DC? Check

Bryan and Amory made it to DC, not without an eventful journey though! Here's the update from Amory this evening:

We got the the airport this morning and this time, being veterans, we knew to go to the scale first. It's a good thing because one of our duffles was...50.3 lbs. I had to move one pair of shoes, ha! The U****d attendants were just as friendly as ever. I expected they would not check them through to Ethiopian, so I wasn't even going down that road, but last time they still tagged them through so I thought that's what they would have to do this time. It apparently just happened because of having to pay the extra fees last time. When I asked the lady if they would be tagged to show Ethiopian, I proceeded to get YET ANOTHER lecture on how it's not U****d's policy because it's an over night stay in DC. I then told the lady, yes, we're aware of U****dd's policy on holding luggage overnight to check to the final destination, that's not what I'm asking about and I don't even want to go down that road, yet I know that every other U****d counter but Dallas will do it because there were families with longer layovers than us in DC who traveled the same day we did and United did it for them. But, we understand that this is not U****d's "policy", we're ok with that, and we don't want to discuss it. I then get ANOTHER speech on it. I think I had to say "it's ok, we don't care about that, we're not going down that road today" about 5 times before the lady finally quit talking. I wasn't even looking for it to be an issue this time and STILL ended up leaving the counter upset about it. Argh. She also failed to tell us, apparently because of her rant, that she didn't give us a seat assignment. I found out by our names being called over the loud speaker to come up to the desk at the gate. TOTALLY freaked me out, just because that one lady couldn't even tell us basic knowledge on our ticketing and what we needed to do. It has all cemented in my mind that all U****d workers receive "customer service" training to learn how to be as unhelpful as possible.

We did get on the plane though, and were happily flying along when a call came over the loud speaker for any doctor, nurse, or EMT worker to come to the front of the plane. There was a 90 year old man on the plane that couldn't breathe and his blood pressure had shot up, so we had to land in Cincinnati so he could get medical treatment. It delayed our getting to DC about 45-50 minutes, which was no biggie to us, but I kid you not, EVERYONE else on the plane had tight connecting flights. When we got to baggage claim, there were only about 5 people there to claim bags, the rest of the plane connected. I felt bad for all of the other families, but what can you do? The guy's life was much more important.

This time, being the veteran that I am now, I called the hotel for a shuttle the moment we picked out our bags. Of course, the delayed flight made us just miss the shuttle and they said the next one wouldn't be there until 1:30. No biggie..just 30 minutes and again, I felt prepared this time so we're still doing good. Well, at 1:37 I called the hotel again. The said he was on his way, but had to drop people off that were departing that day. Finally, about 1:50 the shuttle shows up. Now, we haven't really eaten breakfast, or lunch, so we're starving. We get to the hotel (this time it's Embassy Suites), check in, I have a long conversation with the clerk on the restaurant and whether or not Ethiopian comped our meals (which, of course, she had no clue about), take our luggage up to the room, and go straight down to eat. But, the restaurant is closed. They closed at 2, of course. ARGH! So we ended up walking a couple blocks away in nearly 100 degree weather to eat at McDonalds, who, of course, gets our order wrong. But WE WILL NOT BE DISCOURAGED!! Bryan prayed before we ate our chicken nuggets that we would have sweet dispositions the rest of the day..it was cute. We smiled through it all this time and don't feel frazzled like last time.

Have a good night. Tomorrow is a new day and tomorrow....we REALLY DO become real deal parents.

One last post

I figure that I should get in one last post before Sara completely takes over. It's hard to believe that in just a few days we will be on a plane to bring our daughter home. I have said throughout this adoption process that I never really felt like it would actually happen. It started to seem like actually being able to raise a child was just too good to be true for us. It was always just out of reach - like a steak dangling in front of a hungry dog. Something we wanted so much, but just couldn't quite get. After our month long Embassy escapade it felt even more like that. But here we are with just a few more days until we board a plane and, this time, come back parents. I will admit that I don't think it will fully sink in until I step on the Ethiopian Airlines flight in D.C..
For now there's still so much to do, so many items on my excel spreadsheet checklist still to be marked off...but every now and then, I am hit by waves of humility, awe and joy. I am humbled that our Heavenly Father has been so gracious (adj. \'gra shes: giving a gift that is not deserved) as to bless us with what we, at many times, did not think was possible. His faithfulness towards us is something that makes me marvel. We have not always acted so toward God. We've doubted, been angry, hurt, pleaded and given God the silent treatment. But God...His faithfulness has never wavered. He has carried us through EVERY single day of the last 3 1/2 years and has always gently guided us through the muck. His faithfulness has continued through to the very end. I would say today more than ever, but that's bad theology; I just can see it more now than before. I realize now that it was not a steak dangling in front of a hungry dog, though that's how we often acted. It was an Author writing a beautiful story, and I just wasn't able to skip to the back page and read the end. Now we're on that last page, and the story was so good I'd like to read it again...well, after a few years that is. Although, it's really just the last page of book one...book two is to come, in just a few days, and I CAN'T wait to see what God has in store!

