It Begins...

First Email From Sarah & Chris: 

Hello,

I wanted to give everyone an update.  I am at an internet cafe that doesn't have a good connection.  We picked Tegegn up yesterday.  We don't think that he was out the of crib much as they said he was crawling which is clearly not the case.  His back and leg muscles are pretty weak and can't really sit up straight on his own.  We have already seen improvement just in the day we were working with him.  It was a rough night as he has a lot of mucus in his chest.  Woke himself up coughing several times and scarey himself.  We saw this morning that he had drainage in his ears so our host mother went with us to take him to the doctor.  Doctor said other than the ear drainage he is in good heatlth.  Gave us a  script for amoxacylin(sp) and tylenol.  He is at home sleeping now.  The hospital was for children only and the doctor was very nice.  Our host family is incedibly kind and very protective of us.  We are very tired because neither one of us slept because we were worried about Tegegn.  Right now he is very warming to Sarah and still hesitant about me.  We knew would be the case because he is only cared for by women in the orphanage.  I can't get my blog to load so please pass this on to anyone who you think would like to see it.  Zac can you pass this on to your mom and dad.  I didn't have their address in my hotmail and sarah isn't with me.  Wendi please feel free to pass this onto the yahoo group and I couldn't get it to load either.  I will try to send updates again and hopefully post pictures sometime but not sure because it is very slow.  The flight was long but on-time every stop.  Thanks for all the prayers and support, we can defintely feel it.

Love 

Chris and Sarah

Email #2

Hello again,

 Ethiopia will change our lives for sure.  It is pretty incredible here to say the least.  I tink that Zac is going to update ourblog for us.  Tegegn is much better since we took him to the hospital, we were having trouble getting him to settle down last night.  He wanted to play and play and play. We think he may have been in some pain for a while and was enjoying feeling better.  CWA picked us up today and took us to the Embassy for blood work, they couldn't find a vien so we felt pretty bad for him, just like his mom, and then to a clinic to have the medical exam required for the Visa.  They were very kind in coming to the home of the host family to get us and bring us back.  There were two boys with us also going age 4 and 6 and they clung to us the whole time.  They adorable!  Wanted to hold our hands everywhere we went.  I wish we could get pictures to load but internet is very slow and they don't have wireless where we are, that we have been able to find yet.  Our host family again is very protective o us and won't let us leave their site, which we appreciate.  We are going to a market this afternoon to look at the foods that they have been preparing for us.  The maleria medicine was making us feel pretty lowsy and our host mom called a doctor and he said we shouldn't be taking it because melaria is not an issue in the capital.  we already feel so much better and finally have an appetite.  They prepare ethiopia food for every meal and it is great.  they also made french fries for us today which we devoured in out 2 minutes.  Tegegn has come so far already, he is saying momma and ababa (dad) bouncing up and down like crazy, waving his arms and legs like crazy.  The doctor at the clinic today said he was healthy but a little under weight for his age but we kind knew that. He is also very close to being able to sit up on his own.  we are starting to get a lot of laughs and smiles after getting stares and no emotion on the first day.  My hope is to get him crawling before we leave.  We were having a little trouble get him to go poop and our host mom said do you mind if I try what I used to do for my children.  She cut off a little piece of soap and put it up his bottom, ummmm he was going to two minutes and I am not exagerating, it was incredible, and he has been going regularly since.  She has given us so many tips and been such a blessing.  The blog should be updating soon with the help of my brother in law.  Thanks ZAC!  Like always please pass this on to those that we have missed.
 
Love Chris and Sarah

Email #3

 
Dec 17 - We had a great day.  Tegegn is officially one!  Tegegn slept well for the second night.  He only woke up once and that is because he was hungry.  Mama and Baba (Mom and Dad in Amharic)  were happy.  He took a 2.5 hour nap in the morning and in the afternoon.  He really loves his mama now.  He is reaching for Sarah and always wants to cuddle.  Chris is the one that feeds him so that he can get used to being with a man.  He finally smiled and laughed with us last night.  It was precious.  
 
Dec 18 - Today we had to wake up and go to the Embassy for a medical appointment.  We went there with a few other children from CWA that will be leaving to go to the states soon.  There were two boys, ages 4 & 6, that loved us.  They wanted to sit by us, hold our hands, read to them and even one boy read to us in English!  We have no idea what families will be picking these two boys, but they will always hold a special place in our hearts.  They were so loving and it makes us happy to know that they will be surrounded by love soon. 
 
We are going to the market this afternoon.  We are excited to go out and about and experience the culture a bit more.  We have tried to lay low for a bit since Tegegn has been sick.  Since he is doing so much better we will be seeing more of Addis Ababa.  
 
This experience makes us realize a lot about ourselves.  We have so much and often take it for granted.  The Ethiopian people are so kind.  When we went to the hospital for Tegegn, the women that passed him would kiss his hand as they passed.  It is a way to show affection.  When people shake hands, it is a sign of respect to hold your elbow and bow.  
 
Our host family continues to be so kind.  They have made sure that we do not go hungry.  There is always plenty of food on the table and they insist that we eat more all of the time.  Chris and I had the opportunity to try to make injera (served with every meal) with the assistance of the helper.  I have to say, you know our host family is nice when they eat what we made.  It is supposed to be real thin - they considered ours to be double the size of what it should be.  They called it farmer's injera.  Today Teddy and her helper made us some potato chips (french fries).  I had ketchup!  It was so good!  
 
We will have to go to our agency on January 5 and then the Embassy on January 6.  We plan to see more of the city.  Captain Kifle and Teddy (our hosts) want to make sure that we do and see everything that we can while we are here.  It has been so nice not to be rushed.  Teddy has taught us a lot of parenting secrets.  We cannot thank her enough for her knowledge and "tricks."  All of the food here is organic and she is teaching me what to do to make my own baby food.  Again, they have been such a blessing to us and for that we are so grateful.  As Teddy would say, "Thanks God."
 
We will continue to update everyone as we get an opportunity.  Thanks for the continued prayers.  Tegegn is adjusting well and we are so thankful.