Last Updated:
Oct 31, 2009
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Adoption Makes Hearts & Families Whole The O'Connor Clan Eliza Catherine Yu (Lizzie) Egan Patrick Chaka & waiting for Elinor Margaret Home Pictures Stories Family Guestbook |
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Stories This is the journal entry I typed our first day in Ethiopia, but was unable to post while there. I have also gone back and added some pictures that coincide with the entry. Saturday 4/11/09: We have finally arrived in Ethiopia and it is everything and at the same time, nothing like what we expected.
We started the day waking from a brief nap on the plane to the most breathtaking sunrise above an endless, tumultuous, sea of clouds. It was awe inspiring and peaceful and made us realize how truly blessed we are to make this trip. We were able to befriend three other couples on the plane who are all adopting through AWAA. Having some new found friends to share the long ride with made the trip much more enjoyable: sharing adoption journeys, and swapping out our magazines. We were also lucky enough not to have a packed flight which allowed us to spread out and stretch a bit; overall for spending 17 hours in the plane, it was not bad at all. Our Bethany guide, Milkiyas, met us at the airport and navigated getting our cab and finding our guest house for us (I really don't think we would have gotten here on our own). The city is fascinating and totally unique. The roads here in the city seem to be, for the most part, in excellent shape [this was later proven otherwise!], the condition of the cabs and cars on the road however, not so much. But immediately beyond the asphalt roads is dirt, with very little grass to be seen. And the sheer number of people and livestock walking along these dirt paths along the major highways was staggering. I have already lost count of the number of donkeys we have seen, they seem to be everywhere in this capital city. There seems to be a tremendous amount of building being done as well, but it is hard to tell if all the construction is active or if some has been abandoned within some stage of the building process. In either case it is common to see newer structures, representing a huge variety of architecture, within feet of something that can only be described as a shanty; and again, almost no greenery. In general we are surprised that we have not seen more "pockets" of economic development, even though we had previously been warned repeatedly about the poverty. We now understand why the website for the guesthouse in which we are staying made such a big deal about their patch of grass- it is truly a unique and welcomed feature from what we have seen so far.
There was a significant thunderstorm this afternoon with sheets of rain pounding off of the corrugated tin roofs all around us. That unique sound, along with the booming thunder temporarily drowned out the rooster that has been crowing outside our window since our arrival. After spending most of the day sleeping in our room listening to the strange melody of the storm, we had dinner tonight with a large group of college kids from Illinois who had been doing mission work in the area orphanages. They were leaving to head home after the meal but were clearly animated and changed by their experiences here. Their sadness at having to leave the children after only one week and the impact that the trip has had on them was very evident. We also met Holly, with her new 14 month old son Alizar, as well as Holly's mother Dianne, who is traveling with them. Alizar is adorable and has perfected the baby bird pose of opening his mouth as wide as possible in anticipation of being fed.... so, so cute. We are fortunate that they will be here with us all week, so I cannot wait until we can bring Egan back here to the guest home so they can have a play date.
Tomorrow we are told that we will start the day with church services, though thay are not celebrating Easter here as the Ethiopian calandar is a week behind ours. After that we will go with the other Bethany family to the Shalam transition house and meet Egan for the first time. I am so excited and anxious to meet him. My mind is flooded with questions: What does he look like four months after his original photos were taken? What is his little personality going to be like? How will he respond to us? Will he let us hold and snuggle him and smother him wth our love? Can we do all of that without crying and scaring the bejesus out of him? Ahhhh, we just can't wait! What a day! Tuesday in Addis Ababa: This is the first chance we have had internet access. We have been journaling up a storm but will have to add those once we have returned home. We have found that both electricity and running water cannot be counted on and are absent more often than they are present. But is has not kept us from enjoying our stay and all the wonderful people we have met, both American and Ethiopian. But on to the important stuff- Egan is AWESOME! He has the biggest eyes, huge cheeks, and two little teeth that are forever poking out. He loves to dance, just like his nannies had said and he is very, very laid back. We are having a great time together. We are having some paperwork issues here with the consulate and have an appointment today to hopefully get Egan's visa, if not we may have to extend our stay. We should know by tonight, so please keep us in your prayers. UPDATE: Our paperwork was received this morning so we are good to go! Today has been our best day yet with smile after smile and filled with great news about our visa and just good times in general. We did find out that Egan's birth certificate lists his birthday as July 20th, not April 20th- a pretty big difference. So we are anxious to talk with our pediatrician and see which date she thinks is more likely. This is all we can update tonight, they are about to switch the generator off and we will lose power. Odd, now that it is day 4, this just doesn't seem unusual to us! Thankyou for all of the prayers- they were heard and we are ecstatic!
