We're HOME!!! Praise the Lord!

Well I will have to get back to the days that I couldn't post b/c the internet is down in Addis but for now we're HOME! I think psychologically even though we're still pretty sick, I feel much better just b/c of my mind set. Both of our families are here so we've got lots of baby sitters :) I didn't have to do a thing last night really and Ezra is loving all the attention. We got to see the dogs after 10 days and my heart was healed! I missed my little Herman soooooo much. Some people just don't understand how I can be so attached to a dog but to me he's my first born! I loved being able to sleep with him in our bed and have our little Herman/mommy routine this morning :) Thanks again Missy for loving on and taking care of my boys this whole time. Herman did really well with meeting Ezra for the first time. I was sooo relieved. But back to our trip home...
We we didn't fly out of Addis until 10:50pm so the whole day we just stayed at the hotel b/c Michael's fever was subsiding and mine had just started, so we just tried to keep Ezra entertained and free from whatever we have. I went downstairs to check my e-mail and luckily it worked after about 35 minutes and the first e-mail I saw was "urgent news regarding Father Bob"... (Father Robert Wilson was the priest at our church and like a grandfather figure to me) I immediately opened the e-mail and was DEVASTATED to read that he'd died on Christmas unexpectedly from a heart attack. I immediatly ran upstairs to tell Michael and was just sobbing. Still to think of Ezra being baptised by someone else seems surreal. Ft. Bob has been with us during this entire adoption journey and even attended my baby shower. So to know that he will never meet Ezra in person was just too much. Then when we got home from the airport I was going through all of my back mail and I opened up a Christmas card from him... very very sad.
So we just kept plugging along until 6pm when we went to the airport. I didn't tell anyone in the travel group about the loss of my priest b/c I didn't want to have to think about it and take the chance that I would lose it again. When we got to the airport my stomach starting REALLY hurting so I knew what that meant. FYI the bathrooms at the airport have NO TP. This is a time when creativity is a blessing :) You have to go through about 5 different security checkpoints at the airport in Addis. The last one you go through puts you in a large "holding room" that has no trashcans and NO bathroom. I really needed to go but they would NOT let me out. I first tried begging nicely then I was a bit$# about it but they would not budge! So I had to wait about 40 minutes or so and then just ran to the bathroom on the plane. So for future families. If you have to go, GO BEFORE you go through the last security people. Ezra was a dream on the long flight to the states, he barely cried at all. The next leg of the trip however was a nightmare from hell. We had to wait at the airport from 8am until 5pm and at first he did well, then he started being really fussy and nothing would console him (which was a first for him). So I noticed that he was feeling REALLY hot and his face was beet red. Luckily I'd brought a thermometer and his temp was 103.5!!! For a new mommy this sent me right into freak out mode. Michael went to find some baby tylenol and I was stripping him of his clothes and trying to console him. There was a very nice woman who I guess noticed me freaking out a bit and came over and asked to pray over him with me. She then found someone with tylenol and gave him a dose b/c I didn't even know how much to give. I just kept calculating a dog dose but I didn't know how close that would be to a baby dose :) Then another woman with her 2 kids started helping us as well just trying to console me more then him I think, while another man started playing with him and trying to get him to giggle. Almost within 10 minutes Ezra calmed down and started laughing. His fever slowly fell and we decided to get on the plane b/c he was still wanting a bottle. One the plane after about 20 minutes Ezra started wailing! Like something was stabbing him and NOTHING would make him stop. So they let me sit with him in the first class bathroom for about 45 minutes trying to get him calm down. Michael and I just stood there in the bathroom looking at each other like... what do we do???? I was praying my rosary and praying to Father Bob the entire time, saying, please Father Bob, please give Ezra peace and heal him... shortly afterwards he calmed down enough for us to take him back to our seats with a bottle and he slept the entire time even through the worst turbulence I've ever experienced. I couldn't believe how BAD a little 2 hour and 55 minute plane ride could be. I was so shaken and physically exhausted that I literally had spagetti legs getting off the plane. I felt like I may collapse. But then we got off the plane and could see our families waiting as well as 2 of the Texas America World families and that was just such an uplifting feeling. The Lord truly was with us on that plane and I'm soooo grateful that he's been with us every step of the way. We gave Ezra another dose of Tylenol and so far his fever hasn't returned. Also a big thanks to my fellow veterinarian and experienced mom, Dr. Cyndi Davis for being there for me while I had my freak out moment in the airport. I'm going to upload my pics to picassa now. It will probably take a while since there are so many so guys just bare with me please. :) I love you all and can't wait to hear lots of good referral news next week.
P.S the internet is down every where in Addis so referrals are coming I KNOW we just have to pray for the Lord to intervene for them to get some kind of connection there.