July 19

Got up around 6:00 this morning. Denver was restless all night. He seems a little off today. Perhaps it’s his teeth or something. He had a good poop this morning so that’s always good. (I know, I know - too much information). Went down to breakfast this morning and sat with the ladies from another Canadian adoption agency. Talked about a lot of adoption related things – attachment and such – very interesting. They’re escorting a nine month old baby home for a family that’s unable to travel.

I read another article from the Globe and Mail this morning regarding the Imagine Adoption bankruptcy and a lot of about the director of our agency. It’s so sad. The whole situation makes me sick and I’m sad for everyone involved. I can’t wait to be home and get on with my life and put this all behind us.

After breakfast I met a family that just arrived. He was the man that called the Weygoss a few days ago on a power out day but for some reason got my room. So I booked them a room and arranged for Solomon to come and get them when their flight arrived. I chatted with them for a while and then asked them if they wanted to go to the mall with us. I got Denver’s passport pictures done so that I would have them for his transit visa. It cost me 10 birr which is about $1.00 US.

I then went to the supermarket to get a few more things – some more baby food for Denver. It was raining again at this point and so we walked home in the rain. I sat and chatted in the main lobby with some people for a while and then went upstairs to get Denver some lunch.

I called home again today. I wanted Mike to let Mary Catherine know the good news about her precious Samuel and that she can be sure he will be coming home to them. I also wanted him to know that the transit visa for Denver will only take 24 hours to get so it’s not as stressful as I first thought. He had tried to call the travel agency to get more details about this but didn’t have much luck. I also talked to Victoria, Austin and Samara again. The connection wasn’t great and there was a big delay when we were talking so it was hard. Victoria thought it was funny that she just got up (I called at 6:15 am Ontario time) and that I had just had lunch here in Ethiopia! I miss the kids and Mike like crazy. I can’t wait to see them all with Denver and finally have us all home together.

After lunch we decided to go with another family and their kids to the museum where we saw Lucy. We opted for the tour with a tour guide so it took longer than we had expected. There was a lot of art and old artifacts and bones. It was quite interesting. We were planning on going to another museum on our way home but the first one had taken quite long and so the kids (and adults) had had enough. We took a cab back to the guest house. The cab driver was really friendly and showed us a lot of interesting things on our way to and from the museum – i.e. the Sheridan, the Hilton, the president’s house with armed guards.

I have to admit that I’m finding it hard to experience and enjoy Ethiopia with so much hanging over my head and so much going on inside my brain. My main goal right now is to get Denver home where he belongs. It’s unfortunate that this trip had to be like this but it is what it is . . . it’s just really hard. I’m homesick for my family and am counting the days until I can get on that plane and be homeward bound.

When we got back to the guest house, I hung out in the courtyard with Arnica some other families and their kids. We were blowing bubbles and playing with balls. The kids had a great time and Denver loved watching all the action.

When I went back up to my room, the phone rang and I was told there was going to be another meeting with the lawyer from BDO. So I went down to the lobby with some of the other families. The ladies from the other Canadian agency were also there to give insight into some parts of the process that we maybe don’t know as much about. He informed us that he had spent most of the day at the transition home looking over the books and finances. He said everything looked pretty good – the accountant did a great job keeping books – and that the anonymous donation from the corporation would cover the expenses for getting the rest of the referred children home to their families. He also went over each family’s situation and where they were in the process. He knows I’m just waiting for Denver’s visa and he thinks it will be in the pouch on Monday. We’re going to call the Canadian Embassy at 8:30 tomorrow morning to see if they can tell us what’s in the pouch. The lawyer will be here when we make that call and he would also like to come to the Canadian Embassy with us.

After the meeting we ordered pizza from Ice Blue again and ate with a bunch of other families in the main lobby.

Denver was really good again today. He seemed a bit off though. I wonder if his teeth are bothering him or perhaps still a bit of constipation. His grumpy moods don’t last long though and before I know it, he’s smiling and laughing again. Halfway through the meeting with Ted this afternoon, he was getting grumpy so I ran upstairs to my room to get him his bottle (which I had ready). As I was going up the stairs, he was laughing so hard – I guess he liked the bumpy ride in the carrier as I was running. He’s sleeping now as I type this. I’m going to have a shower (since tomorrow is a power out day) and then I’m off to bed.

