Things Are Looking Even Better

Now the Cullen is on his meds everything seems to be improving.  We went to the doctor again today just for a checkup and he didn't weigh more than last week.  Kinda bummed about that.  If he keeps eating like he does surely he will gain some pounds soon.  We go back in another month so I would love to see him reach the 1% mark for either weight or height.  To put this in perspective, Kaden is 98% and only 25 days older. 

Kaden is SLOWLY adjusting to having a brother around at all times.  He still doesn't get the sharing of the toys and wants to push him a lot for no reason but Cullen is starting to fight back and possibly even initiate the pushing too.  Do I really want three boys or should a girl be in the Meiser future?

Tonight we are going to Festival of Lights!  I used to do this every year when I was a kid so I hope it is special for them. 

Here are a few pics.  We are loving our new family.

A few recent pics

 

Cullen at the Grace Guest House

  

Kaden is up to something...

 Wrestling with the boys

Home at last!

Kelly and Cullen made it home today!  Cullen looks about half the size of Kaden, and definitely feels about the same.  Kaden and Cullen enjoyed a few big bear hugs at the airport.  At one point, the hugging got so intense that they fell over and rolled half-way under a pop machine. 

Cullen came in and immediately loved Derby and Bruno - this was a big relief for all of us.  At one point, Derby crept up on him and started sniffing the back of his neck, and Cullen broke out in a huge laugh.  It was hilarious.

I've been told I'm on crying and diaper duty all week as Kelly gets back in the swing of things.  I guess that I will get to bed early.  Kell and Cullen are holding each other, sleeping on the couch.  Kaden is wrestling with Bruno - and he keeps losing! 

We will be posting a lot of pics and videos in the coming days. 

We Passed

The newest Meiser is Cullen Tsegaye Meiser.  We passed Embassy today!  The questions that were asked was what CCI prepared us for and it was pretty easy. 

We are having a campfire right now so I can't type more. 

Tomorrow night we fly home!  So excited to see everyone. 

Big Day Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the big Embassy day.  We get picked up here and all the CCI families go as a group at 12:30 in the afternoon.  Fingers crossed.

Today was a lot of fun.  Cullen watches every move I make and cries when I am out of sight.  He started running all over the place and his "On the Move" shirt was very appropriate.  I took a walk with Ellie and the security guard (Doug- he is a fighter in the Ethiopian Circus so I was well protected) to find CDs and DVDs.  We went to the Somali village and saw quite a few interesting things.  My throat was burning when I got back from all the fumes and the legal drugs burning- ugh.  I found a lot of great CDs and DVDs that he will want to dance to that also shows off Ethiopia. 

Everyone at the guest house went out for pizza tonight.  We met up with the families staying at the other guest house.  He refused to eat pizza- he isn't a true American quite yet.  He is taking his bottles and loves getting fed in the middle of the night.  Last night we were up for an hour and a half with bottles, diaper, food and then more diaper changes!  I can't wait for his pediatrician to look at him!! 

I am a little anxious about tomorrow.  Hope to post some good news when I return from Embassy. 

He's Mine Again

I got Cullen from the orphanage today.  He remembered me and wanted me to feed him his food.  He is really clingy- he is on my lap as I type this right now and if I put him in another chair or even down to walk to starts screaming.  I managed to change his diaper without getting bit!

I gave out the lollipops to the kids but the director's wife asked me to hold off giving all the donations because she will gradually pass them out.  They were in school when I went there so I didn't want to distract them for that.  They were learning body parts and days of the week.  It is funny to hear them pronounce different body parts.  Cullen was walking around being the class clown the whole time.  They all started chanting his name and he had the biggest smile and kept clapping. 

Gina- I gave Mamo the card and he loved it.  He kept smiling and looking at the pictures. 

Becky- I saw both your little ones at Resurrection.  Ebenezer is HUGE- great personality and is crawling.  He is much bigger than Diborah and Cullen.  Both were getting fed while I was there and are definitely taken care of.  I gave her your pictures too. 

It's good to be back in Ethiopia.  I love the people here. 

Thursday is my Embassy date and I think I am going to stay at the guest house until then.  They are making me my favorite Ethiopian dish for dinner! 

I'm Here

That was a long flight.  I boarded at 7:30 last night and it didn't take off until 10:00.  Overall it was a good flight.  We did have a scary moment with a man but I will explain that more later.

I managed to do all the luggage myself (with the help of another CCI family) and didn't even have to pay the demanding men at the airport or for them to scan my bags.  If I can do this then the week should be pretty easy to handle (I hope!). 

It is 11:00 here so I am going to bed.  I get Cullen tomorrow morning and I get to deliver all the donations!

I will post more tomorrow as I am exhausted.

