We Got Him

It has been a long day, but we got Ethan. It was rough in the beginning. He cried for about an hour straight. He fell asleep for about 15 minutes at the Civil Affairs office, and after he woke up he never really cried again there. We were at the Civil Affairs office for a couple hours. Sadly we have no video as video cameras weren't allowed in the building. And, oddly enough, we had the hand-off in the hallway. :/ The sun was behind them, so we have no pictures of it either. Suffice it to say, he was NOT happy. After the paperwork was completed, it was on to get our family picture and finally the notary. We missed lunch and nap time. The boys, remarkably, held up pretty well. We got back to the hotel around 1:30 and realized we needed to get the boys some lunch as well as restock our supply water / pop, so Troy ran to WalMart and KFC. Ethan did cry quite a bit when Troy left, but stopped shortly before he returned and hasn't really cried again. We put him in his crib around 4:30 and he slept for about 45 minutes. The boys, all three of them, are currently playing like maniacs with a beach ball. Ethan tries to imitate pretty much everything Aiden does. Aiden is the most amazing big brother. Ethan fussed briefly when we laid him in the crib, and Aiden melted down. He told us NO we should NOT make baby brother sleep and NO crib (we kind of wondered if it was some kind of repressed memory...maybe he on some level remembered the orphanage and didn't want to subject Ethan to that?). Actually, it just happened again. Ethan wanted to get into the crib, so I set him in there and Aiden screamed, "NO! Get him out! He's all better..." Aiden was almost inconsolable while Ethan lay contentedly in the crib. That's what Aidenhas been like; he wants wants to share everything, help with everything, and play everything with Ethan. He has been beyond sweet. Heartbreakingly sweet.

And I? I am beyond exhausted. Ugh.


(I will post pictures when blogspot's picture uploader is working....)