Travelogue - Day Seven

It's Wednesday morning. We woke up after another good night's sleep. I was very impressed with how easily the boys slept. I was prepared to comfort two kiddos in a strange place with strange people.

The only thing on our agenda for the day is to spend time with the boys. We have a celebration dinner later in the evening but the whole day was ours to bond our little family together.

John and I survived as long as we had a system to approach certain needs. The formula schedule was slightly daunting. The boys were on completely different schedules and different formulas. Just like us - they couldn't drink the tap water either. We had to purchase bottled water from the hotel restaurant. It felt like we were constantly buying water. When our water heater was plugged in, the tap water was scalding hot. So we'd fill the sink up with hot water - fill the sippy cups with formula and bottled water -then set the sippy cup in the sink to heat up.

I used some time in the morning to get laundry done. The hotel offered laundry service but they washed clothes in a tub out back. I figured I could wash clothes in a tub - for free.


The boys were unamused by most of our attempts to entertain them in the room at this point. John would walk the halls with Colin and climb the stairs with Seth. They'd go up...then down...then up...then down.

We took over the workout room (most of the equipment didn't work anyway) as a playroom. We closed the door and the boys could squeal and run and kick balls around. Colin enjoyed watching the world go by through the windows while Seth mostly played catch with John.



There were two strollers, probably left by previous adoptive families. They'd take turns pushing and riding.



All this creative play and hotel living made me very tired. I felt responsible for watching the boys every move. I was so nervous they'd fall down the stairs or suddenly freak out about their unfamiliar surroundings. I was neurotic about keeping to their individual schedules. I tried to use every spare moment efficiently - straightening up the room, washing the clothes, refilling sippy cups, making sure Seth remembered to use the bathroom...AHHHHH!!!

Colin got fussy around 11:00 and went down easily for a nap. I was so happy with the thought that Seth would eat some lunch and then join him for some zzz's. Seth complied with my plan and laid down in his bed, closed his eyes and fell asleep. I turned around to head for our bed for some sweet rest of my own, only to see Colin sitting straight up in his basket, wide-eyed and ready to play.

John saw the panic in my face and before I could meltdown, he told me to lay down and took Colin outside for some hall-walking (he'd already spent the morning stair-walking with Seth).

I laid down and cried (quietly as not to wake the sleeping 3 year old across the room), the words of Kay Heikes in my head. You see the Heikes family had recently returned from Ethiopia with their beautiful little girl. Kay shared some words of wisdom with me before we left. She told me that becoming a mother is hard work. Becoming a mother of two little strangers in a hotel room will be even more difficult. She told me that it would be much better once we got home. She didn't want me to be discouraged - thinking that being a parent was always going to be as hard as this. It wouldn't. Her words brought me comfort and gave me permission to cry my eyes out without feeling guilty about it. And I did.

I didn't sleep at all but I got out of bed with a little more energy than before. Seth was still sleeping and I headed out in the hallway to rescue John from all the walking. I found John with a book in one hand and Colin's hand in the other. John was reading to himself while walking up and down the hallway. I offered to relieve him but he declined and kept walking.

Seth was soon up and about. We got the boys dressed for their temporary return to The Care Center. We were scheduled to attend a Cultural dinner that evening at a local hotel. Every travel group does it. They have authentic food and music/dancing from various tribes. Our agency asked that we not take the children outside of the Care Center or hotel for their safety and ours. So we'd drop them off at the Care Center until we returned for the dinner.

Seth was very excited to get some new clothes, once he came to the hotel. Don't tell him, but most were hand-me-downs from various places. When we gave him shoes to wear (more hand-me-downs) his face lit up. He'd play for a little bit then come to one of us to show us his new shoes. Some background - every picture we received since July has had Seth in the same shoes - red Crocs. He was wearing them again, the day we met him. I'm sure they are the only shoes he's ever had. That one pair.

We took the boys over to the Care Center. John dropped Colin off in the Toddler room and I took Seth all the way up the staircase to the "big kids" room. When we got to the top of the stairs - his friends were waiting for him there. He smiled bright and threw his leg up in the air - showing everyone his new shoes. He turned around to me and ran into my arms for a goodbye hug - his face beaming with pride.

The Cultural Dinner was nice. I'm glad we went but it was hard to focus or appreciate the effort everyone was putting into it. We were exhausted...beyond exhausted. Most travel groups go earlier in the week. Because of some special activities with our group (Christmas celebrations, the 2 year Anniversary of Holt's work in Ethiopia, etc.) we didn't go until our last night there.



We picked the boys up late from the Care Center and did pretty well getting them back to bed.

Coming up on Day 8 - Packing up and heading out!