July 18

We had another good night. Denver fell asleep by 8:30 pm (I let him sleep on his stomach since he apparently prefers that) and he slept really well. He woke up just after 5:00 am, I rubbed his back for a bit and then he slept more until just before 6:00 am. I didn’t sleep as well – had a hard time getting to sleep.

Checking out pictures of his new siblings. He loved looking at that book.

After breakfast we just hung out for a while and then decided to go see the Cloud 9 mall with some other families. It’s quite a classy mall with a lot of kids stores in it – it even has a Children’s Place. We looked around there for a while and then decided to eat lunch at the Cloud 9 Restaurant which we heard was really good. I didn’t get anything except a drink – nothing really appealed to me and I wasn’t hungry enough to just eat for the sake of eating anyway.

This is outside the Cloud 9 mall. The blue and white vans are taxicabs. There's about a million of them and they're always packed.

I found out that Denver will need a transit visa to get home through Frankfurt. I called Mike to let him know and to see if he could look into it a bit more. I was seriously stressed because what if I don’t get his visa until later in the week. I heard that it takes 3 – 4 days to get a transit visa from the German Embassy – and it’s just one more thing I have to do now before I go home. Mike read online that you don’t need a transit visa if you’re going through Frankfurt if you’re coming from Ethiopia. I find it all very confusing and just want to do the right thing to make sure I get home as fast as I can without any more issues.

Later this afternoon, I was talking to a caseworker from the other Canadian agency that's here and I asked her about a visa for Frankfurt. She said they always get them when they go through Frankfurt and she advised me to do it just to be safe. I asked her how long it takes and so she called over one their Ethiopian agency workers and asked him. He said it takes 24 hours – you can go one day to apply and go pick it up the next day. Phew! That definitely gives me more time just in case I don’t get Denver’s visa on Monday.

Tonight there was a meeting for the adoptive families with the lawyer from BDO – the bankruptcy trustee company for our adoption agency. It was very informative and he said that he’s working hard to make things happen on this end. He said that he thinks there are eight visas coming in the pouch and if they aren’t there, then he will go to Nairobi himself to pick them up. He seems to care about our situation although he doesn’t fully understand the process. He’s here to help out with the situation in Ethiopia. He’s here for a week and he will come by the guest house everyday to update us. He also told us some huge news – an anonymous corporation has donated a sum of money that will be used to get the rest of the babies that my friends Mary Catherine and Kelly – this means that they will get Samuel home – no matter how long it takes. Hopefully he will continue to bring us good news daily.

Sportin' a cool new hat:

I also talked to another man from CBC about my situation. He called my room and got me out of bed. He also wanted to talk to other adoptive parents but I told him I was already in my pj’s and wasn’t about to go traipsing all over the Weygoss to look for others. I think he felt bad for getting me out of bed. I talked to him for a while and answered a lot of his questions.

The Interview

I mentioned in my last post that I did an interview (actually numerous interviews) while I was staying in Ethiopia. The one I was referring to can be heard at the following link if you're interested in listening to it.

http://www.cbc.ca/radioshows/AS_IT_HAPPENS/20090717.shtml

It was July 17 and can be heard about halfway through Part 2 of the show - at around the 9:15 mark. And just for the record, they asked me to pick a different name (so I gave them Heather) - it was their idea, not mine. I really wasn't concerned about anything "interfering with the adoption". As you can hear, I was very careful about what I said and how I said it. Just thought I'd clarify.

July 17

Talked to Mike and the kids last night before bed. So good to hear their voice but I’m totally missing them and want to be home so bad.

Denver slept really well last night. He woke up at 2:18 and had a small bottle and then slept again until 6:20 this morning. When he woke up, he was looking all around. When he looked up and saw me, he smiled and started giggling right away. We played for a while and then I gave him his bottle. We played some more and then I gave him his cereal. I got him all cleaned up and put some cords and a shirt on him. He looks so cute.

He actually fell asleep in my arms when we were looking outside the window so I laid him in his crib – this was at around 9:15 am. He slept really well for about 45 minutes and then woke up. He looked around and played and cooed in his crib for about 10 -15 minutes and then fell back sleep and slept until 10:50. So far it seems that he’s a good sleeper so I hope he keeps that up.

