I love you to Ethiopia and Back

I will start from where I left off...We lost power for one day and then the internet was down for 2 days. After all of that, the craziness of taking the babies back to their orphanages began and I just did not even know where to start blogging again. So I have been home now for a few days, I have tried to collect myself again, and I will try to get it all blogged.
My last post was on the 20th. As you read we were able to bring Stella to the Guest house. And I was shocked! I really did not think she would be able to come spend the week with us! But she did and it was so wonderful! She is just adorable! It took her a night and a morning to get use to us but when she did... it was perfect!!! She can crawl and sit totally unsupported. She also is eating solid foods and does not care much about her bottle. That is totally different from Claire and Benjamin, they love their bottles! Stella is a 100% momma's girl! She would crawl on Darin and play Peek-A-Boo with him but when it came to feeding, and holding her it was all me, all the time! :)
Ohhh then there is Ben!! The thing that surprised me the most about him was how BIG he is!!! I took all 6-9 month clothes because he is 8 months old. Every out fit was up to his elbows and the pants were up to his knees! So he is in at least 12-18 month cloths!! He can not sit up yet and he tries to crawl. But the thing that is the most striking about Ben is how quick he is to laugh!! I would just look at him and say Fiikkkaaadoooo (that is his Ethiopian name)(it is actually Fikadu.) and he would let out the cutest baby shriek and have a huge smile. Now Ben was a Daddy's boy. He and Darin have this really cute bond already! He is joyful!
Both of the babies had something weird going on with their skin so we to them to the doctor on the 20th. Ben has severe eczema and Stella had infantigo. So we got medication for both of them and hopefully they are still using it at the orphanages!!
We had to take Ben back on the 21st to his orphanage. We could not take them to court and his orphanage want him back before the 22nd. It was one of the hardest experiences of our lives. We laid back down in his crib and we could not walk away...We kept telling him we would be back as soon as we could. He just smiled at us as our tears were flowing!
On the 22nd we had court and we did not pass. The babies paper work was there are they have passed their part. Unfortunately our paperwork is lost somewhere in Ethiopia!! So we are not exactly sure what is going to happen. It had absolutely nothing to do with our agency, they are doing all they can to find it. So we have another court date on January 13th. :( Hopefully they find it by then. I really do not even want to think about what will happen if it is not found by then... GRRRR. But the babies are for sure ours!! Now it is just a matter of when they will get to come home. Could be 2 months, could be longer. We just do not know.
We had to take Stella back on the 23rd and that was easier because we had gone through the court process and we knew he paper work went through and that she will be ours! So it was difficult. But there was more peace in knowing that we will have her and Ben soon!
Then the night of the 23rd we headed home. Our flight left at 2 AM Ethiopia time (6PM) U S time and we were at home by 10PM Christmas eve. Of course this a shortened version of the trip but there are some parts I do not know how to put into words...