Journey to Ethiopia - Day Two

One year ago today: 

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Our long flight from Chicago to Istanbul on Turkish Air was lightly loaded, we had lots of room to spread out, and the crew was friendly. We relaxed, and the children all slept like children are able to ~ anywhere, any time, in any position. 

HA stripped his shirt and got really comfy with his special blanket

R and HA thought the headphones and screens were pretty cool

Cartoons brought lots of laughs from HW and burned several hours over the Atlantic

The food was unique. It was more interesting than any I've ever seen on a plane, and some of it was quite delicious to us adults. It seemed like it might be considered gourmet Turkish cuisine. The kids were all pretty adventurous during the whole trip, but the strong yogurty smells that came with each meal made it a little tough for them to enjoy (notice HA's expression). They did their best, and the snacks we packed took care of the rest. 

We adults, on the other hand, didn't really manage much sleep, but we did rest and enjoyed ourselves as much as anyone can enjoy an 11 hour flight. We didn't look or feel nearly as perky as the kids did by that point~ we'd been stuffed into airplanes and running through airports for more than 2 days, and it showed. We were all glad to finally see land again and to feel that plane touching down in Turkey, where we had a layover before our next leg. It was Friday morning there, and Mike had us scheduled to take a tour of Istanbul during our 8 hour layover.

In the airport we found out, to our dismay, that because of all those flight delays back in the states, we had to take our luggage with us when we left the airport (!), and recheck our luggage, again, when we boarded our next flight. It was beyond frustrating to be stuck with hauling around this gigantic mound of bags every time we got to an airport, and it was all but impossible for us to even tote that much baggage around very far, since our two little boys couldn't exactly pull heavily loaded bags that were as tall as they were. We snagged carts when we were able, but still had a lot to deal with. We managed to struggle to the doors with all of it, stepped out into Turkey, and met our smiling tour guide. He was so nice and accommodating. He and his assistant somehow managed to get all that luggage jammed into the back of his big van for safe keeping while we toured the city. And boy, were we in for some surprises in Istanbul. 

Journey to Ethiopia - Day One

One year ago today: 

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

The weeks leading up to our travel to bring S home were crazy. Due to the Christmas holidays combined with power failures in Addis Ababa, where our baby S waited, we were given only 10 days to plan our trip, book our flights, and pack this family up. We went to the doctor multiple times to make sure the kids' colds and allergies were under control, but our normally healthy children just kept on with the running noses and coughs. And even though we had all been vaccinated to the gills for everything from Yellow Fever to Typhoid, we still had to put together a medical supplies kit that would help us treat any eventuality in a developing country. We needed adult and children's doses of everything, and some of us can swallow pills and some can't. Plus, we needed to be prepared to treat baby S to help her start healing from whatever infections and issues she might have. We had it all covered. Diarrhea? Check. Cough and cold? Check. Fevers? Check. Cuts? Check. Scabies, lice, ear infection, fungus? Check, check, check, and check.  The list went on and on, and the bundle of medicines we ended up taking was impressive. Fortunately, we knew that if God blessed us with health on our travels, every bit of that medicine could be donated to the Care Center for the children there.

We spent 2 days and 2 long nights trying to fit mounds of orphanage donations (including vitamins, baby clothes, shoes, toys, and medicines), snack foods for our kids, and all our medications in with the clothes we needed~ all according to the combined baggage size and weight regulations of the 3 different airlines we would fly. In addition, we were advised to make sure that each bag had some items for each person in it, because we would likely lose some of our luggage along the way. We also tried to pack as much as possible in our carryons, so that if our luggage was lost we would still have some things to get us through. We went around and around, but finally figured out a packing system so that certain bags could be assigned to each person on check in, in order to avoid those dreaded oversize and overweight baggage fees. The packing alone was exhausting, and the trip hadn't even begun. But, the exhaustion of getting a whole family ready to cross the Atlantic was masked by the electric excitement we all felt. We were going to get baby S and bring her home!

