ethiopia {meeting evangeline}

We left for Ethiopia on Friday, March 1st. Our friends, the Tuckers, took us to the airport. Here we go with all of our luggage!

 

Waiting at our gate at D/FW about to board our first plane.

We had an overnight layover in Dubai on the way there. This is proof that we were in Dubai. :-)

On Sunday, March 3rd we boarded a 4 hour flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. And then, after 3+ years of waiting, we were there!!! It was very surreal.

Ethiopia is a beautiful country. This is the view from our guest house.

We had no power the first couple nights we were there and so we met Evie without having showered that morning. NOT exactly what I had imagined but we didn't care! :-)

We woke up on Monday, March 4th knowing that today was THE DAY. The day we were going to meet our daughter for the first time. We were SO EXCITED!!! Our wonderful driver and now friend, Yoftahe, picked us up with one of the Gladney social workers, Rosa, and we drove the 10 mins to Hilawe Children's Home where our sweet girl now lives. It is the tall beige building with orange-ish trim.

I was so impressed with the facility. It is beautiful and clean and everyone that works there is so sweet and friendly. They take very good care of the children there.

We waited in the foyer for a few minutes while they got our girl ready for us. It felt so good when they said "Meaza's family is here". :-) We were delighted to hear them affectionately call her "Mazi" as a nickname. It stuck and we were calling her that too.

We kept looking up the stairs anxiously waiting.

And then they told us we could come up. Her room was on the third floor in the corner. When we walked in, one of her nannies was holding her in her lap. THERE SHE WAS. It was the most amazing feeling...almost an out of body experience. We captured all of this on video and I remember I just kept saying how BEAUTIFUL and TINY she was! I asked if I could hold her...this is my first moment holding my daughter...

 

And then I had to let Jason have a turn!

She was so sweet and just kept looking up at his face and his beard.

I can honestly say it was love at first sight. She was just so AMAZING.

Then they told us they had a private room for us to spend some time with her so we carried her downstairs and just couldn't quit staring at her!

Elijah's first time holding his sister.

Our first partial family photo. We told her all about her other brother, Judah!

She was starting to get a little overwhelmed with all the new faces...

so we tried the little toy that we brought her.

And then we sat her down to see if she wanted a little space. That face...oh my word.

 After a few minutes of this she started wailing so Daddy picked her up to calm her down. I know all of this had to be so overwhelming and scary for her. Over all, she did so wonderfully.

I just love my baby girl!

She loved her Daddy. Just look at those eyes. Jason is already wrapped around that tiny little finger right there.

We tried holding her up in the air to play and got some tiny little smiles.

Elijah was SO PROUD! He is in love with her!

A nanny brought some milk in for us to feed her. She is a big girl and already drinking from a cup. She gulped it down!

 I just love the milk running down her chin!

I think the milk did it. After that she started to slowly come alive and show us a little bit of her adorable personality, toward the end of our visit.

Oh yes, there's that beautiful smile! We had no idea she had four teeth until we got there. That was a sweet surprise! I love baby teeth!

Evangeline/Evie/Meaza/Mazi/Baby Girl - You are so loved that you already have a plethora of names that we call you. Our first visit with you was everything we had dreamed it would be and more. You are adorable and beautiful and sweet and happy and amazingly wonderful. We feel beyond blessed to be your family. You are beyond anything we could have imagined or dreamed and we are so honored to have you. We will always remember March 4, 2013. The day our dream became a reality and we held you in our arms for the first time and kissed you and told you that we love you. We cannot WAIT to have you home! We love you all the way to the moon and back!

p.s. I am going to go back through some of my old posts (referral, monthly updates, etc) and add the pictures of her that I couldn't then because she wasn't legally ours. You are welcome to go back through and look at them!

Introducing...

Our daughter...

Evangeline Meaza Cox

Evangeline - "bringer of good news"

Meaza (mah ah zuh) - "fragrant aroma"

"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved Evangeline Meaza and gave Himself up for her, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma."
~Ephesians 5:1-2

 

We passed court, we are home and we are so in love with her. More later.

two days

 we leave for ethiopia in TWO DAYS!!!!

we are meeting evie in FIVE DAYS!!!!

she will, God-willing, be legally ours in SIX DAYS!!!!

get ready for pictures of her sweet face after that!!!!

as you can tell, i've been doing a lot of packing this week. i am working tomorrow and so today is pretty much my last day to get all of the major packing done. i am nervous and excited and anxious and just ready to go. one whole suitcase is full of donations for evie's orphanage. we'll use this suitcase to fill with souvenirs on the way back.

i've been very emotional this week. satan has tried every trick in the book to scare me away. i know he doesn't want this adoption to happen. he has planted doubts and fears in my mind all week long. spiritual warfare is so real when you are following God. it has been a hard week but did i expect any less? why wouldn't the devil fight to keep an orphan all alone and without hope? i have had to rebuke him constantly all week long and press into the peace of God. it has been a battle.

i probably won't be updating the blog again until we get back from our trip. if we have decent internet access i will try to at least post a picture of her if we pass court. we would love prayers. prayer requests: safe travel, good health, restful sleep, PEACE, evie's heart, great visits with her, our hearts as we leave her and judah's heart as he is away from us this week.

we can't wait to meet our girl....HERE WE GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

breathe, this is really happening

we are leaving for ethiopia in less than two weeks. i can't even believe i just typed that sentence. that is a sentence i have literally been waiting YEARS to type.

i have seen so many families, on blogs and facebook, take their trips to ethiopia and bring their children home. i went from thinking early on "that'll be us soon" to "that's never going to happen to us" to "oh my goodness, this is happening to us!". the fact that it is finally almost "our turn" is just too much for my heart and brain to handle right now. it is so so surreal and wonderful.

