October 31, 2008
What an AMAZING day!! Amazing doesn’t even describe how
wonderful today has been!! We arrived at the airport in Accra at
7:30am and were greeted by Heidi and George who are Kiana’s
(Kathy and Mike’s baby girl from Beacon House) foster parents.
They took us back to their house where we are staying so we
could get settled in before heading to Beacon House.
I COULD NOT wait to get to Beacon House!!! We left their house
mid morning and set out through CRAZY traffic to East Legon, a
nice area in Accra where Beacon House is located. My heart was
racing the entire way there. I kept thinking, “I cannot believe
this is happening!” We pulled in front of Beacon House and there
was the sign. I almost started to cry just seeing the sign and
realizing that MY BABY girl was just inside the gate only a few
feet away.
We walked in the gate and Heidi took us straight to the baby
room which is a small guesthouse attached to the main house
where the babies and the baby workers (Lydia and Faustina) stay.
I could feel the tears about to come on—I was so overwhelmingly
excited it was UNBELIEVABLE!!! Well, she was not in the baby
house…… Okay, I had to regroup while Lydia went to the main
house to get her. I watched out the window of the baby room and
I immediately started to cry as soon as I laid eyes on my
precious baby girl. SHE IS PERFECT!!! I am so amazed at God’s
goodness and sovereignty to bring us halfway across the globe to
this sweet angel. Her eyes are so amazing and her cute little
button nose and perfect lips….she is soooo precious!! She is a
tiny little girl, but her hands and feet seem to be normal size,
so I think she will likely grow pretty quickly.
When Lydia opened the door she came to me and handed Abree right
over. I had been told they might not want me to hold her at
first, so I was a bit startled when she did this. Of course I
turned off the video camera and grabbed her up quickly. She did
not cry at all..she seemed a little shy and confused as to who
we all were. We played in the floor a little and she would look
up at me with those amazing brown eyes. I am sure she was
wondering why I was crying AND smiling and why I seemed to be so
VERY interested in her. I love her SO much already!
We had taken a pretty outfit over for her and a matching outfit
for Kiana so we could get a good picture of them together while
at Beacon House. Faustina helped me change Abree’s clothes and
Abree did not seem to mind a bit. I think she loves any
attention she can get. When I placed the headband with the
flower on her head she cracked a sweet little smile and cut her
eyes up as high as she could to see what in the world was on her
head. She shook her head from side to side and smiled…she liked
it!! Yeah!!! The smiles just kept on coming from that point
on…it was WONDERFUL!!
We were soon told it was naptime and we needed to leave for a
while. I asked when I could come back and they said 3:00. We
went back to Heidi and George’s house and ate lunch and rested.
I took a cab back to Beacon House and of course I arrived right
at 3:00…can’t miss a minute when I only have two days!
This time when I went back I took the gifts I had brought over
for Beacon House and the specific gifts for Abree. Aunt Jen had
sent a butterfly toy that made noise and had lights on it,
Cristi had sent stacking cups and we had brought a few other
toys that played music and had lights. SHE LOVED HER TOYS!! She
spent hours playing with her new toys. She figured out what each
button would do and stacked her cups over and over again. She
stayed very focused…she is not easily distracted and she is VERY
smart!
This afternoon, Romana, the orphanage director, asked me to come
into the office to talk about Abree’s adoption with her and
Bernard (the social worker for Beacon House). We quickly went
through all of her paperwork and they told me a little bit about
Abree’s family. I am SO grateful to her father for taking her to
get medical help when she had malaria. That act of love is what
brought her to our family…how amazing!!
Romana told me I could stay for dinner and bath time tonight—I
was SO excited! For dinner, all the big kids sit at a large
family table. The babies sit on the floor and the house-moms
feed them. Before dinner the big kids recite a prayer together.
After they finished, one of the house-moms (Edna) said “Mina,
pray.” She bowed her head and put her little hand over her eye.
When Edna said, “Amen,” Abree looked up and was ready to eat! I
got to feed her!!!!! A special first for me…feeding my baby
girl. They had a soup with a bit of thick maize in it. She liked
the soup, but not the maize. She would take a bite, swallow the
soup, and then spit out the maize…she knows what she likes. One
of the house-moms said this was not her favorite meal… so, I
asked what her favorite meal is and she said, “okra soup.”
Interesting…
After dinner was bath time. Lydia gives all the babies a bath in
the morning and the evening…tonight she gave Abree a bath first.
She filled a little green bucket with a small amount of water.
As soon as she sat Abree in the bath, she was SMILING! She loved
her bath! Lydia scrubbed her from head to toe—and I mean
scrubbed!!!! After she was done with the bath, Lydia dried her
off and put her pajamas on.
By this time, the sun was going down which means the mosquitoes
were coming out and we all stayed inside the rest of the
evening. I had the opportunity to observe Abree with her
friends. She did not like sharing her toys AT ALL! At one time,
her friend Mary took one of her stacking cups from her and Abree
made this high-pitched scream of anger. She lets you know just
how she is feeling.
The highlight of my day was when she was sitting on the couch
and I was sitting on the floor. She was trying to get down, so
one of the big girls helped her down. She went and got her
butterfly toy and climbed right up on my lap without me even
asking her to come. It MELTED my heart!!
Precious Abree has such a sweet and cuddly personality! She
loves to be held and loves to bury her head on my shoulder….soooo
sweet! She has such a happy spirit about her! I cannot believe
how well we bonded today and how much I love this amazing girl!!
I learned tonight that she is a very fast crawler and she can
stand up from a sitting down position. She tries really hard to
walk, but as soon as she lifts up one foot…she goes to the
ground. She is determined and will try and try again. She will
be walking VERY soon!
Bedtime came too quickly, and it was time to leave. I was so sad
to go, but I am very excited about tomorrow. Romana is going to
allow me to take Abree out for the day. We will come to pick her
up in the morning and spend the day at Heidi and George’s house
in the air conditioning. It is so, so, so, so hot in Africa. I
think we will go to a local market place for some shopping. I
cannot wait!!!
Words cannot describe what an amazing day we had today. I have
prayed for this day for so long, and I never expected it to go
this well. We bonded right away! I am so in love with my
precious baby girl!!! What an incredible gift from God! |
SOOOO happy to be in Ghana!!!!
I was SO excited to be standing in front of Beacon House!! My
baby girl was only a few steps away! WOW!
Beacon House!
My Baby Girl!! Tears of JOY!!!
All dressed up! She KNEW she looked beautiful!
I am a happy and beautiful girl!
Abree and Kiana--future best friends!
Praying before dinner...SO precious!
I LOVE bath time!!
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