The Snyder Life

Highlights From The Best Two Months of Our Lives

Landon has been changing daily since we got home. It has been a wild ride each day as he changes so quickly. Some major milestones include:

The acquisition of his two front teeth (bottom). We started giving him little puffs to try and chew today. Sometimes he laughs and chomps away, and other times he makes himself gag. It's pretty funny to watch.
He can roll over both ways, but often gets stuck on his stomach (which makes him angry like a hornet).
He can sit and play with toys. We usually have to put pillows behind him though for the occasional effort to back flip. He also ends up on his face when he tries to reach too far.
He loves to jump and spin in his bounce-about. His favorite part seems to be a hanging string (the one without a toy on the end of it).
He loves to go for walks, and will usually fall asleep instantly. He also loves any kind of swing.
So far there have been two birthday parties (Cousin Brady "Cookie Monster" Theme, and Cousin Liam "Pirate" Theme), one very belated Christmas party (thanks to G-ma), two Easter egg hunts, one Easter egg painting shin-dig, and one church Pot-Luck picnic.

Below is a slide show of these moments:

Welcome Home

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After what ended up being a 20 hour flight (total from Ethiopia to Dubai and Dubai to New York) because of the snow storm and then a three hour drive home in the snow we were more than ready to be "welcomed home". Our families were waiting patiently (well probably not too patiently) to meet Landon. It was nice to have them here and Landon seemed to be holding up better than Ian and I. We were totally exhausted and couldn't wait to get some sleep. Our families didn't stay long. Just long enough for some cake and goodies and a few big hugs and kisses from the cutest little guy in the world!!!! Our first night home as a family went pretty well. Landon slept better than we did. We had him in our room in a bassinet which we soon realized was not the best option for all of us. I woke with every sound he made and he woke up every time his arms would bang into the side of the bassinet. (After about four nights of this we tried him in his crib in his own room and he loved it. Big enough that he can stretch his arms straight out!) Landon didn't do as bad as I was anticipating with the time difference. I really thought that he would have his days and nights mixed up, but I think his lack of sleep on the plane helped with the transition a little bit. See, he knew what he was doing staying up for sixteen hours straight!!

Aunt Jenna with Landon

Uncle Chris and Landon

Landon with Pappy

Paige and Landon

Elliana and Landon

Brady and Landon

Day 7: Our last day in Ethiopia

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Thursday we woke with mixed feelings. We were feeling excited to get our precious little boy home safe and sound , but sad to be leaving this beautiful country. In a way I feel like I could have stayed there forever. Ian and I still say that someday we will move to Africa! We had so many wonderful experiences while we were there and met so many amazing people. We would have loved to have had more time to see more of the country. I guess it will have to wait till next time. Yes, Ian and I have decided that we are going to adopt another child from Ethiopia. With the new policy in effect we will be traveling TWO times to bring our next baby home!!! That really excites me because I had the most amazing time in Ethiopia. Anyway, back to Thursday!!! I got up early so I could pack our bags and have everything ready then we headed down to breakfast. We met some of the families from our group and a lot of us just kinda lingered at breakfast a little longer than usual. I think we were all feeling the same way. We didn't really want to say goodbye to each other. It still amazes me the bond that we all shared. We were truly blessed with our travel group. After we ate we headed back up to our room to finish our packing. We were planning on meeting as a group one last time before everybody parted ways. Regina led us in the most beautiful prayer, (she brought most of us to tears) then it was time to say goodbye. Our flight was the first to leave Ethiopia and two of the other families from our group were on it. Landon slept the whole four hours to Dubai (Ian said he knew he would be a good sleeper). Ha Ha, we still had another 14 hours from Dubai to New York (it actually turned into 16 hours because our plane could not land because of the snow). Landon had decided that he didn't need any sleep during this flight. He had too many people to look at and talk to. He babbled for hours straight and hated the bassinet we got for him. Oh well, we survived it and we are ready to do it again. Once we finally landed at JFK, it was smooth sailing at the airport. We cruised right through customs and immigration. No problems at all. Thank you God. We were met at the airport by my mom, sister, and Ian's mom. They couldn't wait to meet Landon. Landon couldn't stop saying da da da the whole time!!!!!! We didn't stick around the airport too long, we are exhausted and so thankful that we didn't have to drive home. Were on our last leg of the trip and even with the snow, we made it home!!!!

