Ciao!

Well, we've been home for a couple weeks now and had Cora in our arms for almost three!  She was a little nervous the first couple weeks, wanting to be held constantly and keeping her serious face on most of the time.  But as each day passes we're seeing more and more smiles and her true personality coming out.  She's also getting healthier.  The care center cough and perpetually runny nose (that every Ethiopian, man or woman, loved to wipe...even in the midst of taking our food order) are gone! The infamous "poop" test came back clear, much to our amazement, so it seems she's parasite free and clear.  Yay! 

We've been focusing on attachment and helping her to realize that Steve and I are mom and dad...not just 2 more nannies in her life...and we appreciate how much you all have respected this boundary.  We're definitely seeing great progress, but it'll be a long road until we're there completely.

Sleep I've come to realize is not over-rated.  The first couple weeks were very rough, to say the least...especially while we were trying to get over jet lag as well.  When we were at the care center, we had one of the English speaking guys that worked there help us ask the nannies some questions.  The question about naps was answered with a laugh and something along the lines of "most of the babies sleep, but Mekdes just likes to play all day".  Not really the answer we were looking for!  ;)  Since being home though, we've come to realize that she is surprisingly noise sensitive and when little big brother isn't purposely banging on the wall and yelling as loud as he can...she actually naps really well!  The last week, nighttime sleep has gotten much better, only getting up a couple times at night...so Steve and I are finally out of the dazed fog we were walking around in the first week home.  (Definitely praising God for this...and for the 2 amazing sleepers I haven't quite appreciated enough until now!)

Speaking of those amazing boys, the definitely love their little sister.  Brogan dotes on Cora, but has had some jealousy issues, wanting to be held more and acting out (see above!), normal new baby stuff that I'm sure will fade shortly.  Colby is nothing short of enamored with this new little princess in his life...he never had any jealousy when Brogan came along and he certainly doesn't now.  He's meant to be a big brother!



I am still amazed at what a completely smooth (albeit long) journey this has been for us.  It definitely is not that way for most.  God has blessed us with such an amazing little girl that we are all just completely head over heals for...my prayer is that we will be able to provide her with everything she needs to be a well-adjusted, happy, God-fearing woman who lacks for nothing emotionally and loves us as much as we already love her. 

Now that she's home (she is home!!!) this will be my last post on this "journey" blog and I'll return to the very, very neglected family blog.  So, as they say in Ethiopia and Italy, "Ciao" and thank you all for being an amazing support system for us...your prayers, insight, genuine curiousness, girly clothes, and now meals have meant more than we can express.  I'll leave you with a great little video Steve put together for those that didn't get to see our pics in person...