Worth the Wait!

So things got a little busy, and I never finished telling about the rest of our Embassy trip....  Maybe one day I'll have time to go back and write about it - all the details are in a journal I kept while we were there.  But... now that almost 4 months have passed since that trip, I thought I would give a family update to let everyone know how our family is adjusting.

Today is exactly 4 months since we landed in Addis Ababa for the second time; 4 months since we picked up our son!  4 months seems like such a short period of time, and yet, it feels like Kidus has always been with us.  After six years of waiting and being very proactive in learning about all the things we could expect to happen when he came home, to say that we were prepared for the "worst" is probably an understatement.  All the years of reading books and blogs and talking to other adoptive families; going to conferences and retreats; learning about attachment; learning basic Amharic; learning about and preparing our friends and family for cocooning....  It was worth every single minute of our long wait.  I won't pretend for one second that I enjoyed that wait, but I do know that God used it, every minute of it.  He used it to grow us to depend on Him, to lean into Him, to trust Him.  He used it to teach and prepare us; He used it to mature our kids to be ready for Kidus... and so much more!  And because of all the learning and preparing, we were truly ready.  Our cocooning period was such a sweet time as a family.  We were able to form bonds with Kidus and restore bonds with one another that are often stretched in a busy, large family with two working parents and four children involved in school and sports and church.  If we could permanently cocoon, I probably would - now isn't that funny coming from the extrovert who LOVES to be on the go and worried about time "stuck" at home! :)  This isn't to say that everything was perfect or easy... for sure, there was the type of exhaustion that's so draining and very similar to bringing a newborn home - except this newborn can get into EVERYTHING and weighed 36 pounds! But, because we spent those waiting years leaning into Jesus when things got tough, that became our posture.  When things have been tough, we have leaned into the only One who sustains us.

Kidus has BLOWN US AWAY with how quickly he has adjusted to a completely new life.  He has attached very well to all of us.  He LOVES his siblings so much and learned all of their names in record time.  He loves to jump on the trampoline, swing, play basketball, snuggle, and "read books"(which he says nightly before bed) with them all.  He watches for his Daddy to come home for lunch and after work and squeals, "Daddy" as he runs to greet him.  He began speaking English almost immediately.  He has too many words to count now (his favorites being "nope" and "not yet"), and he communicates his needs and wants with no difficulty at all; he is even starting to form short sentences.  He loves music and is really funny - and knows it! 


He knows the names of all of our extended family and gets super excited when he sees his grandparents, uncles, aunts, and cousins and starts jumping up and down and clapping.  He also started preschool at the end of August.  We expected to have to go very slowly and just do an hour or so a day until he got used to it; but from the beginning, he stayed the whole three hours and then ran down the hall joyfully to my room to greet me with big hugs, as he still does each day, saying "Nommy! Yay, HOME!"  He loves to go places and meet new people, but his favorite place is home, which is just so sweet to me as he says, "Yay, HOME" each time we pull into our driveway.

I don't want to focus on negatives, but I also want to be real.  It has for sure been easier than we expected, but we have had our fair share of meltdowns and tantrums, too.  Evy has probably had the biggest adjustment since she was previously the youngest.  She cried to me one night as I put her to bed, "It's really hard to be a big sister sometimes."  To which, my oldest daughter sweetly said, "It sure is.  Welcome to the club.  Mommy is a big sister, too, you know?  Now we all are!"  She still struggles with sharing attention, but oh how she loves her little brother! 

I'll end with this:  Kidus was baptized as a covenant child yesterday.  We chose this for him because we baptized all of our other children as infants as a sign of God extending His covenant to them.  Even though he is not really an infant, we chose to go ahead and baptize him in order to show that same sign of family covenant.  It was such a beautiful day with so many friends and family and our loving church, who have all been vessels of God's love and care for us during this time.  Some have asked if there is still an opportunity to give towards Kidus's adoption.  Our Lifesong account has been closed because we did meet our fundraising goal; however, we have had a few surprises in our budget and some unexpected costs associated with obtaining a SC birth certificate.  Your gifts and donations can still be sent through Paypal or by contacting me directly, if you feel led.  (Should you choose to donate through Paypal, please be sure to check the friends and family box to avoid fees.) We are ever grateful of the continuous outpouring of love we have felt in our journey!  We love watching it continue to unfold.