Our Life with Eli

2/26/10

Please bear with me about updating the blog.  I blew out my right ear drum on the very last flight of our trip and my doctor tells me that my left might do the same if all of the blood behind my left ear drum doesn't absorb soon.  Needless to say, with the pain and lack of sleep all of my energy is directed towards the baby right now.  We are still working on the sleeping thing also.  Eli screamed about 80% of the entire trip home and Chris and I didn't sleep for almost two days.  We took a detour in Houston and checked into a hotel for the night so we could get some sleep.  It helped.  I am positive we wouldn't have made it without that night, even though we only got 6 hours of sleep.  Eli has a sinus infection and his ears are so clogged that the pediatrician can't see anything yet, so he started an antibiotic and ear drops and we have to go back in two weeks.  So here are some new pics of Eli.  I have a ton of Ethiopia pics to post and more of Eli.  I promise I will work on getting them up as soon as things calm down around here and we all start feeling better.

One of my favorites is Chris' reaction to Eli putting his foot in his mouth.  We were trying to get a pic of Eli smiling and he grabbed his foot and put it in his mouth.  I snapped the picture anyway and the best part was Chris' reaction.

We made it and we are settled in.  We landed Sunday night and Eli was dropped off to us Monday morning.  This may be the only time I am able to post and unfortunately I don't have enough time to post a picture.  We will be back in the states late Monday night.  So I will post videos and photos asap after that.

Today is the day!  Today we board a plane and head to Ethiopia.  We arrive in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia  Sunday evening (Ethiopian time).  We leave for the orphanage to pick up Eli Monday morning.  So the new countdown begins, but is complicated due to the time changes.  So about 3 days until we meet our son.  I am excited and nervous.  We haven't brought the bags downstairs yet because Monkey panics when there is luggage around.  It sounds silly, but Monkey is my biggest concern today . . . not packing or making our flights . . . I am concerned about our fat white dog.  She is very sensitive.  She is one of two dogs our vet has ever seen lose their hair when stressed.  We have an excellent dog sitter, and Monkey loves her so I shouldn't be worried about it, but I can't help it.  I think it has more to do with the fact that we can't be contacted if something is wrong and that we won't be able to call every night to check on Monk.  I think I am just being too nervous about the whole thing.  I trust Monk's sitter and I know she loves Monk as much as we do, so I have nothing to worry about.  Well, here we go!  Keep us in your thoughts and prayers.  I will try and update as much as possible . . . maybe even one more time before we leave if time allows.

2/10/10

I managed to get up at 2am this morning.  Unfortunately Monkey thinks she is moving to the same schedule I am, so she is up and ready to eat when I get up.  So I feed her to avoid the stink eye she gives me if I don't.

Stink eye:

I managed to mark a few things off my list yesterday.  I also managed to get Chris to start giving me clothes to pack.  I still need to go to the bank and get the crisp, tear free, unwrinkled bills that are necessary for currency exchange, but I plan to do that today.  The house is clean and ready for baby.  The biggest things left are to finish packing and weigh the bags (can't be done until I have all of Chris's stuff), run a few errands, and confirm flights (I don't even want to think about the flights because I might have a breakdown).  I've always enjoyed photography, so I saved up and bought myself a fancy new camera for the trip.  Now I just need to figure out how to use it.  Here is a picture of my new camera that will take beautiful pictures of my beautiful baby . . . and Chris, lol.  I'm kidding, the love of my life is the only thing keeping me from having a meltdown over all of the flights being cancelled.


Sanity Level:  Yellow-Orange

Being a true Colts fan, I am used to disappointment in the playoffs.  It didn't take me long to get through the grieving process :)  3 more days!  I am shocked, anxious, excited, and terrified all at the same time.  Mix in the sleep deprivation and I am looking and feeling a little punch drunk.  I still have a lot to do, but most of the stuff on my list has to be done right before we leave, i.e. flight confirmation, Monkey sitter stuff, etc.  I'd say my sanity level is in the yellow today.  Washington D.C. is getting hit with more snow today and tomorrow and Chicago (we change planes in Chicago) had to cancel flights yesterday and are supposed to get more snow today.  So I am worried about flight delays or cancellations making us miss our other flights.  I am not the worst flyer, but I am also not the best.  I would rather fly on a military aircraft any day of the week, civilian airlines scare me.  Bad weather while flying scares me.  I foresee a little shaking, some sweating, and a lot of squeezing Chris' hand.  Deep breathes and remembering where we are going should help.  Unfortunately I am all out of Eli pics, so you will have to wait for more of those.  I upgraded my camera so I will post a picture of it when I can find my old camera to take the picture :)

GO COLTS!!!

2/5/10

This time next week we will be on our way to the airport!  My lists are getting shorter, our bags are getting bigger, and my days are getting longer.  I am sleeping, but it's not the best sleep I've ever had; I can't get my brain to slow down.  To top it all off, I am going to try and do a 180 with my sleeping schedule this week.  Ethiopia is 12 hours ahead of Alaska time, so I am going to go to bed earlier and wake up earlier.  The plan is to be able to go to sleep around 5 pm on Thursday, wake up at 12:00 am on Friday, go to work from 5 am to 9 am (I am working a half day), and then go to sleep around 10 am and sleep until I wake up.  Then it is off to the airport.  Fortunately I have had a lot of practice with schedule changing while in the military, so I know what works for me and if all else fails I am capable of staying awake for 24 hours and can get the entire swap done in a day.  Monkey is feeling better and back to her old crotchety self.  She has returned to her regular daily schedule of 2 feedings, 14 naps, and a walk.  I am still in the process of packing.  We have 2 suitcases of donations, one rolling duffel bag of Eli's stuff and my stuff, and I still have to pack our carry-ons and the other suitcase with Chris' stuff and our toiletries.  I am waiting to weigh the bags until everything is in them so I know where to take stuff from and where it can go.  I don't want to have to do the airport shuffle.  Keep your fingers crossed, pray, rub the Buddha (or whatever it is you do for good mojo) that the snow stops and the airports are open next weekend, because I don't know how well I will handle having to push back and reschedule our flights.  We are flying out of Washington D.C. Dulles International Airport and I know they are not flying this weekend because of the snow.  So this week I will be giving sanity updates until we leave.  Can't wait to hold our baby.

So when I got home today I found Monkey with a tummy ache.  Let's just say I had to get the carpet cleaner back out (I just cleaned all my carpets on Saturday).

I couldn't get mad because I knew she didn't feel well (I think she was licking the carpets and the shampoo might have made her sick).  So after cleaning and cleaning myself up, I decided to make some more baby food.  I have quite the collection started:  sweet potatoes, green peas, apples, pears (in bags) and I was finishing up butternut squash and acorn squash.  It is very quick and simple to make and it is keeping me busy in the evenings.

Tomorrow we will be 10 days out.  Even though technically we leave on the 13th because our plane departs at 1:00 am, I am counting down to the twelfth because I don't plan on going to sleep before we board the plane . . . it makes sense in my head and that's what matters, right?  I have a few more Eli pictures to add, so I will add one every time I post until we leave.  Anyways, this weekend I was able to bathe Monk and shampoo the carpets, everything else is still on my list . . . sucks.   I am very glad that this weekend is superbowl weekend because it will keep me occupied on Sunday.  I am especially glad the Colts are in the superbowl . . . GO COLTS!!