10 Days

The day we met

We've been home ten days. In some ways, it feels like the longest ten days of my life, and in another small way it feels like we were just in Ethiopia. I had terrible jetlag (as usual) after our trip home and was mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted. A week ago, I really didn't know how I was going to make it. Even after nine trips to parts of Africa, I am still profoundly impacted by the injustice of poverty and a few things hit me very hard this time, that I did not even realize until we got home. I also had a realization: Three kids under 4?? Are we crazy!? I also was not sleeping well--up every hour at night, which felt overwhelming and made me panicky. But, I sought help from lots of sources, and low and behold, I am feeling SO much better now. Not 100%, but I'll get there.

Bereket has transitioned well so far. She is sleeping and eating well and loves her brothers (and her brothers, especially Ashen, are smitten by her). She is a very delightful baby and her smile lights up the room. We are still in the thick of transition, and haven't gotten a new rhythm yet as a family of five. Mark had the week off, which was wonderful, and it felt incredibly good to get out and do *normal* things like going to the park and the beach. We've also had lots of visits and help from family which we really feel like we couldn't have done without. If there is one thing I could re-do, it would be to plan ahead for our transition home. We were so focused on getting to Ethiopia and preparing for our boys' time without us, that we completely overlooked what we might need upon re-entry. Fortunately(!!), our families rose to the occassion, but there was a lot of unnecessary stress involved.

I haven't decided if I'm going to blog about the trip. I should, but it feels overwhelming. I hope to be able to share an incredible slideshow of photos that one of our travelmates put together. We had the perfect travel group and miss them all so much. Fortunately several of them live in our region, so we hope to be able to see them semi-regularly and already hope to have a reunion with the others.

Mark heads back to work tomorrow, but thankfully my Dad has stepped up and is spending most of the week with me. I'm so lucky. I am fearing daily life with three, but I know we'll be okay, but it may just be hard for awhile. Any of you with three kiddos, please send me a word of advice or encouragement, I need it!

Today, I'm thinking of my good friend, Cami, who is in Ethiopia, bringing her sweet girl home. Her family lives near us and we are so thankful that our daughters will have one another as they grow older. We got to meet and hold her sweet Etta while we were in Ethiopia and it was such a joy to hear this week that Cami finally has her in her arms.