Day four of our journey to Seth Kidus

Day four started in the wee hours of the morning (maybe even the night before). This was the night that Seth had a bad cough. No one got a lot of sleep, so when we were getting ready to leave and he was sound asleep, we decided to leave him with the ladies. I really did not want to go, but I did since he was sleeping and it was just a morning trip.

Our first stop was The National Museum, home of Lucy. As I mentioned in a previous post, Lucy was on holiday in the States, so we only got to see her replica. To be honest, if they hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known. It was a nice museum with a lot of interesting info. One of the funny things was that we were there surrounded by other adoptive parents. I think I even saw one or two that I recognized from their blogs. Small world :)

The next stop was a university science museum. This one was a little more fun for me because there were a lot of animals. Of course, James found some friends:



And here he is getting to know them a little better:



We finished both museums in record time because we were all looking forward to getting back to the babies. Seth was in good spirits when we returned, but that changed shortly after dinner. I am still not sure if it was some of the table food we gave him or the fact that we had to switch formulas, but he had horrible gas and a very bad stomach ache. I did bring infant gas relief, so that helped a little, but for the most part we were up all night with him. As difficult as it was, I think that this night really facilitated the bonding process a little more.

Here he is before the stomach ache... I love these pictures of him and his daddy:



Taylor spent a good part of the afternoon visiting with the ladies and learning a little Amharic:



It really is amazing the amount that Geezaish and Hewitt work. Sun up to sun down, they are cooking and cleaning. Here is Geezaish sorting through Barley to pick out the bad ones, then grinding the good ones for homemade beer:



Being in Ethiopia makes you truly grateful for all the conveniences we have in America - and how much we complain!

To the anonymous commentor...

I guess we kind of open ourselves up to all kinds when we put a blog out there. Either way, I would like to address my anonymous commenter who left a comment on the last post:

Seth means "set apart" in Hebrew. In the Bible, Seth was the third son of Adam and Eve. My son has two names, Seth and Kidus. Seth is the name we gave him and will call him by that until he is old enough to decide for himself if he would like to be referred to as Seth or Kidus. Kidus means "blessed one" in Amharic. You, anonymous poster, need to keep in mind that our son is an Ethiopian American now. That means that he is just as much one as he is the other. He will be raised to celebrate his Christian heritage, his Ethiopian culture, his American culture, and all other things that encompass him. God has blessed us with him and we believe God has "set him apart" for great things.

So, rather than delete your negative comment, I have chosen to educate you instead. I pray that you were able to learn how to be a little more open minded and a little less quick to judge.

Day three of our journey to Seth Kidus

(You can click on each picture for a closer look)

Day three was a Sunday morning in Ethiopia. We foolishly set our alarm, though we were awakened long before it was to go off. Today was the long day trip into the mountains. After a wonderful breakfast (cooked by Hewitt), we headed off. Our first stop was a little deli to pick up lunch (the best club sandwiches I have ever had), then we stopped for a bunch of bananas (Amharic: Moosh). This was the point where I was reminded that African time is in no way similar to American time: Alemu, James, Taylor, and I were scheduled to pick up the Hahn family at 9am, so we left the house at 9am. Then we stopped for coffee and had two cups. I think we finally got to the hotel at about 9:45am, where of course, the Hahn family was waiting out front.

Our babies were not with us for this trip. James and I decided to leave Seth with Geezashe and Hewitt because it was going to be such a long day, and Layla Hahn was still not feeling well. Personally, this was a very difficult decision, but later we realized this was such an non-family-friendly trip, that it was the best decision.











Ethiopian country side is beautiful this time of year. In terms of green, I think it rivals Ireland. We were headed north and up into some of the mountains that surround Addis Ababa. Along the way, we stopped often for pictures of the countryside.
Alemu said that all that is now green because of the rainy season turns brown in a few short months.










These carvings were carved into the side of the mountains. If I only had this much talent in my little pinky!









