Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Photos of Caleb!
Hello All!
Finally we have a moment to post. It has been such an amazing journey! Caleb has attached so much now to his mommy that he will not let me put him down. At first he only would go to Daddy so I am still loving this!
Here is a brief run down on our trip...
We arrived in Ethiopia Monday morning after flying all night. We were greeted at the airport by a handwritten sign for the the Ethiopian Guest House. Our driver did not speak English but was very nice and just keep saying "sure, no problem". He took us to our accommodations. The room was so small we could not walk between the beds and the crib was not in there yet! (Cozy is the term we used.) We barely had arrived when we found out that one of the other families was about to head to House of Hope and we dropped our suitcases to join them to meet our new sons. They had arrived yesterday and this was the first ride that had appeared to take them to meet their son so they advised us to join them. It was great advice since rides to places was very unstable and unclear. We all drove in a bus to House of Hope. The poverty everywhere is overwhelming. We traveled down to this dirt road and stopped at the Hour of Hope gates. Once we were let in we were amazed at how clean it was. We were greeted by Tsgay and the staff. He is the only one whom can speak English but the staff are all so nice! The babies were at the doctors so we were all given a tour around and they let out the kids from their naps. They are all so precious! They call everyone Mommy and climb right into your arms. They are all so clean and loved. I was blown away by the tender care given at House of Hope!
Anyway, The kids were all taken in for their meals and we had lunch with Tsgay. We had hundreds of questions for him and I think we overwhelmed him yet he was so patient with us. He did tell us that we would not be able to meet Caleb's birth mom since she was so far away.
Around 3:00 PM, the van with Caleb came back. We all ran out to meet him and I think we scared him. He was so much tinier than I expected! His referral at 10 months was 19 pounds and he is still only 21 pounds. He does not walk and really did not crawl at all for us at first. While we are HOH (House of Hope Orphanage) he just would cry for his special nanny and this driver that always carried him around. They had to hold him for us. I have posted both their pictures. They were so sweet with him!
We had dinner there and Caleb would not eat or interact with us. When we finally got back to the Ethiopian Guest House there was no power or hot water so we had to unpack by cell phone lights. That was pretty tough but Kenzie had us laughing about the situation. "Shilton". Caleb would not feed or interact with us until the second day at which point he would just cry but still not eat. Day three he attached to Daddy. Rick had to carry him 24/7 and was exhausted by the end of that time. Finally he started to let me hold him by Day 4 (and began to eat nonstop) and then he was in may arms for the rest of the trip. He would go to Brea on Day 3 sometimes and by Day 4 would sometimes go to Kenzie. By day five he loved his sisters and they made him giggle all the time! He became so fun!
We loved the families that traveled with us. We all went everywhere together and it was such a blessing. They children are all so precious as well. We all passed our Embassy date together on Thursday! We keep being told we would not met his mom like the other families and we just accepted it.
Friday we went to the market and Kenz was in heaven spending the Birr. Both Kenz and Brea were amazing the entire trip. They just hung out at the orphanage with us all day and we really did not do much. They never complained and they all loved playing with all the children at the apprehend. We were told we could visit the orphanage Caleb was first dropped off by his mom at 41/2 months late on Friday before we fly out. As we were driving there we were informed that we were getting to meet the mom. We had Caleb with us and they said this time it was okay. I still do not have words for this meeting but will post on it later. All I can say it was one of the most beautiful but emotional draining things I have ever done. A special thanks to Laura for being there for me while we went through that!
He was great on the trip home but my advice to all is to never fly Ethiopian Airlines. They are the smallest seats and they pack you in like sardines. Seat assignments get changed all the time even if you have them reserved. I hear Luthansa is the way to go. United from London was amazing and they gave us bulk head. We were treated like gold on this leg of the trip by the attendants. The whole plane wanted to play with Caleb.
We got back to Colorado Saturday evening and were so excited to see Murphy and Bubbba. Caleb took to them right away and within an hour they both said the stress of us being away and the long wait for Caleb was all worth it!
