Day 3 and 4

Day 3 (Monday)-
Breakfast at the guest house- I was very excited to eat breakfast and see my beautiful little girl again!!  Breakfast was good, but not my favorite. We had egg rolls. The egg rolls were VERY good, but I am not a huge fan of egg rolls for breakfast. The coffee was also amazing. Some of the families were getting sick. They had some kind of stomach bug. So some of the families were in bed all day. As soon as breakfast was over it was time to head over to the foster home!

Foster home- I loved hearing the nannies call her name....... her name is Mariamawit. The nannies would pronounce it "Maury-yama-wit". They would say it so fast, too. They made it sound beautiful! It was hard to call her Keira so we called her Mariamawit most of the time. Once again, Keira was amazing! The nannies would fix her hair. They slicked it back into a ponytail. It always made us laugh. I appreciated their effort in fixing her hair, but I loved to see her hair down. She has crazy yet beautiful hair!!! I finally decided to change her diaper. I was actually nervous!! I was afraid I would do it wrong or I would make her mad. It was so much fun changing her diaper and outfit. I never thought I would be excited about changing a diaper, but I was! She smiled the whole time. Again, this little girl is perfect! She enjoyed her bottle and fell asleep quickly!! It was a little harder to say goodbye at 12, but I knew we had two more hours in the afternoon!

Lunch at the guest house- Lunch was great!! They would make us a different pasta everyday. I would get excited about eating lunch each day. After lunch we decided to go to the Market. One of the other moms went with us as well. I thoroughly enjoyed the Market. Everyone was so kind! Before we knew it, it was time to return to the foster home. Even though I was not finished shopping, I was not about to miss my time with our sweet little girl!!!

Foster home-Another great afternoon with Keira! She never failed us. She constantly smiled, laughed, and loved on us. There were two more families in the room with us. It was very neat to see them getting to meet their daughter as well! Once again, she fell asleep in our arms. It was getting harder to share Keira. Matt would have her and then I wanted her right back!!! We could not get enough of her!!! We got to tour the foster home. After seeing the foster home, I had a lot of peace. The nannies really take care of the babies! All the babies were so sweet and precious!!

Keira's bed in the foster home.

Dinner at the guest house- The new family came for dinner. They were staying somewhere else, but would eat with us. It amazed me how close I felt with these other families. I felt like we were one big happy family! We would share stories and laugh together. There were 4 families. At this point, I knew it would be very hard to say goodbye to this experience. 

Day 4 (Tuesday)-
Breakfast at the guest house- We had wonderful pancakes for breakfast. They were delicious! It was an exciting day for many reasons......
1) It's our court date at 1:30pm
2) We get to see Keira
3) It's Christmas!!!!

Foster Home- Today was very special.We changed Keira into a Christmas outfit. She is so beautiful! She could wear ANYTHING and be beautiful!!! I remember holding her knowing that in a few hours she would be legally mine FOREVER. I held her very tight and kissed her sweet face. Our sweet driver gave all of us a Christmas present. I got a beautiful scarf, Matt got an awesome wallet, and Keira got a wristband that she LOVED!! The driver was an awesome person. He also made this whole experience wonderful for us. He was so kind and would do anything to make us happy. I am so grateful to have met him! I also talked to one of the ladies who help manage the foster homes. She talked about my daughter's biological mother. She told me that she met her once. She told me she was VERY young, tiny, and beautiful! It was nice talking about Kiera's biological mother. I just wish I knew more.........Of course, the two hours flew by...... We had to leave a little early because of court. They wanted us to hurry and eat lunch so we would be ready for court! We kissed Keira goodbye and jumped in the car. I got emotional that day. I knew that tomorrow would be the last day I would see her and we were about to go to court. My emotions were everywhere.

All the beautiful moms!

Lunch- We ate lunch which was great! My stomach was starting to hurt A LOT. I thought maybe I got the stomach bug that the other families caught. Matt kept telling me that it was probably my nerves. I was so nervous about court. (((What if we didnt pass?!?!))) Before I knew it, it was time to head to court........


Court- There was another family with us who also had court. When we arrived, we were all very nervous!! We sat in the waiting room. We didn't wait long, but it felt like hours!!  I was so thankful to have had that other wonderful couple with us. It definitely made it easier. Then, it was our turn. We walked in the judge's room and there she was........I felt so vulnerable. Then the judged asked us very simple questions....before we knew it.....SHE WAS OURS FOREVER!!!! It happened so fast. I started crying because I was so happy!!!!!!! I couldn't believe she was our little girl forever! It was over and now it was time to see our beautiful little girl!

Foster home/Christmas Celebration- When the nannies brought her down. It felt amazing. They were carrying MY little girl. Matt and I hugged and kissed her a thousand times!!! I have so much love for this little girl!!! She is 100% my daughter!!!  The foster home had something special for us. We had the most beautiful coffee ceremony AND Christmas celebration! Everyone was a part of it. They had a cake, bread, cokes, and popped soy beans prepared for us. They brought the toddlers and kids into the little room and had them all sit down. They turned on a music video and encouraged the children to get up and dance. The kids would dance and smile. It was fun!!!! I was overwhelmed with emotions. I did not want that moment to end. Keira was so sweet. She loved everything that was happening around us! After everyone ate, we went outside with the kids. The children were so sweet and appreciative of everything. They thought it was so much fun getting in and out of one of the cars that was parked in the courtyard. They also had fun kicking a ball around. That day was AMAZING. It was the best Christmas EVER.

They had this cake made just for us!

Matt cutting the cake

Coffee ceremony-Ethiopian tradition.

Snacks they prepared for us

Drinking the coffee-It was great!!!

Dinner at the guest house- Dinner was great as always. I was very tired after this day. It was a great but emotional day. My Christmas could not have been any better. God is so good. God truly made this day magical!