Goodbye! (for now)

We are calling it quits for awhile.  Blogging was so helpful during the paperwork and waiting phases of our adoption, and we were so grateful to have this outlet.  It really helped us connect with other families and keep our extended family updated on our progress.  I hope our blog continues to be a resource to other families considering adoption or going through it right now. 

To conclude our blog (for now) I will give a much needed update on our sweet Solomon.  He is 19 months old and brings so much joy to our lives.  We feel blessed beyond words! My favorite moment of the day with him is first thing in the morning.  Just this morning, Solomon woke up between Casey and me, he crawled over and kissed my cheek. He then looked over at Casey, said "Da-Da!" while pounding his fist against his little chest, and crawled over to kiss Casey.  It was the most precious thing!

Solomon is growing like crazy, and he is learning so much. He loves Sesame Street and dogs, and chicken is still his favorite food!  He asks for "Chee-Chee?" while eating his vegetables at dinner....knowing that he gets chicken after his veggies.  Solomon has always loved being outdoors.  Last summer was not much fun because EVERYTHING ended up in his mouth.  Since that phase had seemed to pass I thought we'd give sand a try!

BUSTED!!!

The kid couldn't be stopped!

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Solomon has become such a big helper!  Just the other day I had a laundry basket of wet clothes waiting to go into the dryer and when I came into the room Solomon was doing it for me.  He also unloads the cutting boards and utensils from the dishwasher.  He can reach just high enough to drop all the spoons and forks into the utensil drawer.  I don't even correct his work by putting them into the appropriate section in the drawer because I love seeing the result of his helpful work when I open the drawer.

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As I mentioned in another post, Solomon had his first kiss.  A couple months ago I took Solomon to the local mall playground.  I sat down next to a woman, Mimi, who looked to me like she could be Ethiopian.  When I heard her talk to one of her children I heard that she was speaking a different language and I knew at that moment that she was indeed Ethiopian!  

As we were sitting there chatting, Mimi's 13 month old daughter, Elainna, slid down the slide and came to a stop face-to-face with Solomon who was sitting on his knees at the base of the slide.  At that moment Elainna placed both hands on Solomon's cheeks and planted a kiss right on his lips!!  Mimi and I just cracked up laughing, and Solomon sat there bouncing up and down. Apparently, it was a first kiss for both of them!   I'm sure I was just glowing afterwards....who knew that we would bring Solomon all this way and he would still share his first kiss with a little Ethiopian sweetheart!!!

The love birds!!

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We celebrated Solomon's baptism on February 2nd.  It was such a special weekend.  We had a pizza party at our house on Saturday night and the service took place on Sunday morning.  Much of our family was able to come and celebrate this special day with us.

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Here is our little stuntman in action: 

We will be back!  Hopefully within the next couple years we will be going back to Ethiopia to expand our family once again.  We haven't started yet, but we will.  When people ask if we will adopt again our response is, "Absolutely!"  I don't know how we could visit such a beautiful country, spend time at Hannah's Hope, and not go back.  There is such a need and we've been so blessed by Solomon that we cannot imagine our life any other way!  Bye for now! 

We recently got together with local families who have also adopted children from Ethiopia.  

This is Solomon's new best friend.

(He didn't have a choice!)

Still to come . . .

the story of Solomon's first kiss!!  (It's a good one!)  Plus, his precious baptism and a glimpse into his future as a stuntman.

(I'm giving this preview to put pressure on myself to finish a few posts I've been meaning to do.)

First Christmas Together

Solomon spent his first Christmas in America with Grandpa Russ and Nanna.  They have become professionals of hospitality and housed 18 people beautifully.  I think everyone had a bed, couch, or at least a cushion of some sort on which to sleep.

When we are together again for Christmas in 2010 there will be at least one more little one added to the bunch.  Ann and Zach are expecting in June.  We hope to be well on our way to our second Ethiopian sweetheart by then.

Christmas '09 was packed with good food, lots of laughs, and SLEDDING!

Solomon added his personal touch to a canvas for Nanna's nursery.

The boys (the big boys, that is) discovered the toy tractor store, and we couldn't get out of town without one last stop.  Bennett gave free rides!

We spent the week between Christmas and New Year's in Iowa, but those pictures are M.I.A since our computer crashed (So sorry Grama Lo and Grandpa Lar).  Luckily, we had already developed hard-copies and they are saved on kodakgallery.com.   

Please pray for Abby. The Riggs family is witnessing and helping their sweet Abby battle leukemia. While Solomon was living at Hannah's Hope the Riggs traveled to Ethiopia to pick up their daughter, Sami. They took pictures of Solomon, helping us piece together parts of his life before we were together. Please pray.

First Haircut!

We have been thinking for the last month or so that Solomon was probably due for his first haircut. The sides were short, but the top and back were about 4-6 inches long! A few months ago I was able to put a bunch of toys or books in front of Solomon and do his hair in about 5 minutes. Recently, it had gotten to the point where I had to plop him down in front of Sesame Street and comb away at it for 15 mintues. While we have enjoyed that time with Sesame Street, it was time! Solomon got the royal treatment at the salon. The salon had cookie platters sitting out for the holidays and an old man carried the platter over to us, offering one to Solomon. When one woman asked, "What are you doing today?" Solomon pointed to his hair. (With a little prompting from me, of course.) Regina, Solomon's first stylist, took us to the back room, armed with cookies and juice..."just in case". We did not want to disrupt anyone's relaxing day at the spa ;) Solomon did great, as you will see below, but Regina was the real star of the show. She kept telling me, "You don't have to hold his head." At one point Solomon had worked his way into a standing position on my lap and she just kept cutting away. We'll definately go back to her again! And yes, we did save some of those CURLS!!

BEFORE:

HEY, WHAT ARE YOU DOIN' BACK THERE?

One inch later:

Solomon's First Thanksgiving

As usual, our little meat-eater loved the turkey but didn't go for much else.

Meeting Great Grandma Norma and Great Grandpa Bob over a great Thanksgiving feast.

____________

Grandpa Lar calls me a stinker,

but I think HE'S the stinker!

Uncle Justin blew some great bubbles, and Aunt Julie helped me pop them.

Gramalo snuggles me often, and I don't mind a bit.

I found a treasure in the basement . . .
Daddy and Uncle Justin's old tractors!!

Little Lumberjack

Yesterday we went to find a Christmas tree. Look what Solomon grabbed before leaving the house. Without us knowing!!

How'd he know? We cracked up laughing.

(Don't mind the looks on their faces....it was cold outside and I snapped the picture before they were ready....cute nonetheless.)

Here is our sweet little tree...not much bigger than our boy!

I have some catching up to do!

There are a couple posts that are missing from our adoption blog. It's been killing me that these posts never made it thru the editing process in a more timely manner. They were such joyful occassions and I really can't believe it took me so long to publish them.Click on the following links to go back in time:

May: Radiology Resident Shower

May: Traditional Meal with Abiy, Tatty, Solomon, and Sarah

June: Our two Solomons!

_______________________________________________

Without further ado, we have a . . .

WALKER!!!

Doesn't he look like such a big boy?

For about one month this fall, Casey, Solomon, and I were in Washington, D.C., while Casey attended a radiology lecture series. The week before we left in late September Solomon took his first voluntary step. Over the next few weeks we continued working on it and he was a full-fledged walker by mid-October. We have been told that Solomon is tall for his age right now, so what better to be for Halloween than a giraffe.

Solomon had his first babysitter (even though she wouldn't accept my money!). Morgan came over to watch him for a couple hours while I ran errands in preparation for our trip to Washington, D.C. Good for her, but bad for us, she has since gotten a job and moved to Chicago. We miss Morgan!

Solomon is just a few days shy of 16 months old. I guess you know your baby is no longer a baby when the first tantrum is revealed. I know this was his first tantrum and I don't think he has had one since. I imagine that will change since I just typed that ;)


What does a good mom do when her child throws his first tantrum? Grab the camera!!

First, he melted to the ground.

Then, he looked at me to see if the tantrum was working.

He saw that I had the camera in hand.

Back up on his feet.

All smiles for the camera.

Next update (Thanksgiving) coming soon! Promise.

Finally, an update and pictures!

As summer winds down I'm happy to say we have a pretty solid routine and Solomon continues to provide us with so much joy and lots of laughs. The last three months have definitely been an adjustment for all of us. For obvious reasons it has been an adjustment for Solomon and it has taken Casey and I awhile to get used to the constant nature of parenting! Solomon has been such an easy baby (except for our sleep issue listed below.) I remember Heather Needles (who met Solomon in Ethiopia in March) saying that we would be spoiled by our first baby and she is right.

-The most challenging thing has been sleep. Solomon will not sleep through the night unless he is with us and even then he tosses and turns and ends up horizontal in the bed between us (we make a great human H). This is still better than waking up and walking to his room to soothe him numerous times a night. Luckily, he goes to sleep in his crib around 8:00, giving Casey and I some down time, and around 10 or 11 we bring him in with us.....our king-sized bed was delivered last week! ;)

-He loves when I blow on his food. He starts blowing with me and then we both just start laughing.

-He folds his hands to pray when we say "Let's pray" and then sometimes claps when the prayer is over. It is his way of saying 'Amen!'

-He loves scrambled eggs, chicken, waffles, peanut butter toast, brocolli, and blueberries.

-He has gone back to eating his vegetables out of a baby food jar because that's the only way we can get him to eat them. He will eat steamed brocolli and cauliflower, however.

-He yells, "DONE!" when he is finished eating. Actually, it is more like, "Daaaaa!" Someday we'll teach him the more polite way to ask to be excused.

-He loves being held and we love holding him.....still loving the Moby Wrap!

-He naps in his crib 1 or 2 times per day. His morning nap is usually only 30 minutes (just enough for me to shower) and his afternoon nap lasts around 1.5 to 2 hours.

-I handed him his fingernail clippers to play with when I changed his diaper the other day and he reached down to his toes with it as though he was clipping his nails. So cute!

-He loves books! He will sit and let us read to him for 15-20 minutes at a time and help turn the pages.

-He pretends he's going to hand you something and pulls it away real fast and laughs! We thought that someone at the wedding must have taught him the game, but nobody has claimed it. It blows us away that he may have come up with it on his own. He definitely has a sense of humor!

-He crawls like the speed of light. We need to enter him in a diaper derby!

-He pulls himself up, balances on his own two feet, walks with assistance, but he just won't take that first step. Balance is the missing piece of the puzzle. It will happen soon enough.

-We have post-it notes covering pages of his lifebook because he is doing so many new and cute things. These were just a few of them.

A few pictures from the last month . . .

Ready to cheer on the Ethiopian distance runners!

Kissing pictures of Daddy while he is away at work.


Crawling under the coffee table.





The washing machine is great entertainment! The buzzer makes him cry though.


He likes looking at Daddy's picture when he eats lunch. He points to the fridge saying, "DaDa" until I turn him to the picture.


He and his other cousins were in Tony and Stephi's wedding over the weekend.

He mastered the stacking rings, so he created a new game.

Such a big boy!

AUGUST 5, 2008

Solomon's birthday festivities kicked off the weekend prior when Gramalo and Grampa Lar came from Iowa to visit.

Casey told me that Solomon requested a cookie cake to dive into but it was the adults that did more diving into it than Solomon.

He's a neat little eater. He only uses his pincers.