We are all so happy but exhausted. Caleb is eating non stop and is crawling all over the place. We keep saying he appears just so happy and has blossomed. It really is amazing! He truly is such a blessing and it is evident this was God's plan for our family from the start!
I will post more when I get more time!
Finally we have a moment to post. It has been such an amazing journey! Caleb has attached so much now to his mommy that he will not let me put him down. At first he only would go to Daddy so I am still loving this!
Here is a brief run down on our trip...
We arrived in Ethiopia Monday morning after flying all night. We were greeted at the airport by a handwritten sign for the the Ethiopian Guest House. Our driver did not speak English but was very nice and just keep saying "sure, no problem". He took us to our accommodations. The room was so small we could not walk between the beds and the crib was not in there yet! (Cozy is the term we used.) We barely had arrived when we found out that one of the other families was about to head to House of Hope and we dropped our suitcases to join them to meet our new sons. They had arrived yesterday and this was the first ride that had appeared to take them to meet their son so they advised us to join them. It was great advice since rides to places was very unstable and unclear. We all drove in a bus to House of Hope. The poverty everywhere is overwhelming. We traveled down to this dirt road and stopped at the Hour of Hope gates. Once we were let in we were amazed at how clean it was. We were greeted by Tsgay and the staff. He is the only one whom can speak English but the staff are all so nice! The babies were at the doctors so we were all given a tour around and they let out the kids from their naps. They are all so precious! They call everyone Mommy and climb right into your arms. They are all so clean and loved. I was blown away by the tender care given at House of Hope!
Anyway, The kids were all taken in for their meals and we had lunch with Tsgay. We had hundreds of questions for him and I think we overwhelmed him yet he was so patient with us. He did tell us that we would not be able to meet Caleb's birth mom since she was so far away.
Around 3:00 PM, the van with Caleb came back. We all ran out to meet him and I think we scared him. He was so much tinier than I expected! His referral at 10 months was 19 pounds and he is still only 21 pounds. He does not walk and really did not crawl at all for us at first. While we are HOH (House of Hope Orphanage) he just would cry for his special nanny and this driver that always carried him around. They had to hold him for us. I have posted both their pictures. They were so sweet with him!
We had dinner there and Caleb would not eat or interact with us. When we finally got back to the Ethiopian Guest House there was no power or hot water so we had to unpack by cell phone lights. That was pretty tough but Kenzie had us laughing about the situation. "Shilton". Caleb would not feed or interact with us until the second day at which point he would just cry but still not eat. Day three he attached to Daddy. Rick had to carry him 24/7 and was exhausted by the end of that time. Finally he started to let me hold him by Day 4 (and began to eat nonstop) and then he was in may arms for the rest of the trip. He would go to Brea on Day 3 sometimes and by Day 4 would sometimes go to Kenzie. By day five he loved his sisters and they made him giggle all the time! He became so fun!
We loved the families that traveled with us. We all went everywhere together and it was such a blessing. They children are all so precious as well. We all passed our Embassy date together on Thursday! We keep being told we would not met his mom like the other families and we just accepted it.
Friday we went to the market and Kenz was in heaven spending the Birr. Both Kenz and Brea were amazing the entire trip. They just hung out at the orphanage with us all day and we really did not do much. They never complained and they all loved playing with all the children at the apprehend. We were told we could visit the orphanage Caleb was first dropped off by his mom at 41/2 months late on Friday before we fly out. As we were driving there we were informed that we were getting to meet the mom. We had Caleb with us and they said this time it was okay. I still do not have words for this meeting but will post on it later. All I can say it was one of the most beautiful but emotional draining things I have ever done. A special thanks to Laura for being there for me while we went through that!
He was great on the trip home but my advice to all is to never fly Ethiopian Airlines. They are the smallest seats and they pack you in like sardines. Seat assignments get changed all the time even if you have them reserved. I hear Luthansa is the way to go. United from London was amazing and they gave us bulk head. We were treated like gold on this leg of the trip by the attendants. The whole plane wanted to play with Caleb.
