Life In Ethiopia

Well, we have been in Ethiopia just about a week now. I feel like we are finally settling into some sort of a routine. We have moved to a new guest house, which has some things that are better, and some things that are not. The girls love it here because they have some toys to play with, and they actually like the food better! I liked the food at the old place as well, but the food here is good too. Also, breakfast and lunch are included in our cost, and dinner is just $5 per person (but kids 5 and under are free:).

The positives about are new house, are the toys, we have two balconies, (which the girls love to go out on and color or paint in the fresh air). We also have a bigger room. It's a two bedroom, plus living room. We have a "kitchen", although I'm not sure you can really call it that, b/c it's just a sink, some cupboards, and they did bring us a mini fridge, which is nice. A major plus is that we are in more of a neighborhood in this part of town. The old place we were in a loud area, next to shopping and a night club, which was open the WHOLE night long. The girls sleep much better here b/c it's quiet. Plus, their beds are better here than the old place, so that helps:).

The bummers about our new place, are that the bathroom is just outside our door, but I guess better out in the hall b/c the shower floods:). Also, Adam and I are sleeping on a box spring. Literally. It's loud (you can hear the coils every time you move) and makes me miss my (once thought to be uncomfortable) bed at home. Also, we are not with the other families that are adopting, which is a little isolating. But, we are just trying to make an effort to get over to see our kids the same times the other families are so that we can try to connect with people.

Our day in Ethiopia consists mainly of letting the kids play a bit at "home" and visiting our kids in the transition home. We did venture out yesterday with another adoptive family and visit the countryside. It was really cool to see some other parts of Ethiopia. We even got to visit a family who live in traditional huts.

Our kids in the transition home seem to be attaching to us pretty well. Our littlest doesn't cry for more than a second when I take him, and he lets me hold him in the presence of his sisters without crying, which is really great. The older girls are doing really well. They are excited to see us when we get there, and bummed when we have to leave. Which, makes leaving hard, but good that we are being missed. It's been super fun to watch all of our kids playing together. Our oldest loves to hold Capri, and rescues her from the nannies who love to cuddle her (but Capri doesn't love this so much:). Poor Capri really gets a bum deal at the Transition home. Between me not being able to hold her (because I'm holding our youngest) and the nannies trying to love on her and the kids chasing her around the yard because they want to touch her hair, her skin, and love on her as well, she is exhausted by the end of the day!

All in all, we are doing great here in Addis, and are so thankful for all of your prayers!

We tried to post some pictures but they are taking to long to load on here and the internet is really slow today. You can check them out on Facebook.