Swing 'n Score Baseball from Gramalo and Grampa Lar

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August 5th, 2008

We left his birthday banner (above) hung for several days afterward, and Solomon loved having it there. Every time he pointed to it we would yell, "Happy Birthday". It got to the point where he would not eat any of his meals because he was too busy pointing and expecting us to be on que.

Nanna and Grandpa Russ came to celebrate the big day!

Solomon LOVED when we sung Happy Birthday to him. He swayed back and forth in his high chair while we were singing to him. It was adorable....he's mid-sway in the above photo.

He was so careful as he went for his first nibble of frosting.

This is as messy as he got! We had a sheet laid out ready for frosting to be flung about, but we didn't even need it. Notice his first sippy cup full of whole milk (bye bye formula)....so exciting!

Noah's Ark Little People from Mommy and Daddy

Little People Fishing Boat from Nanna and Grandpa Russ.

We love you so much, Solomon!

Peas, anyone?!?!

Solomon is keeping us guessing on the food he will or will not eat. He likes fresh banana but not Gerber bananas. He likes Gerber peas but not fresh dehulled peas. Well today Solomon ate all his chicken and this is where his peas ended up:

And there were even more on the other side.

He just picks up a pea with his little pincers and bloop, casually drops it on the floor.

He does it with his left hand too.

If I see him do it and tell him "No." He smiles, giggles, and does it again. Because that makes me laugh I have been "ignoring" it altogether. Little stinker!

Our Two Solomons

A few days ago we had Tatty, Abiy, Sarah, and Solomon over to meet Solomon! Once again, we had such a good time with them and they absolutely loved our little Selly. At one point Solomon and I were sitting on the blanket with Tatty and Abiy and Abiy said, "We need to have one of these." Tatty didn't have a response for him. (She starts medical school in the Fall, so having children is not on her mind right now.) Of course, we'll would love it if one of these couples would have a little baby to be either Solomon's buddy or girlfriend!

Solomon and Solomon

Sarah and Solomon

It was so sweet to see Sarah interact with Solomon. It reminded me so much of how the Special Mothers at Hannah's Hope interacted with him. She picked him up, smothered him with kisses, and bounced him up and down making sweet little noises with her mouth. There was so much love in her expressions. We loved it!

The thing I love about these next three photos is that Abiy picked Solomon up and just started dancing with him, and there was no music! The love that these four showed for Solomon in just a few short hours meant the world to us. I wondered, and maybe you have too, throughout our adoption what the people of Ethiopia think about Americans adopting their Ethiopian children. We had very positive responses from people in Ethiopia and we feel so honored to have the strongest blessings from these four!

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Cutest Thing I've Ever Heard!

I know that I've been a really bad blogger lately, but today something happened that was worthy of a rush home and blog!

Solomon and I went to the water park today, and we were making our first of three leisurely trips around the lazy river (I must include that Solomon loves the lazy river and I love that he loves it!!!) Anyway, this adorable little girl who looked like she could be Solomon's sister came floating up next to us and said, "Is that your baby?" I said, "Yes, his name is Solomon." In the sweetest, most innocent voice she replied, "He looks like you!" And floated away.

Is that not the cutest thing you've ever heard?!?!

Day 4 in Ethiopia (Friday, May 30th)

Our last day in Ethiopia was bitter-sweet. Seven of the eight families we traveled with left for home on Thursday night, so our final day in Ethiopia was very quiet. Our flight did not leave until 10 pm, so we had the entire day to anticipate that LONG flight home. Once again, it was a beautiful day in Addis! The entire trip it was around 75-80 degrees and sunny. (Thursday was probaby the warmest day with a temp probably in the upper 80's.)

Solomon had been doing great, but we were unable to get him to eat anything other than formula. He had been eating rice cereal at Hannah's Hope, so we thought. We decided to start the day by walking over to HH to ask Almaz about him rejecting the cereal. She informed us that he was a picky eater and that she had some tricks up her sleeve. She took us into her office where we mixed up some cereal and she gave us some flax seed meal and flax seed oil to help his little body move the food through his little system. ;) Solomon just lit up whenever he saw Almaz (so did we!). She showed us that she basically has to rub the cereal all over his nose and cheeks to get him to open up and take a bite. We never would have thought of that! Almaz had a few medical questions for Casey concerning dosages of medicine and the health of one particular child. She really appreciated his help and advice and he was happy to help.

Once we arrived back at the hotel I had a phone call to make. (We have became friends with 4 Ethiopians that live in our city, Tatty, Abiy, Sara, and Solomon. They are awesome and helped prepare us for our trip to Ethiopia.) Anyway, I called Tatty's dad, Asfaw, and we planned to meet him and Tatty's sister, Wube, at the hotel around lunch time. We went up to our hotel room to start packing so that we would be ready to leave for the airport later that afternoon. At about 2:00 Asfaw and Wube arrived at the hotel and I could immediately see the resemblance between Wube and Tatty. It felt so good to see a somewhat familiar face. They were so kind and brought gifts! They brought us Ethiopian coffee beans and they gave Solomon a traditional Ethiopian outfit. Then Asfaw said, "I want to take you to lunch." They took us to a restaurant on the grounds of a beautiful hotel for an excellent traditional meal and we ordered a lot of food. Unfortunately, we had to leave sooner than we wanted to because we needed to get back to the hotel to prepare for home. On our way back we dropped Wube off, so she could go to her class at the university and Asfaw drove us back to our hotel.

(We had hoped to meet Sara's sisters while we were in Ethiopia, but they had trouble finding our hotel. Instead they sent us gifts from Ethiopia and Sara just gave them to us this past Saturday night. They gave Solomon another traditional outfit and they gave Casey and me scarves knit with the colors of Ethiopia. We were so happy to receive those because, silly us, did not buy anything in the colors of the Ethiopian flag and I was feeling really disappointed about it.)

At 5:30 we had our bags packed, money exchanged back to dollars, and we were in the hotel lobby waiting for Danny and Gohannes to take us to the airport. Even though it was sad to leave Ethiopia we were excited to be heading home to family and to show Solomon his new home.

While we were checking in at the Luftansa counter the Ethiopian woman checking us in asked as she was looking at Solomon's passport, "You do have a German visa for him, don't you?" The look on her face was so concerned for us because she knew that we did not have one and we would not be able to board our plane. She told us that we were supposed to have gone to the German Embassy to get the visa. I asked another family, from a different agency, if they had the German visa for their child and they said, "yes". I was in a panic at this point. It was 10:00 pm and we could not get ahold of anyone to help us. Plus, the German Embassy would not be open until Monday! Casey searched the airport for a phone that would work, but we could not reach anyone. Finally, Casey found a Luftansa worker and told her our situation. I was in tears and told her that it would be awful to leave us stranded and even worse for Solomon. She made a couple of phone calls and spoke to a few different people and told us that they would make an acception and let us board. We were so relieved! Our trip had not even begun but we were exhausted already!!! I must mention that the woman that originally asked about him having a visa was the nicest girl. She felt so bad for us and I could see it in here eyes. She even let us borrow her cell phone to try to call Almaz and she was just as relieved as us when they gave us our boarding tickets. (We needed a German visa because we flew Luftansa and had a layover in Germany. The other families that flew Ethiopian Air did not need a visa because they had a direct flight.)

I love this photo of Solomon and Almaz because he just can't take his eyes off her.

This totally cracked me up today.

Solomon likes his sandals and doesn't even mind when they shift around his little toes!

He's Crawling!

Solomon has decided that crawling is a pretty good mode of transportion.

Look out! Here he comes! Is it overprotective to make him wear a helmet now that he's crawling?

We thought so too. He was just trying on his new helmet since he'll be doing some biking over the 4th.

I was trying to get a profile shot to show how big his helmet is, but he kept turning to look at me.

A few recent favorites...

Can't Keep Up!

I can't seem to keep up with this blog anymore. I really need to because I plan to have it made into a blog book and I think it would be silly if it was suddenly empty once Solomon came home. I'll try to give highlights as my time is limited. Solomon is literally tied to me in the Moby Wrap right now and he is due to wake up anytime.

I'll give you 10 tidbits for his 10 months of age:

1. Solomon's first word was Mama! He said it in Ethiopia because the Special Mothers were working on it with him using a picture of me in his little photo album. When we arrived they would point to me and say, "Mama!" At the time he said it indiscriminately, but now he seems to say it only when I'm around and he even looks and points at me while saying it. So sweet!

2. He loves his bottle and formula. Eight ounces is too much (He pukes afterwards!) and four ounces is too little. (He gets ticked off when he finishes and demands more.) Six ounces is just right!

3. He does not like to crawl. He refuses to do so even though he has the strength for it. He gets up on his knees and just reaches for his toys. He seems just fine with that technique.

He prefers being on his feet. Check out the forehead dimple!

4. He is a human floor mop! He slides around the hardwood floors in his sleep sack....backwards! The other night he was not interested in going to sleep so we let him play for a little bit. He backed himself off the rug onto the hardwood floor and proceeded to push himself backwards all the way into the kitchen. Pretty impressive!

5. He enjoys his vegetables (peas in particular....WHAT!?!?!), but he does not prefer fruit. How weird is that?! He will eat mashed ripe banana, but refuses the Gerber banana. He also rejected baby applesauce 3 days straight.

6. He's a biter! He bites noses when he is being playful, but also bites sometimes when he is angry and hungry. Daddy says we are going to nip that in the bud! When he bites we say 'NO!' and give him his teether. Any other suggestions?


7. He wakes up happy most of the time, and he even sometimes wakes up clapping. Almost always, he flashes a million dollar smile at the same time he opens his eyes, accompanied by a screech of excitement.


8. He is most peaceful when in the Moby Wrap in the backyard. I dread July and August humidity and temps because we've had some beautiful breezy days in the backyard under the oak tree. He loves looking up at the leaves and branches and usually falls fast asleep.


9. We figured out how Casey and I can actually sit down for dinner at the same time. We put Solomon in his swing and we sit at the patio table (10 feet away). All we have to do is hop up every once in awhile and give him another good push. He's as happy as can be, and we just wave and smile back and forth.


10. Solomon adjusted to the 8 hour time zone change within the first week home, but he has been waking up for a bottle at 11 pm, 2:30 am, and 6: 30 am! Can you say T-I-R-E-D?? BUT . . .

. . . last night he only woke up once! Waaaa Hoooo! He went to sleep at 7:30 pm in the Moby Wrap while we were out for a walk, he woke up at 1:30 am for a bottle and diaper change, and he woke up bright eyed at 6:30 am.

One more thing, he likes listening to Teddy Afro, and we do too. It takes us right back to Ethiopia!

A few parting pics....

Happy 30th Daddy!

This is how he sits when we put him on the grass . . .

which makes him a little imbalanced and top-heavy! He often ends up like this . . .

Here he is at his first doctors appointment. He was a good little patient!

Day 3 (Thursday, May 29th)

Today was the first day that we started to feel back to normal after the long flight to Ethiopia. Our day of rest on Wednesday made getting out of the hotel today that much more enjoyable. We had the opportunity to visit the Hamlin Fistula Hospital. It is an amazing place where women have the opportunity to regain confidence and health. We attached Solomon to me in the Moby Wrap and he slept for about 2 hours. It was the sweetest thing. Later that day, however, I layed down for a nap while Casey and Solomon played a bit and I woke up feeling like he was still attached to me.



