocal and active. Then he started getting fussy. feed time! we got to try spoon feeding him again, this time with a little less success than earlier in the day. But we managed, and made a little bit of a mess. After taking him back to the care center, Bek and I were exhausted! And we know this is only a taste of what is to come. So with the black out, we went to bed early.
Today we are going to do a little morning excursion by hired car to Putajira, the halfway point between Addis and Hosanna, the town where Bedilu is from. It'll give us a chance to show Bruce some of the countryside. We'll have lunch and turn around. then this afternoon we are meeting up with our local friend Liwam. He is the best friend of our across-the-street-neighbor's brother. (yes they are Ethiopian). We hope he'll be able to show us this hospital that bekah wants to see. She can chime in on that in a later post. We'll probably grab coffee, too. maybe dinner.
then tonight we are going to get ourselves ready for the big day tomorrow!! We'll take Bedilu into care and custody. Embassy and goodbye ceremonies.
love from Ethiopia ~ chaatie & bek
I forgot to mention that Bedilu has a chest cold. You can actually feel some knocking around in his lungs. Apparently it is not uncommon this time of year, as several other of the babies also have the chest cold. Poor baby B! But he's still a happy fellow. We got to hang with him at the guest house for a an hour and half yesterday afternoon. He was awesome for the first 40 mins. super vocal and active. Then he started getting fussy. feed time! we got to try spoon feeding him again, this time with a little less success than earlier in the day. But we managed, and made a little bit of a mess. After taking him back to the care center, Bek and I were exhausted! And we know this is only a taste of what is to come. So with the black out, we went to bed early.
Today we are going to do a little morning excursion by hired car to Putajira, the halfway point between Addis and Hosanna, the town where Bedilu is from. It'll give us a chance to show Bruce some of the countryside. We'll have lunch and turn around. then this afternoon we are meeting up with our local friend Liwam. He is the best friend of our across-the-street-neighbor's brother. (yes they are Ethiopian). We hope he'll be able to show us this hospital that bekah wants to see. She can chime in on that in a later post. We'll probably grab coffee, too. maybe dinner.
then tonight we are going to get ourselves ready for the big day tomorrow!! We'll take Bedilu into care and custody. Embassy and goodbye ceremonies.
love from Ethiopia ~ chaatie & bek
Update #1
Hi all!
long trip to ET. Flew Lufthansa through Frankfurt to Addis. Lufthansa wasn't as nice as we recall, but it was pretty cool to fly on the new A380, the largest passenger plane in the world! But it wasn't as roomy as I thought it would be. 10.5 hrs to Germany, two hour layover, then 6.5 hour flight to Addis. Arrived late last night. takes about an hour or so to do visa, immigration, customs.
Today we got to see Bedilu!! Hung out with him at the orphanage for a couple of hours. Happy to report that the boy looks good! smaller than we thought he would be, but he is a very happy boy, just like papa. He also got to meet one of his grandparents! Bruce is along for the journey, and that has been special. We can't wait to bring Bedilu home to meet his other grandparents, uncles and aunties, and cousins.
The orphanage was also very nice. very friendly staff. We got to change his diaper (boom! that's a lot of poop! but bekah said she's seen more). Also got to feed him. we're back at the guest house for lunch and quick break. we'll pick him up in an hour to bring him back to guest house for a few hours for some hang time and fun. this is great! we're thrilled.
tomorrow's agenda is unclear, thursday is embassy. we'll try to send another update if we can, but internet is spotty. love to all!
long trip to ET. Flew Lufthansa through Frankfurt to Addis. Lufthansa wasn't as nice as we recall, but it was pretty cool to fly on the new A380, the largest passenger plane in the world! But it wasn't as roomy as I thought it would be. 10.5 hrs to Germany, two hour layover, then 6.5 hour flight to Addis. Arrived late last night. takes about an hour or so to do visa, immigration, customs.
Today we got to see Bedilu!! Hung out with him at the orphanage for a couple of hours. Happy to report that the boy looks good! smaller than we thought he would be, but he is a very happy boy, just like papa. He also got to meet one of his grandparents! Bruce is along for the journey, and that has been special. We can't wait to bring Bedilu home to meet his other grandparents, uncles and aunties, and cousins.
The orphanage was also very nice. very friendly staff. We got to change his diaper (boom! that's a lot of poop! but bekah said she's seen more). Also got to feed him. we're back at the guest house for lunch and quick break. we'll pick him up in an hour to bring him back to guest house for a few hours for some hang time and fun. this is great! we're thrilled.
tomorrow's agenda is unclear, thursday is embassy. we'll try to send another update if we can, but internet is spotty. love to all!
Sunday, July 10, 2011
And we're off!!!
Hi all. We're at SFO about to check in. What a whirlwind it has been! The last two weeks have been a mad scramble, closing loops at work,
baby showers, getting the house ready for Bedilu, squeezing in our last bits of life as we know it (mountain biking, dinner for two, a movie, etc.). Last night we were up late packing. So typical for us. But we've never packed for a baby before, much less one we haven't seen in 3 months. It feels like guesswork.
We are totally thrilled and excited for the biggest adventure of our lives. I meant to write sooner and in much more depth, but you'll have to settle for this iPhone update on the go!
We're flying Lufthansa to Frankfurt, then to Addis and arriving late Monday. Less layover than on Emirates, and more comfortable plane (Airbus 388, then A340).
Okay, gotta check in...
baby showers, getting the house ready for Bedilu, squeezing in our last bits of life as we know it (mountain biking, dinner for two, a movie, etc.). Last night we were up late packing. So typical for us. But we've never packed for a baby before, much less one we haven't seen in 3 months. It feels like guesswork.
We are totally thrilled and excited for the biggest adventure of our lives. I meant to write sooner and in much more depth, but you'll have to settle for this iPhone update on the go!
We're flying Lufthansa to Frankfurt, then to Addis and arriving late Monday. Less layover than on Emirates, and more comfortable plane (Airbus 388, then A340).
Okay, gotta check in...
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