Day 16 Saturday
When we reached Washington Dulles airport I tried to hurry off the plane to try to get on the waitlist quickly for an earlier flight to Indianapolis. The plane landed at 8am and our flight to Indy was at 10pm…. That's right a 14 hour layover. The 2 earlier flights were full. We were first through immigration but I forgot that we were the first to check in in Ethiopia so our luggage was one of the last to come off the plane . When we finally got to the ticket counter we were 9th on the waitlist……4 people made it onto the flight but we waited anyway hoping by some small miracle we could avoid the long wait. We were rolled over to 5pm flight waitlist but the lady at the counter said to not count on making that flight either because it was overbooked. So I had to come to terms with the fact that I would have to find something to do at the airport for 14 hours. From being dropped at the airport in Ethiopia to arriving home will be more than 40 hours of travel. I was CRAVING American food so we fit the Wendy’s at the airport and I savored every bite of my frosty and french fries but hd to save my sandwich for later. Sefan enjoyed the french fries but didn’t really like the frosty of chicken nuggets. An hour after we didn’t make the noon flight I started to freak…we had walked every hallway, taken every shuttle and I couldn’t imagine doing it for another 7 hours. Luckily my hubby called to tell me that there was a bus that came to the airport every hour to take people to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum….for only a dollar!!! Admission to the museum itself was free also!!! So I worked to pack our carry ons into one bag and we waited for the bus outside the airport…..it was a few minutes late so I almost thought T was pulling my leg or read wrong…..really a dollar to go the museum?? But it pulled up next to the care rental shuttles and we loaded with several other people. At the Air and Space museum our bags were searched and we had to spit out the gum…but for real no admission fees!!
The museum was pretty fabulous but I wish the boys had been there to see it, they would have loved it. Sifan was exhausted and not very cooperative. She was refusing to sit in the stroller and I couldn’t carry her the entire way so we spent some tantrum time in the bathroom because she refused to walk or sit in the stroller. Finally she decided to stay in the stroller. One of the security guards stopped me to ask what country Sefan was from. He was from Sudan. We had a good conversation and I was thankful that he better understood adoption than the guards at the airport. After about 2 hours we perused the gift shop together and she talked me into one of those light swirling toys that you have to keep away from people with epilepsy. When we went out to wait for the bus Sefan fell asleep in my arms…..I wanted to go back into the museum to take in more but it wasn’t worth the hassle of having the bags searched and possibly waking her. Thankfully a young man helped me to load my stroller and carryons while I carried Sefan to our seats. He also helped me off and waited while I got Sefan situated and my carryons loaded on my back. I wheeled Sefan back into the security check line completely passed out. This time through the person checking our boarding passes and airline tickets decided to get picky with the fact that Sifan’s name was spelled Sefan instead of Sifan. After a few minutes he let me pass thankfully. I had to take Sefan’s shoes off, pick her up and fold up her stroller to pass through the security scanner. Thankfully someone else in line helped me get everything situated. Then we loaded everything back and Sefan continued to sleep. I left her shoes off because they smelled so bad. She refused to wear socks with her tennis shoes so her feet really needed to air out! I walked around with her asleep for an hour then headed to our gate. I typed up my day 13 blog post and realized I still had 4 hours before we would board the airplane. With almost no sleep in 40+ hours I couldn’t stay awake. I wheeled us to our gate near where some airport employees sat chatting parked Sifan facing toward me and passed out on the bench. I woke up an hour later and felt like I could make it the rest of the journey. A man from Ethiopia working at the airport sitting by us wanted to talk adoption……I was still really tired and a bit sick of explaining adoption to people at that point that I didn’t go into much detail with my answers this time….. especially the one about why couldn’t I have my “own” girls…..oy….I just said I adopted my own….then rolled over and curled back up on my bench to rest again. Sefan slept through it all. She ddn’t wake until 