We did some power shopping this afternoon and brought home some toys for Solomon, a traditional outfit, wood carvings, and a coffee ceremony set which broke into hundreds of pieces on the way home :( That's okay....we'll replace it when we go back to Ethiopia for #2. (How quickly I have forgotten how brutal that flight was!)



We dropped off all the donations at Hannah's Hope after our shopping spree and I just remember Almaz saying, "It was everything on the list!" She was so appreciative and I know that they will put each and every one of those items to good use!



A highlight of the day was seeing Solomon's crib. We walked in the front door of Hannah's Hope and walked straight ahead to the winding staircase. There were picures on the walls of previously adopted children that I recognized. We walked down the hallway and turned left to go into his bedroom that he shared with his little buddy Abe Gustafson! We took some pictures of the boys in their cribs...too cute!

Jacqui with Abe and Dee Dee with Solomon

Here are some of our favorite photos of Solomon that we gazed at during the months between receiving our referral of him and traveling to Ethiopia. We received our first pictures of him on Referral Day (February 4, 2008), but the photos we have of him date all the way back to early November when he was just 3 months old. We received so many photos from AGCI and even more from families that traveled to Ethiopia.

Early November 2007

Late November 2007

January 2008

February 2008

March 2008

May 27, 2008
GOTCHA DAY!

June 2008
FOREVER HOME!

By the way, someone asked how old Solomon is. His birthday is August 5, 2007, so he turned 10 months old just the other day!

Day 2 (Wednesday, May 28)

**Click here to read updated Departure Day and Day 1

This morning we awoke to the sweetest sound in the world! Solomon was laying in his bassinett right by our bed clicking his tongue and clapping his hands. He looked and sounded so happy and continued to do this for about 15 minutes. Once he grew tired of this we lifted him up into the bed and the three of us played together for another 30 minutes. Today was the day we were planning on spending the day shopping throughout Addis Ababa for treasures from Solomon's birth country. Despite the amazing wake up call Casey and I felt under the weather. He had a massive headache and I felt nauseous, so we decided to forgo the shopping and just spend the day resting and enjoying being a family of 3.



Solomon enjoyed sitting in front of our hotel room window watching all that was going on outside. It was so fun to watch him discover a whole new world around him.

Luckily we were feeling better by the afternoon, so everyone in our travel group went out to enjoy a traditional Ethiopian meal. The restaurant that AGCI took us to was very nice and the food was excellent. Solomon seemed to enjoy the traditional dance, bopping up and down on our laps.

Just a few favorite pictures....

First tubby with Mommy and Daddy in Ethiopia

Relaxing with Daddy on the patio

First stroll

Yummy rice cereal

WELCOME HOME SOLOMON!

We made it home on Saturday evening safe and sound. We had a 4 hour layover in Chicago so we got to introduce Solomon to his Weston relatives!! Their homecoming for Solomon was awesome and it was evident that they had been waiting anxiously for the first moment they'd lay eyes on him.

(If any of you have a photo of all of you standing and waiting for us please send it....it was an awesome sight seeing all of you smiling, holding cameras, holding balloons, and holding that beautiful banner. I can still hear the gasps and noises of excitement when you first saw him!

It is about 5 am and Solomon is wide awake and paying with his toys. We hope that we all transition to the Central time zone soon! He is such a good baby and traveled for 29 hours better than Casey and I did!! Sorry I stalled out on the Ethiopia updates (if we weren't busy the power in our hotel was out)....I'll try to chip away at that in the coming days. Thanks for posting for me those couple of times, Ann!!!

Departure Day and Day 1 in Ethiopia

BEFORE (above): Feeling rested and ready for the long flights to Ethiopia

AFTER: Dee Dee feeling battered and bruised from the 29 hour commute!! Casey was a champ on the flights there.

I nearly cried when I spotted Gohannes with the AGCI sign. It was so nice to see someone familiar (if only from pictures).

Here we are measuring out formula and stocking Solomon's diaper bag with all the essentials for our first day together.

We ate breakfast with some of the other AGCI families and met Almaz! She is an angel...I had heard that from many people and now we have experienced it. At about 9:15 we walked to Hannah's Hope where everything happened so fast. We walked through the gate and Almaz excitedly waved us over to the infant area where Solomon was sitting among all his toys. I think Casey or I said, "There he is." Casey was video taping and I snapped a picture of him at first sight.

Casey continued taping as I walked over to him and sat down next to him. He did not look scared or anything....he held out his teething ring at me as if to say, "Want to play?" Casey put the camera down and came over and picked Solomon up and put him on his lap. He looked so content. We spent the next couple hours playing with him, seeing his crib, ooohing and ahhhing over all the babies and children, and then we fed him a bottle. We were sitting at the patio furniture outside HH and one of the Special Mothers showed me his formula and we prepared it together. He drank about 1/2 an ounce and fell asleep in my arms. We walked back to the hotel for lunch and rest before going to our embassy appointment. Our first day with our baby boy was just filled with joy and awe.....then the night came! These rookie parents were a little overwhelmed by the night time feedings. ;) We survived and so did he!



Check out Solomon's first outfit we put on him! It is the cutest elephant onsie from the Gustafson's! The week before we left for Ethiopia Jacqui and Dave sent us this onsie for Solomon. Our families' adoption journies paralleled each other throughout and we felt so blessed to be in Ethiopia together.

We are together!!!

Hi Everyone!

We made it to Ethiopia!  We are with S!!!

We went to Hannah's Hope this morning and he was sitting with all his toys.  He came to us so easily and he is so content.  He looks most comfortable when he is in his daddy's arms!  I fed him a bottle, but he only drank 1/2 oz. and fell asleep.  I carried him back to the hotel and Casey is up in our room with him as he sleeps.  When I left the room Casey had the camera in hand ready to take pictures of him.  He is precious!!!  It has been a beautiful morning and we are so happy!

We love you!!!!

Dee Dee and Casey

They are on their way!

     Can you believe it?  They are on their way to bring home their sweet little boy!  The next  time any of us see them there will be three... not two!  

     Before you start to worry this is, Ann, Dee Dee's younger sister.  They put me in charge of updating their blog while they are traveling.  So keep visiting!

     I talked with Dee Dee yesterday as she was making her rounds of phone calls before leaving America.  She said they will keep us posted as often as they can.  They gave us a timeline of events so please be thinking and praying for them during these times (US CDT/Ethiopia EAT):

Arrive in Ethiopia: (9:00 PM/5:00 AM) Monday/Tuesday, May 26/27

Hold S in their arms for the first time: (1:00 AM/9:00 AM) Tuesday, May 27

Spend time with S in his birth country: Tuesday, May 27 - Thursday, May 29

Arrive in the US: (12:00 PM) Saturday, May 30

    As I was talking to Dee Dee yesterday Zach and I were on our way to Omaha to do some shopping.  We had Ethiopia on our minds as we know they will be united with S soon.  We were in the Old Market shopping and this is what Zach spotted.  I couldn't pass it up and got it for the Mommy (I added the heart to Ethiopia)!  Peace out for now!

And we're off!

Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, "Give them up" and to the south, "Do not hold them back." Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth...

Isaiah 43:5-6

On your mark, get set,

CLEAN!!

I do not like to clean, but I know that I will dislike it even more once S comes home. I'll want to spend 100% of my time playing with him, so it would probably be a good idea to give the house a good, quick final cleaning before we leave on Sunday. I'm going to time myself so I don't drag it out, stopping and starting. Our house is only about 1700 sq. feet, so it shouldn't take me too long if I just DO IT!

Start: 9:47 am

Finished: 1:54 pm!!!!

Next time we go to church...

we'll have S with us! It's little things like that that make my heart flutter a bit. All week I've been visualizing what we'll be doing this time next week in Ethiopia and the week after that when we are back home with S. I get so excited thinking that way...Casey just laughs at all the "Next time...." thoughts I have.

I feel like I need to do a post since our countdown to Ethiopia is getting closer and closer to 0!!! Tomorrow is Casey's last day of work before we leave. When he goes back to work in June it won't be 'just me' that he'll be kissing good-bye, and he'll be coming home every evening to a little boy that will want to play with his daddy. Awwww!

You know that post with all the donations? Well, I've since had to unpack and repack because we are needing to maximize our space and pound limit. I'm not even sure if we've achieved success yet....there may be another unpack/re-pack in our future.

The highlight of the week was when we hung this......

from our oak tree.

We are going to one of our favorite restaurants on Friday night as a last hurrah. The days are inching by, but otherwise things are quite peaceful and we are feeling ready. We would leave tomorrow if we could!

Holy Moly....

I just saw the airplane ticker over on the right margin and a jolt shot through me. SIX DAYS!! Over the weekend we received several photos of our boy from a couple families that were in Ethiopia last week. He's already making us laugh. Here is what Megan had to say:

"Let me tell you that your little boy is precious. He is BIG. I know that you know this. He sits in the middle of the other babies very upright (like a king)....I kept saying, "Give me a SMILE!" The pictures show what I got back...the cutest little sneer you could possibly imagine."

I wish we could but we can't post the photos, but this expression of his is priceless!

Kristin was also so sweet to take pictures and take notes on S. Thanks for all the info, recommendations, and advice!! Here is a little of what she said about S:

"He wasn't sure of all of us...Almaz said he is such a fun, happy and goofy baby! We got to see a little bit of that. He is getting so big and loves to sit up and play with his toys. He likes to be cuddled too ;)"

We are so happy to have a cuddler!!

We can't thank you two enough for all the pictures and information! We know that you had plenty on your own plate but you still took the time to make some observations and snap some photos of S. Not to mention how quickly you sent them to us after THAT FLIGHT back! It means so much to us. THANK YOU!

TWO THUMBS UP!

Back on April 23rd we received an email update on 'S'. I want to document it on our blog so it doesn't get lost when we close our old email account. It is pretty sweet and we can't wait to meet him.

Mr. 'S' is really becoming a social guy at HH. And by the way he is probably going to be one of the tallest Ethiopians. He is growing wonderfully both cognitively and physically. 'S' started sitting two weeks ago. He is recognizing faces really well and he has his favorites. He has a full fledged big personality and he is constantly kissed and loved not only by his Special Mothers but really by everyone, including the cook and the office secretary. As hard as it must be for the family to keep waiting to have their beautiful son into their arms, be assured he is protected, loved, prayed over. And they should know that we want to entrust back this amazing little guy while safe and sound into his God’s hand-picked forever family as soon as possible. -Hannah's Hope director

Since 'S' is legally our son we are no longer prohibited by Ethiopian law from posting his picture, but we're playing it safe and won't be posting identifying pictures until we have him in our arms. I had to crop this one and share . . .

I think he's giving himself 2 thumbs up for learning how to sit!! Yay S!

How cool is that?!?!

Would you believe that all of this. . .

fit into this ONE suitcase! (Thanks to those vacuum Space Bags!)

Thanks to the generosity of several family members and friends we received $570 to spend on donations. With your money I went shopping on Friday and was able to buy some of the higher priced items that Hannah's Hope-Ethiopia needs:

• a really good electric shaver


• Praise Baby and other Christian DVDs and CDs


• Butt Paste, per Abby's request!! ;)


• air pump for the deflated balls at HHE (Did you tell me about this need Tracie?)