At DC

Am I gonna sound like a kid if I say "I'm bored!"? Sorry Grace!!

The flight here was great. I hope I won't have an issue with my extra bag at Ethiopian airlines. Thanks again for all those donations!

And I'm off...

I should be leaving in the next 30 minutes to head to the airport.  My first flight is to DC and then I take off at 8:30 tonight to Addis Ababa. 

I think Kaden knows I am leaving as he won't even sit and eat breakfast in his own chair- if you know Kaden he never has a problem eating! 

In less than a week we will have another Meiser. 

If anyone needs to talk to Doug just send him an email.  

THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL THE DONATIONS!!!  I AM TAKING OVER 34 DVDS, TONS OF DIAPERS & WIPES.  WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!

Love to all....

Embassy Date!!!

I heard yesterday that we got the December 2nd Embassy date!!!  I am leaving on Sunday morning and will arrive there Monday night.  I have a long layover in DC. 

Thursday is the Embassy appointment so hopefully that goes well. 

Cullen and I will travel back on Friday night and will arrive (if all goes well) at Cincinnati at 3:32 pm on Saturday afternoon.  I am so excited that other CCI families will be on the plane with me.  If anyone would like to meet us there that would be great!

What a wonderful Thanksgiving this has been already. 

Cullen- I will get you on Tuesday morning! 

Back to packing and making arrangements... 

Starting to go crazy....

I need more patience!  I just want an Embassy date!!!

I heard good news last night from our director.  So far 4 children have the Dec. 2nd Embassy date and another 6 children can fit into this date as well.  We are one of the families waiting at the Embassy and are hopeful Cullen will be one of the remaining 6. 

We've heard that he is really starting to walk around and he loves playing with a girl his age.  Hopefully he will like playing with a boy his age too.  : )  When a lady was there he ran up to her wanting to be held because the nannies said she looked like me.  I hope he will keep remembering me for the next few weeks. 

I'm trying to stay busy to keep my mind off him, but nothing is working.. 

Hope to hear something on Monday.     

Birth Certificate

We got his birth certificate on Monday.  His DOB matches what his birth mother told us- 8/21/2009.  The next step is to get his passport which we are hoping to get it by Monday and then the paperwork goes to the Embassy.  So far everything extra the Embassy has been requesting doesn't apply to our case so we are hopeful for the Dec. 16th date. 

The orphanage director's wife has been emailing me some pictures of him.  He looks like he is really walking and very happy there.  He is smiling in most pictures.  I sent over a picture of the two of us and they printed it and gave it to him.  I was the happiest mama when I saw these!!!! 

She also asked that I bring over children's DVDs, clothes, shoes and toys for the older kids.  If anyone has stuff they would like me to take over there I will gladly do so.

Ethiopian Adoptions in the News

We came across this same article in the Cincinnati Enquirer on Friday, and were surprised at the number of adoptions from Ethiopia.  We are also very happy to hear that the program is going in the right direction.

http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20101013/NEWS04/310139983/1006/NEWS

Laughter - The Universal Language

Here is a video of Cullen with a friend of ours after we passed court.  You can see why we love this little boy so much.

We're Home

On a happy note- It is so great to eat pizza once again. 

Leaving Tsegaye was really rough yesterday.  When we got to the orphanage his nanny immediately grabbed him from me and took him to his room. 

When I was giving kids toys, bubbles and cookies and I had a complete meltdown.  I didn't think I could leave him.  I was hysterical and the nannies just laughed at me and spoke about me in Amharic.  Since he was new at this orphanage I had my list of many things to tell them (he likes formula with sugar in a cup, he eats a lot in the middle of the night, etc.) so that helped ease my mind.  I hope this next month and a half (hopefully!!!!) goes by fast. 

Here are a few great pics of Cullen during our trip.


Cullen with his birth mother




Big Smiles All Around



We taught him how to honk his nose

When we talked to the orphanage we asked them about their needs. They said disposable diapers and wipes are their first need followed by formula and then clothes.  Of course the orphanage was extremely grateful for all the stuff that we donated, and a lot of the kids were already wearing the clothes we dropped off the day we met Cullen.

On the flight home today we had about 40 kids from the Asante Kids Choir on our plane.  Every one of them were so well behaved and were so thankful when you showed them how to get the movies to work.

We've been on 3 continents in the last 24 hours... we are exhausted!

I'll post more as we hear from our agency about our Embassy date.  We are hoping for the December 16th date- just in time for Christmas!  There are multiple steps before you get the date but I am hoping we start hearing about the first step soon. 

Cullen- WE MISS YOU!!!!  You be a good boy and don't bite the nannies when you are getting changed like you did me all the time! 