I slept a bit better last night. Very solid sleep for four hours until Denver woke up and needed a bottle. Then I laid around for a few hours and maybe dozed off and on until he woke up again in the morning. Not much going on today. I had hoped to get to the internet café and email Mike but that never happened.

This is the front doors at the Weygoss Guest House:

This afternoon I got the best phone call yet. Denver and I were just getting up from our afternoon nap and the phone was ringing in our room. It was Mike. He said he got an email from Nairobi (the High Commission) to inform him that a visa had been conferred for our son Baheran Michael Eugene on this day, July 17, 2009. Wow. I broke down crying I was just so relieved. The email said I needed to contact the Canadian Embassy here in Addis Ababa to make arrangements to pick it up. I tried to call this afternoon but remembered that they were closed on Friday afternoons. I can’t wait to call first thing on Monday morning to confirm that Denver’s visa is in fact there or will get there before next Friday. I am so thankful for our MP’s office in Dundas. The lady that works there has done so much for us. She has worked so hard, made so many phone calls on our behalf and just cared enough to make things happen for us.

This may even beat the "ugly cry" from the airport:

This afternoon I went out and bought a baby carrier since I forgot my Baby Bjorn at home – I guess that’s what happens when you only have a half an hour to pack. Oops. When I got back to the guest house, there was a phone call in the main lobby for me. It was the CBC Radio News Show asking if they could interview me for a segment they were doing on the news. I said yes so she took down my information and said she’d call me later. We ordered room service and just stayed in the room.

At around 8:20 pm the phone rang and it was Sarah again from CBC. She transferred me to Helen Mann who would be doing the interview. She asked me some questions about what I had for dinner and how the weather was so she could do a sound check. Then we got right into the interview. They asked me to come up with a fake name so my real name wouldn’t be given on the radio – so I was Heather. She asked me all about the situation here, my experience dealing with it, how many other families are here in the same situation, she asked about the baby home, the agency in Cambridge, asked if I had seen the director of our agency or her partner here. She asked if I knew what had happened to make the agency go bankrupt. She asked about my experience getting Denver’s referral, how I managed to organize everything to get over here in such a hurry and what it was like to hold my son for the first time. She was very grateful that I took the time to speak with her and she asked if CBC News World could also call at some point to interview me to which I said yes. I hope getting this out to the media will help those families that are in the process behind us.

Here I am multitasking:



So now it’s off to bed. Denver had a really good supper. He ate and drank more than he has yet so I’m hoping for another good night’s sleep. I went down to the computer here at the guest house and tried to send email. I couldn’t get on the right website so I called Mike. He called me back but by the time I got off the phone I didn’t feel like going back down to try his suggestion for emailing. I took a shower and went to bed.

Last call for quilt squares

Attention readers. We interupt the Ethiopia journal to bring you this brief message:

Hello everyone,

I’m hoping this is going to be my last call for fabric for Denver's quilt. I want to say thank you to those of you that have already contributed squares. It means a lot to us. However, I know there are many more people that are still wanting to send something in or those of you that have given me fabric but still need to send a “wish”. I would love for this quilt to be as successful as Samara's was but I need your help to make it happen. If you need our mailing address, please email me using the link on the sidebar.

Below is the original letter we sent out with all the details. Thank you in advance for being part of this special keepsake for Denver.


Dear Family and Friends,

While we were on our first adoption journey – our journey to Samara – we did a lot of reading and studying about China and Chinese culture and we came across an interesting tradition from the northern part of China. When welcoming and celebrating a new life, family and friends are called to put together a “Bai Jia Bei” or 100 Good Wishes Quilt. The quilt maker invites 100 people to contribute a single square or patch of fabric to be included in the quilt. Often times the squares would come from the fabric of their worn clothing and it is said that the luck, energy, and good wishes of the people who wore these clothes now surrounds the child when he/she is wrapped in the quilt. The quilt is then passed down from generation to generation. We thought this was a great tradition and, as many of you know, we made a Bai Jia Bei for Samara; however, for us it represents the love, support and prayers of our family and friends. It was such a neat project and really amazing to see how many people anticipated Samara’s arrival and loved her even before she was here.