• 39 pairs of underwear for the older kids


• 10 light weight jackets for the older kids


• 33 shirts for the older boys and girls


• 20 pants for the older boys and girls


• shoes, toys, bottles, and formula were dropped off at my house by some local friends

I was able to buy EVERYTHING off the sale rack, so I was pretty pleased with how far the money went. Thanks so much to all who donated or are currently sponsoring a child or children at AGCI's Hannah's Hope-Ethiopia!

P.S. It's not too late to donate...I'd love to go shopping again! ;)

May 10, 2008

Just a few weeks before leaving to be united with Solomon, our Ethiopian friends prepared us a cultural meal. I cannot even put into words how much these four mean to us. We love spending time with them and they were so encouraging about our adoption and could not wait to meet Solomon.

Tatty and Sarah made several dishes and each of them were delicious. Everyone was laughing at me because I used so many napkins to wipe off my fingers...I guess my injera technique could use a bit of practice. I guess Solomon and Abiy were trying to talk the girls into wearing their traditional attire...isn't that sweet. We would have loved it!

(L to R: Abiy, Tatty, Sarah, Solomon)

They performed a coffee ceremony for us. Beginning with Sarah roasting the beans over the stove. We thought the coffee was delicious!

Smelling the roasted beans

I think we arrived for dinner at 5 o'clock and didn't leave until 11 o'clock, and I could have stayed hours longer! We watched an Ethiopian music video and they explained everything to us, they let us borrow their Teddy Afro CD, and they proudly answered a lot of our questions about their culture. We treasure their friendship so much!

______________________________________

May 12, 2008

Final Delivery

Today at about 9:45 a.m. we received what I believe was our final adoption delivery:

our airline tickets!!

I just happened to see the DHL truck pulling up and I thought...get the camera! Should I ask the guy to pose for a picture? The doorbell rang and I swung the door open, scaring the guy half to death. I decided against asking him to pose for a picture and just grabbed the envelope and closed the door. However, I then decided to do something even more psychotic. I went over to the window to try to sneak a picture, but when I snapped the photo I realized the self-timer was on. The van was pulling away, so I had to run back over to the door for a better angle. Then I had to hold the camera still while it flashed about ten times before FINALLY taking the photo. That is the reason for the crooked half-vehicle shot (I was trying to hide myself so he wouldn't see me). I guarantee the DHL guy saw the flashes through the glass door and hopes to NEVER make a delievery to that house again.

A Little Tidbit...

I was just adding to my grocery list, and it hit me....sometime this week I'll probably go to the grocery store for the last time before we go to Ethiopia. With that thought in mind, guess what I added to my list?? BABY FOOD! We already purchased formula and rice cereal for the trip, but I just realized that we'll need to start other foods once we return. Who knew that writing two simple words could be so exciting?!?!

May 8, 2008

We had a wonderful evening with Casey's fellow residents and their families just a couple weeks before leaving to pick up Solomon. It meant so much to me when Crystal called me and said, "We need to throw you a shower now. You'll be too busy when you get back with Solomon, so we have to do it now!" She put so much effort and energy (which she has a lot of) into it and we had a great time celebrating our baby boy.

Marc, Crystal's husband, was the ultimate party assistant. What a great husband!

An Iowa State Cyclone bib to catch all of Solomon's spit up....sorry Dad!

All set for Solomon's arrival!

_____________________________

The final addition to the nursery arrived a couple weeks ago, so Casey quickly attached the glider hardware to the chair and ......

we're ready to rock-a-bye baby.

According to our airplane ticker, we are 19 days from departure date. It is too far off to zip up our suitcases, yet close enough to feel like we should be doing something. Here is our "travel corner" in our living room. Whenever we think of something we need to take we just chuck it behind the couch.

I got home from Stephi's shower on Saturday and Casey had planned a romantic dinner for two! He even got "dressed up" for me...no comfy pants for this sweetheart meal.

I've been working on a photo album that we hope to be able to give to our baby's Ethiopian family. I made an identical one for "S"....maybe someday he'll travel to Ethiopia with it and be united with the one who holds the original.

Here is Casey looking enthusiastic during our travel conference call with AGCI.

Done...gotta go watch Idol!

Airline tickets....BOOKED!

The last two days have been so exciting and we feel a great sense of relief. Our airline tickets have been booked....LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN!! We leave on Sunday, May 25th and return home as a family of THREE on Saturday, May 31st!

We had some turbulence (sorry I had to) lining up our tickets, but it's all good now. This is what we've been dealing with:

1) Most flights were booked so we do not get to fly Ethiopian Air :-(
2) Ticket prices skyrocketed last week and we are on the receiving end. We had to take what we could get.
3) Usually AGCI families travel together, I think, but we were told that in light of the shortage of tickets we were to "just get there". We're really hoping, however, that we end up with an itinerary similar to a few of the other families aka MORAL SUPPORT!

Luckily, we will fly in and out of our small, local airport and only have to lock "S" in a carseat for the 10 minute drive from the airport to our home.

Here is a little irony for the day....or was it God giving us His nod of approval? I got two sweet, sob-filled voicemails from my mom telling me to turn on the Today Show. Neal Diamond was on singing his song, "Coming to America." Hence, the title of our blog!

ETHIOPIA, HERE WE COME!!!

WE GOT OUR TRAVEL CALL TODAY!!!!

Praise the Lord....we will be holding our son in our arms before he turns 10 months old!!

We have to be in Ethiopia around Memorial Day for our U.S. Embassy appointment, and apparently it is peak season so finding reasonable tickets is turning out to be a major hurdle. We don't know yet when we will be leaving or returning, but we hope to have that figured out soon. We've made it this far, NOTHING is going to stop us now!!

I can't believe this is happening....finally we will be united with our son!

HE'S OUR SON!!

Thursday, April 24th, 2008, was just another day for us until we got a very special phone call from our agency.

We are MOM and DAD to a sweet baby boy in Ethiopia! (See his fingers below ;)

In our hearts we have felt like S's mommy and daddy since receiving his referral on February 4, but someone in Ethiopia made it legal last week and we are thrilled!

We hope to know travel dates within the next few weeks....we'll keep you posted.

The Zebra Rattle Arrived!

Recognize this?

You might remember that back in February, see here, we sent our baby a little package of goodies and enclosed a zebra rattle for him to shake, chew, hold, slobber on, and whatever else babies do. Well, thanks to pictures from Heather and Michelle we got confirmation that it arrived!

Look at those precious little fingers!

P.S. We got word today that he started sitting on his own about 2 weeks ago. Yay S!!!

Now would somebody please stunt his growth until we get there?!?!

Tulips and Teeth

Don't you absolutely love this time of year? Where we are the grass is lush and green, our tulips and daffodils have bloomed, and a fresh floral fragrance fills the air. It was so beautiful yesterday that we went on two long bike rides, one at mid-day and one as the sun was just beginning to set. We just can't wait for the day that we are pulling our baby boy behind us in a little chariot.


Despite the beauty of this time of year I am struck by reality. We are approaching the one year mark. It was on April 29, 2007, that we decided to adopt our first baby from Ethiopia. We had been praying about it for months and months, and we had been researching countries and agencies for several months as well. Nothing about this was a quick decision, but I do remember where we were standing in our house on April 29th when Casey put his arms around me and said, "Let's do this. Let's adopt from Ethiopia." The weeks following that were filled with phone calls to AGCI, announcements to our family, and a whirlwind of gathering paperwork.


As much as I love to see our flowers blooming and our trees forming buds, it is a reminder that we do not have our son yet. I really really thought that we would have him by now and we'd be going for strolls through the neighborhood and I'd be propping him up in the lawn for mini photo sessions with the beautiful tulips as a backdrop. Oh well...next year.


It's the little things.


Last week I was leafing through our bundle of mail and my heart sunk. I received a postcard from my dentist reminding me that I'm due for a check-up and cleaning. No, I'm not afraid of the dentist although I gag every time they put those x-ray films in my mouth and ask me to bite down...I really hate that! I feel gaggy just thinking about it. No, what made me sad was the fact that I did not schedule the appointment in advance, 6 months ago, because I thought FOR SURE we'd have our baby and I'd have to schedule my appointment around him and Casey's work schedule. I'll go, get the appointment over with and, once again, will not schedule my next appointment because FOR SURE we'll have our baby by then! Right?!

Donations

Since many family and friends have expressed a desire to send donations with us to Ethiopia, and since we believe we are close to getting a travel date we wanted to give everybody the opportunity to help donate to Hannah's Hope. Here is a list of supplies that we would like to be able to take:

• diapers of all sizes (preemie and up)
• baby wipes
• hand sanitizer
• Kleenex
• Similac formula (regular, vegetable, and soy based)
• children's clothing (must be new or like-new)
  -baby clothes for ages infant-8 months old
  -light jackets or sweaters for all ages
  -boys clothing for ages 6-10 years old
  -girls clothing for ages 6-13 years old
  -underwear for all ages
  -Please consider slim clothing for these children.
• shoes for all ages, but especially older boys and girls (The popular "Croc" is a great shoe for these kids!)
• Bottles: Avent for 8-12 ounce feedings
• diaper rash cream: A&D ointment, Butt Paste, and Desitin
• Baby shampoos and baby oil
• blow up balls/outside toys
• sidewalk chalk
• bubbles
• children's DVDs and VHS tapes
• men and women's deodorant
• good quality electric shaver

You can send us any of the above items or send us your monetary donation. We'll just start working our way down the list as donations come in, and we will take pictures and send receipts of your donations. This would prevent wasted money on shipping charges. One caveat is that if our luggage exceeds a certain weight limit then we will have to pay extra. We may have to subtract a small portion of your donation for baggage costs to Ethiopia.

If you are wondering how much to give, what to give, or if you want to see exactly where your donations are going, please click here and select the video "AGCI - Hannah's Hope Ethiopia".

Please send your donation to us, Larry and Lois, or Russ and Helen. We greatly appreciate you considering this and look forward to contributing to our agency's mission.

We Love Idol!

After picking our chins up off the floor, Were we really seeing and hearing this on American Idol?, I had tears in my eyes throughout the performance of "Shout to the Lord". Actually, we missed the first performance on Wednesday night because the show ran long and we didn't have our TiVo set long enough. We had no idea what we had missed. So we first saw the performance on Thursday night when Brooke, David A., and Kristy sung it correctly, first verse and ALL.

Go Idol!

Just what the doctor ordered....

African Children's Choir

Can you spot the Ethiopian flag?

A couple months ago some families from the local Ethiopian Kids Community were making plans to see the African Children's Choir, but Casey and I did not buy advance tickets because we were hoping we might be too busy with a little thing called ETHIOPIA. However, midway through the week we were pretty worn out from wishing and waiting for our travel call. Thank goodness Stacie reminded me of the road-trip to see the performance and we jumped on board. I would highly recommend that you go if the opportunity arises.

Three happy mommies and one soon-to-be. :-)

I love how Ash and Mamush are checking out Micah and all his silliness!

(L-R: Dee Dee, Stacie and Micah, Deedra and Ash, Jenni and Mamush)

7 (soon-to-be 8) boys v. 4 girls

(L-R: Casey, Paul and Ash, Kevin and Micah, Jim and Mamush)

I was seriously amazed at how fast Mamush and Micah crawl! Blink and they're practically gone!! Our baby will fit in between sweet baby Ash and the older boys, age-wise. As a matter of fact, our son turned one month older today!

