Day 2

Well, we just finished pizza with part of the parents in our adoption group...time to start getting ready for bed.  Ted and I have been eating mostly at our hotel, because our schedule has been unpredictable and we're so tired when it's time to eat, that we haven't had energy to venture out.  Our hotel is like a compound in and of itself--set-up to keep the unwanteds out and the desirables in...tonight Malawi was celebrating their National Day at our hotel, so there were all these embassy diplomats arriving in BMWs...there was an SUV with an American flag, so we thought it was either Barack or someone in important.  Turns out it was the US Ambassador to Ethiopia and his wife.  I tried to make Ted hop off the hotel bench to meet them, but I had to be the assertive one, instead.  I introduced myself to them and told them why we were there.  Not sure what else was said, except that we told them we were the first group to have to go twice.  The ambassador's wife thought 2 trips would give us plenty of time to meet our child and bond...we think we could have gotten that accomplished just fine in one!!!!
Anyway, we can't post pics yet, sorry :(.  We may be able to once we pass court on Monday.  We saw Gez this morning--Ted got him right after he woke up from his morning nap (we slept in a little).  The morning was spent playing in Gez's room with all the children on the floor--the room is probably about 15 X 15', and we had all 6 of them on the floor playing.  We think that mostly they play in their cribs because one nanny cannot possibly control the situation with the kind of chaos that ensued today.  There are two one-year-olds who are "firecrackers" and are just in to everything!  So, we were pretty worn out after spending an hour with them on the floor.  We're not sure how one nanny takes care of all of them.  It appears that they work in about 24 hour shifts--sleeping in the chair like I mentioned yesterday.  We have noticed that Gez is a real snuggler and he loves stuffed animals.  He kind of gets mesmorized when a lot of people are around--today we took him out of his room to feed him lunch, and he seemed to like the one-on-one attention.  He's pretty mellow, which is good for the two of us, but we'll see how much is just the environment that he's been in and how much is his personality.  He loved watching some older boys today when they were eating their lunches!
He really likes his daddy, too.  I am glad because, believe it or not, my biceps were a little strained today from carrying him around yesterday.  It appears that he is wearing some 9 month clothes, but he really is probably about in the one-year size.  He took more steps today, but I think we'll be doing some PT when we get home since he hasn't been using his legs.  Not many of the children bear weight on their legs due to being in cribs.  And, many of the kids (mostly boys), including Gez, have larger heads because when their malnourished, what nourishment they have goes to their brain/head to try to keep them alive.  We think that Gez will grow into his a little more, but he is really beautiful just the way he is.
THANKS TONS for your prayers and thoughts.  We love this little guy and can't wait to get him home.  Please pray for all the children who are waiting for parents and have had difficult circumstances so far.  There is one baby named Isaac with congestive heart failure who appears to be gradually dying...we saw pictures of him when he was younger and he was much larger than he is now.  It's hard to tell if he got adopted tomorrow whether he would survive the flight home and surgery to correct his condition.  It is really heartbreaking and makes me wonder about so many things...but there will be more time to process all of this later.  Some fascinating stuff we learned from a mission's pastor tonight about the work they are doing.
So, goodnight...shopping tomorrow at the local market before we see Gez.  Forgive us, God, we are not comfortable enough to travel to church on our own tomorrow :(.

WE MET GEZAHIGN!!!!