Cullen - Officially a Meiser

Read previous post from today first.  Cullen is the fourth human member of the Meiser household (6th with Kelly math)!!!

We wrote a list of questions that we asked Tsegaye's Mom.  For anyone adopting, we highly recommend  you prepare these before traveling, even if you think that you will not meet her.  We had no idea that we would ever get to see her, and our first meeting was very nerve wrecking and we were in complete shell shock.  I know that the phrase, "chance of a lifetime" is used a lot, but has never been more true in both of our lives.

We asked:
Q - We know that Tsegaye is going to ask why his mother gave him up for adoption.  Can you tell us why?
A - I cannot afford him.

Q - If Tsegaye ever wants to meet you in the future, would you be willing?
A - Yes! (this absolutely made our day)

Through this process, we learned that she is from a family of farmers from 230 km south of Addis Ababa.  She was 19 years old when she had Tsegaye.  We also learned more about the culture in the area.

Court was a little nerve wrecking.  We were very prepared for court, but it was still very crazy thinking that the one minute that we had could change our lives forever.  The questions that the judge asked were things like:
Q - Why have you two decided to adopt?
Q - Are you prepared to handle the biracial aspects of raising this child?
Q - Have you learned about Ethiopia?
Q - Does your biological son know about this adoption?  What does he think?
A - Yes, but he is only one.  He does kiss his picture every night before he goes to bed.
Q - Have you fulfilled your education requirements?

When we heard the words, "Then he is yours" I saw the room light up....it's unbelievable that this little, awesome guy is now a part of our family.

We also decided to write a letter to his birth mom, and we made a hand written copy that we kept for Cullen.  In the letter we made a lot of promises to the birth mom to raise Cullen right - finish high school, attend college, and that we would encourage him to go for his Master's degree and PhD.  Writing this letter and the questions was one of the most difficult things we have ever done.  We don't know why we were privileged enough to be born in the United States, and into two great families - but it has definitely created a whole new perspective for us.  We both kept thinking that what if the situation was reversed, and that Kelly was giving Kaden up for adoption because we were born in the United States and some rich person from Ethiopia was coming to adopt him.  It's a tough thing to think about....

We head back to the orphanage tomorrow, and our mind is going to be on all these awesome kids over here that need families. We will post pictures on Wednesday (we are checking to make sure we are allowed to post them, we may only be allowed to post pictures of only Cullen) when we are back in the states.  If you know of anyone looking to expand their families - tell them to take a look and let us know if we can help.

Most of the kids were singing to us in English as we walked into Cullen's orphanage. The kids at another orphanage opened the gates for us, walked us around the orphanage and gave us a tour, and were so helpful.  These kids all just seem awesome over here.

Kaden - we are coming home dude.  Get ready for a big kiss from your mom and she says that you better stop using Bruno as a bench.

Our New Family

Our family officially grew by one today!!!  The judge asked us if we would like Tsegaye to be our son.  Of course we answered yes, and then she smiled and said, "then he is yours."

We leave tomorrow night at 10:15 pm and that is going to be hard.  We are going to the orphanage at 4:30 to spend time with him and the kids there before we leave.  I want to paint their fingernails and color with them.  There are so many great children in the orphange that it breaks my heart.  It makes their day just to get their picture taken with you. 

We found out that the mother was only 19 when she had Cullen.  Doug is giving him a bath and he is screaming so I will try to post more later.....

Cullen - Day 3

Today was a great day with Cullen.  This little boy is so amazing.  He can walk, he loves to dance to music when its on tv or on his toys, and he is really opening up to a lot more people.  Kelly is definitely his favorite, and he rarely lets me hold him when she is in the room.

We went and picked him up a few sets of clothes.  We also went to one of the orphanages and Becky gave all the kids sunglasses and a few soccer balls. There are soooo many kids here that need homes.  These kids were all so sweet...we have our eye on a ten year old boy..he is so nice and his smile breaks your heart.

Tomorrow is court.  Our appointment is 2:00 tomorrow afternoon, which is 7:00 AM EST.  Most appointments over the last two weeks have been getting pushed back by half a day.  We hope to go tomorrow, but it would not be a shock if the appointment was not until Tuesday AM.  Some families are also waiting on a few documents and it seems pretty common for the case to go well at court but contingent on a document or two.

Electric is out here, and tonight might be our first night without our sound machine.  It just went out, but we have a huge mag light with back up batteries.  The barking dogs are already going, and we are really looking forward to hearing the call to prayer at 12:30AM and 5:00AM.

Cullen - phone

It hasn't been easy to find a phone, but we are hoping to figure it out tomorrow and we really want to talk with Kaden and hear his little chuckle!!!

