Elijah is home! The trip went well overall. LONG FLIGHT! We got there Monday night (July 19) late and met Elijah first thing the next morning. He was with us from then on. Wow! It seemed like this long awaited journey finally came to the moment we'd been waiting for. We prepared for the worst...screaming, scared, running away, confusion. John walked in his room and he ran to him and gave him a hug. His caregiver coached him and he began calling us Mommy and Daddy right away. He was excited to leave with us, and got upset when he felt we were going to leave without him. We prayed for his little heart to be prepared to meet us and know us, and it was as if he immediately did. He was holding the bear and album we had mailed him a few months ago and really seemed to comprehend we were the family in the pictures, the family that God had chosen for him. The week in Ethiopia was pretty good. We found out quickly that he was potty trained and loved food! yay! He began repeating English within the hour he was with us. The director and his wife told us that he was their favorite little boy and he was very sociable. They were right about the sociable part. We'd spend nights at the guest house in the other couples' rooms and he was the show. :) hmmm.... sounds like another little boy we know. The flight home went pretty smooth as well. He cried twice because he was sleepy, but fell asleep within 5-10 minutes.
Finally, we arrived home to Springfield at 5:00 Tuesday evening (26th). When we got in the car, he began crying because he was pretty freaked out about the carseat. yeah, no carseats in Ethiopia. It didn't last long. The first thing we did was....go through Dairy Queen drive through. Awww... a cheeseburger never tasted so good. Elijah loved the chicken strips and gravy. We missed Manning dearly so we asked Ginger to bring him home that night. They arrived after Elijah was asleep. It was so good to see his little smile and know he was ok. Grandparents are awesome. He wanted to see Elijah, so we let him take a flashlight in his room to look at him while he was sleeping.
The next morning Manning woke up first and when Elijah woke up they just kind of stared at each other. And, here's where the adjusting began. Let's just say it's been a tough 3 weeks. Not sure we could've fully comprehended what it meant to have a 2 year old and a 3 year old all of a sudden before we actually had a 2 year old and a 3 year old. Each week has been better. Lots of fighting over the same toy, whining, chasing, throwing, biting, and timeouts has been the story for the last few weeks. We are confident that soon they will learn that being friends is much easier.
We are happy Elijah's home. We are thankful for all of your prayers. He truly has a sweet spirit and we can already see ways that he fits the mold of our family so well.