A gotcha day to remember.

Four years ago today we met the boys for the first time. You've heard the delayed-I'm-gonna-hop-on-a-goat-if-someone-doesn't-take-me-to-my-boys-fast story, so we'll go at it from another direction today.

After getting the boys back to our guest house on August 24, 2009, we played for a while and enjoyed our first dinner as four until the time came for baths.

It had been a long day, but we had two dirty, smelly little boys and I couldn't wait to clean them up, get them smelling yummy, in fresh pj's and snuggle up as we spent our first night together.

Ha. A lofty goal for this first time mom of kids who had a way different daily routine.

First came Sam. Remember, he's about two and half at this point. And has pretty much just gone along with anything we say...as long as we had food to offer. Oh, how that was a precursor of days to come...

He willingly hopped in the tub and began happily playing with a few cups and other toys in the tub. After about 5 minutes of fun, Sam gave us a little surprise. He pooped.

In the tub.

Let's reference our recent poop adventures....it wasn't giardia poop, but it definitely wasn't solid-easy-to-clean-from-a-tub poop.

I don't remember all the details that follow, probably because I've sub-consciously removed them from memory, but Sam did get a bath that night. In a clean tub.

I do know I went downstairs to the front desk of the Guest House we were staying in to see if I could get some cleaning supplies. I didn't want them to have to clean the poopy tub. What I underestimated was our severe language barrier when you are trying to get something anti-bacterial to clean a bathtub in the middle of Addis Abba, Ethiopia.

It's nearly impossible.

I ended up with a mop. That's the best thing we could come to that we both understood.

I do remember Kenny just shaking his head at me when I returned to the room with a mop. I offered to let him go to the front desk and see if he could do any better, but he couldn't stop laughing at me.

A mop. To clean a poopy tub.

I don't think I even used it. But I did use a complete container of Clorox wipes and was so thankful I had packed them. I'll leave the rest of the details of poop removal to your imagination. Just know it all went away.

Charlie (aka Nuredin, at the time) was carefully watching all of this. And when I called his name and motioned to the bathroom, he was quick to put his little finger up and give it a quick little shake and he said, "No...No, no."

And can you blame him?? After the hour adventure that he had just watched his little brother go through, he was not about to agree to what these crazy Americans were calling a "bath"!

We did eventually coerce him into the shower and with a little help from Daddy, he realized that his bath looked way different than Sam's. And fortunately agreed to repeat it again the next night....although still a little apprehensive about the whole thing...



This is Sam's "holy crap on a cracker" look. You know, seeing how his evening had gone...

He told me later once we had a little English under our belts that we took way too many showers. He only had to take one once a week, maybe less at the orphanage. I'm all for preserving culture, but that habit was one that had to increase!

I'm thankful for my first night of parenthood, although I will always remember it as the night Sam had diarrhea in the bathtub.

Welcome to motherhood, Mommy!!

And thankful for the two little fellas that made me Mommy! You've permanently changed our lives forever...for the better! And although I know the situation that made you mine wasn't the best, I know it was all part of God's plan for Nuredin & Edasso Tuna to one day be Charlie & Sam Cook. You've changed numerous lives all around you, you've helped countless people see that love has no boundaries and you've increased the faith of many as they saw God make possible the impossible.

You are rock stars! My mini (or not so mini) rock stars.

Happy GOTCHA Day, Chuck & Hambone!!