Day 6: Cultural Dinner Night

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Wednesday was a day for us to just hang out at the hotel and relax with Landon and our friends. We had another great breakfast. I think I may have had three cups of coffee with breakfast. Knowing that we only had one more day left in Ethiopia made me want to just sit all day and savor every little sip. Seriously, I am still talking about the coffee. We did bring home 10 pounds of it but it has not tasted the same even once. Later that afternoon Almaz brought some very important papers to the hotel for us and the other families. They were all in sealed envelopes that we were not allowed to open. They needed to be handed over to Immigrations once we landed at JFK. She also took some time to reflect with us on the amazing journey that we have started and shared with us some very inspiring words that I will remember forever. She truly is an amazing women who deeply loves and cares for each child that has come through Hannah's Hope. After our meeting we took a group photo and said our goodbyes and thank-you's to Almaz since this would be the last time we would see her. Our cultural dinner was at 7pm that night and Ian and I were really looking forward to it. It was at an awesome restaurant and everything was done in traditional Ethiopian style. Below are some pictures from the night.

Day Five: Shopping and Dinner

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Tuesday was our day to go to the shopping market and Italian Restaurant. The only bad part was that we were not allowed to take our children with us. That meant that we either had to take Landon back to Hannah's Hope or one of us had to stay behind at the hotel. Ian and I decided that we would both go to the market because we wanted to be able to see as much of Ethiopia as we could and also we wanted to buy some Ethiopian gifts for Landon and ourselves! Everything at the market was made locally and prices were negotiable. Below are two pictures of adorable little boys that I just loved. The top pictures is a boy who was shining shoes and the bottom is of a boy who was selling gum. I asked both if I could take their pictures and they both agreed, don't they have beautiful smiles!!! We did buy some gum from the one little guy and we gave him a bottle of water. He took a pack of his gum, crushed it up(the gum was very hard and crumbly) put it in his water and shook it up. Smart boy!!!!! We all got a kick out of that!!!!

After shopping we headed to an Italian restaurant where they also sold local artwork. It was very beautiful but a little pricey. It was very nice to be together as a group and get to know one another better. Our group was awesome, we all got very close throughout the week. The food at the restaurant was really good. Ian and I ordered a pizza with blue cheese crumbles on it. It was a nice change from all the Ethiopian food we had been eating. It was a little taste of home.

A slide show of various shots throughout the day:

After dinner, we went back to Hannah's Hope to pick up the kids. Everyone was really excited to get there and not be separated from their children again. Landon was in his bouncy seat, and when we walked in he got a huge smile. It really seemed like he was anticipating our return. It was a lot of fun to see all the kids reunite with their families. One cool thing we discovered was that Sitota and Landon had beds next to each other. Below is a picture of Amy and Kathleen next to the beds:

We stayed around Hannah's Hope for awhile watching the older children play. It was sad to think that for some of them it would be the last time they would see their friends. Below are some pictures on the balcony outside of Landon's room:

Day Four: Embassy day

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Monday morning we woke early to have breakfast at the hotel. (Delicious omelets, fried lentils and fabulous coffee.) We had to be ready to leave the hotel for the Embassy at 8am. Our entire group piled into a large van and started the hour long drive. The traffic was pretty much bumper to bumper and at every intersection the cars were bottle-necked. I don't recall seeing any traffic lights and it didn't really seem like there were too many rules of the road but everyone is so friendly. In Ethiopia it is polite to beep at other drivers when you are driving. We made it to the Embassy and got to see a lot of sights along the way. Landon slept the whole ride and we would soon learn he does this anytime he is in motion. Ian and I were a little nervous for our embassy appointment because we had been told that sometimes the people are not very friendly but this was not our experience at all. We had a very young girl who was very friendly and even talked to us about the Pocono's and said she had visited there before. The appointment lasted only 5 minutes and there was really nothing to it. I don't even really recall what all was said. It was so hot in the building and we were completely exhausted. I do remember raising our right hands and saying something and with that we were finished!!!! Our time at the embassy lasted for two hours because we had to wait until everyone in our group was finished. When we got back to the hotel we ate lunch as a group and then the plan was to meet in the basement conference room at three to hang out. We were so tired that when we got back to our room we (actually only I) fell asleep for three hours. Ian stayed awake and held Landon while he babbled for three hours straight. Apparently he had a lot to tell us!! I could hear him in my sleep but I could not wake up. I did want to give Ian a break but my body would not let me. Finally Ian woke me and said I had to get up because he could not stay awake, I said no and he said well you have to because there is a baby sitting on you and sure enough he had Landon sitting on my back!!!!!! this sleeping pattern seemed to be our norm there, because of the time difference we were so tired during the day and wide awake at night.
Below are a few pictures of the traffic in Addis and our group photo of all the families that adopted children from Hannah's Hope.