1 hour before the plane ride…..I was going to the bathroom and there was some time of rush and the chorus of toilets flushing woke her. We grabbed some dinner at Subway and waited at our gate. Sefan curled up on my lap and fell asleep again. When we went to board I was thankful that a young lady helped us on the airplane by pushing our stroller and carryons to our seat while I carried sleeping Sefan. I sat Sefan beside me and buckled her seat belt, happy she was asleep so she wouldn’t scream the entire flight. After the seat belt light went off I sat her on my lap and fell aleep myself until we were about to land. Seeing the lights of Indianapolis brought tears to my eyes. I was almost home….almost in the arms of my husband that I missed so much….almost the end of this long crazy journey. Sefan woke just as we were coming off the plane and she didn’t want to go into the stroller again….so I tried to carry here and push the stroller full of carryons for the long walk but it was just too heavy. We were so close!!! We took a few minutes and I tried to put her in the stroller again, thankfully she finally sat down and I pushed her to finally meet her daddy. I melted in my husband’s arms before introducing our new daughter……being away so long makes you realize even more how much you love someone. Sefan was shy and sat quietly in her stroller. I picker her up and showed her to daddy….she wouldn’t go to him but smiled. Noah was there too and gushed about how pretty she was. Carter and Wuby stayed at grandma’s house because it was midnight before our plane landed and we wanted them to be happy when they first met their sister. I pointed to Sefan’s pictures we had in Ethiopia and then to Daddy and Noah to make it clear that these are the people in the photos she has cherished these last 2 weeks. She was still a bit leery but slowly warmed up. She wouldn’t let anyone but mommy pick her up but she started to play hide and seek with Noah after awhile. We walked together to the car and she let me buckle her without much fussing (THANK GOODNESS). Noah sat with her in the back seat and played with her. The 2 ½ hour drive home went fairly well….Noah was a HUGE blessing as he kept her busy and happy almot the entire trip. He really is a FABULOUS big brother. They formed a very special bond in those first hours….he is her favorite sibling now.
When we got home Noah and daddy played bunna (coffee ceremony) with Sifan and showed her her room and clothes….she kept saying konjo (pretty) to everything. She was so excit3d and daddy and noah were super excited too. We played until 3 am then Sefan crawled into bed with me and fell asleep quickly.
We were finally HOME!!!!
When we reached Washington Dulles airport I tried to hurry off the plane to try to get on the waitlist quickly for an earlier flight to Indianapolis. The plane landed at 8am and our flight to Indy was at 10pm…. That's right a 14 hour layover. The 2 earlier flights were full. We were first through immigration but I forgot that we were the first to check in in Ethiopia so our luggage was one of the last to come off the plane . When we finally got to the ticket counter we were 9th on the waitlist……4 people made it onto the flight but we waited anyway hoping by some small miracle we could avoid the long wait. We were rolled over to 5pm flight waitlist but the lady at the counter said to not count on making that flight either because it was overbooked. So I had to come to terms with the fact that I would have to find something to do at the airport for 14 hours. From being dropped at the airport in Ethiopia to arriving home will be more than 40 hours of travel. I was CRAVING American food so we fit the Wendy’s at the airport and I savored every bite of my frosty and french fries but hd to save my sandwich for later. Sefan enjoyed the french fries but didn’t really like the frosty of chicken nuggets. An hour after we didn’t make the noon flight I started to freak…we had walked every hallway, taken every shuttle and I couldn’t imagine doing it for another 7 hours. Luckily my hubby called to tell me that there was a bus that came to the airport every hour to take people to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum….for only a dollar!!! Admission to the museum itself was free also!!! So I worked to pack our carry ons into one bag and we waited for the bus outside the airport…..it was a few minutes late so I almost thought T was pulling my leg or read wrong…..really a dollar to go the museum?? But it pulled up next to the care rental shuttles and we loaded with several other people. At the Air and Space museum our bags were searched and we had to spit out the gum…but for real no admission fees!!