It looks like our son will have some great buddies right off the bat!

Adoption Requirement #1: ENDURANCE

"Because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete..." James 1:3-4

"For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." II Corinthians 4:17

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

I feel a second wind today. I've spent some time today searching through the Bible and other books. The Purpose Driven Life chapter 25 is transforming my thinking!

When you grasp the eternal consequences of your character development, you'll pray fewer "comfort me" prayers ("Help me feel good") and more "conform me" prayers ("Use this to make me more like you").
-Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren

My heart and soul feel fulfilled.

no news

We got our monthly update from our agency and just want to let you know that we have no news. Thanks for your daily encouragement, but it sounds like it may be awhile before we have anything to report.

tick, tock, tick, tock

On Friday when I was having one of my more difficult days I had a light bulb moment. Now I know this is probably not an original idea, but I decided to grab the clock from our guest room and set it to Addis Ababa's time zone. It helps me to pray specifically for our baby because it allows me to visualize what he might be doing at a given time. He is 8 hours ahead of us, so usually he is sleeping while we're awake and vice versa. It's 8:15 pm there, so he's probably already sleeping unless he's a night owl. Sleep tight little one!

p.s. Can you see the corner of the picture frame to the right of the clock. Yep, that's our boy!

Laundry is FUN!

I heard what I usually think is a dreadful sound, that awful buzzer signaling that the laundry needs my attention. Today, however, I heard the buzzer and literally jumped up off the couch and gleefully skipped to the machine to attend to it. Why was I so excited to do laundry, you ask? I DID MY FIRST LOAD OF BABY LAUNDRY! It contained crib mattress pads, hooded towels, washcloths, a sleep sack, bibs, sheets, burp cloths, blankets, etc. Oh how fun!! Later after dinner the dryer buzzer sounded and I said, "oh goodie." And Casey replied, "Is that our fun laundry?" I have it sitting here and I seriously can't wait to FOLD EVERYTHING! Spoken like a rookie mommy! I know what you are all thinking.....this won't last for long!!

Q: So what is a couple supposed to do while waiting for a travel call?
A: Act as if they have a travel date and go shopping for essentials!!! Here is what we came up with. Click on the photo to examine closer.

We bought medication for us and our baby, bottles, lotions, teething stuff, thermometer, bug repellant, first aid stuff, snacks for us (trail mix, granola bars, raisins, crackers), etc. We won't buy diapers, clothes, or formula until we get our travel dates and updated information on our baby's size and specific needs. I've never had so much fun strolling every aisle of the store.

Oooh, I just heard my dryer buzzer. Off to do some fun folding!!

Prayer Rolodex

I'm going to write this from my perspective only.

You would think that this would be a time in my life that prayer would come easily. The things I have to pray for are unnumerable. I want my prayers to be specific, and yet at this time I'm overwhelmed by all the need. I need to pray for our baby boy who is in wonderful hands at Hannah's Hope but is not getting individual care 24/7. Other babies and children need the attention of the Special Mothers too, so I need to pray for him constantly. When I try to pray for him I don't even know what to say, how do you pray for YOUR child who is "alone" and YOU are not there to answer his cries?? I feel like any prayer I come up with is inadequate for his depth of need. When I pray I feel a lack of words, so often I have such a lack of words that I just try to imagine Jesus rocking him or hugging him or even just laying his hands on our baby's head as he sleeps or sits by himself in his bouncy seat.

Is my inability to find words for prayer a downfall of mine right now? Is it Satan trying to drain my strength and joy? Is it God protecting me from the deep and crippling sadness that could surface if I were to truly internalize how much our baby needs us right now? Just writing that last sentence makes tears flow from my eyes, so I think the answer to that question is yes.

I have way too many thoughts running through my head when I try to pray. I think of our baby needing us. I think of my desire for our travel call. I think of all the other children at Hannah's Hope who are wanting a Forever Family. I think of the children in government orphanages who not only want a Forever Family, but would be thrilled just to "move to Almaz's House" (that is what I've heard that some of the children at the orphanages call Hannah's Hope). Casey and I read Red Letters: Living a Faith that Bleeds, so I want to pray for those suffering with HIV/AIDS. That doesn't even begin to touch upon the blessings and miracles that God has worked in our life for which He deserves my praise. Not to mention all the other things going on in this world that need to be lifted up in prayer. My head swirls like this when I pray, so I need a solution. I need to pray specifically for these things and many others. I stumbled upon a suggestion that might help to keep me from being overwhelmed.

Here it is:
"Develop a Prayer Rolodex. Put together a rolodex with names on them. Use either 7 or 30 cards. On each card put together a short list of people/issues and then take one card each day and pray for what is on the list. A short list allows you to go deeper into prayer for each and yet keeps several things in your prayers every day. If you use seven cards, you have one for each day of the week. If you use 30, you have one for each day of the month." -Glen VanderKloot

I chuckled when I saw the words Prayer Rolodex, but it seems like a great idea for me at this time. I might take the cards and punch a hole in them and put them on a ring clip, so it'll be portable.

I am doing alright with the wait for travel. Of course, I'd love to get the call now, but I'm more overwhelmed by my prayer issues. Pray for me that I straighten this out. ;)

Inside the Head of a Waiting Mommy-to-be

I wake up in the morning thinking maybe today is the day for our travel call. As I'm pouring my first cup of bunna at 7:15 a.m. I know that my body has 2 hours and 45 minutes to be at ease because we are Central Time and it is only 5:15 a.m. in Portland and our travel call is the last thing on our caseworker Julie's mind as she is snoozing away. So at 10:00 a.m. (On the dot!) my phone is basically attached to me and I'm always aware that it could start ringing "Hallelujah" any time.

Also, I've officially started counting the days again (like I did while waiting for our referral). We have been waiting 51 days since we first laid eyes on our son through our computer screen. Here comes an embarassing admission: I feel like a love-struck teenager.....I kiss his photos ;) If it is a hard-copy photo I kiss it directly, but if it's a picture on the computer screen I kiss my forefinger and touch his face with it. TMI!!! I've even gone so far as counting the days of other families. The Needles' waited 44 days between referral and travel call, the Ancelet family waited 52 days, and Beeler's waited 64 days (Oh Julie, now I'm starting to realize how awful that had to have been.....ick!!).

So there is a glimpse of what adoption waiting will do to you. :) It's crazy but still the most wonderful thing imaginable.

P.S. For the record, Casey does not kiss photos (as far as I know ;). I think he's waiting to kiss him in person.

No travel call, but . . .

I'm excited about something!!

Rewind to the night before our referral....Super Bowl Sunday. Casey and I were at Syam's (a fellow radiology resident) house watching the big game, and Syam's cousin, Priya, was there. Priya is an internal medicine resident at the same two hospitals as Casey, and as I was giving her an update on our adoption she mentioned that she knows a resident working here who is from Ethiopia. Being the sweetheart that she is, she promised me that she'd ask him if he wouldn't mind talking to me. The very next night we got our referral call!!! Any follow-up with Priya was put on hold while we were on our referral high. A couple weeks ago Priya got back to me on the resident from Ethiopia and sent me his email address, and she told me that he and his wife would love to answer any of our questions. Oh get this, I can't tell you his name because he has the same name as OUR SON!!! HOW COOL IS THAT?!?!? Anyway, I just hit SEND on an email I wrote him. I'm hoping his wife will take me up on coffee or something. I really hope something comes of this.

So now we're waiting on two exciting phone calls--our travel call and this one!

To-do List *updated*

*Update: I got the guest bedroom 90% complete and somehow ended up in the attic and cleaned that out for 2 hours. I weeded out a ton of junk and only wasted 10 minutes by sitting down...yes in the attic....and reading a journal that Casey and I shared from our first year of marriage. It only took me 10 minutes to read because we only wrote sappy love notes to each other for a month! I need to add ORGANIZE ATTIC to my list so that I can check it off!

Our last update from our agency was very promising. We were told that we could possibly be part of a travel group in April. YAY YAY YAY!!! Oh no, I'm in Jodi's wedding on April 12th! I'm hoping for an April 5th or 19th travel date (fingers crossed)! Our agency is very cautious and conservative in what they tell us because anything can happen in international adoption. However, I'm taking them seriously and using this opportunity to work on some tasks that we would like to have completed before we get our travel call.

Since all I really feel like doing lately is gaze into our baby's eyes on the computer and go baby shopping I'm going to keep track of what I accomplish on the blog. Plus, I feel badly when our blog goes too long without a new post! We have TONS of pictures of our baby that I'd love to fill your computer screen with, but that is still a 'no-no' until we make it thru court. You'll have to settle for the next best thing: pictures of my to-do list. THRILLING!

1. RE-SEAL SHOWER *****floor done.....walls next*****

We remodeled our second bathroom A YEAR AGO and finally got around to doing touch-up paint, touch-up grout, and vent cover installation. Many an item was lost as a result of having no vent cover....luckily mascara and hair clips are replaceable. Casey had to listen to me rant and rave about when he's ever going to finish that ;) He became really good at fishing out many of my dropped items. Since putting the cover on, however, I have miraculously stopped dropping things....go figure!


2. WASH WINDOWS *****complete*****

This task was ignored last spring, so I can' t complain. It is going to rain today and tomorrow, but Wednesday looks clear. Think of me washing away on Wednesday!


3. UPDATE PHOTOS *****complete*****

Again, I have no right to complain about organizing photos because I haven't done this job in 3 years. I finally got around to ordering photos dating all the way back to 2005! The pocketbook took a hit on that one! I do solemnly swear to update and organize my photos on a bi-monthly or seasonal basis.


4. RETURN ITEMS TO STORE *****complete*****

This is an easy one as long as I can make it in and out of Target without making any unnecessary purchases! I should be fine with the Menards return....doubt I'll find anything tempting there.

5. CLEAN GUEST ROOM! *****complete*****

Luckily we haven't had visitors in awhile! The guest bed has officially become my junk pile. Everything you see here was previously in the nursery closet which I've had no problem filling with baby goodies.

(Oh shoot, Bennett and Leah's birthday gifts are in the picture! I doubt they'll be checking the blog.)

6. WRITE ADOPTION ARTICLE *****draft complete....now I'm sleepin' on it*****

A friend of mine asked me to contribute an article about adoption for our city's local parenting website. I'm at the brainstorming stage and have a deadline of mid-April. I'm so excited to have the opportunity to share with people our experience and how incredible this journey has been.

7. FIGURE OUT HOW TO BE A MOM! *****ongoing***** ;)

Semi-joking here....I'm going to rely mostly on instincts and experience as a nanny for this one. I have had a couple sleepless nights thinking about what formula to use, if he'll have a preferred baby bottle, how soon is too soon to transition him to solids, co-sleeping v. nursery, etc. Again, relying on instincts here....this book is like 300 pages long! Oh, I know, I'll save this task for the long flight to Ethiopia. How's that for putting something off until last minute?!?!

8. CLEAN OUT ATTIC *****complete*****

;)

I could add about 3 or 4 more tasks to this list, but I'm starting to realize that in the time I've taken to bore you with this I could have the guest room cleaned and checked off my list by now.

