Better Than the Tooth Fairy

She's holding the little box with her two baby teeth in it.

Yesterday, Nazeret had to have dental work done under sedation.  She had several minor things done, but they also removed two baby teeth that were not making room for the permanent teeth that were ready to come in.  The doctors were amazing! She was amazing! Recovery was great!

As we were driving off the technician came running out with a little box containing Nazeret's two teeth.  I hadn't thought about them because the tooth fairy is NOT going to be visiting our house.  I have read that this concept can cause more fear than fun for some adopted children (and really all children).  Nazeret wanted to see her teeth and then she made some gestures of throwing something into the air and said "and then the teeth they come in".  I was very confused.  I didn't know what she was trying to say, so I tossed the little box of teeth into the air and caught it.  This made her laugh.  She explained it again.  I could tell it was something about tossing the teeth into the air and then pray for God to bring your new teeth in.  WOW! I still didn't quite have the whole picture, but I thought it was pretty cool.  With a little help from another adoptive mom with a child from the Wolayta region of Ethiopia and more explaining from Nazeret, we finally understood that she wanted to throw her teeth where they would stick into the moon and then pray for God to bring in her new teeth.  COOL!

We waited for the sun to go down.  Michael and Nazeret love to take a swim with the moon and then shower and go to bed (I much prefer swimming with the sun.), so she got her swimsuit on and threw her teeth at the moon.  We then said a prayer for God to bring in her new teeth and she went for a swim.  It was a very special evening.

Notice how far those feet are off the ground.  She wanted to make sure that tooth made it to the moon!

ONE MONTH AS A FAMILY OF 5

Yesterday officially marked one month that we have all been home together.  It has been a L-O-N-G month.  There have been so many changes for all of us.  None of us have had as many changes as Nazeret; her whole world changed in the blink of a 17 hour flight.

That's right, we started our trip home with a 17 hour flight.  Nazeret LOVED the take off (and had all the passengers on a 777 cheering), made a trip to the potty every hour, and HATED her seatbelt...and ALL the food.  We landed in DC and Nazeret became a US citizen right there in the airport.  We then waited 9 hours to get on our plane to Dallas, so that we could sit on the runway for almost 2 hours waiting for take-off.  We finally made it home after 30+ hours of travel.

We got home in the middle of the night, so we didn't get to see Nazeret's reaction to her new home, but she did try on ALL the clothes in her closet before going to bed.  Between jet lag and whatever upper respiratory infection I picked up, it was a rough first week.  I honestly don't remember a lot, but I do remember the second week.  This would be the week that I didn't recognize my newest child.  This was the week of HUGE adjustments.  This was the week that I lost 10lbs, a lot of sleep, and wondered how I was going to ever survive my new life.  This was the week that God showed up in a HUGE way and reminded me that HE was going to get us all through the adjustments.  God brought new people into my life who gave me such encouragement and He brought out old friends who met our needs when we were just getting through each day.  God is good and His mercy is new every day.  We have all grown and changed so much this month, but Nazeret has changed the most.

NAZERET, you are "a so silly girl"!  You are so outgoing and funny!  You love people and you have already claimed some of our closest friends and family as "yours".  I have been amazed by how much you have learned.  You are a very smart girl. 

Somehow, we kept you from knowing we had a pool the first week we were home.  (I think you were just too tired to care.) That second week you were in the pool.  Swimming lessons were a must your third week home and now you swim like you have been doing it your whole life.

Another funny thing about you is your sense of direction.  You are 7 years old and you have been drawing a mental map of our little town.  You already know the locations of home, church, Mommy's work, the doctor, and the best place to get ice cream.

We have come through our first month (I believe it is the toughest).  I am looking forward to the steps we will take together next month as we prepare for you to start school!  I love you and I thank God everyday that He has allowed us to be your family.

OUR TWO WEEK EMBASSY TRIP

We are now a family of 5 and we are all adjusting to our new roles.  God is so good to meet us exactly when and where we need Him.

I haven't had time to post anything, so I want to go back to the time we spent in Ethiopia when we went to get Nazeret and make our adoption FINAL!

On May 26, Michael, Amelia, our friend Janet and I all left for Ethiopia via Washington DC.  We were so blessed to stay the night with another adopting family that we met on our court trip.  May 28 we arrived in Ethiopia and went to see Nazeret.  We had been away from her for 7 long weeks.  Our reunion was sweet.  It happened VERY fast because she saw her Daddy before she was "supposed" to and ran and jumped on him.  I don't know if anybody got pictures.  She also got to meet Amelia for the first time.

The next day, Nazeret left the Transition Home forever.  She would never be alone again.  She will always have a family!  Praise God!

We spent two weeks in Ethiopia and saw many amazing sights together.  The girls became sisters.  They played together; they slept together and Amelia really became a great big sister.  I am so proud of her.  When we had 7 days left in Ethiopia, Nazeret started counting down the days to come to America and see Michela.


Our memories of those two weeks together in Ethiopia will always be so precious.  I am so sorry that Michela could not be there with us.  It was great to have time with Nazeret in her environment, with her foods and where people spoke a language she could understand.  Thank you Lord for that sweet time and the wonderful people that we got to know while we were there: adoptive families and Ethiopian's who love the children and support adoption.

I think this has to be the most beautiful view of Addis Ababa.  Thank you David and T. 

 SISTERS!