The museum was pretty fabulous but I wish the boys had been there to see it, they would have loved it. Sifan was exhausted and not very cooperative. She was refusing to sit in the stroller and I couldn’t carry her the entire way so we spent some tantrum time in the bathroom because she refused to walk or sit in the stroller. Finally she decided to stay in the stroller. One of the security guards stopped me to ask what country Sefan was from. He was from Sudan. We had a good conversation and I was thankful that he better understood adoption than the guards at the airport. After about 2 hours we perused the gift shop together and she talked me into one of those light swirling toys that you have to keep away from people with epilepsy. When we went out to wait for the bus Sefan fell asleep in my arms…..I wanted to go back into the museum to take in more but it wasn’t worth the hassle of having the bags searched and possibly waking her. Thankfully a young man helped me to load my stroller and carryons while I carried Sefan to our seats. He also helped me off and waited while I got Sefan situated and my carryons loaded on my back. I wheeled Sefan back into the security check line completely passed out. This time through the person checking our boarding passes and airline tickets decided to get picky with the fact that Sifan’s name was spelled Sefan instead of Sifan. After a few minutes he let me pass thankfully. I had to take Sefan’s shoes off, pick her up and fold up her stroller to pass through the security scanner. Thankfully someone else in line helped me get everything situated. Then we loaded everything back and Sefan continued to sleep. I left her shoes off because they smelled so bad. She refused to wear socks with her tennis shoes so her feet really needed to air out! I walked around with her asleep for an hour then headed to our gate. I typed up my day 13 blog post and realized I still had 4 hours before we would board the airplane. With almost no sleep in 40+ hours I couldn’t stay awake. I wheeled us to our gate near where some airport employees sat chatting parked Sifan facing toward me and passed out on the bench. I woke up an hour later and felt like I could make it the rest of the journey. A man from Ethiopia working at the airport sitting by us wanted to talk adoption……I was still really tired and a bit sick of explaining adoption to people at that point that I didn’t go into much detail with my answers this time….. especially the one about why couldn’t I have my “own” girls…..oy….I just said I adopted my own….then rolled over and curled back up on my bench to rest again. Sefan slept through it all. She ddn’t wake until 1 hour before the plane ride…..I was going to the bathroom and there was some time of rush and the chorus of toilets flushing woke her. We grabbed some dinner at Subway and waited at our gate. Sefan curled up on my lap and fell asleep again. When we went to board I was thankful that a young lady helped us on the airplane by pushing our stroller and carryons to our seat while I carried sleeping Sefan. I sat Sefan beside me and buckled her seat belt, happy she was asleep so she wouldn’t scream the entire flight. After the seat belt light went off I sat her on my lap and fell aleep myself until we were about to land. Seeing the lights of Indianapolis brought tears to my eyes. I was almost home….almost in the arms of my husband that I missed so much….almost the end of this long crazy journey. Sefan woke just as we were coming off the plane and she didn’t want to go into the stroller again….so I tried to carry here and push the stroller full of carryons for the long walk but it was just too heavy. We were so close!!! We took a few minutes and I tried to put her in the stroller again, thankfully she finally sat down and I pushed her to finally meet her daddy. I melted in my husband’s arms before introducing our new daughter……being away so long makes you realize even more how much you love someone. Sefan was shy and sat quietly in her stroller. I picker her up and showed her to daddy….she wouldn’t go to him but smiled. Noah was there too and gushed about how pretty she was. Carter and Wuby stayed at grandma’s house because it was midnight before our plane landed and we wanted them to be happy when they first met their sister. I pointed to Sefan’s pictures we had in Ethiopia and then to Daddy and Noah to make it clear that these are the people in the photos she has cherished these last 2 weeks. She was still a bit leery but slowly warmed up. She wouldn’t let anyone but mommy pick her up but she started to play hide and seek with Noah after awhile. We walked together to the car and she let me buckle her without much fussing (THANK GOODNESS). Noah sat with her in the back seat and played with her. The 2 ½ hour drive home went fairly well….Noah was a HUGE blessing as he kept her busy and happy almot the entire trip. He really is a FABULOUS big brother. They formed a very special bond in those first hours….he is her favorite sibling now.
When we got home Noah and daddy played bunna (coffee ceremony) with Sifan and showed her her room and clothes….she kept saying konjo (pretty) to everything. She was so excit3d and daddy and noah were super excited too. We played until 3 am then Sefan crawled into bed with me and fell asleep quickly.
We were finally HOME!!!!
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