Our journey began just as we begin every other family trip, with Mike's heartfelt prayer in the driveway for God's protection and blessing for our family. Then we drove just a few minutes and arrived at our local regional airport before 5 am to check in for an early commuter flight to DFW. Uncle B and cousin T came with us that morning, to help with all our bags and to bring our vehicles home and see us off on the first leg of our journey. We were all pumped and ready for this big adventure, and more than ready to finally meet our baby S ~ our travel group included me, Mike, R (our eldest daughter, age 11), HA (our elder son, age 6), HW (our younger son, age 6), and Gram and DaddyDon (Brenna's parents). Seven in all. That's a lot of luggage, people.

We got our checked bags through the line and then we took our carryons and went to the airport restaurant to wait until our flight was called. You know those sharply dressed business people you see in airports pulling their slim, wheeled carryons behind them, weaving through the crowds gracefully? That was so not us. Our carryons included bags of activities for the kids that weighed the maximum amount allowed, a big, vital bag of paperwork required to get our baby home, tons of snacks for the kids, seven jackets (we didn't need them in Texas, but we knew that would change when we landed in Chicago), my bulging purse, loaded with every kind of medicine we might need in-flight and bottles of hand sanitizer, and one very important blankie for one unnamed child who still needs it when he goes to sleep. Graceful doesn't describe our group in any form or fashion. 

We got coffee and the kids chose drinks. Suddenly R turned to me and whispered, "I think I'm gonna be sick!"

I hurried her through the empty airport to the bathroom. We made it in the nick of time. It didn't bode well that we already had a vomiting child before we were even in the air, but I said an extra prayer for her, chocked it up to all the nervous energy we all felt and hoped it wasn't a sign of things to come. We barely had time to get her put back together before it was time to go through security. The small-town airport security check that first time was sort of fun ~ all of us looked so silly with our shoes and boots in the plastic tubs, walking sock-footed to the end of the line where we put our belts back on and passed around wallets and purses. The kids giggled and we joked, and we didn't mind it at all. We had a good time going through airport security that very first time ~ the 7^th time or so, not so much.

We were jubilant on that first leg to DFW, and it was a very short trip. We barely settled into our seats before we the plane was setting down and we were gathering our things to get off.

In the DFW airport we found out our next leg of the trip was delayed by a big ice storm in the mid-west. Chicago was all backed up, so there we sat for several hours, trying our best to entertain the kids and catch a few winks in the terribly uncomfortable airport chairs. That delay gave us a few minutes to think about what we might have forgotten, and we phoned Mike's mom for a last minute pharmacy run. She arrived at DFW with a package of dental repair paste  in case of a broken tooth ( I told you we were prepared for anything), and a watch for Mike, who realized that since he wouldn't have his cell phone in Ethiopia, we would never know what time it was. At one point during our wait I jumped on a computer and posted a quick update to the blog. It would be our last real connection for the rest of trip.

After several hours of delays we were finally back on track and hoped to still make our connection in Chicago. When we arrived in Chicago we found out our bags had to be rechecked through, because our plane was late and the plane we were flying out on had already been loaded. So, we retrieved our pile of luggage from baggage claim, lugged them around again and checked them in again, and finally flew out aboard Turkish Air, bound for the city that joins two continents: Istanbul. 

Series - Journey to Ethiopia

Join us as we relive our journey to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia!

Exactly one year ago today,

we embarked on our amazing trip

 to bring baby S home!

I'm Gonna Miss It

Eldest has always had this thing about lip balm. She can't stand it. She can't stand to put it on, and can't stand the feel of it on her lips. So, a few years ago I figured out that whenever her lips were chapped I could just wait until she fell asleep that night, sneak in her room, and smooth some on while she slept. She's a light sleeper, so this takes great skill from Mama.

For years she never knew about my little trick. She'd just wake up the next morning and say, "Wow. My lips feel much better this morning." 

I'd reply, "Good, dear," and smile to myself.

A while back, I let her in on my little secret. She thought it was hilarious that I would sneak around in the dark like that for her for all those years, just to fix her dry lips.

Now, when her lips feel chapped she'll ask, "Mom, will you fix my chapped lips tonight after I go to sleep?"

"Sure, honey. I'll be glad to." So, when she falls asleep I, once again, stumble over the jumble of dolls and sports gear and books to get to her bed in the dark and smooth on some balm.

