Craig is REALLY a dad now (and he's actually blogging)

"This is Craig...I think the last time I posted on the blog was the very first post. So....don't expect another post from me for at least another few months. It's Wed at 7:50am according to my computer but here in Ethiopia it's 5:50pm. I think I should be over my jet lag by around Saturday at midnight when we leave Ethiopia and head back to the States. Zamara is still struggling with her chest congestion and we are going to try and get some baby medicine at an Ethiopian pharmacy tonight. We just don't want to be stuck on the plane over the Atlantic and wish we would have gotten the meds when we had the chance.

I cannot really even describe the feelings I have for my daughter. Picking her up and taking her home in the bus yesterday afternoon--the moment she felt like she was really ours--was just a surreal experience. A moment in time Laura and I had been looking forward to for far too long. I have held our daughter and laughed with her and changed diapers and been spit up on more times than I can count and it's only been a little more than a day. Sometimes I can't even look at her without just crying. She is already more than Laura and I could have hoped or dreamed for. I always feared the stickiness, dirtiness and spit up part of being a dad but it is truly amazing that when it is YOUR child you barely even notice those things. I am sitting here typing this wearing my favorite "Canada....fits your budget" T-shirt that currently has slowly rotting baby spit up all over it and I don't really care.

Thanks to all of you for your prayers and emotional support! I am going to attach a few new pics that we did not have access to yesterday but Laura mentioned in the blog posting (pooping during bathtime in particular). And that reminds me....please remember that pic the next time you are on vacation and confident your hotel staff has thoroughly cleaned any part of your hotel room. Also, there will be a few pix Laura's mom took of me and baby just a few hours ago around the pool here at the hotel. The T-shirt is starting to really smell so I better go now. Please keep Zamara's health in your prayers. We are especially concerned about her as we travel for 20 plus hours on various planes beginning this Saturday morning."

(This is Angie, Craig's sister, and all I can say is that Craig and Laura are definitely parents now because ONLY parents will take pictures of their kid's poop!)

(Beautiful picture of Mommy and Baby)

The new daddy and his little mocha cub washing their feet