we will meet and touch and hold and hug and kiss our daughter two weeks from tomorrow. that hasn't fully sunk in yet. i know it's about to happen but i am still instinctively protecting my heart. on march 5th when she is legally declared ours and us hers, i feel like all the walls will come tumbling down.

i feel emotionally raw and vulnerable right now. i want to remain that way on our trip because i want God to use this trip to change me. i want Him to open my eyes to things i've never "seen", i want Him to use me and i want to feel divinely ruined when we get home. all of the things i "know" about poverty are going to come crashing down on me in ethiopia like never before. the word "orphan" is going to have hundreds of faces and names to go with it. it's not just a faraway concept anymore but a reality. i want to face it head on with my heart wide open and then come home and do something about it. whatever He wants me to do. whatever will bring Him the most glory.

the next two weeks are going to fly by. we are making arrangements, packing, 2 days of adoption training, work, kids school and all my other normal activities. 

i would covet your prayers. i would be lying if i said i wasn't afraid. i am facing a lot of fears. this is what we have wanted for so long yet some doubts are starting to creep in. what if we get sick over there, what if i feel afraid on the plane, what if i don't sleep well, what if judah has a hard time or gets sick/hurt while we're gone, what if she cries the whole time i hold her and doesn't like me? ugh. after all this and i STILL don't trust God? i don't want to let the devil steal my joy. i want nothing but joy from here on. this journey is coming to the end. we are about to meet our daughter and then a few weeks later...BRING HER HOME. amazing.

thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement. it means the world to me. we could not have made it this far on our journey without the support of our family of believers. for the next couple of months my mantra will be "whom shall i fear? i know Who goes before me, i know Who stands behind. the God of angel armies is always by my side. the One who reigns forever, He is a friend of mine. the God of angel armies is always by my side. nothing formed against me shall stand. You hold the whole world in your hands. i'm holding on to Your promises. You are faithful, You are faithful."

love letters and COURT DATE

we don't make a huge deal about valentines day around here. a small treat for the boys, a small treat between jason and i. like he brought home a huge reese's peanut butter heart & a vanilla coke for me. he knows me well! but we do make a big deal about love, and that's why i wanted to take a few minutes to write love letters to those i love the most.

elijah, i love you. you made me a mother and i couldn't be more proud of you. you have such a big heart, you care about others and take good care of your little brother. you feel deeply and in turn, have compassion on others. you are serious yet silly and you think about things a long time before you'll jump in. you and i are so much alike in so many ways. you are laid back and happy and wonderful. thank you for being such an amazing son - i love you!

judah, i love you. you couldn't be more different than your brother but i love you for it! you are loud and wild and crazy and love to have fun! you say the funniest things and are always making me laugh! you are sensitive and easily offended but quick to forgive. i love the energy and laughter you've brought to the house. you adore your big brother and are a very loyal friend. you are a perfectionist through and through. i am so proud of you and who are you - i love you.

evangeline meaza, i love you. we don't know you or your personality yet but we already know that we love you to pieces. you are beautiful and sweet and so wanted. you have already brought so much joy and completeness to our family without having done anything. we cannot wait to bring you home, hug you, kiss you and play with you. we are coming for you so so soon. i am so proud to have you as my daughter - i love you.

jason, i love you. you are my rock. you hold me together when i'm falling apart (which seems to be the case a lot these past few years :-). things haven't always been easy, we have been through some tough times together but you always stick by me. i am proud to have you as my husband. thank you for making me laugh, for standing by me, for defending me and for loving me always. i'm so glad we're in this together - i love you.

oh yeah, and we got a little thing called a POSITIVE OPINION and a COURT DATE today. no big deal, we're just leaving in two weeks and meeting our daughter on MARCH 4th with a court date of MARCH 5th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we are thrilled and excited and anxious and excited!!!!! praising God for this amazing belated valentines gift today!!!!!

i am thankful

 I am struggling as we wait on a court date. I decided I need to write out what I'm thankful for so I can stop dwelling on the negative.

1. WE HAVE A REFERRAL. My goodness, I know there are people STILL waiting for one that have now passed how long we waited. I can't even imagine.

2. She's beautiful, amazing and perfect. More than we ever hoped for or imagined.

3. Judah is constantly talking to me, wanting to play with me, wanting to help me. At times, it drives me batty, but I'm thankful that he loves me. I want to enjoy him as much as I can before Evie comes home and he starts kindergarten.

4. Jason is a rock. Internally, he is probably as nutty as I am but he sure does a great job of keeping it together for me.

5. Elijah is turning into a young man right before my eyes. I am so proud of the sensitive, compassionate, caring boy that he is.

6. My mother-in-law and I got to attend an adoption Mothers-to-Be tea on Saturday. It was nice to be honored and I enjoyed being with her.

7. We took my in-laws to an Ethiopian restaurant on Saturday night. The food was amazing. Just being around Ethiopians and the food made me feel closer to our baby girl.

8. God is good. It is hard to say that right now but I know it's true. He is stretching and growing me every single day on this journey. I pray I come out on the other side looking more like Him.

9. With the delay, it seems my mom will be back from Romania in time to be here when we bring Evie home. I am thankful for that.

10. New babies. There is something about a new baby that just represents hope and a fresh start. I was so happy to celebrate with my sweet friend Ashley on the birth of her baby boy Spencer last week.

9 months old

Happy 9 month birthday baby girl!!!

It's been a rough week. We thought we would have already traveled to meet you and make us officially yours, but that hasn't happened yet. We found out courts are closed until Feb 25th meaning it will be after that before we get to snuggle you for the first time. We were sad when we found this out. We are trusting in God's plan and timing and look forward to that day with great anticipation. We love you so much!!!

"From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him." Isaiah 64:4