4/10/09- Well we are currently at Chris and Lauren's cozy abode in Manassas for the evening as Lauren is driving us to the airport at 5:45 tomorrow morning. We have checked and double checked all of our luggage and honestly, it looks like we are heading overseas for the next month instead of the next week. At this point in time our biggest worry is that we have forgotten something vital- though with all of our frequent checks I can't imagine that happening. I would love to be hopping into bed right now (at 10:37 PM) but I am really too excited for that to actually happen. Soooo instead I am bonding with my bro, catching up on the masters, and snagging DVD's from Chris' collection to watch at the airport tomorrow. We will update if we can, but if not I hope we can assume that "no news is good news"! Blessings- Shannon, Sean, Lizzie, and Egan
3/30/09- Another great call today! I came home from the doctor today only to open the door and see Sean on the phone with our social worker! (of-course he immediately sent me into panic mode because of the stressed and concerned look on his face. It turns out he just does not understand all the abbreviations and acronyms for all of the paperwork, since I handle all of that, and Debby had him overwhelmed and confused with all of the information!) Regardless of whether we traveled this week, we were hoping to hear by today about the TB test and some hint as to our travel time. Turns out that Egan passed his TB test (thank God!) and that we will be traveling over Easter weekend to get him. We had hoped to travel this week, so this is a one week delay from our "best case scenario," but this gives us some much needed time to prepare and complete all of those last minute projects we had been procrastinating about. The funny thing is that we received Lizzie the day after Easter 3 years ago; and if everything goes as scheduled, we will get Egan the day after Easter as well! So this is great news and we are thankful, and ecstatic, and feel very, very blessed. More news to follow when we iron out our travel details! UPDATE: We booked our flights and we head out the Good Friday, 4/10 and will be returning Friday, 4/17. A pretty quick trip, just long enough to be totally jet lagged and disoriented, but we can't wait!
3/26/09- We just heard that Egan got his passport yesterday and that he was tested for TB today. Every little step has us bubbling with excitement. Unfortunately the US consulate changed their guidelines 3 days ago (!!!) and now all children must be retested for TB after they receive their passport but before they can be issued a visa. If a child should test positive then the child is required to stay in Ethiopia for an additional six months while they receive treatment. Needless to say, we are prayerful that Egan's test comes up negative; we should hopefully hear by tomorrow, Monday at the latest. If all goes well with the TB test then we should get the next available consulate appointment. We have finally kicked our rumps in gear and have been really productive this week getting all the last minute things completed. Really all that is left is a good spring cleaning and we are good to go, and boy are we ready!
3/24/09- So we did not get a call this week (it was a long-shot, but a small part of me was still hoping). But my heart and my gut is telling me that next week is going to be THE week! Keep your fingers crossed. If we can travel next week Egan will be home by Easter which would be just awesome, if not, we will probably be gone for Easter and Lizzie will have to celebrate without us :(
3/20/09- We just found out through another family that Egan made the 4 hour trip this week from Awassa to Addis Ababa. He is now staying in a small transitional home with the other children that were referred at the same time he was (which should be 2 infants close to his age and I think 5 older children). I am hoping this means that our consulate appointment is coming up and that we should get the phone call in one to two weeks! This is a lot of change and transition for our little guy, a step Lizzie never had to go through, and I pray that he rebounds well and that another transition in a short while to join us isn't too much for his little system and emotions. I can't believe we are so close. I have been trying to temper my excitement so that if we hit any more delays I won't be too disappointed, but getting this news just gave me tingles and made me realize we really are nearing the home stretch- thank the Lord!!! We have had so many people care for our family with prayers this week- it has been overwhelming, but we are so thankful and feel very, very blessed by the events and all of the good news we have received this week. Many thanks. 3/16/09- Well it has been about a week and a half since court and we are hoping to get our travel call within the next three weeks. Unfortunately, Lizzie has been under the weather...more than under the weather actually; she has been stuck home for the last week with pneumonia. But thankfully she was feeling better today so that both Lizzie and Mommy could go back to school. Nothing makes you appreciate a group of cranky pre-teen Middle Schoolers more than spending a full week locked inside the house with a cranky and feverish toddler! Shannon and Sean have also not been at 100%, so we are hoping by next weekend to get everyone healthy and moving to start making a dent in that dreaded project list we keep mentioning! 3/5/09- We PASSED court! Egan is ours! I can't even explain the overwhelming emotions of joy and gratitude at this news. Sadly, I do not think that all of our Bethany families received such joyous news about their court status, and our hearts break for those families that have experienced another delay before being able to be joined with their children. It is heartbreaking that the entire adoption process is so long and filled with so many obstacles. We are so thankful that we have made it past this hurtle and now we are simply waiting on travel. We still however are not suppose to publicly post pictures. Believe me, we are so excited to share his cute little mug with the world, but they recommend we wait until our consulate appointment. As I mentioned in previous posts, the current timeline trend is to hear about travel approximately 4 weeks after court, but then having to leave within days of getting the call. Shannon is now going into "list" mode which is going to force everyone into "worker bee" status! There is no rest for the weary! No time to relax! We have molding to hang, nursery's to clean, laundry to sort, and toddlers to keep entertained! (I guess what we are really trying to say is keep us in your prayers as the work and the wait are still not over!!!)
