Gotcha Day - Dress

When we were in Ethiopia last year we picked out a cultural dress for Feven.  Not really knowing her size or how she'd grow, we lucked out in that it still fits her!

For Gotcha Day she got to wear her special dress to church.  We had to do some layers because April has been really cold here in Minnesota this year, but I think she still looks great in it!  By the pictures, I think SHE thinks she looks great in it too!

Gotcha Day - Eating Out

What's a Gotcha Day without a special meal to celebrate?  In future years maybe I'll make Ethiopian food here at the house, but this time we went out to eat. 

I'm really thankful that we are able to eat Ethiopian food enough that Feven knows exactly what to do when they bring us the injera.  She doesn't hesitate, but digs right in!  If she had her way, she would eat only injera without anything else for a meal!

I absolutely love this picture.  I don't even know if I can pinpoint what it is about it, but I love it!  In the background you can see two Ethiopian-American men dining.  One special thing I've noticed is how many Ethiopians dote on children.  While in-country, I recall numerous times walking down the street and passersby would grab Feven's hand to kiss it or remark how cute she was.  At the restaurant this weekend, the other customers waved to her, smiled at her, or greeted her.  I like that.

Gotcha Day - Hair

Something I REALLY wanted to do for Gotcha Day was have Feven's hair braided.  There are many good places around town to get your hair braided, and I chose an Ethiopian place I had come across before called FM Barber & Braiding. 

I didn't have a phone number for them, so I couldn't make an appointment prior to arriving.  As our family drove to the shop my thoughts were a mix of prayers and hopes that there would be availability.

We opened the door and were greeted by the sights and sounds of a busy barber shop!  One barber was giving a gentleman a trim while two little boys with fresh hair cuts looked on.  Four women in the back part of the shop were fixing hair and visiting while another woman prepared coffee on a small table in the middle of the floor.  The shop was a little hazy, and I imagine it was from some freshly-roasted coffee beans.  A little boy ran around while his mom chatted with her friends.  He was younger than Feven but I'm not sure by how much.  I learned later that his name was Fikar, which means love.

Within moments of us walking in the door, one of the stylists approached us.  It probably did look a little out of place to have two ferenji walk in with an Ethiopian child.  After telling her what we were looking for, she said she could take care of us right then and there!  Yay!

The first thing they did was to comb out Feven's hair.  I say "they" because during the course of our time there, we typically had 3-4 women working on Feven's hair!  While they were combing out her hair, they remarked over and over that she had good hair, nice hair, soft hair. 

 

Throughout our time at the shop, I struggled knowing how much to stick with Feven and how much to sit back and let the women do their job.  Because Feven was so recently adopted, I still have attachment questions flooding my mind.  What does it mean for Feven when I plop her down in a chair in a new place and sit 6 feet away while four women she doesn't know pull and tug on her hair?  I erred on the side of caution and held her hand for the first part.  (Also, to my CHI friends, doesn't this look like Hermella from the side?!?)

Feven was a good sport for most of it, but the tugging and the sitting still finally got to her toward the end.  Then the tears came!  Daddy sat with her on his lap and that helped.  Each of the women offered her their phones at different points and that helped too.  But what finally stopped the tears was when they gave her a hair product bottle to hold.  Immediately the tears shut off and we heard her say, "Pink bottle."  Who knew that's what it would take?

 

As they were finishing up they asked us if we wanted beads.  I wasn't sure, so I looked at Zac and he said a definite yes!  I watched how they put them in so I will know how to do it next time.  

Feven liked her hair, and she liked swinging her head around to feel the beads move.  For the rest of the day I heard the click clack of the beads as she danced and jumped around the house.  What a special experience!

Gotcha Day - Introduction

This weekend we celebrated our "Gotcha Day" with Feven.  A Gotcha Day is a common event for families who have adopted, but different families choose different milestones to be their actual day.  Some say that their Gotcha Day was when they legally became the parents of their child; others say it was when they first took custody of their child; still others choose their Gotcha Day as the day they arrived home with their child.

For our family, we wanted our Gotcha Day to be the day we took custody of Feven.  Through a series of unexpected events last year, our day became April 7th. 

We have been looking forward to celebrating this day for a long time!  We had all sorts of plans and ideas how to make this day (and weekend!) special.  Of all the things we planned to do, our overall goal was to be together as much as possible as a family and be grateful for being together.

In the upcoming days I will share some of our pictures and stories from our Gotcha Day weekend.  We had a fantastic time together as a family, and it may have been my favorite weekend out of all of them in the last year!

First Easter!

We had a great first Easter together!  We spent the weekend in Zac's hometown and our days were filled with family and festivities.  Although Feven looks a little unsure in this picture, I had to post it as it's our first Easter family photo. 

Here you can see her in her Easter dress a little better.  It's somewhat "nontraditional" in that it isn't fluffy and didn't come with an Easter hat and gloves, but I thought she looked beautiful in it and it also served as comfortable play clothes so she could keep on riding her horsey!

The church service was a long hour forty-five minutes Easter morning, but Feven kept herself entertained by narrating what was happening, dancing to the hymns, clapping after special music when nobody else did, sharing toys across pews, crawling under pews, eating a million fruit snacks, and taking frequent bathroom breaks.  All in all, it was a good day!