We even had the chance to stop at a small village market along the way. Of course, we were the entertainment there. That is one thing you should know before going to Africa: usually the white people draw a lot of attention. It isn't in a negative way, however. It is in a friendly, curious way. While we were in Ethiopia, we were continuously stared at and talked to, but I never once felt unsafe or uncomfortable because of the attention. If you can look at it for what it is, curiosity, than you can have the right attitude about it. Personally, I was a little disappointed that people weren't pointing, staring, and staying "ferengi" (white) when we got home. :)

Our final destination was an Ethiopian Orthodox church and monastery. We were given a tour of the church by a very soft spoken, very knowledgeable, monk. The whole feeling of the church was amazing. Although the churches are beautiful, the interesting thing I found is that they feel different the churches back home. There was more reverence. It felt holy. That is the only way I can describe it. Being in this church, feeling the presence of God... this is where my culture shock began. It lasted a couple days, but I know that I felt it the instant I left that church.

A few years ago, when we were in Kenya and Tanzania, I felt the culture shock upon return to the States, it was backwards this time. I was so sad and depressed for the first couple days that I was unsure if I would be able to pull myself out of it and enjoy my time there. I think there were many contributing factors to my mood, but the primary reason was the sheer magnitude of the begging. You could not stop at any stoplight, yield sign, or anything else without being asked for money. Now, there was a difference in the type of people that begged. Some desperately needed it and you could tell. Others would ask for money and when you said "no" (or eye-duh-lem in Amharic) they would give you a look as if to say "Well, I gave it my best shot." Either way, it was difficult because you really can't give to any of them. Because of the number of beggars, you will be mobbed if you try to help one or two. So, we choose not to hand money to the beggars. That was another difficult decision.

Anyway, I digressed. After leaving the monastery, we were headed south, towards home (but there were still many stops along the way).


First stop: Lunch at a local home (we brown bagged, they watched), then a very poor orphanage that also helped the elderly and the handicapped.












Next stop: Local resort that was near a bridge that was built in the fourth century (without any cement). The resort was definitely on its way to being a pretty nice place and had a fantastic view of the countryside.










Next stop: Local farmer and his family. This place was very muddy (since it was the rainy season) and a few of us had difficulty staying upright (I won't name names). The family was very nice!












Next stop: Dinner at a place called "Honeymoon Park." I know that this food does not look all that appetizing, but it was really very delicious. What wasn't very good was the drink they call "yellow drink." Apparently, in the past it was only available to the royal family, but now is available to everyone. It is a VERY strong drink and personally, I did not care for it. At least we can say we gave it a shot, right? Great place to eat. If you are ever in the mountains of Ethiopia, I highly recommend the Honeymoon Park.









After dinner, we were finally headed home after a long day. We were happy to see that Seth was still awake when we returned home, which gave us some time to play with him.

By the way, I have a side note. Many of you have noticed that our son has had a transition of names, so I thought I would explain. While in Ethiopia, we referred to him only as Kidus. Therefore, our posts reflected that. Once we were home, we began adding Seth to the beginning and calling him Seth Kidus, thus allowing him to learn his name with minimal adjustment difficulties. He is now answering to Seth, so we have started to call him only by Seth on the occasion. I am sure that with each post you will see a little bit more of this change. His final, legal name will be Seth Kidus Norris. He is doing great, by the way. We could not ask for a more happy, easy-going baby. He has even started sleeping through the night - but I am being my realistic self about this and not taking it for granted. :)

Day two of our journey to Seth Kidus

After a good night's sleep in Washington D.C., we were off to Dulles airport first thing in the morning for our Ethiopian Air flight. As soon as we got in line we saw the Hahn family (the family who would be spending the week with us) a few rows ahead. This was the first time we had all met, but soon we would be spending a lot of time together.

Getting through the gate and security was a breeze for us. Being the pessimistic person that I am, I began to wonder what was going to go wrong since everything seemed to be going right. I know - lack of faith - I am working on it :)

The flight to Addis Ababa was a very smooth flight and the food was about as good as you can expect on an airline. It wasn't bad, but I am pretty sure that Rachel Ray is not in the back whippin' up a 30 minute meal. Anyway, I slept most the way because I was hoping to avoid severe jet lag.

We had a short stop in Rome where we did not de-board, but waited for the crew to change and the cleaning crew to cleanup. One thing I noticed about this flight that I had never seen on other flights: there was a lot of socializing going on. Since the majority of the plane was Ethiopian, many of the Ethiopian people were standing in the aisles chatting with one another. This was my first experience with how friendly and outgoing the people of Ethiopia could be.