3/2/09- Two more days until court!!!!!!
We had grand plans to spend our snow day off of work checking things off of the to-do list, but thus far we have just been enjoying the day with Lizzie... A yummy brunch of creme bruele' french toast, a mid morning viewing of The Lion King, frolicking as a family in the snow, followed by lunch and a hot bath before nap time.... what a way to spend the day! 2/23/09 - 9 days until court! The countdown continues as we enter the single digit zone Whooohoooo! And my cyber buddy Kim got her travel call today to travel to ET to get her precious daughter Savannah- we are sooooo very, very excited for her. Her court date was 1/29 which continues the trend of about 4 weeks between court and travel. But she has to be in Ethiopia by THIS Friday, so she is flying our on Wednesday! How crazy is that? Two days between travel call and flight! I am overwhelmed by the possibility, especially since (unlike China) we have to make all of our own travel arrangements! I am just so excited for Kim and can't wait to hear all about her trip. Yay! Go team Savannah and come on court date!!!!
2/17/09- 15 more days until court!!!!!
2/10/09- 22 more days until court!!!!!! Not that we are anxious or excited (hahaha!!!) 1/23/09 - What an exciting week! We join the millions of Americans who were ecstatic and speechless by the historic inauguration activities held on Tuesday. It is hard to explain how moving and exciting it is to have the embodiment of potential, acceptance, and support in the leadership of our country while we anxiously await bringing home our African son to our transracial family. It just makes your heart happy to know that anything is possible for our children. On an even more personal note, we received updated/corrected information about Egan today! While we did not get pictures (we still hope to get updated pictures in the future), we did get a corrected height and he is still consistently in the 50-75 % in height, weight, and head circumference on the American charts! We also found out that he understands the word "no," is crawling, and is picking things up in a pincher grasp. Lizzie was not able to do any of those things at the same age, so we are really encouraged by the report that he is getting quality interactions and stimulus in his orphanage/foster setting. He was also described as "very affectionate, and loves to give hugs!" Oohhh, I just can't wait for an Egan hug! What a wonderful way to end this hectic and memorable week. Hope everyone else feels as excited and optimistic as we feel in the O'Connor house! Enjoy!
12/30/08 - We got our court date today: March 4th. I was actually hoping for a January court date and travel in February, so this was a bit of a disappointment, but I am trying to look at my cup as half full. We continue to move forward in the process, our little guy is chubby and healthy, and hopefully we will travel before Spring Break so that we can use Spring Break as part of our maternity/paternity leave. So now we have 2 long months with no official updates or progress, but we hope to receive some occasional updates, hopefully with pictures, as we continue to wait. And of-course where as before I was hoping for lots of snow days (which they are actually predicting for this winter) so that I could get some "free" maternity time off- now I hope for as little snow time off as possible so that we will start our summer and our free family time with Egan as soon as possible- Gosh how things change with one day and one phone call!