I'll keep you posted on my progress as I'm sure you'll be eager to hear!!! ;)

Successful Adoption (we're almost there)

I've been wanting to recommend this book, Successful Adoption: A Guide for Christian Families by Natalie Nichols Gillespie, for a very long time. This was the very first book we read about adoption:

I wish I would have written in the inside cover the date we bought it, but it was probably in the Fall of 2006 because that is when we started feeling God calling us to adopt. I might even call Family Christian Bookstore to see if they have record on my account of when I purchased it. Overboard? Maybe just a bit! ;)

I remember going to Barnes and Noble for the first time in search of adoption books. For some reason we just didn't feel comfortable buying Adoption for Dummies or The Complete Idiot's Guide to Adoption. Not joking....these books exist!! We didn't really feel comfortable taking advice from the writers of Beekeeping for Dummies or The Complete Idiot's Guide to Interpreting your Dreams. Can you blame us?! The lightbulb came on and I headed over to Family Christian Bookstore and Successful Adoption: A Guide for Christian Families was sitting on the shelf glaring at me.

I cannot even begin to explain how valuable this book was as we started taking our first wobbly steps into the unknown territory of international adoption. The third paragraph of the foreword gave us peace that the author (herself having recently adopted her daughter) knew exaclty how we were feeling,

"If you are one who has heard this call and you have already begun to delve into the murky waters of adoption through Web research and the like, I am sure you have quickly discovered that the amount of information available is overwhelming--and is nearly impossible to separate the wheat from the chaff, the secular views from the Christ-centered. You may be feeling at a loss when you begin to consider the practical details of all that adoption entails for you personally."

This book covers so much, such as encouragement for families that are feeling called to adopt but are unsure where to start, interview questions for agencies, organization tips for the paper chase, how to answer difficult adoption questions, bonding tips, and information on being involved in adoption and orphan ministry in the future. It gives tips on the smallest of details, such as making sure your notary public's commission doesn't expire until well after the adoption is complete. Who would have ever thought of that?!?! (Is your wrist sore, Paulette?)

It even reminds you to pose for a photo with the FedEx/UPS person upon delievery of the referral packet! We were not home when it arrived :( which I'm sure made Casey breathe a sigh of relief!

(Gee, I look young in this photo....we've been at this awhile!)

Long story short (oops, too late), if you are considering adoption or are just feeling a stirring inside then this is a must-read. That said, I can now check this off my list of things-to-do before Baby arrives ;)

so far so good

It's been exactly one month since we first laid eyes on our baby boy. February 4th was the day that changed our lives forever....that sounds so dramatic but it is so true. So far I am much more content with this stage of waiting.

Oooh, this just in....
When asked how he feels about this phase of waiting Casey said, "It's not as hard because we know who he is now, we know who our son is, we know his name, we have pictures to look at, we sent him gifts...."

Well said!

I've been busy working on a memory book for our baby's Ethiopian family, hanging pictures of him around the house, buying carpet pads to put under rugs (we have wood floors in our entire house and really wish we had comfy cozy carpet at times), learning all the features on our camera so we don't miss a thing when we have him, etc. Oh and I AM trying to do some bicep curls because I hear we have a BIG BABY on the way! Seriously I'm really doing this, or at least I started today! ;)

I'm adding a picture ONLY because blogs are much more interesting with photos. Here is a blankie I made for our baby and you can see in the background the curtains I made as well. My sewing machine is acting up, so I've moved on to other things for now. :(

"You got a spoon?"

Over the weekend Casey and I headed up to Chicago for our baby shower. Jill, Ann, and Brooke worked so hard on every last detail and we had such a memorable day!

Saturday could not have gotten off to a better start as I checked my email and saw that Tracie had sent us many many many new pictures of our baby boy (within 24 hours of her return from Ethiopia...I can only dream of bouncing back that quick)! We were thrilled and her timing was perfect. Within 30 minutes of receiving the photos Annie had saved them and made a slideshow presentation to play that evening during the shower. It was simply perfect....icing on the cake! (How'd you know Tracie??)

We excused ourselves for the day as the hustle and bustle began in preparation for the shower. We headed to downtown Chicago to meet a very lucky man named Sam who will be marrying the greatest girl in the whole wide world...my girl Jodi. Remember the books I put on the blog a few weeks ago? Jodi and Sam bought those for us (love them!) as well as all the bath toys we wanted plus a Childrens' Bible and a Hawkeye Book in honor of our Iowa days!

(Whoa, whoa, whoa!!! Watch out for those garbage cans!!;)

After a nice lunch with them we headed back to the suburbs to get ready for the shower and arrived fashionably late.... or is that just fancy terminology for rude?

It was nice to be greeted by everyone already enjoying themselves. It did not take long for us to notice that something smelled delicious. I smelled lasagna...ha! Secretly, Casey recognized the scent of Ethiopian spices.

As we walked into the dining room we were surprised to see piles of injera and 6 different traditional Ethiopian dishes which they had ordered from a really good Ethiopian restaurant. We were so thrilled and excited that everyone was going to get to try it, and for the second time of the night I was brought to tears. The first time was when I saw our baby's pictures on the computer slide show...wishing we were holding him.

Everything was delicious and everyone was so cool about trying something new. My mom knew I loved the lamb dish, yebeg alicha. ;) THANKS...you remembered! Eric had the quote of the night when he saw Jeff with the serving spoon he said, "You got a spoon?" The tone of his voice was like, "WHAT...I got jipped...I'm using my fingers over here!" (For those of you that don't know, Ethiopian food is eaten without silverware. Rather, pieces of injera are torn and used to scoop the food.)

We had an incredible time and got so many wonderful gifts!!

We appreciate all the work everyone put forth: Jill and Doug for hosting. Jill, Ann, and Brooke for planning and preparing everything. Marti, Eric, Alicia, and Simon for picking up the delicious food. Mom and Dad for traveling and Ann and Zach for flying in from Omaha/Red Oak. Tony and Stephi for getting there as quickly as possible.

Special Delivery

Look what I sent in the mail today!

Our baby's FIRST presents!

Okay so this is what it includes:

-a photo album containing pictures of his Mommy and Daddy, his new bedroom, and himself

-a special blankie made by his Auntie Ann

-a zebra rattle

-sweet smelling lotion that we'll continue to use on him back home (But only if he likes it :)

I can't wait to hear that he has received it. Hopefully we will get a picture of him with all his new belongings. Oh, the best part was writing his name on everything. I love seeing his first name and his new last name together...the last name that we will share with him forever! Please pray for court. We love him so much already!

P.S. Stay tuned. We had our first ever baby shower weekend! I'm a little rusty....it's been awhile since my last big post. I need to get back in the swing of things.

Thank you Tracie!

Thank you, Tracie, for loving my baby while you were in Ethiopia! You've given us such a sense of peace, and I can't even begin to express what that means to us!

We Got Our Referral!!

After 112 LONG days on the waitlist we got the phone call we've been dreaming of since this all began. We are completely in love with a baby boy!

Last Monday (yes, we've been holding out on you) I was getting my eyebrows waxed :) and I heard this strange noise. It took me a moment to realize that it was my "Hallelujah" ring on my cell phone. I said, "Rosa, I think that's my agency. It's too early for my monthly update. It must be our referral!" I was completely shaking and my knees and ankles felt like they would buckle. I answered it and our caseworker said, "Hi Dee Dee ................" I have no clue what she said at that point. I just interrupted her with, "Do you have our referral?" She replied, "Yes, I have a baby boy for you." I told her that I would call her back once I was at home with Casey.

Once I got home Casey didn't believe me that we got THE CALL, but then he realized that I wouldn't be teasing about that. After several attempts at calling our agency back (still shaking and pushing the wrong buttons) we got through to her and she said, "I have a baby boy for you. His name is _______." Oh my gosh, I sooooooo want to post his name but I can't!! All I can say is that God was speaking to us through his name. It is a name that we absolutely love, a name that I had written in my journal from a September entry, a name that I once said to Casey, I hope his name is _______.

Needless to say, we are thrilled and amazed by this baby boy, and we cannot wait to get our hands on him.

We are so blessed!!

FYI: We'll go through another waiting period to get through court in Ethiopia and then we'll get the call to travel.

Day 112

Can you believe that....112 days of waiting!

A couple finds....

I don't have these books yet, so I don't feel comfortable giving a full endorsement. However I found them on amazon.com and had to add them to our registry. They are just simple body books that our baby can identify with.

(Author Jabari Asim)

I was also excited when I stumbled upon author Cheryl Willis Hudson's books. She has a series of board books Good Night, Animal Sounds, Good Morning, Let's Count, etc. Again, they are just baby basics books illustrated for African children. Just HAD to share....no referral yet!

Make a Wish

Guess what I'm wishing for on my birthday?

Let the babywearing begin.....hopefully soon!

We are so excited about one of our first baby gifts. It's an awesome baby sling that can be transformed into like 10,000 different positions.






P.J. and I are modeling the Lotus Hold. (above)

I'd give it a two thumbs up, but my other hand is supporting my baby. ;-)

THANKS TONY AND STEPHI!!!

P.S. I was hoping to have Sarah, Stephi's cousin, teach me to be a pro at tying the wrap into all the positions, but then I heard the exciting news!! CONGRATS!! I'm hoping to see you at the wedding in August!

86 days and counting

I knew right when my phone started playing Hallelujah that our agency was calling. My mind went blank for a moment, the room seemed to shift around me, and then I answered . . . hoping that some miraculous movement had taken place. Nope. We are no longer unofficially #2 we are OFFICIALLY #2. (At our last update we were #4 and it was just investigative blogging that let us know that we had moved to #2. At least our calculations were correct.) We're hanging in there though.

Really the most exciting part about it was hearing that fun new ring tone! I love it! ;)

**Thanks, Tracie and Julie, for giving a great name to what I do all too often: "investigative blogging"! There is no more of that now that you are in the waiting-for-court-date phase. Man, that will be tough.

Calling all grandparents....

...we have an assignment for you. Very soon you'll be receiving this special delivery on your doorsteps:

If we follow our social worker's advice we'll come home from Ethiopia and pretty much stay put and lay low for several months. Of course we'll be expecting and hoping for small groups of visitors. Well, we'd love it if you grandparents wouldn't mind putting together a photo album of yourselves for our baby boy? Put your own personal flair on it but we'd like it to include pictures of you guys, of course, and a picture of "Grandma and Grandpa's House", other than that it's all yours. Start clickin'!!
(This was supposed to be a secret until the box arrives on the doorstep, but I couldn't wait!)

Okay, this special delivery will be arriving on OUR doorstep. I don't particulary enjoy photos of myself, but I thought these blocks were a great find. Maybe they are well-known already, but I've never seen them. We have read in our attachment books that having photos of Daddy and Mommy throughout the house at baby's level will help promote attachment (or he could just get REALLY sick of seeing us ;).
We're going to give it a shot anyway and try out these cute blocks.

Disclaimer: We are not employed by or receive pay from the makers of these products. Yeah, we've been accused by "anonymous" commenters of advertising for companies by putting fun stuff on our blog. Give me a break...that cracks me up!!

Hallelujah!

No, no, no, no....no referral yet. Since my last post I've noticed that my phone has been ringing less frequently. My mom told me, "You know that people are afraid to call you because of your last post." I should have known!