I guess one day she'll make herself put on her own lip balm, and then she won't need to ask me to do it anymore. And I'm gonna miss it.

Sunday Sickness

My dear eldest has a sinus infection and feels yucky, and the baby is cranky from getting a shot at her check up. So, we opted for home church today and just tried to keep the medicines and the hot tea and the juices going and help everyone feel better. My girls are usually so sunny, so it's a bummer when they both feel crummy at the same time.

On a different note, my husband already jumped ship on my great Living Off the Land experiment this month. The cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater decided he didn't want to stoke the fire all the through the night when the temps dipped down to the single digits, so he set the heat to come on when the fire died down one night. I guess I shouldn't complain~ I certainly didn't offer to get up in the night and stoke the fire. Actually, he's been working hard around here. He and the boys cut and hauled wood yesterday, and he's been keeping the wood box stocked for me during weekdays. So, I really can't blame him one bit if his pioneer spirit ran a little low during an arctic cold front.

We'll see how we do this week.

Turning Off the Heat

I want to try an experiment this year. I'd like for our family to make a real effort to live off the land. I want to really think it through and look for ways to use our blessings more effectively.  I think when we analyze just how we've utilized the resources we have, we will be both happily surprised in some areas, and terribly ashamed in others.  So, during 2010 we challenge ourselves to do our very best to use the blessings God has given us here on this land. We'll start with a challenge this month, and more challenges will follow this one ~assuming we all survive and don't get too grouchy.

Now, I realize there will be some times that we just have to give in and use all the modern conveniences that we enjoy ~ For example, while I love the smell of laundry hung on the fence to dry, my ragweed allergies prohibit drying clothes outside for a couple months per year, so in the dryer they will go. Insect allergies keep some of my children from helping with the garden much when the bugs are bad, so we may be shopping for our veggies more during those times. And we do all love to eat garden-fresh broccoli, but just how much broccoli can we expect our children to consume (and even more importantly, at what level of broccoli consumption do children begin to turn greenish?) And although I know some Native Americans made a good living off the nuts, I believe that man cannot live on pecans alone, even here at Pecan Bluff. Nope, this won't be real pioneer living by a long shot. But surely there are ways to work a little harder and really use the stuff we have right outside our door, right?

We are starting off our challenge by nixing the use the our central heat for one whole month. We will use only our wood stove to heat the whole house. Of course, we decided to take this challenge long before the blast of arctic air came swooping all the way into Texas, bringing the coldest temperatures we've seen in a while. But, a deal is a deal, and we've already double-dog-dared each other, so the heat stays off.  Meanwhile, we are keeping the woodstove blazing, drinking hot tea, layering on the clothes when in the chilly back bedrooms, and peeling off those layers when we head to the living room where the stove keeps the temperature downright balmy.

Tonight we are expecting temps in the single digits, so we will see how we do in our little challenge. Obviously, no small children will be frozen in this little experiment, but they may have to wear socks around the house this month.

Let's just see how much of that good old pioneer moxie we still have here at Pecan Bluff!

Saturday Spotlight

Guess who's pretty hair do is ringing in the New Year over at Happy Girl Hair? You guessed it: Sweet Baby is the star today. You can see her lovely curls by visiting Happy Girl Hair. While you are there, check out all the great info on curly hair. I love all the good tips for beautiful, healthy curls!

We have so much fun during our Hair Time here at home. So far, Sweet Baby is a very patient "client" for her Mama as I learn. She even knows exactly what to do when we get started. I tell her it is Hair Time and she plants herself in the Bumbo in front of the video screen, where she gets to watch Praise Baby or Baby Einstein. I think she is very patient, for a toddler, although I do work as quickly as I can so I don't push my luck. Hair Time is a great time to bond, and she really relaxes into it when we get started. Big Sissy is my styling assistant, and she gets so tickled when Sweet Baby relaxes so much that she leans her head all the way back and drools a little while she gets her hair done. So cute.

I've only tried loose braids once, as her hair is still fairly short. We've done puffs a couple of times, but I have to take all doo-dads out before naptime, because this child eats everything. So, for now, coils or headbands and curls are still our go-to styles.

Check her out~ and let me know what you think of her stardom!