12/23/08 - So it is official.... after much deliberation and many a conversation (not to mention polling and surveys that did not lead to a real front-runner), we finally placed our big name decision in the divine hands of the big sister, Miss Lizzie O'Connor. And after repeated questioning Miss Lizzie repeated her same stance over and over... her new little brother is named Egan! So Egan Patrick it is! I guess when you and your spouse are at a stand-off it is nice to actually be part of a family of three! And now Egan can blame Lizzie if he is ever teased about his name (the internet suggests EE-gore is the most common teasing endured by children named Egan, ah, the odd facts you can find on the net!) I am just excited to call him something besides "the baby." Each step seems to make it more real and gets us closer to having him home! Happy holidays, have a blessed Christmas! Shannon, Sean, Eliza, and Egan
12/12/08- So with a night of sleep under our belts our excitement and giddiness over our referral is really starting to kick in. I have been scouring the net to find out some more info and while it is slow going, here are some new details I have been able to find: Shalom orphanage is in Awassa, a city about 4 hours south of the capital, about midway between the capital city of Addis Ababa and the Kenyan border. It is unclear, given this distance, if we will be able to visit the orphanage or the city of Awassa during our trip. Awassa seems to be considerably lower in elevation than Addis Ababa and much more arid, even though it is known for having a large lake. It is not an uncommen travel stop for Americans and Europeans traveling Kenya and Ethiopia and the pictures are lovely. The weather in Addis Ababa should be between the mid 50s and 70 when we travel- a nice change from the snowy winter we are expecting here this February. Of the two African names our little guy was given, one is a very common African name (an uncommon, though not unheard of American name) and the other is an uncommon African name- possibly a surname. This second name is the one that is fairly close to the name Egan. My wonderful school nurse, who is from Ethiopia, is doing some research for me to find out more! Again, we are so blessed with the amount of love and support we have! (UPDATE: Translated his two names mean Mighty King of the Frontier! And our agency is interpreting his paperwork to read that the name that sounds like Egan is in-fact his first name.) I believe three other families were matched with us, two of them getting sibling groups of slightly older children. It would be nice to travel with other families, this was a wonderful part of our China trip and we would love to have a similar experience this time around.
12/11/08: We got another one of "those calls" today- with the wonderful news of a referral. Our new little guy is just about 8 months old and 19 pounds. Not too much known about him but he is super cute in his photos- a little on the chunky side (which we are THRILLED about!), with a curious, inquisitive look to him. So now we begin again, waiting for a court date, approval, travel- probably another 2 month wait total. Other families have been getting updates so we certainly hope that is the case. This is such a releif as we head towards the holidays, really putting our hearts and spirits at ease so we can fully enjoy the upcoming weeks to the fullest. Again, we covet your prayers during our wait and thank everyone for their tremendous support. Finally,we are still at a loss for a name (though the wild card names of Balthazar and Chauncey are now off the list!!! You may now breath a sigh of relief), so please lend us your feedback....we need to start calling him something!
NAME ALERT: We have narrowed it down to the following names (with the first three being Shannon's favorites): Emmett Thomas (follows our theme of E names of favorite book characters), Kellan Thomas, Keegan Patrick, Finnegan (Finn for short) Sean (? not sure on the middle name, but Sean sounds good), Kieran Patrick, Seamus (pronounced Shay-mus) (not sure of a middle name on this one either) On the original top 10 list was the name Egan (pronounced Ee- gan) and since this is actually very similar to his African name Egan is also a top contender again. Ugggh! And now that we are adding names back onto our "short list" Sean is adding Eamon (pronounced A- min) back to the list! Of course, if we keep on adding to the short list, it will be anything but! But please keep Egan and Eamon in mind as well as you are considering our top 8 choices (Shannon thinks Egan more than Eamon!). Feel free to let us know your opinions via the comment section below or by email, but try to be kind since one of these names will eventually be attached to our sweet baby boy!
12/9/08 The months are flying by, barely leaving as a second to catch up and reflect on the holidays and day to day blessings that we get to experience. While we are still struggling with "The Terrible Threes," the upside is that three is a terrific age for holidays and celebrations. Everything is Exciting! Wonderful! and our newest adjective: Cool! and all comments seem to end in an exclamation mark. Halloween was super fun as Lizzie perfected her Mulan stance and the cry of "I've got your back Zhang" (straight from the Mulan 2 video). Nana and mommy created a picture perfect Mulan costume complete with Geisha wig that Lizzie really loved. She was able to proudly adorn it for her Halloween party and parade at school as well as the Fullerton's annual party and of-course Trick-or-Treating. Unfortunately Liz was enjoying herself so much, it was difficult to get her to sit still to capture her enthusiasm on film! After spending Thanksgiving with all of our cousins on the Korink side, we have been busy preparing for Christmas. Through the magic of preschool, Lizzie seems to be very aware of all things Christmas related and we can't go to Target or Costco without going down the tree aisle multiple times to oooh and aaahhh. As if that weren't exciting enough we put up several trees at home (with lots of "help" from Liz) and hung our stockings with care. Clearly there are some carols being learned as well- but I am hoping to find out for sure on Thursday when Mommy will attend Lizzie's pre-school Christmas Pageant!!! But by far, our favorite activity is taking the long way home each night to ride around the neighborhood and look at the lights. Who couldn't get caught up in the spirit when someone is squealing with glee- each and every time- as if it was the most amazing and extravagant sight they had ever seen.
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