Meecha Day!!!!

What a day this has been.  We have just returned back to the guest house after a doozy of a roller coaster ride. We had a change of plans this morning (shocker) and will do the paperwork tomorrow.  Instead, we went shopping in the post office district.  There were several shops along the road that would draw you in, although none of them would haggle with Dennis, which unnerves him of course!  I found a few neat things but need to go back.  The begging children among these streets just broke our hearts.  They have their phrases down pat, "Momma, chewing gum?" or "Papa, shine shoes?"  Heartwrenching.  Robel, our translator, has taken many of them under his wing and has taught them to sell goods rather than beg.  One little boy continued to put his hand to his mouth with an eating gesture because of his hunger.  In a city this large, Robel said were nearly 400,000 orphans in Addis alone.  Many of them live on the street. We ate lunch next to the National Museum at Lucy's café.  I had stir fry and a Diet Coke!  The Diet Coke was to die for.  One thing, among zillions, that I miss about the US is that all the soda is served in bottles and you have to drink it all there.  You can't take the bottles with you.  I miss a nice to-go cup that I can sip on throughout the day!  I want to just say, "Seriously, can I just buy the bottle and leave??"  I couldn't eat much.  I think I'm hungry and then have no appetite, some from nerves and some from, well….Ethiopian food.  There's a smell I can't describe on paper.  In fact, I need a Tums right now.  Finally, we were off to the Transition Home.  Again, the sense of urgency is non-existent as we were all chomping at the bit to see our kids.  We planned to go in ABC order, putting us last.  The best is ALWAYS last, isn't it? HA!  The Baileys went first which was very special as this is their first child.  Then in order was the Bullingtons, the Garners, the Heinrichs, the Mullins and then us.  We all took turns videoing and taking pictures for each other.  We stood at the bottom of the steps and the nanny would bring us our children.  Some of them had been napping and had to be awakened.  Nothing like, "Hey kids…meet your family and they're going to freak out on you!!" Finally, it was our turn!  Let me honestly tell you my first words:  "What did you do to your nose???"  Seriously.  Of all the sweet maternal things I could have said that was it.  As you can see, he has a huge scab on the tip of his nose that is hard to miss.  The nannies said he was playing in his bed and fell and scraped it.  Some of the guys were teasing and saying, "I wonder what the other guy looked like?"  Then, it was clear he had a severe bout with chicken pox, which we knew was traveling around.  We didn't know he had contracted them though.  They are mostly healed up, but still evident to say the very least.  So, Dennis' new nickname for him is Bruiser.  Of all the angelic "Meetcha" day photo shots, he proved to be ALL BOY!  The most concerning thing for us today was to find out that he has been treated for a staph infection.  He has several places on his arm and legs that are healed.  His stomach is the worst.  From what we can tell, it is scabbed over.  Much is lost in translation here and we are finding that what we consider major issues are non-issues here.  We had no idea he had been suffering with this or where it was from.  He had no fever and the medical person here insisted that he was much better.  Again, huge blow-outs with every diaper, scabies, staph…you know, non-issues, right????? With all this said, we would absolutely not trade him for the world!  We got him to laugh and smile a little, but he was apprehensive obviously.  He fell asleep on Dennis' chest with the calming affect he always had.  I guess he didn't lose any sweet "dad of a baby" skills!  Of course, I have picked out several cute outfits for him to wear tomorrow when we pick him up.  It's a pretty important issue with me! HA!  From what we hear, he comes with the diaper on his bottom…that's it.  So, we are packing everything we need to take with us.  This place may be a little on the loud-ish side tomorrow night.  Collectively, we have kids ranging from 18 months down to 4 months of age.  Whew! Let me leave with this as it is bedtime here and it's my last night without a crib in here.  I've never believed that things "just happen" and God reminds of this all the time.  Dennis and I have been worried all day (ok..just me and kind of Dennis) about all of Micah's skin issues and hating to see him like this.  When we got back tonight, another couple had arrived in the suite with us that adopted from Rwanda.  They also are with AWAA, but have to do paperwork in Addis.  We visited for a while and doted on their little boy.  We were comparing stories and he mentioned that he was a Dermatology Physician's Assistant back home and he would be more than glad to give Micah a head to toe check up tomorrow.  For real?  You just can't write this stuff.  He told us a few simple suggestions for the staph until we get home and how it is usually treated and that he can check for scabies as well.  Of all the rooms in this guest house, he and his wife are 12 feet from us.  So we are going to give him a bleach bath in the sink tomorrow and pray, pray, pray!  I told him about his sisters and brother and all of his grandmas and friends.  I'm pretty sure he is excited to meet you all! Mom, I took pictures of his hands and feet just for you!  Andrew, I gave him a ball and told him you were going to teach him how to throw.  Girls, I told him that you were cool big sisters.  Okay, I promise one last thing.  We are not just saying this because we are his parents.  But, Micah seems to be the star of the show so to speak at the house!  He had nannies doting on him that were coming out of the woodwork.  They would all say, "I'm his number one fan" or "I'm his step-mom" and "No, I'M his fan…"  Spoiled is perhaps the best word of the day.  Of course, all of our updates said, "Him loves to be held!!!'  Indeed, and him will be held for sure!