-amory

Taking Over

Hi all! This is Sara, Amory's (& Bryan's) cousin. I was tired of checking for new posts with no new posts showing up:( But, in their defense, they've had a crazy couple of weeks. After a VERY long, VERY frustrating process to get an embassy appointment so they could go back to get sweet baby A.F.T, they are finally GOING. Yes, they leave this weekend! So please do keep them in your prayers as there are a lot of details to wrap up at home, with Amory's work, house preparations, packing, etc. And it's not emotionally draining at all:)

I'll be attempting to post for them while they are gone on this trip as well--we'll see if I do any better!

SJP

Day Two, Part Two

We finally arrived at the hotel and were excited to take naps and get clean. Bryan and I took our showers first while S opted to sleep. I went down to get more water, which is supposed to help with altitude sickness, while Bryan started his nap. Now we had only been at the hotel for about 45 minutes, so imagine my surprise when I heard someone behind me ask if I was with AGCI while I was paying. I turned around and saw the driver that I recognized from a picture our agency had sent to us. He asked if I wanted to go right then to Hannah's Hope to meet my daughter and I, of course, said YES! I ran back to our room and burst open the door while screaming for Bryan and S to get up and get dressed fast. We were going to meet our daughter! A few minutes later we were all stepping onto the bus, Bryan and myself exhausted, S feeling a little grungy, but we didn't care. We were on our way to HH. A short, incredibly bumpy ride later, we pulled up to those famous black gates that we had seen in so many pictures of people that had gone before us. This was really happening. Bryan and I were really going to meet our daughter.
The rest of the story is told from a daddy's perspective...

My wife and I had dreamed of that first moment when we would be able to hold our daughter for the first time for longer than we cared to think about. In our minds that moment would involve a sweet smile from her, a tear or two from us, and a moment that would endure forever. For Amory, the latter part was definitely accurate.

Entering the room at Hannah’s Hope for the first time without having slept in over 19 hours, we were deliriously tired and deliriously excited. Of course, we had seen pictures of A from other families who had sent us pictures, but nothing would prepare us for this moment. A was absolutely precious as she slept in a small crib on the far side of the room, but Amory could not wait to see her with her eyes open. As A woke up, Amory gathered A in her arms and picked her up. From over Amory’s shoulder I saw a beautiful little girl with big brown eyes, full lips, and a mini Mohawk of hair.

While I smiled at A from a distance, she coughed a little bit. Amory, who had been coughing through the flight hours before, bounced A in her arms saying, “We can just cough together.” At that moment A gave Amory the perfect moment we would never forget, spitting up not once, not twice, but three times all over Amory’s shirt and arms. I laughed as the special mother helped clean up A and Amory went to clean up herself.

Since Amory was getting cleaned up, I finally got to hold A for the first time. I held her close to me in amazement that I was finally at Hannah’s Hope with my daughter. I still did not feel like a father. I kept thinking two things” 1: Don’t drop her and 2: I hope she does not throw up on me. She kept coughing every now and then and Amory and the special mothers' laughed as I kept moving her away from me with each cough. Then, she looked right up at me and smiled. I felt myself well up, but I figured I did not want to be that guy who cries before his wife. Later, watching the video, I discovered Amory had cried as she held A for the first time, so I was in the clear. Still, I could not believe I was a father.

As most of you could have guessed Amory took little A from me as soon as she could. Throughout the next hour Amory gave her a bath, fed her a bottle, and held her close. We watched her smile at the other kids, roll over from side to side and try as hard as she could to hold her head up while lying on her stomach. As she was rolling, her eyes started to slowly close. Mine started to close as well as I lay beside her. I reached out and she took my index finger in her hand. As we both drifted to sleep, I thought, “I really am a father. I really am A’s father.” So, although our first moments might not have been exactly what we thought they would be, Amory and I both got memorable moments from our first visit with A. I am just happy Amory’s moment is the one that had to be cleaned up.