We landed in Addis Ababa about 8:30am in the morning, and were immediately ushered to the line for a visa ($20.00, and very easy questions). Once through that hurtle, we went to claim our luggage. That was crazy, to say the least. We stood there and waited, and waited, and waited... I was convinced that we were only going to have two out of the six suitcases we brought. Finally, the luggage came through. The interesting part of the Addis Ababa airport is that you send your luggage through screening and x-ray machines as you are leaving the airport. In case you leave with too many bags of peanuts, I guess.

The Addis Ababa airport is pretty nice. The entire front is glass so as you enter into the main area (where everyone is waiting), you get a beautiful view of the mountains.

We found Alemu (our contact and host while in Ethiopia) fairly quickly. Once all the formalities were behind us, we told him that we would like to pick up Seth Kidus immediately. At this point, it felt as if we could not wait another second to get him in our arms. The Hahn family joined us in our little huddle and we learned that we would drop them off at their daughter's orphanage on the way to ours, but first we all needed to get settled in.

Alemu's house is less than five minutes from the airport, so we were there and unloaded before we could even catch our breath. There was a coffee (Amharic: Boona) ceremony put together by Geezaish (I am not sure if this is the proper spelling, but it is phonetic). First, she roasted the beans in front of us, then ground them, put them in the coffee pot and let it cook for about 15 minutes. The whole process takes about 45 minutes and the result is the best espresso you have ever had. The ceremony is usually accompanied by popcorn and colo (barley) to snack on.

Once the ceremony was complete, we rushed around to get ready to go to the orphanage. What does one wear to pick up your son? I think I may have had a little melt down in my mind while preparing to leave. I wanted to go get him so badly, but part of me was scared - of what, I don't know.

On the way to the orphanage, we picked up the Hahn family at their hotel, then dropped them off at the Enetalem Orphanage. Kidus' orphanage (Adera) was a little but more of a drive.

We arrived at the orphanage and met the wonderful director there. After talking to him for a few minutes, Taylor says "Ooohhh, I see him." His nanny brought him through the door, he took one look at us and tried to go right back out the door. He was scared and you could tell. I walked over and rubbed his arm, trying to calm him, but it was just making him more upset. The director finally said, "You need to just take him." So I did. I ripped him out of the arms of his nanny and walked back across the little room to his father. We oohed and aaahed over him, but all the while we were mourning his loss with him. His nanny obviously took good care of him. He clearly loved her and we are so grateful he had that in his life.

The rest of the day was a blur, so I will skip the details. We went back to the Enetalem orphanage to pick up the Hahn family and dropped them off at their hotel. Upon returning to the guest house, we had dinner with a departing family. They were adopting three little girls who had lived in the same orphanage as Kidus. All four children were very excited to see one another.



After that, we called it a very early night. Seth Kidus did wake up one or two times, but this time was very important for us. It was during those late night "meetings" that James, Seth Kidus, and I truly began interacting. He was really starting to warm up to us. Of course, Taylor was able to sleep through this because he already loved her. As I was just reminded tonight, she was the first one to make him laugh. He loves his big sister and has from the beginning :)











I will post day three soon. Seth Kidus is waiting for mommy to come play... Who can keep this face waiting?

Day one of our journey to Seth Kidus

The night before leaving on our big trip, I slept about two hours. I was awake that night thinking of all the things I may have forgotten to pack, things I packed but didn't need, how our flight was going to go, etc., etc., etc. By the time we left that morning (around 3am) I was running on pure adrenaline. James was his usual calm, cool, and collected self. I have a love-hate relationship with his ability to do that :-)

We made it through security and to our flight in Detroit very easy. Once we arrived in D.C., we were able to check into our hotel early, grab a bit to eat, then head out on the town for some sight seeing. We hit most the major attractions and made it back to our hotel in time for a swim and a good night's sleep.

I realize most people read this blog for info on our trip to Ethiopia, but this was an important part of the trip: it gave us a chance to kick back for 24 hours before our big adventure. Plus, it was our last major outing as a family of three.

Here we are!

We are home and somewhat settled in... We are also exhausted. Jet lag can really take its toll on you! Kidus is doing so well. He was pretty tired today, but has settled into what is turning out to be the longest nap I have ever seen him take. He is such a laid back, fun little guy! I know that in Amharic his name means "blessed one" but I have to tell you, we are the blessed ones!