The solution:
I was talking to my sister, Jill, and we determined that all I need to do is give our agency a special ring tone!! So Casey and I were scrolling through the ring tone options and we found the PERFECT ONE: HALLELUJAH!! How appropriate and no more anxiety whenever my phone rings. Let the phone calls begin again. Call me!

Zero, zilch, nada

You know the saying, no news is good news? Well, in our case, no news is NO NEWS! Yesterday was one of the longest days because, literally, every 5 minutes I thought, is my phone going to ring? And when it did actually ring throughout the day I thought, will the caller id say our agency? By the time the afternoon rolled around I had a pretty major tension headache. Casey has remained calm about it, but whenever I call him I no longer start by saying, "Hi, honey!" Instead, as quickly as possible, I say, "No, I don't have any news. No call from our agency, I'm just calling for......." How's that for a pleasant greeting?!?!

Hopefully today will be a little more peaceful. I'm going to TRY to not think about the phone ringing! And I'm not going to page Casey. Remember what happened last time I did that? (read below if you forgot)

Merry Christmas

Yesterday we were on pins and needles wondering if our agency would miraculously hand out a couple referrals before the holidays. I paged Casey at work just to say 'hello', and little did I know his heart started racing and he scurried to call me back thinking that we had gotten our referral. Oops! I felt so bad because I could hear a shortness in his breath while we were talking. :( After that whenever my phone rang I got a jolt through my body.

Casey thought I might be a little down about going into Christmas without a picture of our baby, so he came home with a dozen roses for me! Awwww!

We can't wait to see what 2008 will bring!

We're #2!!!

Yep, that's right...we're #2!!

It's a girl! Julie and Josh got their referral today. Check out their announcement on their blog! Thanks to them we're movin' on up (or down) the wait list!!

Half empty or half full?

As I was thinking of putting this picture on our blog I thought does this wall of photos look half-empty or half-full? We think it's half-full! It shows the great anticipation we feel about our adoption journey and our baby uniting with all the people that will make up his forever family.

**Casey just got home and read this post. What was his response to the first paragraph, you ask?
As he gave my leg a double pat he said, "It looks two-thirds full, honey."
That's my technical husband for you! At least we know he's optimistic....he could have said it looks one-third empty.)

We've had the top two rows hung for a couple years, but then we realized that we would need more frames when our baby arrives. Many times I walk down the hallway and notice the bottom row of empty frames that reflect the fact that our baby is not with us but will be very soon! I can't wait to have a referral photo to hang!!


**As some of you might be able to tell, I've been lazy about updating the current photos. Carson (one of our nephews) is now walking, Leah (our niece) is a busy little helper with baby Jake, and Jodi and I posed for that picture when Case and I still lived in Iowa City (aghm, 2 1/2 years ago!). To Do List: Update photos! ; )

Could it be??

We just got a comment from Suzi Redman asking if we're #3 now that Tracie and Ted got the referral of their baby boy. I didn't know until now that they got their referral......more later. How exciting!

We're #4 on the waitlist!

I can't decide whether or not to use the exclamation point up above. It looks a little too cheerful. I don't really like the sound of being #4, but on the other hand, we did move 2 spots in 27 days! Wait, I thought that would sound good, but as I look at it in writing I wonder could we go another month of waiting and only be #2? Oh dear!

We moved one spot during the first month, two spots this past month, so we should move 3 spots this next month?!? I think I'll leave this post with that optimistic thought. ; )

50 days and counting

We're trying to check things off our to-do list as we wait patiently (ughm, impatiently) for our referral. We are anxiously awaiting our monthly phone call from our agency to see what our standing is on the waiting list. Remember, we were #6 on November 9th.

We have the nursery painted Over the Big Top blue. We are keeping it simple by only putting one thing on the wall before we travel to Ethiopia. Any accessories we add to the walls will be treasures we buy in Addis while holding our son.

Attachment Suggestions from A4everfamily.org

Suggestions from A4everfamily.org
"Do and Don't List for Family and Friends"

Do
1. Trust the parents' instincts. Even a first time mother may notice subtle symptoms that well-meaning family and friends attribute to "normal" behavior.

2. Accept that attachment issues are difficult for anyone outside of the parents to see and understand.

3. Be supportive even if you think everything looks fine to you.

4. Allow the parents to be the center of the baby's world. One grandfather, when greeting his grandson, immediately turns him back to his mom/dad and says positive statements about his good mommy/daddy.

5. Tell the baby every time you see him what a good/loving/safe mommy/daddy he has.

6. Offer household help (running errands, preparing meals that can go right from the freezer to the oven, etc.) so the parents can spend more time holding the child.

7. When the parents need someone to care for the baby for a night out, offer to babysit in the child's home. (After the child has been home for a substantial period of time.)

8. As hard as it may be for you, abide by the requests of the parents. Even if the baby looks like he really wants to be with Grandma, for example, he needs to have a strong attachment to his parents first. Something as simple as passing the baby from one person to another or allowing others, even grandparents, to hold a baby who is not "attached" can make the attachment process that much longer and harder. Some parents have had to refrain from seeing certain family members or friends because they did not respect the parents' requests.

9. Accept that parenting children who are at-risk for or who suffer from attachment issues goes against traditional parenting methods and beliefs. Parenting methods that work for many children can be detrimental to a child with attachment issues.

10. Remember that there is often a honeymoon period after the child arrives. Many babies do not show signs of grief, distress, or anxiety until months after they come home. If the parents are taking precautions, they are smart and should be commended and supported!

Don't
1. Assume an infant is too young to suffer from emotional issues related to attachment. Brain development can be seriously affected by trauma and loss. Babies are not immune.

2. Underestimate a new parent's instincts that something isn't right.

3. Judge the parents' parenting abilities. What looks like spoiling or coddling may be exactly what the child needs to overcome a serious attachment disorder. Parenting methods that work for many children can be detrimental to a child with attachment issues.

4. Make excuses for the child's behaviors or try to make the parents feel better by calling certain behaviors "normal". For example, many children who suffer from attachment issues may be labeled strong-willed by well-meaning family members. While being strong-willed can be seen as a positive personality trait, this type of behavior in an attachment-impaired child may signify problems.

5. Accuse the parents of being overly sensitive or neurotic. They are in a position to see subtle symptoms as no one else can.

6. Take it personally if asked to step back so the parents can help their child heal and form a healthy and secure attachment. You may be asked not to hold the baby for more than a minute. This is not meant to hurt you. It is meant to help prove to the baby who his mommy and daddy are. Up until now the child's experience has been that mommies are replaceable. Allowing people to hold the baby before he has accepted his forever mommy and daddy can be detrimental to the attachment process.

7. Put your own timeframes on how long attachment should take. One mother was hurt when she was chastised by a relative who couldn't understand...after all, the baby had been home six months. It could take weeks, months, even years. Every child is different.

8. Offer traditional parenting advice. Some well-meaning family members will tell a new mother not to pick the baby up every time he cries because it will spoil him. A child who is at-risk or who suffers from attachment issues must be picked up every single time he cries. He needs consistent reinforcement that this mommy/daddy will always take care of him and always keep him safe.

9. Fall into the appearance trap. Some babies/toddlers with attachment issues can put on a great show to those outside of the mother/father. What you see is not always a true picture of the child. Even babies as young as 6-months-old are capable of “putting on a good face” in public.

10. Lose hope. With the right kind of parenting and therapy, a child with attachment issues can learn to trust and have healthy relationships. But it does take a lot of work and a good understanding of what these children need.

Attachment

As we prepare for the arrival of our son, we have learned that while decorating the nursery and stocking up on baby essentials is important, even more important is the emotional health of our baby. In his short life, our son will have gone through more changes and life altering experiences than most adults could handle. Imagine how much harder the changes will be for him. While he may not consciously remember the events, he will still experience immense loss, including feelings of grief and trauma. He's already experienced the loss of a birthmother and will soon experience the loss of familiar and comforting caretakers as well as the sights, smells, and language of his birth country. His world will turn upside down. He will struggle with feeling safe and secure and he may lack the ability to trust that we will meet his needs.

We have prepared to meet his emotional needs so that he does learn that we will always take care of him and we will always keep him safe. We need your support. In order to form a strong and healthy attachment we will allow him to regress so that he has the opportunity to go through all of the emotional stages with us despite his chronological age. Although it may appear that we are spoiling him, we have been advised that it is best that we meet every need quickly and consistently. Until he has learned that we are his parents, we will need to be his primary caretakers at all times. It is essential that we always hold him, feed him, and do all of the nurturing. You may wonder how long this will take, but the timeline is different for every child. We will follow his lead and trust our instincts as his parents rather than worry about what society expects.

We have all been waiting anxiously for our son to arrive but he has not been waiting for us. He may show his grief and confusion in many ways and we are prepared to help him through it and prove that we are a forever family and this truly is his last stop. We trust that as our family and friends you will help us to do what is best for our son, and we thank you in advance for your support and understanding.

Taken from A4everFamily.org
"Letter to Family and Friends"

Gotcha Day for our agency's families

We wanted to point out a couple blogs that have us really excited. Two families are in Ethiopia RIGHT NOW, and they have updated their blogs. Please check out Abinet's family! We love Amy's line, "for those of you waiting for referrals...oh man, have I taken lots of pictures!" It is so cool that she would take the time to think about all of us waiting families. We will definitely ask Amy if we can see her photo albums!

Eyob's family is also in Ethiopia through our agency. As their blog states there are lots of babies at HHE!!! Is the baby God has chosen for us among them?!?! We are so excited by the possibility.

Please pray for these families for their safety and their children as they begin to adjust and bond. Of course, pray for those 19 babies and our son, wherever he may be : )

Birtukan

Last night I was preparing for our Thanksgiving feast, and while I was stirring the pumpkin pie filling Casey walked into the kitchen, pointed to it and said, "birtukan." English translation: "orange."

I guess learning Amharic is going to come a little easier to him than me because I didn't have a clue what he was talking about when I said, "Huh?" and he pointed and repeated, "That's birtukan." We found these great bean bags and book at Amharic Kids and we will hopefully soon know how to count to ten and identify colors in Amharic. We're off to a good start, Casey knows birtukan!

Why (you might be asking) are you posting on Thanksgiving day? Casey is on call tonight, so we aren't leaving for Northern Illinois until he gets off tomorrow morning. Why (you might be asking) are you posting at 7:15 am? I actually woke up at 5:30 because I get so excited about holidays that I can't sleep. When we have our baby I'm guessing this will change and I'll try to take advantage of every wink I can get!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Lucky number 7!!

Guess how many shots I got yesterday.....
Did I hear you say 1?
Guess again.....2?
Nope!
3? About half way there...
4?
5?
6?
7? DING DING DING DING DING.

Yep, a whopping 7 shots!!! Plus, I go back for one in 1 month and then again in 6 months for the rest of the Hepatitis A/B combo. Can you see the determination on my face to get through all seven? Casey was cracking up at the focused expression on my face!

Casey only had to sit through 5 shots....oh honey, you look like you're stuggling : (

I got tetanus, Hepatitis A/B combo, polio booster, typhoid fever, meningococcal, flu, and yellow fever. Casey got the same minus the Hep A/B and flu, which he has had for work. Thankfully our nurse was a pro, she went as quickly as possible without any warning. The soreness that we have now is more painful than the shots themselves. We now have our prescriptions so that we can take our anti-malarial drugs before, during, and after our trip to Ethiopia.

