All About Aven

Nothing can describe what it was like to see our daughter for the first time. Honestly, I was in a fog as we were driving to the care center. We had gotten in to Ethiopia at 1:00 am, had been traveling for 28 hours, and I think it was just all surreal that we were actually in Ethiopia and about to see this face that we had been staring at in pictures for 4 months. I wasn't sure how I would react. There are no words for what I felt when I actually saw her! The tears started flowing and it felt like a dream! She was more beautiful that pictures show.

Our week with her was so sweet. She became more comfortable with us by the end of the week, but did not love us:) She was not sure what to think of us, and we made her pretty nervous at first. We took her back to the guest house with us one day and then decided we would just visit her at the care center for the rest of the week. She rarely leaves the room she lives in, she has had the same nanny since she was four weeks old, and she doesn't see many other people besides her nanny, so you can imagine how scared she was to be with 2 people she had never met, away from her home, and in a place she had never seen. We didn't get many smiles while we were there, unless her nanny was playing with her. But we were SO happy to be there with her, learn about her personality, and see her get more comfortable with us. She fell asleep on me or Brian every day and we enjoyed that snuggle time while she napped.

I could not be more thankful to her nanny, Aberesh. Words cannot express the bond those two have!  Aberesh loves her like she is her own, and she is the only "mommy" Aven has really ever known.  Aberesh takes care of 3 other babies that are all newborns, so Aven gets lots of playtime and is quite spoiled:) Aberesh is one of the kindest women I have ever met. We are forever indebted to her for her care for Aven during this time while we wait and for being such a huge part of her first year of life. As happy as we are going to be to finally go get Aven to bring her home, my heart is going to break when we take her away from Aberesh. I hope we are able to communicate with her how much her work matters to the Lord and how caring for the orphans is something SO dear to the heart of God.