I don't even know where to begin with the photos. I would like to go day by day and tell about our experiences and post the appropriate pictures for that day. That is my plan, but it may take me a couple days to get out of the jet lag fog. In the mean time, we wanted to thank everyone for their prayers and well wishes. There was more than one time that I was brought to tears reading all the wonderful comments from friends and family.

Here are some firsts I can share with you now:

First time meeting his cousins (this one is Adrian, who is 4 months old. Norris' have notoriously BIG babies!)...














First bath at home...

















First time in his highchair...

















First time in his bed...




















Isn't he the sweetest thing?

Until next time!

Day #... I have no idea. Lost track of time...

I am going to do my best today to just give you the run down of what we
did and leave the emotion out of it. I know that the emotional stuff makes
for better reading, but honestly, I am still processing much of it myself.
By the way, you've got Deanna again :)

Today started with a tour of the city and took video most of the time we
were driving. This is a video that you prospective moms and dads out there
will not want to miss! Driving in Ethiopia is not like anywhere else in
the world. I am sure of it.

After our tour around the city, we ("we" meaning our family and the Hahn
family) went to a lion zoo. That was awesome! The lions were so close you
could touch them. Literally. Not even exagerating. Gary Hahn and his son
both touched the mane of a lion. They got yelled at, but still, it was
cool. Kidus loved the lions. One of them roared at us (because the guide
poked him with a stick) and Kidus jumped just like the rest of us. So much
fun! Kidus also got his first taste of ice cream (Neopolitan) and of
course, he loved it (he is a Norris afterall).

Next stop was the Embassy appointment. While we were at lunch we got a
call that Kidus' uncle had taken the train into Addis Ababa from Debre
Zeit (about an hour, I believe, by car. Who knows how long it took on a
train). We went and met with him for a moment and asked that he wait for
us until we were done at the Embassy. Time was really starting to slip
away from us, and he graciously said he would wait.

Skip ahead to the Embassy appointment... Got there, everything went
perfect, and Gitachu will be picking up Kidus' passport and visa tomorrow
morning. We also met alot of other adoptive parents - all with itty bitty
babies. That was nice. I have attached a picture of Kidus after the
appointment. We tried to get him to hold the flags, but he kept wanting to
poke his eyes out. We like his eyes, so we opted for this instead. That
orange he is holding is his new favorite toy. I know, I am a bad mom for
letting him chew on an orange, but hey, I am in Africa and it makes him
happy. He can't bite it yet, but every once and awhile I get the
refreshing scent of orange zest. Kind of nice.

After the Embassy appointment, we dropped off the Hahns and went to meet
Kidus' biological uncle. We were able to sit with him in a little cafe and
hear all about Kidus' other family, his mother, his life, and his
background. We got it all on tape. Kidus' uncle was a caring, generous man
who we hope to see again when Kidus is older. There. Kept the emotion
right out of it. At some point, maybe I will be able to put into words
what that meeting meant to us, but I just can't yet.

By the way, Kidus is doing great. He has definitly started to bond with us
and is just a joy to be around. He also draws alot of attention since he
so cute... I am not going to lie. He LOVES the attention. I think he will
do wonderful in the U.S. :)

Okay, so this is our last post from Addis. Tomorrow we are going to try
and get to the Enetalem Orphanage (which means "mother of the world" for
those of you that have an interest.) Beth got lots of pictures and video
last time she was there and is pretty sure that she got all your kids on
tape. However, we would like to go back and get specific children to be
sure that we have the right ones and plenty of photos and videos. We know
how much those can mean !

Tomorrow we fly out at 3pm Eastern Standard Time (10pm here). And it looks
like both our families have bassinet seats. Pray that sticks! Also, the
flight is not supposed to be that full, so we are praying for a few extra
seats to stretch out.

Cori: James is freaking out about the bathtub comment. Could you please
give him some peace of mind? He is worried there is yet another thing for
him to fix.

See you all soon!

2 little monkeys sleeping in their beds...

Disclaimer: The following blog was written by the new proud papa.