Even though it’s a Chinese tradition, we would really like to do another 100 Good Wishes Quilt for our little one from Ethiopia and so we’re asking for your help to make this possible by contributing a piece of fabric for the quilt.

The squares do not need to be from old clothing but can be scraps or newly purchased material – something that either has special meaning to you or just something you like. We would love to have as many of you as possible contribute a square to our quilt. You do not have to be a “crafty” person to participate. If your children would like to contribute their own squares and blessings/wishes, that’s great too. We know it will be a beautiful treasure and keepsake for our little one.

If you are interested, here’s what we need:

1. One 7” x 7” square of 100% cotton material (washed and ironed before cutting the square to allow for shrinkage). If you are more comfortable sending a larger piece of fabric and leaving it for me to cut to exact size, that’s fine too.

2. Along with your quilt square please include a “wish” which could be a prayer, poem, thoughtful quote, Bible verse, original thought, or whatever you choose on a piece of paper along with your name.

3. Along with this piece of paper with the wish and your name, include a small square of the fabric (can be about 1” x 1”) that you’re sending for the quilt. This small swatch will help us to identify your fabric within the quilt. The piece of paper can be as simple or as fancy as you’d like to make it and will be kept in a scrapbook for our little one to read. We know that he will love to read the blessings from each of you and find the fabric you’ve contributed within the quilt. If the fabric has special meaning to you, please include that information on the paper as well.

You can either give the fabric and paper to us personally or put it in the mail.

Your help will make this a wonderful keepsake. Thank you so much.

Love Mike, Karen, Victoria, Austin, Samara and Denver Carmody

July 16

Ok, here’s the post you’ve all been waiting for . . . . it’s Denver Day!!! Thanks for following along – your comments are making me smile. Bear with me . . . this is a long post with many pictures. It was really hard to choose just a few out of the hundreds. So here we go:

I was up at 4:30 am and decided to type again (journal on my laptop). I had lain awake for two hours after only sleeping for three. Will get downstairs for breakfast and then meet Solomon so he can take us to the baby home. Can’t wait to see my boy!

I had breakfast at the guest house – dry cereal. Today is a blackout day so there’s no power which means there was no toast. I could have had bread but the jam was just in a big bowl and I didn’t trust it. (Yes, I’m picky!) I’m trying to be so very cautious about what I eat and drink.

Yesterday a fellow adoptive mom found out that the plan for Kids Link here in Ethiopia was to move all the babies from the baby home to the toddler home and close up the baby home (since there’s no money coming in). I got nervous about that because I didn’t want Denver moved again – I wanted his next move to be to me. But I was assured that this wasn’t going to happen right away – it would be a few days or even in a week or two. Phew.

When I got downstairs, I found out that the babies were being moved today! So my plan was to see if I could take Denver today even though the policy is to visit your child on the first day and then take them on the second day when you come back. I was hoping they would make an exception because of Denver’s age and because of the situation, I thought it would also be one less mouth to feed. I had my fingers crossed.

Solomon said he would come get us at 9:30 to take us to the Canadian Embassy and then we would go from there to see our kids. Unfortunately Solomon had a hard time getting the van because they were moving the babies so it took forever. He didn’t come until after 10:30 to get us. He had arranged to use a different van for us.

We headed out to the Canadian Embassy where we had to go through a security check and then we were given badges – to prove we were allowed to be there. We had asked to see someone about our situation so they said the Immigration official we needed to talk to was busy and probably would be for an hour. So they said we could come back later in the day or even tomorrow. We discussed what to do but I wasn’t ok with leaving. I said I would be willing to wait and so that’s what we did. As it turned out we got to talk to the Consul himself – Mr. Nick Furlotte – which was even better. He was a very friendly man and seemed genuinely concerned about our situation. He knew all about what was going on in Canada with Imagine because his mom told him via MSN the day prior. Mr. Furlotte actually recognized my name because of all the work our MP’s office was doing back home. He knew I would be there that day to see them and knew that our MP’s office had spoken to Foreign Affairs as well. Unfortunately Mr. Furlotte was not really able to help us out too much. He did say that he figured, because of all the media attention and the pressure the government in Canada was getting, that something should be done sooner or later. He is unable to issue emergency passports for our children because they’re technically not Canadian citizens yet. He did take down our names, our children’s names, our file numbers (the “A” number) and our phone number at the Weygoss. That way he said he could call us directly when our visa’s come in so it doesn’t have to go through Martha at Kids Link. So even though we didn’t get a concrete answer or a solution to our problem, we did feel a bit more optimistic when we left there.

