We are home

We are home finally and have been adjusting for the last few days. I will try to give a play by play on how our trip went.
Addis was sooo bored on the flight over, but she did pretty well, and on Tuesday? we went with some other hope families back to the orphanage. The second they opened the gate, we saw Anteneh, wearing a shirt we had sent, and he was just waving and smiling from ear to ear. I of course started crying, gave him a hug and a kiss then got mobbed by other kids. He took Addis and said, Hi mom, hi miranda, hi Addis, in the cutest little voice in the world. We gave him his big present, a camera and he just followed mom around taking pictures of the kids. He was excited to go, I don't think it really hit him that he was leaving forever. That night he prayed for about 10 minutes before bed and gave us all kisses. All four of us woke up at about 3 in the morning from jetlag and excitment. He started doing sit-ups and playing with the ipod. We finally went to back to sleep, and he was up and ready to go at 6.
That day we went with Brian and Andy and a friend we met at the New flower, to the Weaver's market, while Mom did business things. He was really excited to buy Mom a few scarves, and we had a great big lunch that he really liked. When mom finally came home at like 7 he had gotten so nervous and was really excited to see her. We moved to Shimiless' apartment that night.
I think the next few days we went to the orphanage, shopping for the orphanage, visited a sick friend and things like that.
Around day 4 was when the attitude problems started. Apparently in Ethiopia, if a kid wants something, and is told no, then they just pout until they get it. Well let me tell you, this kid can pout. No you can't have a 4th coke, he didn't talk to us all day. No we can't go play video games at the carnival, Mom has to work, he wouldn't come out of the room. It didn't help that his family kept constantly coming to visit, and it was so obvious that it just broke his little heart. I can not even comprehend leaving your country, family, friends, food, language, everything behind to go basically with some strangers to America.
It was obvious that going back to the orphanage was hard on him, so a lot of the time I stayed behind with him while mom went and worked. He went to another orphanage, Bethel, while I stayed with Addis. This was around the time that Addis got food poisoning and my cold/flu got really bad. We moved back to the New Flower so that we would have a car if something bad happened to her. She had to go to the hospital (where the owner recognized us--so nice!) 4 times over the course of 2 days. I had to be moved to another room because my coughing kept everyone awake.
During this time, Anteneh's family is still coming to visit, which is just devestating him, and they invite us over to the house he was raised in. I was literally coughing up a lung and the rainy season had started so I stayed behind, but my family, and a friend from the New Flower went. It was very very hard on Anteneh. He saw his childhood room, his childhood dog, pictures of his parents, and grandma. He also went to his Uncle's house.
Our friend who is very ill and close to all four of us was becoming even sicker before our eyes, which was obviously hurting Teneh as well. We went to visit everyday, and it was hard on all of us.
Lots of hugs and kisses and help from everyone, Ayele our favorite driver, Genanew, the staff at the New flower, helped us to try to comfort him.
All of the kids at Hope's place are just beautiful! They are all so happy and well cared for it is amazing. The staff truly does love these kids. Every single person remembered Addis, and were so happy to see how she has grown and how beautiful she is. She is walking now, it's horrible, she is into everything. All of the older kids were so sweet and friendly. The babies are all very very well cared for and the toddlers seem very happy.
Now that we are home, Anteneh's personality and english usage have come alive. He is hilarious, and constantly making all of us laugh. He taught himself to ride a bike in ONE DAY! He seems to be the only Ethiopian older kid who does not have food issues. He eats burritos, broccoli rice casserole, quiche, and tons of fruit. The only problems we have right now is that he chews with his mouth open and doesn't understand that when Addis is napping, he has to be quiet. Other than that he is doing really really well. Even though we both read older child adoption books, we thought that because we had met Anteneh, and he was such a sweet kid, we wouldn't have any of the problems like other people. Well we did, and it was really hard, and we are going to still have more obstacles to overcome. But as of right now, I can defintely say, it's worth it.