Photos from Le Toukoul

Naomi's home for about 4 months. We weren't able to tour the entire building because they were cleaning the day we were there. I was able to visit the nurse and her office/exam room was in the back of the building. There are several other rooms that house the babies, although I'm not sure how many. The window on the left hand side is the room Naomi was in. And here is the crib she slept in.
What a beautiful sight to see that crib empty :-) Obviously it didn't stay empty for long. I'm quite certain there is another baby occupying it now and hopefully that baby has been referred to a waiting family by now.


Just a small portion of laundry we saw hanging out to dry.
The orphanage cat. Lili was in heaven petting the cat.
This building houses the older kids.
The Toukoul gift shop. It's very small, but had a nice selection of items and we brought home several of those items.
Because we couldn't have a tour of the orphanage we got a limited number of photos. Also, they were doing some landscaping work while we were there. I did take a couple photos of the grounds and wished I could have gotten more.
Some of the kids at the orphanage.

Random Photos

I've been taking a fair amount of pictures and thought it would be fun to do a photo post.

Lili's first experience coloring Easter eggs. She was so proud.
Naomi's first Easter basket. Lili was 'helping' her enjoy her Easter gift.
Lili showing off one of her finds during the egg hunt. We did the hunt inside since it was a bit wet outside.
This is what I get just about every time I point a camera at Naomi.Seriously, she smiles like there is no tomorrow when the camera is on.

And here is what she looks like after breakfast.

Messy, but still smiling when the camera is on.

Lili made a bridge with her spoon. She was so proud of herself.

Stay tuned for more random photo posts in the future.

We did our best to prepare Lili for the arrival of her baby sister but truly had no idea how easy or difficult it was going to be once Naomi became reality in our lives. While there have been some challenges, primarily jealousy in the form of wanting Naomi to move from mommy's lap to daddy's lap or taking toys away from her, it hasn't been as bad as I had envisioned. Lili absolutely loves her little sister. When I'm rocking Naomi to sleep, Lili will come over and ever so gently give her kisses. She regularly tells us "Mayo-me is so cute." She wants to help feed her and now wants to take baths with her. In the mornings or after nap time she'll run up to Naomi and say, "Hi little girl." She gives her tickles and smothers her with attention.


Naomi is all about Lili. When she hears Lili's voice she immediately turns her head to find her. Lili makes her laugh and smile like no one else. Naomi wasn't overly fond of her bath, but now finds bath time a lot of fun with Lili there.

The bond between them is growing stronger each day and I'm so very happy that both girls are adjusting well to the changes in their lives.

Mommy's little helper. Bath time fun.
Yes, they are both sitting in the baby bath tub together. LOL!!!

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.

Our Special Week

The third week of March is always going to be special to our family. It was the third week of March that we were in Ethiopia picking up Naomi, but it was also the third week of March, 2008 that we were in Guatemala picking up Lili. So, while in Ethiopia, we celebrated our 2nd Lilianaversary. The special day was March 20th. This is the day Lili was placed in our arms forever. I can still remember that day vividly. Her foster grandmother walked through the door of the hotel with her foster sister close behind carrying her in. Her foster sister was crying as she walked in and I have no doubt that handing her over to us was very bitter sweet for her. I know it was certainly a bitter sweet moment for us.

To celebrate our Lilianaversary, we went to dinner and then out for ice cream. It was a simple, yet enjoyable time for our family.

Lili enjoying her ice cream. Checking on her baby sister.


As many of you know, our niece and her husband are also adopting from Ethiopia. They are with a different agency and have been waiting just over 1 1/2 years for their referral. I'm very happy to announce that they received the referral of a beautiful baby boy. Guess when they got their referral? Yes, the third week of March. In addition, his birthday is November 11th which was Dave's mom's birthday and also the day we received Naomi's referral. We are hoping the remainder of their process goes by quickly so they can bring their little guy home soon. We can't wait to meet him.

Our Days in Ethiopia

Were filled with games of soccer at the guest home, running up and down the hill, shopping, trying out the local cuisine, sight-seeing, spending time with other adoptive families and most of all getting to know Naomi and her getting to know us.

I could certainly write detail on all the things we did, but I think pictures are the better way to go.