We got back to Colorado Saturday evening and were so excited to see Murphy and Bubbba. Caleb took to them right away and within an hour they both said the stress of us being away and the long wait for Caleb was all worth it!
We are all so happy but exhausted. Caleb is eating non stop and is crawling all over the place. We keep saying he appears just so happy and has blossomed. It really is amazing! He truly is such a blessing and it is evident this was God's plan for our family from the start!
I will post more when I get more time!
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Staying at Guest Houses in Ethiopia
http://www.ethiopiaguesthome.com/index.php?id=7 This is link about the Guest houses....
Today we reserved our accommodations in Ethiopia. We are staying at the Ethiopian Guest Home. We could not stay at House of Hope where Caleb is since we are bringing Kenzie and Brea but if we stayed at a normal hotel we could not have Caleb stay with us. :) At the guest houses we can have Caleb be with us 24/7 until we leave Ethiopia after we are united with him.....a must in my opinion :)
We have set a tentative reservation for April 5th to April 12th. If we do not pass court on March 23rd this will all change....Lets pray we pass court the first time! Jennifer :)
Today we reserved our accommodations in Ethiopia. We are staying at the Ethiopian Guest Home. We could not stay at House of Hope where Caleb is since we are bringing Kenzie and Brea but if we stayed at a normal hotel we could not have Caleb stay with us. :) At the guest houses we can have Caleb be with us 24/7 until we leave Ethiopia after we are united with him.....a must in my opinion :)
We have set a tentative reservation for April 5th to April 12th. If we do not pass court on March 23rd this will all change....Lets pray we pass court the first time! Jennifer :)
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Donation List
Current Needs as of January 2009
Childrens TylenolInfant Tylenol
Cloth Diapers
Childrens Advil
Infant Advil
Onesies
Ambesol
Small blankets
Socks Infant
Childrens Benadryl
Infant Bendaryl
Lice shampoo
Anti-itch creams
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Court Date Call Came!
Our agency let us know that our court date is set for March 23, 2008. After that time Caleb is legally ours and we can post pictures! We then have a embassy date set for the ninth of April at which time we can bring Caleb Atnafe Harr home to his family and friends in Colorado! All the dates can change suddenly and until after March 23rd we will not be able to confirm our travel arrangements. Yet in the hope that our court date stays the same and we pass court....we are now starting to make our plans to travel to get Caleb in our arms.....
Harr Journey of Love
Ten years ago God put something on my heart....that I was to adopt an orphaned child. At the time I had two children ages 4 and 2. I did not know anyone whom had or if it was even a possibility then tried to let it go after telling my husband about my crazy idea of what we were meant to do one day.
Flash forward ten years... 2007. I then had four biological children ages 13, 11, 7, and 3....Ricky says well since you still have this crazy idea we better act on it now rather talk about it for another ten years. So I started investigating. Turns out adopting internationally is tougher than giving birth! After months of paperwork, training on how to parent (regardless of how many kids we have), and numerous background checks our Dossier finaly went off to Ethiopia to be matched with our future son.
On December 19th 2008 we finally got the call that were matched with our son. We two pictures of him and his health history. We had two hours to decide since CHI I was closing. We did not need any time because we already were in love in two minutes! The referral said his name is Atnafe, 10 months old, 18 pounds, 27 inches, and healthy! Now we wait for a court date and then our embassy date when we travel!
Flash forward ten years... 2007. I then had four biological children ages 13, 11, 7, and 3....Ricky says well since you still have this crazy idea we better act on it now rather talk about it for another ten years. So I started investigating. Turns out adopting internationally is tougher than giving birth! After months of paperwork, training on how to parent (regardless of how many kids we have), and numerous background checks our Dossier finaly went off to Ethiopia to be matched with our future son.
On December 19th 2008 we finally got the call that were matched with our son. We two pictures of him and his health history. We had two hours to decide since CHI I was closing. We did not need any time because we already were in love in two minutes! The referral said his name is Atnafe, 10 months old, 18 pounds, 27 inches, and healthy! Now we wait for a court date and then our embassy date when we travel!
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