On November 5th my day started at 6 am along with an ice cold shower and almost no water pressure. When I say ice cold I mean like so cold you cannot breathe. We didn't know that the turn off the water pump outside at night because it.... makes noise. So I am crouched in the tub, holding the shower head and scrubbing my hair and skin as quickly as possible with very...very... low water pressure. It was like showering in a drinking fountain. I died. I couldn't help but laugh at myself, it was completely hilarious and ridiculous all in the same. I had told all my friends that I was excited to stay in the guest house and not a hotel because I wanted to full experience... well I was getting it. Finally i shivered my self over to my towel and dried off. I was looking forward to blow drying my hair because I needed all the extra heat I could get. I eagerly plugged in our adapter and pulled out my blow dryer, plugged it in to the adapter flipped the switch then nothing.... again... nothing... great! No power. I ran into another family down stairs and they said " Oh, yeah it does that. It will come on in a couple of hours." WHAT?! A couple of HOURS!?! Oh Nuh Uh! I was meeting Meti (Emme) for the first time ever and I need to look my cutest. I mean you can only take these pictures and video one time. MY hair needs to look great. Right?! God please?! Well God did not turn the power on for me. I decided that it wasn't that big of a deal to have the perfect beach waves of Meti to see. She probably wouldn't appreciate them anyway. Just kidding. I felt like God was telling me to let it go. It didn't matter and it would be fine. I was meeting my daughter. I wasn't going to let the enemy get me all flustered on this wonderful day. He was not going to distract me with bad hair. So I let it air dry and it was what it was.
We ate breakfast and our driver met us outside at 8:30. This was it! In 10 minutes I would be meeting my little lady. I was pretty silent the whole ride to the transition house. I was taking in all the sites around me. I couldn't believe that I was finally here. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I saw poverty beyond imaginable but yet joy and beauty in the people.
Poverty that you cannot fully grasp through pictures until you see it in person. It was humbling. My aired dried none beach wave hair was no longer a concern or even a thought. I didn't feel like an outsider here. I felt a strange comfort and peace in their world. As we drove I prayed. I prayed for God to change me. These people have joy in their poverty a joy that I lack. A joy that I desire. More on that later....
As we pulled up to the gate where she lived I thought I would hyperventilate with nervousness and excitement. I was trying hard to hold back the tears and I was trembling with joy. Our driver honked the horn and the gate began to open. And there she was. Just standing there in the sea of children. With her little white shirt on and her brightly striped pants, her hello kitty sunglasses and he hair in sweet little pig tales. My time stood still.
Pause my music below before playing.
The whole first day she wore her glasses when she would get shared or nervous. It was her escape and we let her. I fell in love all over again. She is perfect in every way. Even when she is being a turd. She loves to sing and dance. She is a performer and loves to be noticed. I painted her nails the first day and she knew they were beautiful. We played dress up and play doh and we colored and just held each other. She is a little on the mean side to Phillip. She is not quite sure if she likes him or not. She will soon see and learn that daddy is very likable and she will fall head over heels in love with him.
Monday, November 21
Ethiopia Bound
I don't know where to begin. I have been sitting on this post for the last 2 weeks. I have so much to say. So much to still process. I feel wrecked, changed, broken, ruined and new all at the same time. Ethiopia changed me. It wrecked something within me. I am forever different because of Ethiopia. This trip to meet our new little daughter was beyond life changing. I think I started crying the second I woke up on the day we left. Every time I zipped up a piece of luggage I cried. I ran my hands across her little clothes and cried. I couldn't believe that after waiting 16 months since the dream of adoption first spurred my heart the time had finally come to meet my sweet girl. The girl I have cried a million tears over. The girl I have prayed and begged God for. The girl that so many have believed with me and prayed with for her to be apart of me and my family. It was here the day I would head off to a foreign land to embrace my sweet girl.
The plane ride over was really great. We flew out of Midland to Houston at 1:20 p.m Thursday November 3rd. At 5:05 p.m we boarded our first international flight to Frankfurt Germany. It was a 9 hour flight. Sitting in coach the whole way. We tried to upgrade but weren't willing to pay the extra $5,000. So we stuck it out. Ym sweet friend Wynne has come over the night before with a little present. She brought me some yummy snacks, comfy headphones, gum, face wipes and fuzzy socks. Her advice to me was when it is normally time to go to bed. Go to bed on the place. Do your normal routine. Wash your face, brush your teeth, slip on your warm socks and snuggle up in your blanket. It worked! I slept the whole way to Germany. It was great and the time flew by so fast. The flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia was a little different. My mind would not stop and my heart was racing. I kept glancing at the little plane tracker screen every 30 minutes to see how much longer we had. I thought I would never get off the plane.
We watched several movies and shows on our little screen. I couldn't tell you anything about what I watched my I was going crazy in my heart. I was closing in on the country that has stolen a piece of my soul.
We finally arrived in Ethiopia at 9:20 p.m but after customs and exchanging our money to birr and getting our luggage it was 11:00 p.m. We obviously didn't go get Emme that night. We went to the guest house for some "sleep" and got up early the next morning to go meet our little princess.
Saturday, November 19
Behind the Flowers
I am so excited to finally be able to reveal the precious little face we fell in love with. The sweet little face behind the flowers.
Some of you may have seen them on Facebook but I can't help not putting them on here. since March all we have been able to post were pics of her hands or we had to put the little flowers over he face. Now that I am officially her MOMMY (it is so surreal to be typing that finally!!!!) I can post pics whenever I feel like posting pics. It is a really great feeling. So I'd like to reintroduce you to my beautiful little Coffee Bean...
We finally passed court!!!!! on NOVEMBER 8TH!!!!!
Some of you may have seen them on Facebook but I can't help not putting them on here. since March all we have been able to post were pics of her hands or we had to put the little flowers over he face. Now that I am officially her MOMMY (it is so surreal to be typing that finally!!!!) I can post pics whenever I feel like posting pics. It is a really great feeling. So I'd like to reintroduce you to my beautiful little Coffee Bean...
Emerson Meti Knight
This is the sweet little face that stole our hearts back in March. We couldn't believe how beautiful she is. We have been staring at the pics for months. Praying, crying and battling for this sweet little one that we only knew in these few photos. She is even more beautiful and wonderful in person.
I have so much to say about our trip to meet our princess. We felt, experienced and saw so many things. I want to be able to fully express how much this trip changed me. It literally rocked my world. I miss my coffee bean, the way she smells, the way she feels, her sweet smile, her contagious laugh, her ornery looks and everything else about her. I cannot wait until the day I have you in my arms forever sweet girl. I am coming soon.
October Recap
I am so behind on blogging. I guess traveling to Africa for a week will do that to you. Here is a recap of October in photos. There are so many fun stories behind these photos but I have even more fun things to share coming up next. Enjoy our October.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)