Merry Christmas from Ethiopia

Good Morning and Merry Christmas Blog World- I am writing from sunny Ethiopia where it is at least 70 degrees and I am a bit jealous of our TN snow that I heard all about on Facebook. Facebook works great here, blogs not so much, so I am actually facebooking you right now and my sweet hubs will copy and paste it for me. I wanted to give you a quick update and if I pass court he will handle the pics from there just so there will be no delay in cuteness. First thank you for your prayers, Mercy's fever was gone by the time we got here so now we are just nursing a runny nose. Also, her Ethiopian name that we can never pronouce is Shhhh-why-a (long a) as a random fyi. She is TINY, 2-t and a size 5 or 6 shoe. (As a side note when I picked her up she had on like a 6-9 month outfit :( All the shoes I brought are too big. She is so cute and little which works out great because she does love to be held and snuggle. We are on the 3rd floor of our guest house and I am getting a workout carrying her up and down. She is playing calmly beside me right now like a complete angel. We had a very hard day the first day so I cannot tell you how relieved I am now. She was scared to death to leave the orphanage and then was very defiant. You don't want to come to another country and traumatize a child and then have to be stern with them but God kept telling me over and over, you are the mama, she does not know what is best for her, you have to show her. That was so hard and topped with the fact that I was utterly exhausted from not sleeping much from London to Ethiopia just almost sent me over the edge. I messaged J and told him I was going to take a nap before I made any major decisions about whether or not I could handle life and it worked. She needed a nap too I now know. She LOVES her new (well probably only) sippy cup. She is super smart, will repeat most English words and says Mommy, Daddy, and Cross (with a rolled r which is the cutest thing ever). We were looking at the photo book and she out of the blue pulled it up to her face and kissed Cross. My friend Whitney and I almost cried. It was precious! Her skin is very dry and I think her tummy is off but other than that things seem good. It is just hard knowing the lack and loss that she has had. It breaks your heart knowing that she was really scared to death to leave the orphanage to go to (what she has no idea of) a better life. I will be so glad when J and I are back here for our final pick up. I never want her to wonder again. Ok, signing off now so I can share the internet. Love you guys to death and can't wait for you to meet our angel! Merry Christmas!