One of Lili's favorite past times at the guest home.
Lili made friends with the maintenance/guard at the guest house. His name is Mao and she called him Mile. He was wonderful with her and kept her entertained when we couldn't.
And there was basketball to play. Actually, it was just practicing dribbling since there was no hoop, but Lili was kept busy practicing her dribbling skills.
Daddy and Naomi time.
Play time.
Getting both girls, looking the same direction at the same time. Success!
Naomi showing her utter cuteness!
Notice Naomi's cheek? She has, what we believe is eczema. It was actually looking much better in this photo and looks even better since we've been home.

Here is one of only a few pictures we got of Naomi with mommy. That tends to happen when mommy is the primary photographer.
Hope you enjoyed just a glimpse of our time in Ethiopia.

Good-bye Toukoul

Tuesday of our trip was certainly monumental as we were taking Naomi from Le Toukoul orphanage for good. We had made arrangements with the woman in the orphanage office the day before and by Tuesday afternoon Naomi was in our arms forever. March 16th will forever be Naomianniversary Day in the Weeks house.

Naomi taking a little rest.

Because we wanted to spend our first days together just getting to know each other. We stayed around the guest home Tuesday and Wednesday. Not much to report, but I do have pictures to share.

Naomi really does smile a lot, but getting her to smile for the camera is challenging. My camera has a little red light that comes on prior to taking the picture which causes her to become a bit serious. However, I was able to get a cute little smile from her.

Lili wanted a partial family photo.
Speaking of Lili, I know some are interested in know how she did on the trip.

She did very well on the flights to Ethiopia. She was excited and had trouble settling down to sleep when we left Washington D.C., but when she finally did go to sleep she slept well. We had to wake her up for our landing in Rome and she was so tired by that point that she wanted to get off the plane. It was next to impossible explaining to her that we still have several hours left to go, but once we got back in the air, she settled down and slept a little more. Honestly, she did better than we anticipated.

All the sleep she did on the plane certainly made the flight more pleasant for us, but that also meant that she wasn't tired when we got to the guest home. Mommy and daddy didn't sleep quite as well on the plane, so we had some additional challenges the first night getting everyone to sleep.

We were all excited about seeing Naomi on Monday, but for Lili, exploring new surroundings was major fun. She was interested in checking out the guest home and playing outside. Our guest home had a small yard and a patio area. Lili took full advantage of the space every chance she got.

I can honestly say that having her with us was challenging several different times during the trip. She had complete melt downs more than once (that was expected) and didn't eat well, but it was an awesome experience for all of us and being there together as a family was so very special. Watching Lili and Naomi together in Naomi's country of birth was amazing and we have already witnessed the bond that is growing between them.

The other realization we came to was knowing that had we not taken Lili, our return home would have been much more difficult. She desires a lot of our attention and that would have most certainly been multiplied by at least 10 after not seeing us for so long. It would have been extremely difficult to provide her with the attention she needed and to give Naomi the attention she also needs. Having her there from the beginning of Naomi's physical arrival into our family most certainly helped. There was and still is jealousy that rears its ugly head from time to time, but we knew that would happen. Every day we settle in a little bit more and things get a little better.

Meeting Naomi

Addis Ababa has a population of about 7 million people and is not a quiet city by any means. However, the night time noises are not people but dogs, roosters and prayers that are spoken at various times during the early morning hours and broadcast across the city via speakers. Between all the unfamiliar sounds, knowing we were meeting Naomi and jet lag, we didn't sleep well. I did, however, get some sleep and awoke to something that sounded a lot like a donkey braying. As a got up and looked outside this is what I saw.





Since we arrived very late at night, we had no idea what the scene from our room would look like and we were very pleasantly surprised to have such a beautiful view. And as you can see, I wasn't dreaming about hearing a donkey. These two were standing in the intersection and a short time later were retrieved by their owner.

After breakfast Dave contacted our attorney and he asked us to be in his office at 2:00 p.m. followed by a trip to Le Toukoul orphanage to meet Naomi at 3:00 p.m. The day had finally arrived and we would be holding our baby girl for the first time.

We spent the rest of our morning getting things organized in our room, visiting with the other guests and getting to know the staff. This was going to be our home for 11 days and we wanted to be as comfortable as possible while there.

At 1:00p.m. our driver and translator arrived to take us to the attorney's office. The drive through the city is something that can't adequately be described. Toyota's rule the road but there appears to be no road rules. It is quite the experience. Along the way we see people going about their daily lives. Some dressed in business suits, others in t-shirts and jeans, while others wearing traditional Ethiopia clothing. The streets are lined with small shops and when I say small I mean shops that are maybe 8 foot by 8 foot in size. The shop owner stands at the shop window waiting on customers and the among the customers are stray dogs, roosters, chickens, donkeys, goats and sheep also walking the streets. It is a life very different from the one that exists here in the U.S., but it is a life that from all appearances makes the people of Ethiopia happy.