Tuesday, September 4 (Happy 10 month birthday Kidus!)
We originally were informed that his birthday was November 1, 2006, but
yesterday we received his NEW BIRTH CERTIFICATE with us as his parents and
the birthdate was November 4, 2006. Hakuna Matata (Lion King - Look it
up!)
The day started out with little to no sleep for all of us. Thanks to
my son, we were up quite a bit during the night. Poor little guy had a
bad stomach ache and had trouble sleeping in his crib, but thankfully
Kidus found a much better spot for sleeping...on Mommy's tummy for a good
2-3 hours. I find that I have changed in ways that I never
thought I would. I noticed this the first night with Kidus. When I lay
down to sleep, I focus on his breathing and listen for it every time I
wake up, which is a lot as I am a light sleeper. I love when he reaches
for me and snuggles up to me. God has given us so much and we give him
all the glory for uniting us with Kidus.
After getting around in the morning and eating breakfast, I went to the
local supermarket to purchase some baby formula (Nan 2), and was very
impressed with the store. I went in by myself and spoke some Amharic and
found the formula. It was an adventure. My wife is sitting next to me
thinking that I suck at blogging because I'm taking so long, however she
just informed me that she appreciates my writing style. So there.
After it stopped raining, we went shopping with the Hahn's. Our family
purchased "traditional" outfits to hopefully wear at Kidus' dedication.
Our driver, Sammy, is very nice and helpful, but he doesn't say much.
He knows a little english and a lot of hand signals and head nods. Thank
goodness Deanna was there as she was a baracuda when it came to haggeling.
She was hanging in there with the best of them! Once she began to walk
out and take her business elsewhere, the price we wanted showed up. She
is amazing! Anyway, after a few hours of shopping, we came back to the
house and had a late lunch that included zucchini lasagna.

Writing on Wednesday Now.
Well, Tuesday night Alemu took us to the cultural restaruant with
dancing and singing. Deanna stayed home with Kidus because he was tired
(and so was she) and because it was going to be a late night. When we
left, it began to rain hard and then hail. The restaruant was very cool.
It was a buffet style with traditional dances and songs
throughout the night. There were also times when the dancers involved the
crowd in the dances. I myself was part of a dance. I took videos of all
the dances and took lots of pictures so Deanna could still be a part of
it. And speaking of Deanna, after we left, the house lost power so she
was reading by candle light for a couple of hours and of course couldn't
finish the blog.
Today, we visited two churches, Trinity Church and St.George (or Kidus
George). They were both very beautiful and had lots of interesting
historical items. This was Kidus' first time out and about with us and he
did great. He enjoyed seeing all the new faces and was very popular with
the locals. It was our intention to have him with us for all "safe"
outings, but he wasn't feeling very well so we decided to leave in the
care of the ladies of the house.

Thursday, we have the Embassy appointment and we hope to get back to
the Enetalem orphanage to get pictures of more children. (That is code.)

The pictures are of Taylor and Kidus performing their favorite
activity.

Ben: Thanks for the help. We tried everything and still no luck. We
will share more pics when we get home.

Thank you everyone for all your prayers and comments on the blog. We are
able to read them as they are emailed to us. We will try to blog more
before we leave on Friday evening, but no promises.

The Norris Clan

Just another day in Ethiopia

Well, we have spent another day in the very rainy, very beautiful country
of Ethiopia. Yesterday I mentioned that we went on a long trip to the
north. The countryside was so beautiful it is hard to even described. The
beauty contrasted with the poverty is startling. This a country of people
who are happy in spite of their poverty, but as an American (even as an
American who has been to Africa) it is hard to swallow. James and I found
ourselves looking at the children and thinking of our own son. If it had
not been for a wonderful biological family, Kidus could have very well
been one of those begging children.

James as primarily been in charge of the camera and he has been taking
some great pictures. I know, I am being a tease because I cannot share any
with you, but nonetheless, you will see them soon.

Today we visited two museums: The National Museum and a university Museum.
They were great... Unfortunatly we were only able to see a replica of
Lucy, because the real Lucy is in Chicago. Ah well, she probably didn't
even miss us.

Kidus had a cough last night. I gave him some Tylenol with cough, which
worked, but he still did not sleep as well as he did the night before. He
zonked out right as we were leaving, so we did decide to leave him with
the ladies here since we knew we would be back by lunch. We returned and
he was happy to see us. That was nice. James and I spent the afternoon
playing with Kidus, Taylor spent it in the Kitchen with the ladies who
work here talking music and learning some Amharic. It was a really nice
day. Tomorrow we will be going to Merkato, the largest open air market in
Africa then a traditional meal and dance tomorrow night.

