"Our first day together was perfect!"

Friends, I was able to have a brief conversation with Kristen online this afternoon. They are having a little difficulty with their email, but we were able to chat and get quite a bit information about their children. I'm passing this on, first from Kristen's point of view, and then from Jeff's. Since this was a two-sided conversation, I had to paraphrase a bit so not everything is a direct quote from Kristen...

The babies are amazing! They are MORE beautiful in person. I'm not kidding, they are gorgeous. Tigist is just beautiful and is already a daddy's girl! Meeting her could not have gone better. She came right to us, she was a bit shy at first, but gave us both a hug and a kiss and was smiling the whole time. She went to both Jeff and I very easily, and definitely favored her daddy the rest of the time. She always wants her daddy to pick her up! We watched Peter Pan for a while and she kept looking at both of us and smiling.

Tigist seems to understand what is happening. There are pictures of us in their rooms and when the nannies point and ask who they are she says "mommy and daddy." The social worker at the care center says that Tigist has seen many children go with families, so she understands that she will be leaving with us. Of course it's hard to know if she fully understands what that means.

We met her at her school and then traveled to the care center where Mihiretu is. While we were waiting to meet Mihiretu, we were playing with bubbles with Tigist. I have never seen someone have so much fun! I would blow the bubbles and she would chase after them laughing her head off! She kept saying something over and over in Amharic, we guess it was something like "I'm going to get you bubbles" as she chased them all over.

We then went to the toddler room to see Mihiretu. Mihiretu is so cute - he even has a dimple in his left cheek! He definitely is very shy and would avoid eye contact for a while. He favored the nanny so we didn't push anything and just let him sit there while we played for a while. He was reaching for something on the ceiling so I took my chance to pick him up and help him reach the toy hanging from the ceiling. He let me hold him the rest of the time and even started falling asleep in my arms! While I was playing with Mihiretu, Jeff and Tigist were definitely playing with Barbies! Mihiretu didn't go to Jeff at first, but on our 2nd visit he let Jeff hold him. He was holding eye contact so much better.

The most recent social report we got from the care center said that when Tigist first got to the orphanage, she wouldn't go to sleep until they sang and prayed!!! She loves to sing! I thought that was amazing that she sings and prays before bed, her parents must have done that with her.

The language barrier is a little frustrating with Tigist, only because we want her to know how much we love her and what a beautiful girl she is. We've learned 'I love you' in Amharic and she giggled when we told her.

Tigist is very tiny, but tall. It's hard to imagine how tiny she is until you see her and hold her
Mihiretu is very much a 12 month old in every way (we were thinking he was closer to 18 months). They are both very healthy! They look great! I wonder sometimes if he is not as old as they thing he is. He's still not walking and doesn't seem to talk at all. He's very very small, even compared to other children his age or younger who are small. His gross motor skills are so much like a 12 month old. When I think that Sydney is supposedly only a few months older it really is crazy! He looks perfectly healthy though and that's what's important

Right now the kids sleep in different buildings. Mihiretu is in a crib, and sleeps in the toddler building. Tigist sleeps in a bunk bed with the older kids. Apparently they only see each other once a week, which made me sad. When we take full custody of them they will sleep in our room in the guest house. We have a queen bed, a twin bed and a little crib in our room. On Tuesday we bring them to our guest house and don't take them back!

There are seven other families, and to be honest our first meetings went extremely well compared to others. Everyone was amazed how Tigist took to us so quickly.

We all rode on the bus when we left the care center, but had Tigist with us to take her back to her school. She was so cute and when she got off the bus she waved bye to everyone and said "chow" which is bye in Amharic. It was so cute. She just cuddled up to her daddy on the bus ride and was chatting away in Amharic. Who knows what she was saying, but she seems like such a happy girl. I'm sure we'll have our moments with her, but our first day together was perfect!

It's midnight here, but Jeff and I absolutely passed out at 5:30 last night so we are up now. Jet lag was awful and then meeting the kids was overwhelming and draining so we both crashed before dinner. I'll try and get a hold of you again tonight or tomorrow. Today is Saturday here and we get to spend the afternoon with the kids as well as time with the social workers to ask questions about the kids. We also get to go to a traditional Ethiopian show and dinner tonight which should be fun as well as do a little shopping.

Please thank everyone for their prayers. The peace I had before we met the kids was amazing
and when we met them it went so well!

Tell the Colemans we said Hi and that we love E-opia!


The following is from Jeff:
We got to meet Tigist and Mihiretu yesterday. What a day. We got on the bus and they dropped us off first to go to where Tigist is. Her and about 20 other toddlers were watching a movie, and we went to the back of the room. They called her out and told her who we were. She was shy at first, but went up to both Kristen and I and kissed us. Then she sat in Kristen's arms for about five minutes and kept giving us shy eyes.

After the movie, they took us to go see Mihiretu. We had about a twenty minute wait with Tigist, so we broke out the bubbles. She absolutely loved them and was laughing and talking in Amharic. By the way, she is absolutely beautiful. She really doesn't look a whole lot like her picture. She is just tiny, you really can't understand til you see her. She loves to be picked up, she was in my arms for probably about an hour of the two hours we were with her. She has beautiful hair and really nice white teeth. Back to the bubbles, she had the time of her life and is a really happy girl.

We all three then went in to see Mihiretu. It is pronounced how we have been saying it. Tigist said it several times. M was very shy at first, he would barely make eye contact. He was being held by a nanny. After about 20 minutes, Kristen got to finally pick him up and play with him. He was very cuddly in her arms, and nestling under her shoulder. He almost fell asleep after about five minutes. We got to go back at night and see him again, and he was in a totally different mood. He was more playful, and K and I both got to pick him up and play with him. There were things hanging from the ceiling which he just loved. And get this, he has a dimple just like him mom. He has the brightest smile you will ever see. He is really small as well, able to hold himself up but not walk on his own. He even has a little belly. His personality is much more shy and to himself. The social report says he is just fine entertaining himself, and that he has become much happier and outgoing since he's been at the care center.

All in all, we are both blown away at how perfect they both are. We couldn't love them more. I think Tigist might already have me wrapped around her finger. I held her everywhere we went and when she wanted to be held she would lift her arms up at me. We get to see them both again this morning, and can't wait. Thank you all for your prayers, they are being answered.