The Adkins Family

We made it safe and sound to Ethiopia. We tried to get on the internet this morning when we got here but the internet was down due to the African Union meeting being held here. The plane ride was easier than thought and Lilia was a peach. She didn't say she was ready to get off until about an hour before we landed. She slept a little, but mostly played.


We got to our hotel and slept for an hour, then lunch, then on to see Kaiser! He looks the same to me, maybe a little bigger. I am so happy they didn't cut his hair! He was really happy and smiley the whole time. Lilia was so tired she slept through lunch, the ride over, and the first 30 minutes of seeing her new brother. Then she woke up and played with him. It was so amazing to FINALLY see them together. She can make him laugh and tried to carry him around. She kept saying "Daddy, do you want to hold my baby brother?" It was really sweet! He is sitting up, but falls over sometimes, too. No teeth yet!! And, yes, he is sick. Coughing and congested, with a pretty stuffy nose. He needs to just come home.

We are SHOT!! Sooooooo tired. We are eating dinner in about 45 minutes and then off to bed. Tomorrow we are going to do all the paperwork for our Embassy, which we aren't cleared yet, but will do anyway. Then hopefully off to see the buddy again.

He ate some rice today, and choked on it, then threw up. Poor guy!!

I loved to see Kaiser with grammy. It was so cute! You talk about a kid for so long and hope everyone else thinks he is as great as you say, and it was nice to finally have someone to share him with. They are tied together already.

More tomorrow. I will try to post a picture tomorrow, too! I have to say, we pulled away from the transition home today and the other 2 couples got to take their kids with them. I was jealous a little, and very sad. I just want my baby. Haven't heard anything about the paperwork, but am hoping to tomorrow.

January 27, 2011

We are leaving for Ethiopia in 2 days!!  I can't believe it!  Lee and I, Lilia and my mom will be holding our baby Monday morning!!
The last 2 weeks have been trying and extremely emotional.  We bought our tickets and ever since then it has been a faith walk, hit with delay after delay and snag after snag.  Our paperwork was supposed to be submitted to the US embassy on the 19th.  It wasn't ready, so then it was supposed to be submitted the 26th.  Again, not ready.  We were hoping it would be submitted the 26th and then we would hear in Ethiopia that we were cleared!  However, that is not going to happen.  Hopefully, it WILL be submitted next Wed. while we are in Ethiopia.  My family will all come home on the 5th and I will stay there.  We have no idea for how long.  If we are submitted the 2nd, we could be cleared as early as the 9th and might have an embassy appointment the next day.  If it is longer, we don't know how long that will be.  I will stay until we know and if it seems like it will be longer than about 3-4 weeks, I will come home without him and wait until we are cleared.  I just can't imagine having to leave him twice.  Pray that doesn't happen.
We are waiting on a clearance letter from Ethiopia, who is backed up in work, and behind.  Just give us the clearance, please!!!  We will visit our sweet son every day, but we are not going to take him with us to the hotel.  We could, but once we do that, we cannot take him back to the transition home for any reason.  If it is going to be a 3 month delay, I will have to come home.
The hardest part for me is my little girl.  I don't want to leave her.  She needs her mama and I need her.  I can't imagine leaving her for a month and I can't imagine what will be going through her little mind when I am not there for all that time.  Just pray for favor with the US embassy and for the Ethiopian people to get our clearance quickly.  Our little guy has spent too much of his life without us already.
As far as Kaiser, he is as cute as can be.  We got new pictures of him and he is the same sweetness as when we were there.  I can't wait to introduce him to his big sister and see what she is like with a little brother.  We have been talking about him for so long that it is hard to believe it is finally here.
We leave Saturday and arrive in Ethiopia Monday morning.  My sister will be posting on the blog for me and hopefully posting some pictures of our trip.
We could use all the prayers you can muster up.  Thanks so much!!
Ethiopia, here we come!

We passed court on Christmas eve!  This long journey is almost coming to an end.   Kaiser's birth certificate and passport are being processed as we speak.  We are hopefully going to submit his paperwork to the Embassy on Wednesday, for an embassy appointment Feb. 2nd.  We stepped out in faith and bought our plane tickets to leave on January 29th for Ethiopia!  We can't wait to get our baby boy and have him in our arms forever.
We are taking Lilia with us and my mom.  I can't wait to share this experience with my mom, to have her help us bring our son home.  The 3 adults to 2 kids ratio is also a big help!
We are in the process of having a croc drive and have collected over 200 pairs of crocs and more are on the way.  What a blessing it has been to see our friends and family step up for a good cause.  We are up to our eyeballs in shoes!  We also have 126 cans of formula to bring this time.  We are going to be packed to the gills!  8 total bags, plus 8 small carry-ons.  In February, our little man will officially become a United States citizen.  Yay!
Now for the difficult part..............pray that our paperwork is ready to turn in Wednesday, and pray that the embassy clears us for February 2nd.  Thank you!!