Everyone needs a little vitamin D

I love this picture!! It is a picture of the babies at the CHSFS care center where our little one is (or will be) living before we pick them up. Each day the nannies take the infants outside to sunbathe for 10 minutes to get the vitamin D they need to stay healthy. This picture means so much to me as it represents the love and care that the nannies give each baby. There is one nanny for every two infants at the care center, and according to all of the parents who have traveled to Ethiopia to pick up their babies, all the kids are very well loved. The care center can accomodate up to 100 children at once. The sooner the babies can be picked up by their parents-to-be, the sooner new babies can be brought to the care center and so the cycle continues.

The children (ranging from newborn to 10 years old or so) come mostly from the southern part of Ethiopia (Addis is in the center of the country), where they are brought to CHSFS's drop off center. Most kids are brought by a relative; newborns are sometimes abandoned in fields or side streets and brought by someone who finds them. They are all cared for at the Hossana drop-off center until there is space in the Addis Ababa care center. The children all receive medical attention and a full battery of tests and are actually quarantined for 2 weeks to ensure they don't have any contagious illnesses before they can be integrated into the nursery at the care center.

One of the reasons we chose the CHSFS Ethiopia program is because the kids are so loved and well taken care of. Unlike some other countries, we dont' have to worry so much about our child having long-term repercussions from 'institutional living.' We've been doing a lot of reading about the emotions that adoptees face, as they struggle with the loss of of their birth family. We will strive to be open with our child about this loss so that they won't feel ashamed. We already feel so blessed by the care we know our child is/will receive and all the resources we have to help us with any issues that might come our way. We know parenting is a challenge, but we can't wait!

We know someday our little guy/girl (both?) will read this in their baby book...and we just want to say, we love you so much already, and we don't even know you. We pray for you all the time and are grateful for the awesome care you're going to receive before we pick you up. We can't wait to be your parents and promise to love you with all we've got!