Embassy and Home

As many of you know, we were not sure if we would even have our Embassy appointment on March 22nd because our fingerprint renewal had not yet been sent. A mere 4 days prior to our appointment, our congressman's office was able to get everything resolved for us and the Embassy had all they needed for our appointment. We were prepared for a stress free appointment until we arrived at the Embassy. We walked into the security area and the guard asked to see our passports. Ahhhh!!! Ms. Organized had neglected to move the passports from her little bag into the diaper bag and there we stood not being able to get into the Embassy. Fortunately, Dave had his driver's license with him which was an acceptable form of i.d., but I had nothing. It was at this moment that I was once again grateful that we chose to stay at the Ethiopia Guest Home. The guest home provides all their guests with a pre-programmed cell phone so we were able to call our translator and explain what had happened. He and the driver rushed back to the guest home, found our passports and rushed them back to us. By this time, Dave and Naomi were in the Embassy to explain the situation to our attorney. Lili and I got in as quickly as we could, waited about 20 more minutes and our name was called. It was at this point Lili decided to have a complete melt down because mommy didn't carry her up the stairs, but after signing the necessary paperwork, Dave was given permission to take her back downstairs while I finished everything up. Kudos to the woman at window #4. She was awesome. She was patient and completely understanding. Wish I could say the same for our attorney, but I'm not going to go there on my blog. The main thing is, everything worked out and the Embassy granted Naomi's visa.


Here is Naomi on Embassy Day.

Big sister Lili and baby sister Naomi.
Daddy and his girls.
Mommy and her girls.
After enjoying a few more days in Ethiopia, we headed home. Leaving Ethiopia was so very bitter sweet. We were thrilled to be taking Naomi home, but also very sad to be taking her away from her country of birth and her amazing culture.

Naomi did very well on the flight, other than the landing in D.C. and Lili had some major melt downs due primarily to being overly tired. However, we all survived and were very happy to touch down on U.S. soil.

Now that we've been home for almost a week, we're starting to settle in and figure things out. Naomi isn't yet sleeping through the night, but only waking a couple times for a bottle and then going back to sleep. She is a tad behind developmentally, which isn't abnormal for a baby who lived 7 months of her life in an orphanage. However, after having her for two weeks, we've already seen improvements in her development.

Today she had her first appointment with the pediatrician. She now weighs 17 lbs and is 27.5 inches long. That puts her in the 15th% for weight and 40th% in length. He addressed her development and said there is absolutely no problems with her tone and it is strictly due to lack of opportunity. He has no doubt that she'll catch up in no time. The only other problem, which isn't necessarily a problem at all is that she has a mild case of eczema and he suggested that we use Eucerin cream all over her body. Other than two very minor things, she appears to be very healthy, happy and social. We concur!

Now, for your viewing pleasure, more photos.

Naomi enjoying some exersaucer time.



She is really a happy baby.
Can you see how long her eyelashes are? I'm so jealous.