Cullen Day Two

Cullen slept great last night.  He woke up once last night, took 4 oz from a bottle, and went right back to bed.  We went to bed at 10:00 pm Ethiopian time (3:00 pm EST) and woke up at 9:30 am.  The sound machine is paying dividends as everyone else complains about the call to prayer, the barking dogs, or the cat fights all night long.

After a quick breakfast of cabbage, carrots and green beans, Kelly and I split up early.  She went with Chris, Becky, and a driver that works with our agency to the Mercado.  I stayed with Cullen and really got a chance to bond with him.  I fed him a bottle and the folks at the Grace House made injera that Cullen absolutely loved.  We sat in the yard, and he would not allow me to set him down.  We played with his truck and ball and I had the privilege of changing two very nasty smelly diapers.  When Kelly left, Cullen only liked the person that was holding him.  If I had him, he wanted nothing to do with her, and vice versa.

Kelly went to the market.  She was able to get some baby food from the local grocery store, a scarf, and Cullen a very cute baptism outfit.

As Kelly returned, Cullen got sooooo excited and started babbling all sorts of really cute things.  He even started saying "Mamamamama" very early.  He now refuses to come to me and really enjoys his mama.  He is speaking and talking all the time and reminds us a lot of Kaden (who we miss sooooo much).  He stood up grabbed a toy, and then took two steps back to Kelly.  If we can get him out of our arms, we believe that he can walk - but it will take another day or two to get him that far.

We really enjoy this time with Cullen, but we really want to get the entire family together.  The next 6 weeks is going to be a loooonggggg wait - but worth it!!!  We really hope to have him home by Christmas.

Cullen - More Battery

Cullen's mom was soooo nice.  We have him with us now.  Kelly and I got a few photos with her, and will share when we get back to the states.  He is with us until we leave on Tuesday. 

He loves his vegetables, but does not like the marshmallow gold fish that Kelly tried to give him.  He also does not like crunchy food or drinking from a bottle.  He likes to drink out of a glass.

He seems to like whoever is holding him at the moment.  When we were at the orphanage, I had him and he would not look at anyone else.  I got to hold him all the way home.  When I gave him to Kelly, he began to cry, and wanted me back.  After a minute or so, he would cry if I was even in the room with him - she is doing her best to spoil him.

He is such a fun little boy.  He really enjoys his toys - balls and trucks have gone a long way with him (the fruit snacks did not hurt either!!)

When we arrived, a friend videotaped the entire thing and we will share that too when we get back to the states.  His mom has a lot of courage.  Her request was that he learns, and continued to thanks us.  She was very excited when she found out that Kelly used to teach at NKU.

Cullen Meiser

We went to three orphanages today.  We started out seeing Jeff's baby.  We took a small video and took some pictures and then played keep away with the kids - it was a lot of fun.  We then went with Mark to see his baby at the transition house.  The nurse changed him when we got there and Mark got to take a picture of his baby with his Western Kentucky t-shirt on.

After the first two houses, we visited Cullen's orphanage.  As soon as we saw him, our eyes lit up. We then noticed that a serious lady was holding himhim very tight and didn't want to let him down.  The lady at the orphanage quickly told us that the lady holding him was Cullen's mom.  We were worried about why she was there, and if she was going to take him back - if so, then we thought that we had wasted the entire trip.

Kelly went to talk to our driver, and quickly resolved the matter.  Cullen's mother was here for court on Monday. She was soooooo sweet.  We worked through two translators and tried to ask some basic questions   Running out of battery...will post more soon.

We're Here

We survived the flights and are all settled at the guest house.  We will get to see Cullen tomorrow morning!!!

If you thought New York City driving was crazy you should come here.  I hear they butcher sheep in the road too. 

Baggage and Flight Status

We worked through the baggage and are all set now!  We also talked with the guy at the gate and he said that the plane is only one third full, so we may be able to kick our feet up a little bit.

At DC Airport

We are waiting at the DC airport right now to board our flight to Ethiopia.  Our flight takes off around 8:30 tonight (10/27/2010).  It should be a long/fun flight.

We got to the ticket window and saw a sign that the carry ons had to be less than 15 pounds.  I think the wheels alone weigh 15 pounds.  They didn't check our bags, and let us proceed.  However, every subsequent person had to check their carry-ons that were too heavy.  We're still trying to figure out how to deal with it, but if we have to pay to get the bag there - so be it.

HERE WE COME CULLEN!!!

Hall ZOO ween

Extra Stuff

Kell and and her Mom headed out shopping for a few hours today.  I couldn't believe all the things they brought in the door.  I have no idea how we are going to travel with all this luggage - I guess we'll find a way.


Let us know if you have anything that you would like us to take and leave over there. 

Less Than a Week

In less than a week we will be meeting our new son for the first time!