We still have not resolved the memory card issue, but took this picture
for the blog of our fun afternoon.

Thanks for all your warm comments. Hope this keeps the wolves from
circling for another day :) We also pray that all is well with everyone at
home!

Well, we're here (and have been for two days!)

I know that so many of you have been checking this blog religiously and
have found nothing. Sorry! This has been a whirlwind few days. So, we have
good news and bad news: Good news... We have Kidus and he is wonderful
(more about him in a second). Bad news... I have not been able to figure
out how to get pictures on here (Ben and Joanna: If you are reading this,
please help. Alemu's computer will not recognize our memory card, only the
memory on the camera. And we have little of that. Did you have this
problem?)

As soon as I finished typing this, I thought of a way to get one picture
on here. I can use the computer's memory for one picture and hopefully Ben
and Joanna will have a solution for us so we can show you some more
pictures later. No pressure Ben and Joanna :)

So, as I sit here, this is what I am looking at... Isn't it a beautiful
thing?
(Cori - I am forwarding this to you, too. If it doesn't post, could you
add it into the blog for me?)

Where to begin? Like I mentioned, it has been a whirlwind. Once we got
into the Addis Ababa airport and out to meet Alemu (our contact in
Ethiopia) it was already 10am. We were told that if we wanted to get Kidus
that day, we would go get him at 2:30pm. In between that time we had a
coffee ceremony (More on that at another time) and lunch with another
adopting family who was departing that night. We rushed around and finally
made it to the orphanage where we met the very nice director. After a few
minutes of chit-chat they brought Kidus in to us. He is even more
beautiful than the picture. And so BIG!! I think he must weigh more than
19lbs, but we will see when we get home. The next part was expected by
us, but I don't think that we truly grasped the impact that it would have:
Kidus was brought into the room by his caregiver and as soon as he saw us,
it was obvious that he was frightened by us (probably the white faces). We
talk to him for a moment before holding him, but he clung to his caregiver
with all his might. We finally took him and it was heart wrenching. Such
mixed emotions. We were so happy to have him, yet so heart broken for him.
His bottom lip stuck out and he had such sadness in his eyes. We knew this
was the best for him, but like any parent knows, what is best is not
always easy. It was easy for us of course, we loved him already. But we
were strangers. Scary strangers.

Once we left the orphanage, he began to cling to me. I think that since I
was a female, I was a maybe a little less scary, but I don't know... I am
going to jump ahead a few hours. He ate and finally fell asleep after a
large dinner (this boy likes to eat!). We passed out from exhaustion
shortly after. This was 8am and he slept all the way through until 2am.
When he woke us, I don't even think he cried. James and I made him a
bottle, changed his diaper (twice) and then cuddled with him. He finally
smiled and started to really warm up to us. It was obvious this was a
turning point. He fell asleep and slept until 7am. Waking up to him
smiling and ready to be held by us was such a wonderful feeling. Of
course, his first laugh was aimed at his big sister, but I am sure he will
find us amusing after a while. For now, we really like being his go-to
people... Hunger, diaper, toy, cuddle. You name it, we got it :) And he is
such an easy-going baby. A "gentleman", as Alemu calls him.

Today we decided to leave him with the two women that stay at the guest
house because we would be traveling about four hours in the car with many
(at least twenty) stops along the way. One of these stops was a hike up a
mountain. This was tough to do, but in hindsight, it was definitely a good
idea. I was really worried that he would have forgotten all about us and
be scared when we returned. He wasn't. He seemed happy to see us! Yay! I
will tell more about our experiences later, but for now, I will tell you
that Ethiopia is an amazing country with so much to see and learn. The
rest of the week we are looking forward to experiencing Ethiopia with
Kidus. Tomorrow, we will be seeing two museums and learning so much more
about the Ethiopian culture.

The flight was wonderful (well, as wonderful as a 15 hour non-stop flight
can be), our hosts are wonderful, everyone (for the most part) we have met
has been wonderful, and the family we are traveling with is wonderful (The
Hahn family). This trip is a blessing. We cannot wait to have Kidus home
to meet you all and vice versa.

Okay, I have poured my heart out for now. I hope to post more later (with
pictures, I hope!)