Ethiopia

Well I had great intentions to blog while in Ethiopia...However, dial up internet quickly changed my mind! I did journal though, so someday I will be able to tell Zemma all about it!

The experience of being in Addis Ababa was life changing. The culture is rich, the people are amazing, the land is beautiful, the poverty was eye opening, and the food.....well.....

I hope to write later about more of the experience but for now, I will start with the day we first met and brought our daughter home.

We arrived in Addis on Friday night. We were of course exhausted, but estactic to be there. Unfortunately we had to wait until the next morning to get Zemma, and it was only our pure exhaustion that allowed us to sleep.

The orphanage was only a few minutes away from our guesthouse, but seemed like forever when we left Saturday morning. As we pulled up at the orphanage gates, I remember feeling like we were walking through a dream. I had butterflies in my stomach, and felt like I was going to jump out of my skin from excitement.

As we pulled through the gates there were children all around. The driver pulled forward, and I looked out the window of the van. Outside there were three or so children running along side of us. One of the faces looking up at us was the sweet face of our Zemma. Her smile stretched from ear to ear, and as I made eye contact with my daughter for the very first time I was overcome with emotion. She was so beautiful, so full of life, so...right there!

We had to wait a few minutes before we were able to get out and actually meet her. When we did, they brought us into a little room and we waited for her nanny to bring her in to us. The moment of actually meeting her was mostly what I expected. She didn't jump into our arms or run to us yelling "Mama, Daddy". She was quiet, and made little eye contact. I cried, and was unsure how much contact was appropriate. We held her though, and whispered in her ear how much we loved her. Then they sent us off on our way with this child that barely knew who we were.

As you can see from these pictures though, it didn't take long for this smiley little girl to warm up to us. By the end of the night Zemma was all smiles, and even gave a night night kiss before bed!

More Zemma Pictures

We finally got ink for our printer, so I was able to print, and then scan some more pics of Zemma. I know most of you will see her in a few weeks anyways, but posting pictures are just an excuse for me to look at them some more :)

Picking a Middle Name

Luke and I have been discussing for some time now what Zemma's middle name should be. Now that we are 4 days away from travel we decided it was time to nail one down. To be quite honest, if I was a fair woman I would let Luke have complete power in the ultimate decision, because after all it was promised to him after Madelynn was born and I got to choose her name. However, I have a hard time giving the reigns over to Luke in those kind of permanent decisions...remember, he is the man who wore stonewashed 1980's tapered Tommy jeans for his entire college career (and would still be wearing them to this day...only if he were a few pounds lighter...bummer, huh?).
So, to choose the name we ended up prayerfully considering all of our options...Okay, we actually drew from a hat. Here were our choices:

1. Zemma Rose: My favorite by sound, and Rose actually means "gift from God" which I find appropriate. Luke, however did not really like this one.
2. Zemma Caroline: This one was in honor of my mom, and if you ask me will stay her "honorary middle name." My mom has been an amazing strength and support through this journey of ups and downs. She has cried with me, prayed with me, and shown me more love- during especially the hard times than I ever could have asked for. To have a mom who literally physically hurts for her hurting children is something that I can't even put into words. I am so thankful for her, and our relationship. Mom, I love you. Thank you for your love for me.
*and sorry, Mom that this isn't your new granddaughters middle name...your son-in-law didn't like the way it sounded...:) He loves you too though.
3. Zemma Noel: This was Lukes favorite by sound, and also means "gift," but wasn't my favorite.
4. Zemma Leigh: Both of our favorite by sound...However nothing really significant in the meaning.
Anyway, according to the hat Zemma's middle name shall be.....Leigh.
So, there you have it. Zemma Leigh Brosius. Pretty, huh? :)

One Week From Now...

It is hard to believe in just 7 days Luke and I will be holding our baby girl. We got the call yesterday saying that our embassy date has been scheduled for May 25, and that we need to get there on or around the 20th! Thats ONE week to prepare, pack, arrange tickets, hotels, donations, and funds! SO exciting! So....now that we have our invitation to travel, I thought I would post a few pics of our Zemma. Unfortunately, the pics that we have are not compatible with downloading them here, so I had to take a picture-of a picture. But, if you can not tell because of the blurriness - let me tell you, she is beautiful! :)

Last week we received an update on Zemma, including lots and lots of pictures (which, unfortunately I can not share). Every update that they send provides lots of info, as well as pictures of her reading books, performing new skills, or interacting. Here are some things that this update included:

-Zemma's gross motor development is excellent. She can walk, run, jump up, and balance on one foot (there is an adorable pic of her doing this!).

- her fine motor development is good. She can build a tower of 4 blocks, take off shoes and socks.

-Zemma is now doing wonderful. She has started playing with the social workers (these were their words, and such a blessing to this mothers heart to hear that she is doing "wonderful"!)

- She is doing good since coming to the orphanage in her person/social /emotion skill. And is now giving hugs and kisses to her caregivers and is more playful (also their words).

-(this is my favorite of the update) Luke and I were able to send a small book containing pictures of our family for Zemma to look at while there. One of the pictures was of Zemma looking at that book and pointing to her Daddy. Seeing that was one of the first times that this whole thing has felt actually real to me. We've waited and prepared and dreamed and even seen her little face, but that picture was so special for me to see, and it made me actually feel like she is ours. God is so faithful and gracious to us. Zemma is a reminder of those characters of our Father. I pray that we always remember the ways that He has blessed this family!

Pictures of the book we sent (some of them upside down apparently...)

Becca's Beautiful Day

P is for Pass!

Praise the Lord!!!! Our hearts are filled with joy today because I just got the call from our agency saying that we passed court today!!! Thank you all for your prayers!!! Unfortunately I just got word that we are unable to post pictures until after our invitation to travel :( I will post as soon as I can though...