Okay, Ted and I are almost sick from being so tired, but we figured we better post something tonight or we're really going to be in trouble with everyone back home :)...we're having a hard time figuring out what time it is and keeping track of what day it is because of all the flying and the time change.  But, without going into all the details about our trip so far, we wanted to tell you that we met Elijah today.  His nannies and nurse call him, "Gaz-ZOO," for short.  So, we've been calling him that and Gezie most of the day.  We don't know if we can post pictures yet, but we'll try to find out soon so we can let you see him.  We visited him at the transition home today--called Horizon House--where he is in a crib in the same room as about 4 other babies.  He was HEAVIER than we thought he'd be--the nurse said they have been feeding him well.  His skin and hair are very light, and he does have those BIG BROWN EYES...we met him this morning, and he wasn't very happy about leaving his nanny, but by night's end, he was laughing and playing with us.  He has 2 big baby teeth on the top and is standing, and even took a few steps today (we baited him with a teddy bear he likes :)). 
It's hard for us to imagine, but we're pretty sure that he's never had that one-on-one attention, so he was kind of lethargic when we first met him.  We have to teach him how to play!  The children are together in a room, but they stay separately in their cribs, so they don't have much interaction with one another.  There were 2 babies in Gezie's room who were "firecrackers" in their cribs--bouncing, throwing toys out, laughing--I asked, and I don't think that we're supposed to pick up the other children, so we didn't.  But we played with them through their cribs.  We visited this morning, then we went back late this afternoon after bath time.  We got to feed little Gez-zoo--the babies eat mixture of pasta, egg, onion, and some sort of seasoning.  Not sure at this point if they eat fruits or vegetables.
Can't believe that we've only had 1 full day here.  Had a great lunch meal (pepsi in a glass bottle!), but not drinking the water.
Hopefully, more tomorrow after we are more rested.

Preparing

This week we went up to Naperville to get re-fingerprinted for the USCIS--our prints expire in August, but we went just to be safe.  Much pleasant-er trip than the first time!!  Ted even made conversation with the government employees, even though I told him not to before we went :).  Had lunch with my brother, then on the way home had an hour 1/2 teleconference with Wide Horizons about travel logistics.  They were hoping to give us travel dates, but they're just not available from the Ethiopian courts yet.  We did find out the reason for the 3-7 week delay after our first trip is not because of the Ethiopian gov't., but so that the American Embassy can process our paperwork.  I think I'll never forget this process, but I already forgot some things I did in the beginning.  I don't think I'll ever get rid of all the paperwork because I think it will be interesting for Eli to see it someday!
So the teleconference got me excited but nervous...we couldn't listen on speakerphone, so I had to take it all in then play it back to Ted as we were finishing our drive home.  Nothing too shocking, except that Ted will have to wear a tie on our court day!!!  Our main job the first trip is to be an observer, helper, and nurturer for Eli.  We won't be parenting yet, but we can play with him everyday at the transition home.  They just want to reduce the trauma he might feel when we again "disappear" for a few weeks.
We found out we'll be staying in a hotel the first trip, rather than in the guest house.  I was looking forward to the guest house, but we'll do that the second trip around.
The other thing we did in Naperville, besides buying new shoes for the trip, was to buy a guide book.  I've been reading it this week, and Ethiopia is fascinating!!  The author said it was the most beautiful country he'd ever visited.  I've probably learned more in just 2 days about Ethiopia than all my prior knowledge put together.  I'm so eager to continue.
Other good news:  a positive word from one of our grant agencies--we passed the "first round," and they're passing on to the local chapter to decide if we'll receive funding.  We keep praying.   God is faithful!

Shower and Email

Kay, still not totally with it in terms of blog capabilities, but maybe I'll figure all that out someday...wanted to post after our MARVELOUS baby shower held at The Baxter's last Saturday.  Teresa and Lisa Unger put it together--including decorations, cultural touches, a cool cake, and yummy food.  They did a SLAMDUNK job, they did!!!  They even came through on a perpetual rain shower throughout!!! So nice to celebrate with our Weekend friends (except Caroline had to get shipped off to a playdate :( ).  We felt very loved and got a bunch of great stuff for Elijah G.  His picture was there in substitution for the real deal.  But speaking of, we got an email today from Wide Horizons saying that our case had been sent to the Ethiopian courts, so we will begin our travel briefing through a teleconference next Tues.  They do not have any dates yet, and timing is especially questionable since this will be the first time parents will be at the court hearings.  BUT, a sign that things are moving forward.  One of the case workers said that we will get about 2 weeks notice, so that notice has not come yet.  But we anticipate it coming soon!  I have butterflies thinking about it this afternoon.  So REAL!  We need prayers for sure :).

