Making Plans (17 'Sleeps' to go)

The countdown seems to be spiraling faster and faster while my lists are getting longer and longer.


Today I spent some time pinning down what we want to do on our days in Addis.  As I told some friends, I think I struck an emotional geyser because I spent the afternoon in tears.  Ethiopia does that too me.  I really hope I don't just ugly cry the entire time I'm there!


When I sat down to think through what it is really going to mean to be there again, when I imagined it .  . . oh, it just overwhelmed me.  And what it is going to mean to be where my daughter drew her first breaths?  I never thought THAT would be an incredible privilege to me, but here we are.


Meanwhile, in living color, right here in front of me, Rebeka is amazing.  She's funny and vibrant and is coming back around to be sweet and snuggly.  For a while she was the opposite of snuggly, even with me, and it was starting to scare me.  But she's back and she's wonderful.  She's still busy and exhausting and curious and a little bit naughty, but more and more she's stopping when I tell her 'no' and she's answering with "Okay Mama!"


Today she pointed to a picture from Ethiopia that Joel hung and she said, "Daddy make it!"  I answered that yes, in fact, Daddy had hung it and that it was from Ethiopia.  She agreed, "Like me!"


I laughed and said, "Yes!  You were born in Ethiopia too!"


She said, "And you come and get me," as she nuzzled into my chest.


Yes Baby, I came to get you.


And that, my friends, is why I'm going to Ethiopia.  Because my baby is just two now, and she already knows that I went to Ethiopia to get her.  As she grows and her understandings multiply, exponentially, I want to be able to answer her questions.  And when I can't answer them, I want to be able to look in those incredibly deep brown eyes and tell her from the bottom of my heart that I tried my hardest to get the answers for her and to understand for her.