During the appointment with our attorney he spoke with someone from the Embassy who confirmed that they didn't have our fingerprint renewal information. Since I was still working on the fingerprint issue, he collected our Embassy documents and money, then sent us on our way to meet Naomi.

It was only a short drive from the attorney's office to the orphanage. We turned onto a bumpy dirt road and a few seconds later turned to see the blue gates of the orphanage in front of us. I had seen many, many pictures of these gates and now it was our turn to enter the gates and meet our baby.

For 4 months, Naomi had been living behind these blue gates and her days there would soon come to an end. It was an emotional entrance into her world.

We checked in at the office and were escorted to the family room to await Naomi's arrival. After waiting about 10 minutes, a nanny walked in carrying the most beautiful sight in all of Ethiopia - our Naomi.




The last photo was taken by Lili. She really wanted to take a picture and managed to get us all in the shot.

Dave suggested that we leave Naomi at the orphanage Monday night to give us time to get some more rest and to give Lili time to acclimate a bit more. So after about 1 1/2 hours, the nanny came back to get Naomi and we headed back to the guest home before heading out for a wonderful Ethiopian dinner at Yob Abyssinia.

For those who will be traveling to Ethiopia, do not leave the country until you have dinner at Yob Abyssinia. Awesome Ethiopian food awaits and during the entire dinner you will be entertained with traditional music, song and dance from each region of the country. It was amazing and Lili ate the food and was mesmerized by the entertainment.

Travel Day

We left our home Friday, March 12th and headed to Chicago to spend the night. Our flight wasn't scheduled to leave until late morning, but I discovered that parking near the airport was less expensive if we spent the night at at Stay-Park-Fly hotel nearby. It also meant that we could have a more relaxed morning and wouldn't have to leave so early for our 2 1/2 hour drive to the airport.

After almost 1 1/2 years, our adoption journey was coming to an end and we were very ready to close this chapter and begin the next.

Lili was apparently more excited about the trip than we knew since she woke up about 4 a.m. Saturday morning. So much for getting a good night's sleep before the long flight to Addis Ababa.

Our flight was delayed leaving Chicago, but since we had a long lay-over in Washington D.C. it wasn't a big deal. Fortunately, our flight leaving D.C. was on-time and we were thrilled.

Ethiopia Air was good. It certainly wasn't the nicest plane I had ever been on, but the flight crew took good care of us. My only complaint is that they kept feeding us. I know that might seem strange to say, but our flight left after 8:00 p.m. and by the time we got in the air and settled we just wanted to sit back, relax and try to get some rest. That's pretty difficult when all the lights are on and the flight attendants are walking the aisles serving food and drinks.

We landed in Addis Ababa the following evening and have never been more ready to get off a plane in our lives. Fortunately, getting through the visa and passport lines was fairly painless. We exchanged our U.S. money for Ethiopian birr, collected our luggage and headed out to find our transportation to the guest home.

Our stay in country was at the Ethiopia Guest Home (EGH) and as promised the driver was there holding a sign with my name on it. We were one of 4 adoptive families being transported to the guest home and there were a group of 3 from a church in Florida who were also staying there as they were doing volunteer work at the drop-in center (more on that later).

The Guest Home was wonderful. The orphanage also has a guest home, but seemed pretty pricey so we chose to stay elsewhere. Having never stayed at the orphanage guest home we can't give an accurate comparison, but do feel we made a good choice by staying at EGH.

Our room was on the 4th floor. It was very large with a queen size bed, bunk beds, a pack and play, a wall full of closet space, a small sofa and table. It also had a balcony and a large sitting area between our room and the other room on the floor.

The staff was awesome, making us feel welcome and taking care of our every need. We had internet access at the guest home and were given a cell phone to use in country which came in handy a few times (detail later). Each guest was assigned a driver and translator which we could use for a reasonable fee whenever we wanted or needed to. The other luxury of staying there was the free massage and boy did I need that massage.


I'll be sharing more information about the guest home and staff as I continue my posts about our trip, but for now I'll just share some photos.

The bags are packed and ready to go.

Our plane.
We arrived.

Our room at the guest home.

Seating area just outside our room.