What a Day!!!

This is Paul (thought I'd give Mandy a blog-break).

We had such an amazing day.  It was surreal as we woke up knowing that in a few hours we were going to lock eyes with Levi.  We started out our day having breakfast in our hotel, followed up by meeting all of the other families (15 in all) to complete some paperwork before we all caravaned over to the Transitional Home to see our children. 

 

Our meeting with Levi is hard to put into words.  It was emotional, overwelming, exciting and perfect (at least from our perspective).  We were the first family to be introduced to our child (they went in alphabetical order).  We thought it would have been a little awkward with other families watching us but it wasn't.  A nurse (nanny) from the transitional home brought Levi to us and put him in Mandy's arms.  We both were crying as we introduced ourselves as Mommy and Daddy.  As we captured pictures and video footage of us holding Levi, we soaked up every moment with him.  He looks just like his pictures (and his 'fro is a doozy...it's so cute).  We had about 2.5 hours to spend time with him and then gave him his first gift from us (a yellow hot wheels car that Landon picked out).  We spent more time with him, holding him all while watching and interacting with the other families that had just been introduced to their children.  It was so incredible.

 

We fed him his first bottle which he devoured pretty quick, and then he fell asleep in Mandy's arms.  It was so sweet to watch his precious face rest on her shoulders.  What a gift God has given us.  We were introduced to one of Levi's nanny's and then saw the crib that was his home for the last 6 months.  We said goodbye at 4:00 and then left with all of the other families.

 

We'll see Levi again tomorrow and this time, we'll take him with us for good.  So, we'll be getting his clothes, a few toys, diapers, bottles and snacks all ready for tomorrow.  After we spend a couple hours tomorrow in the transitional home, we'll come back to our hotel.  It's a small room, so it should be interesting having Levi in the room with us.

 

Earlier this evening, Mandy and the other ladies were treated to a 1 hour massage.  It was really nice (and it only cost $20).  We then went to a traditional Ethiopian restaurant and ate authentic Ethiopian food with Ethiopian entertainment.  It was energetic, intriguing and fun.

 

Pray for us tomorrow that we would continue to have large hearts for Levi.  Pray that he would attach well to us as his parents.  Today he was so content and calm and just really seemed to like us, so we're asking God for the same thing tomorrow.  Will you pray with us in this way.

 

Finally, pray that our hearts would continue to be open to the people of Ethiopia.  It's a beautiful country but there is so much need.  Pray that we'd develop a love for this special country.

 

We'll try to attach some pics in a future blog...stay tuned.

 

Paul and Mandy