Catch-up

Still figuring out all this blog can do!  I thought that I would do a little catch-up today, so that we could use this as a journal to later show Eli.  I've been writing things down in his adoption baby book (thank you, Teresa!), but not all the specifics because we were too concerned about getting done what we needed to get done.  The USCIS does not wait!  In the last few weeks...we requested our match with "G" (to protect his confidentiality) on Weds., April 28th, and waited to hear whether we were a match on Fri., April 30th.  I had to sub that morning, and it was grueling waiting to hear :(.  We then celebrated the good news with friends and family that weekend, and then sent our formal acceptance in on May 12.  During that time, we were still trying to do "life"--working, doing youth ministry, and the business of Ted transitioning churches.  Made for a busy month of May (along with graduation parties, Mom's birthday, Ted's birthday, Messiest room contest...).  Before our paperwork could officially be processed in Ethiopia, we had to get a home study update with Laura from Lifelink, so that it would reflect an accurate age of child.  Since then, we've been working out all the things we need to do before travel, including the fun job of registering for some of the things we need to take with us for G on our trip.  We have been filled with every emotion 2 people can have.  At least I have--Ted is a pretty steady force :).

Next I'll figure out pictures

So, I'm trying to continue this habit of regularly blogging...people have been asking how long...we're in the 2-4 week window now of our first trip.  Still 2 trips that we know of.  Today I mailed off Eli's mini-photo album of family that they will begin showing him at Horizon House.  Even though he's young, they'll still begin showing him.  I think the album will be a great tool, too, when he gets home--especially for the relatives that he doesn't see all the time!  Now, we have to write his birth family a letter and include the pictures we have of him, as well as some pictures about ourselves, for them to keep.  Often, the only picture that they will have of their child.
Tomorrow I'm going to try to post some pics of Eli's room in progress, as well as his bedding :).

OH!!

Ted explained to me that "baj" stood for "Bailey Adoption Journey."  Now why couldn't I think of that?!?!?

Okay, now committed to the blog!!

I, Chris, am now writing, but I think it will sign Ted at the bottom of this post.  I'm still figuring this out...first of all, why did Ted use "baj" in our blog name???  I'm hoping Bailey was taken, and he just didn't have a major typo that he didn't notice :).  I have to be nice to him because today is his BIRTHDAY! And you know what we did to celebrate?  We went to Peoria and got 3 vaccinations in each arm!!!  Whew, are we going to be sore tomorrow.  We also bought "bucket" hats--with strings, so they'll stay on if we're doing anything wild while in Ethiopia, sunglasses, and bug spray with 98% deet.  Thank you, Gander Mountain.  So, I think the trip is now setting in for both of us.  As of today, I believe we're in the 2-4 week range for getting the travel call!
I spoke the other day with the mother of a recently adopted Ethiopian baby girl, and among other things, she told me that the Ethiopian people overall were fairly small.  Her daughter was very small when they met her.  There's hope for Elijah G.!!  She also spoke of the devastating poverty and how emotionally hard that was.  I knew it would be hard, but I thought I might be comforted by meeting Eli and knowing that we would get to bring him home soon.   Some of our friends were trying to collect some needed items for Horizon House, the home where the children who will be adopted by families from our agency stay.  Hopefully, we'll have room to take a suitcase full!
We also got Eli's bedding today--a gift from Grandma Ann and Grandpa Bob.  It is adorable!!!  I'm so glad it arrived so we can finish thinking about paint colors for the nursery.  I'll post a pic of it tomorrow.  I've got to get in the habit of blogging NOW!
Thanks for reading.
CSB
PS (Can you PS on blogs??) Ted got taken to lunch at the Olive Garden in Peoria by Dad & Susan, so we really can't feel too sorry that he got shots on his birthday :).

The Beginning.

The process of this adoption has been interesting, exicting, exhausting, intimidating and very much devinely guided!!
Chris has felt a call from God for a long time to do his will in so many areas of her life. Adoption being one of these areas, she has felt him calling her to Africa. Ted on the other hand did not necessarily feel or have a desire to adopt from Africa. So we decided to look at other countries. Through this process, God closed so many doors, it felt to us that maybe he didn't even want us to adopte internationally. However through these door closings we ended up back in Africa apparently right where God wanted us to be.
This has only been one of what we are sure to be many  God inspired directions. We have come to realize, this is and has been a lot like marriage! In the words of comedian Tim Hawkins we have decided to "Buckle Up!" because it has the makings of an extremely wild and fun ride!