So now it was time to see our kids! We were feeling a tad hungry so we stopped at Kaldi’s (Ethiopian Starbucks) on our way. I had a croissant and some merinda (orange pop).

After that we headed out to the toddler home. There were many cribs and items from the baby home just sitting in the courtyard there. Solomon said that Denver was still at the baby home (hadn’t been moved yet) so we would first bring the other families to see their kids and then we’d go see Denver. So we went inside the lobby (reception area) at the toddler home and waited for a bit. The other two families that were there got their kids first. It was neat to experience that with them. Then Solomon told me that Denver was on his way – they were going to bring him after all. I waited and waited and waited – well over an hour.

See how patient I was??? Pacing, looking out the window, pacing, more pacing . . .

Finally Solomon said, “get ready”. And in he came.

What a sweetie. He was so happy and content and came to me no problem. He was actually very tired and just kind of hung out in my arms. I found out that he had been sleeping on the way over so I think he missed most of his nap. We just hung out for a long time there snuggling and staring at each other. He gave me lots of nice smiles and even did some “raspberries" with his tongue. So cute! It was great to finally meet our son but I was so disappointed and sad that Mike wasn’t there with me.

I had a meeting with Martha (the director at the transition home) and told her that I wanted to take Denver home with me today. I told her my reasons and I saw her really thinking about it. I told her that I understood the policy but was looking out for the best interest of my son. She was a little bit concerned about what other families would think if she let me. I told her that we had all discussed it and they understood my take on it. They also thought it would be better for their children to stay the first night after meeting them because they’re that much older than Denver. After chatting for a bit she said it was fine with her but that she would have to get it passed by the social worker first. She said Denver looked really content and comfortable with me already. So I went back out to the lobby to wait. The head nurse came out and went over his schedule with me and told me what to feed him and when. That was very helpful. Although unfortunately I didn’t get a bottle to take with me and had no idea what kind he was used to having. The nurse told me that Denver is a very happy baby and she also said he has great hair. She said it’s the kind of hair that Ethiopian’s like. A lot of Ethiopian’s have really coarse hair but because Denver’s is really soft, it’s easier to care for. I asked her if it would stay like that and she said yes, his hair would always stay soft like that. Yay!

On our way out, the caregivers from the baby home had come over and were all standing in the court yard. They all came over to say bye to Denver and many of them had tears in their eyes. It broke my heart to think about how the bankruptcy is affecting them and I knew that they were going in to have a meeting and that many of them would be out of a job immediately.

On our way home we stopped at a store so we could buy some supplies. I bought some cereal, small pasta, formula, water and a bottle.

I called Mike as soon as I got back to the guest house to tell him that I had Denver . . . in my arms . . . forever!!! He was shocked and couldn’t believe it. I told him what had happened.

Then we decided to go out for dinner. We ate at the Ice Blue restaurant which is close by. I had pizza and it was really good. (Reminds me of China where I lived on pizza). I can see ourselves going out there more often. The pizza could feed at least two people (with 1 – 2 pieces leftover) and only cost about $5.00 US. Denver ate his cereal in no time and even wanted a second bowl. He was really good there, looking around at everything.

I spoke to Mike again on the phone. I also talked to Victoria, Austin and Samara. Our MP’s office called while I was on the phone with Mike to say that she had just spoken to the High Commission in Nairobi and they have everything they need to process our file. But unfortunately they couldn’t tell her when that would be done.

When I got back to the guest house, I got some water boiled (had to go to the front desk so they could do it in the kitchen on a kerosene stove since there was still no power). Denver had a bottle – he drinks really, really slow but I wonder if the hole in the bottle is too small. I’ll have to experiment with that later. He fell asleep as he was drinking his bottle. He slept really well until 2:18 am and then had another small bottle and back to sleep until 6:20.