Saturday morning we woke up with the knowledge that this was our last day in Addis. I wanted to cram in as much as possible, and I was relieved to see that the our new girls seemed to be in good spirits and ready to go, despite the emotional day yesterday.

We'd arranged for our very kind driver Dawit to pick us up at 10:00 for some shopping and touristing. If the weather would cooperate, we also hoped to sneak in a swim at the Hilton. So far the sky looked grey and threatening, but we packed swimsuits so that we'd be ready if there was a break in the clouds.

While shopping, we hoped to find something fun to bring home for our kids who hadn't come to Addis with us. I... more

Friday morning found me fussing over hair. Our agency had arranged for us to meet with our girls' uncle who had traveled all the way from Harar to meet us, and I wanted them to look nice. But the meeting time -- 9:30 AM -- had me in a bit of a time crunch. Now with four Ethiopian girls, hair dominates my life in a whole new way.

A couple evenings earlier, three of my girls ALL decided they wanted their hair done and proceeded to unbraid--at 8 PM, no less. I had a moment of pure panic at the sight of three heads of hair all loose at once, and so close to bedtime. The younger of our new girls has soft, loosely curled hair like my little girls -- a familiar challenge. My older daughter... more

After Kidane Mehret, our next mission was to find traditional dresses for all 4 of our Ethiopian daughters. Dawit drove us to a row of little shops near the U.S. embassy, and very kindly walked into the various stores with us translating and helping us bargain.

Three of the four girls stated a preference for pink, which several shops did not have. But eventually we ended up with a lovely blue and gold dress for the 11 year old, and pink and gold ones for the younger three girls. The older girls’ dresses were 160 birr each (around $16) and the little girls dresses were about 40 birr... more

As an adoptive mom, I am always eager to understand more about real life in Ethiopia, both to satisfy my own curiosity and to be able to answer my children's questions in a more knowledgeable way. I found a fun blog recently called the Collins' in Addis.

I have found it interesting, especially because they have experienced and written about some of the places and things I have blogged about in the last few months. Of course their viewpoint is way more valuable and in-depth than mine, but I thought I'd put the posts side by side so their additional information and real-life experience could build on the... more

The day before I travel for an adoption is always difficult. No matter how organized I’ve been, there’s always a little scurry at the end to get last things done. Today we had to go buy a dryer, of all things, since ours broke earlier in the week. Though the clothesline has been working admirably for the past three days, I didn’t relish the idea of keeping up with laundry for 12 people without a dryer. So off we went to price dryers-- big ones. The there was a package to mail, a check to cash, and a new jump drive to be bought since yesterday I managed to break mine.

All that errand-running left the little kids tired. One of them was then unkind to a sibling, causing them... more

The excitement is building here! We are packed and ready to go. A few days ago my eldest was teasing me that I'd better stop shopping because I kept coming back with more to pack. But now that I've actually been zipping bags shut, I'm going the other direction and kicking things out.

The microwave popcorn is out-- turns out there's no microwave anyway. The battery-powered fan is gone -- we decided that a little radio tuned to fuzz would be almost as good for white noise at night at 1/10 of the weight. And the orphanage donations that ended up overflowing the bounds of my bins will be heading to Ethiopia in a couple weeks with a friend. ... more

In a previous post I discussed the pros and cons of the Playtex Hip hammock and the NoJo sling. In this post I'll give you my impressions of the Hug A Bub, the Ergo, and the Snugli frame-style backpack.

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The Snugli backpack is a high... more

In planning to go to Ethiopia, I have been trying to decide what might be the best way to carry our 28 pound 2 year old. She can walk, but in strange situations she insists on being carried, and does not have the stamina for walking long distances. In Addis the roads are rough (and often muddy)making a stroller an impractical option, except maybe for wheeling around in a hotel.

Over my years of parenting I have tried a variety of carriers. In the next two posts, I'll be giving you my impressions of the NoJo sling, the Snugli frame-style backpack, the Hug A Bub, the Hip Hammock, and the Ergo. All of these are decent carriers with plenty of good points. I'll try to explain what I... more

One memorable feature about both of my previous flights to Ethiopia was a long layover in an unfamiliar airport. Since then I've found some helpful websites where travelers share tips about ways to best spend a loathsomely long layover in airports around the world. In this post I'll share some of the features travelers might find helpful about the airport in Frankfurt, Germany.

Activities for Children

One great feature of the airport in Frankfurt is a McDonald's with a kids play area. The food is more expensive than you'll pay in the U.S., and you'll... more

Since we’re traveling to Ethiopia with two children (5 and 2) and returning from Ethiopia with 4 kids, I’ve been giving this topic some serious thought.

My husband says I’m overthinking this-- maybe so. But I have a three-part plan for occupying the little girls on the way there. Our first flight is only a couple hours. I’ll be bringing fanny packs loaded with goodies for the girls, and plan to keep them in my own bag until after take-off. Hopefully we can get through at least the first half hour just with windows and tray tables and the novelty of flying. But when restlessness sets in, I’ll hand each little girl her own fanny pack filled with goodies.

Each fanny... more