In Ethiopia - Update!

We arrived safely last night to a rainy city in darkness. This morning we met our daughter Ella Sloan Eyerus Haynie! She is so beautiful and a very happy baby. She hasn't even had a big crying fit yet. The week is young though... I'm sorry we can't send a photo yet. We have a very spotty internet connection available to us here. That's the news everybody! She is happy, healthy, and now we are learning as much as we can about her birthplace. She is eating cereal now twice a day in between bottles. She is sitting up, but not crawling yet. She also does a really great copycat of her mom's faces that she makes at her. She has a strong grip and a very curious gaze. We can't wait for everyone to meet her! We hope to write more this week, but this will have to do for now.

Love,
Charles and Amy

1 More Day!

My sweet daughter,

This is so surreal! After all that has happened, we are finally going to get on a plane and I am going to kiss and hold you. My emotions are a little hard to control, I am trying to pack the rest of the items and get everything ready for us to leave, but I just want to sit and stare at you. I am trying to get me brain around the idea that we are going to hold you in a few short days. I am excited, nervous, anxious and yes...overwhelmed with emotion. I have prayed and worried for so long that I am having a hard time believing that we are at the threshold of a new life, a life with you in it. I have a picture of you in a frame that is shaped like a puzzle piece, I didn't realize the significance of the frame until today--you are the missing piece to my puzzle. You complete the picture. I want to come today, now, this minute, but in only a few short days, Mommy will be holding you and loving you and never letting you go, except I might let your Daddy hold you for a minute or two!!!

Ella, someday you can read all the happenings of this crazy journey and I hope at the end you will realize something, you have been our daughter since before you were born. Our love for you is so strong that we didn't need to grow you in my belly, you were born out of our love and the love of all of our friends and family. We live in a world that is full of hate and ignorance, but I hope that will change and the idea that we can travel half way around this world to get our child makes me feel hope. I want to show you my world and I hope that I can see it through your eyes. We will learn from one another and maybe we can make a difference for other people. I have so much love to give and I thank everyone who loved and supported us throughout this process. I have always felt a love for Africa, and can't wait to immerse myself into the culture and the people. I have a lot of gratitude and admiration for your birth country, the people of Ethiopia are allowing us to borrow you and raise you as our own, for that I will always be grateful. This will not be our only trip to Ethiopia, I plan on going back with you to show you the wonders of the place you were born and to try and give back to the people of Ethiopia.

My heart is full and my eyes are wet.

Mommy is coming little one and soon we will never be apart.

All of my love,

Mommy

The anxious nervous excited last week without child

Amy turns to me this week and says, "I need you to write about this, this feeling... right now... what it feels like." I wrote about when we were waiting - the anxious anticipation before court and the frustration that came from delays and bureaucracy. This week, the feeling is very different. This is now finally something that most parents can relate to - the holy crap this is actually gonna happen feeling! This might be closest to what it feels like when people get pregnant. This is the rush of all those fears of parenthood, the doubts of adequacy and preparedness, and the absolute terror that we will not be ready for what comes next. Until this point, we had worked to a goal. We were determined to get this process to completion. However, in the back of our minds, we both had doubts that it could happen. We both feared that the process would break down and leave us childless and broke. This sounds like a normal concern, but it was also an escape hatch. We didn't like to admit it, but there was a chance that it might not happen and maybe we didn't stop to believe that it was really... really happening.

I'm not sure if that makes sense, but I wanted to write it out and try to understand it. We haven't held back on this thing so far, why stop now? Now we are definitely going to be parents. As in, next week we will be responsible for a child. No longer do we just hop on the bikes and head around the block or jump in the car to go see a movie without some preparation. Life will become a bit more complicated. I might sound like I'm complaining, but unlike one of my friends at work told me this week, I don't think my life is over. I believe that this is worth it...so worth it! We will have complications and we will have joys. This is part of life that we have decided to live. That might be the hardest part for people to get, we decided. This didn't happen to us, we chose this journey. This next Wednesday, we get on a plane to parenthood, a little nervous and very excited.

-Charles

17 days/travel arrangements

Dear Ella,
Mommy has an official countdown to Ella Day! We are leaving on August 26th and will arrive in Ethiopia on the 27th. I know it will be too late to get you on the 27th, but bright and early on the 28th--Mommy will be holding you and kissing your sweet cheeks! I am really trying to get ready, I have a lot to prepare. I have to pack for us and for you and I know it is chilly there. I cant wait to see you baby, Mommy and Daddy can hardly contain their excitement. Mommy is coming....soon!!!!
Love,
Mommy

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Mommy is coming

Dear Ella,
Mommy is buying tickets to come and get you. Daddy and I will be there
before you know it. I know it has been a long road, but we are finally
seeing the end of this path and the start of a new one. I am filled
again with hope for the future, a future full of love and appreciation
for all that we have been given. Throughout this experience, I have
realized that I am very lucky. I am lucky to have the best husband,
who is also the best daddy, the most loyal and supportive family, and
friends that will stand by me no matter how crazy I am. I can't wait
for you to join our circle and you will be right in the middle.
Ella, mommy loves you more and more each day. Stay strong and I will
be there before you know it.
All my love,
Mommy

Sent from my iPhone
Amy Haynie
Tampa Street Market
www.tampastreetmarket.com

More Pics!!! 6 months old

Pictures of Ella--Finally!!!

You are all mine!!!

Dear Ella,

You are legally ours !!! Mommy is coming to get you--no doubts about it! I cant wait to hold you and kiss your sweet face. Mommy and Daddy are coming!!!!