I think at this point, we're immune to pretty much everything!

Fun Adoption Quiz

As a reward for finishing "One Simple Word: Part 2 of 2" we thought we'd throw in a fun little activity. ;-)

Click on the link below for a fun quiz about famous people and historical figures who were adopted. Casey thought he was cool getting 4 out of 10 correct but I knew some of the answers plus a couple lucky guesses and scored 7 out of 10, so that's the score to beat. Tell us how you did!

Fun Adoption Quiz

One Simple Word: Part 2 of 2

As it is National Adoption Month, we wanted to continue to present issues that we feel are important in upholding, validating, and celebrating adoption. For one reason, this is a priority because we personally have gained much insight into adoption over the last year and wish to share this. More importantly however, we feel that it is our responsibility as expectant adoptive parents to promote accurate and positive viewpoints regarding adoption if not to the world in general at least to those who will know our children intimately. Below are highlights from an article regarding respectful adoption language. It covers this seemingly confusing and loaded subject in a simple and straightforward manner and ends with four light-hearted "adoption terms". Finally, thank you to all the friends and family who earnestly consider these issues and continue to share in our joy!

"Respectful Adoption Language (RAL) is vocabulary about adoption which has been chosen to reflect maximum respect, dignity, responsibility and objectivity about the decisions made by birthparents and adoptive parents in discussing the family planning decisions they have made for children who have been adopted. First introduced by Minneapolis social worker Marietta Spencer as postive adoption language or constructive adoption language and evolving over the past 20 years, the use of RAL helps to eliminate the emotional overcharging which for many years has served to perpetuate a societally-held myth that adoption is a second-best and lesser-than alternative for all involved–that in being part of an adoption one has somehow missed out on a “real” family experience. The use of this vocabulary acknowledges those involved in adoption as thoughtful and responsible people, reassigns them authority and responsibility for their actions, and, by eliminating the emotionally-charged words which sometimes lead to a subconscious feeling of competition or conflict, helps to promote understanding among members of the adoption circle.

RAL begins with the concept of family. Historically people have been considered to be members of the same family when one or more of several conditions are met: they are linked by blood (father and son,) they are linked by law (husband and wife,) they are linked by social custom (woman and her husband’s sister), they are linked by love. We don’t blink at the concept of two non-genetically-related people being members of the same family if one or more of the other criteria are met…except in adoption.

Though in adoption parent and child are linked by love and by law, the fact that they are not connected by blood has often meant that some people are unwilling to acknowledge their relationship as genuine and permanent. Thus they use qualifiers ("This is Bill’s adopted son”) in situations where they would not dream of doing so in a non-adoptive family ("This is Bill’s birth-control-failure son” or “This is Mary’s caesarean-section daughter.”) They tend not to assign a full and permanent relationship to persons related through adoption ("Do you have any children of your own?” or “Have you ever met your real mother?” or “Are they natural brothers and sisters?”) They assume that adoptive relationships are tentative ("Will the agency take him back now that you know he’s handicapped?” or “What if his real parents want him back?”) . . . .

Though the impact of adoption must be acknowledged consistently in helping a person who has been adopted or one who has made an adoption to assimilate this issue positively, adoption should not be described as a “condition.” In most articles or situations not centering on adoption (for example, during an introduction, in a news or feature story or an obituary about a business person or a celebrity) it is inappropriate to refer to the adoption at all. (An exception may be in an arrival announcement.) When it is appropriate to refer to the fact of adoption, it is correct to say “Kathy was adopted,” (referring to the way in which she arrived in her family.) Phrasing it in the present tense– “Kathy is adopted”–implies that adoption is a disability with which to cope.

Those who raise and nurture a child are his parents: his mother, father, mommy, daddy, etc. Those who conceive and give birth to a child are his birthparents: his birthmother and birthfather. Technically, all of us have birthparents, however not all of us live in the custody of our birthparents. But increasingly those who have chosen adoption for the children to whom they have given birth but are not parenting are asking that the terms birthparent, birthmother, and birthfather be used exclusively to describe those who have already made such a plan. ..

In describing family relationships involving adoption it is always best to AVOID such terms as real parent, real mother, real father, real family–terms which imply that adoptive relationships are artificial and tentative– as well as terms such as natural parent and natural child–terms which imply that in not being genetically linked we are less than whole or that our relationships are less important than are relationships by birth. Indeed in adoption children will always have TWO “real” families: one by birth and one by adoption. Similarly, when conscientiously using RAL, one would never refer to a child as one of your own, which intimates that genetic relationship is stronger and more enduring and adoptive relationships tentative and temporary.

In describing the decision-making process birthparents go through in considering adoption as an option for an untimely pregnancy, it is preferred to use terms which acknowledge them to be responsible and in control of their own decisions. In the past, it is true, birthparents often had little choice about the outcome of an out-of-wedlock pregnancy. In earlier times they did indeed surrender, relinquish, give up and even sometimes abandon their children. These emotion-laden terms, conjuring up images of babies torn from the arms of unwilling parents, are no longer valid except in those unusual cases in which a birthparent’s rights are involuntarily terminated by court action after abuse or neglect. In an age of increasing acceptance of out-of-wedlock pregnancy and single parenthood, today’s birthparents are generally well counseled and well informed about their options, and using Respectful Adoption Language acknowledges this reality. Increasingly, as agencies take on the role of facilitator and mediator rather than lifter-of-burdens and grantor-of-children, the phrase place for adoption is also being questioned. The preferred RAL terms to describe birthparents’ adoption decisions are make an adoption plan, plan an adoption or choose adoption (”Linda chose adoption for her baby”). Well counseled birthparents who do not decide on adoption do not keep their babies (children are not possessions) but instead they choose to parent them (”After considering her options, Paula decided to parent her child herself.”). . . .

As both sets of parents consider the ways in which they may plan an adoption their choices include retaining their privacy in a traditional or confidential (not closed) adoption or they may opt to have varying degrees of ongoing contact between birthparents and adopters in a process commonly known as open adoption.

Some adopters parent children born outside the U.S. in a style of adoption respectfully referred to as international adoption. The older term foreign has negative connotations in other uses and so is now discouraged. Similarly, adopters who choose to parent one or more older children, sibling groups, or children facing physical or emotional or mental challenges are said to be parenting children with special needs or waiting children, terms seen as potentially less damaging to the self esteem of these children than the older term hard-to-place. . . . .

This short "poem" by Rita Laws first seen in OURS: The Magazine of Adoptive Families (now Adoptive Families magazine) attempts to point out humorously the impact of negative language in adoption…

Four Adoption Terms Defined
Natural child: any child who is not artificial.
Real parent: any parent who is not imaginary.
Your own child: any child who is not someone else’s child.
Adopted child: a natural child, with a real parent, who is all my own.

Meskerem: a symbol of change, new life, joy, and renewal of hope for all peoples

Earlier in the week we decided we needed a break from central Illinois. Conveniently, St. Louis is a short drive away. We had heard that other families have enjoyed the Ethiopian restaurant "Meskerem", so we have been excited to try it for ourselves for quite some time. Therefore, we made the short trip on Saturday morning and hung out in the city during the day. As we approached the restaurant on Saturday night, we were both excited and unexpectedly nervous. However, when we walked into Meskerem, took in the subtle aroma, and looked into the face of Hanna (or Ana, not exactly sure), our quiet, friendly Ethiopian waitress, the butterflies subsided. The restaurant was modestly decorated with woven baskets and painted artwork hanging from the walls. Scarves hung neatly about the windows in the form of curtains, and the red, yellow and green Ethiopian flag hung proudly over the door. There were two Ethiopian men sitting near the window engaging in friendly animated conversation in what we believe was Amharic. We were intrigued that they were drinking what appeared to be Ethiopian beer so without hesitation, Casey said "I'll have what they're drinking." It is called Meta Beer and had a pleasant aroma similar to cider. It was very light and smooth. We smuggled two of our empty containers (below) in my purse after the meal. It was a quite a stealth operation. ; )

Casey ordered the Meskerem Combo which was a combination of Tibs Wat (berbere sauteed beef), Meskerem Tibs (rosemary sauteed lamb with onions and garlic), Gomen Besaega (collard greens with seasoned beef), Miser Alecha (cooked seasoned lentils), and Miser Wat (cooked seasoned lentils with spicy berbere sauce). I asked Ana what her favorite is and she recommended Special Tibs (Ethiopian honeywine sauteed lamb with vegetables). As we were waiting for our food we noticed other customers being brought a fried appetizer that I had remembered seeing on the internet. I was disappointed that we hadn't ordered this. Just moments later Hanna came to our table carrying this appetizer, which is called Sambosa (som-boosa) and offered them to us "on the house". She read my mind! She said it is very good and wanted us to try it. It consisted of a triangular-shaped fried flat bread stuffed with either lentils or ground beef which we dipped in a hot pepper sauce similar to salsa. It was AWESOME and more importantly, what a thoughtful gesture!

Both of our meals were served with injera on the side (Ethiopian flatbread made from a grain called teff). Each dish was plated on a large piece of injera on a central platter much like an artist's palate. We ate the whole meal without utensils by tearing a small piece of our injera and scooping a small portion from the central platter. Contrary to what others may say about injera, we found it to be quite tasty, having a subtle flavor similar to sourdough. It was so fun!

(Above) A central plate of injera with the array of courses served on top. Casey is going after the Tibs Wat.
(Below) Professional photography of Casey enjoying the Miser Wat on a piece of injera.
One of the best parts of the experience occured when the owner, Enoch, greeted us during the meal. Apparently he routinely converses with the customers. He was a nicely dressed, tall and handsome man with a pleasing smile. We explained that this was our first experience with Ethiopian cuisine and when asked how we came to know of Meskerem, we told him we found it through other blogs of adoptive families. He was very encouraging when we told him that we were adopting from Ethiopia! This meant a lot.

It was refreshing and exciting to try something completely new and so close to our hearts. Casey and I have decided that an important step in incorporating Ethiopian culture into our life is to familiarize ourselves with their unique cuisine and make sure our children have an appreciation for it. Since I enjoy cooking, I have a dream of learning, as best I can, how to make injera and other dishes using spices such as berbere, curry, awaze, etc. After learning how delicious Ethiopian cuisine is on Saturday night I've learned that I have my work cut out for me, but I'm pumped about it because we think Ethiopian food is delicious! Maybe some of you will be my guinea pigs...

Finally, we learned that Meskerem is the first month of the Ethiopian year. Meskerem is similar to spring and represents a symbol of change, new life, joy and renewal... how fitting.

Link to Meskerem's Grand Opening Flyer
Link to Meskerem's Menu

Baby Steps: We're #6!

We got our monthly phone call from our agency, and we've moved to #6 on the boy wait list. Sadly, that means we've only moved one position since we were put on the list on October 15. Casey and I are headed to St. Louis for the weekend and we plan on trying out an Ethiopian restaurant for the first time. We'll let you know what we think of the injera!

We're not the only ones waiting...

We can't buy clothes yet since we don't know how old our son will be when we unite, but that won't stop us from making other fun little purchases!

Even Casey admits that I got a steal on Danny the Dinosaur or as we lovingly call him, "Dino". I was in Big K ;) a few weeks ago and decided to meander down the toy aisle when this soft, green bundle of fun caught my eye. He was sitting all alone on an empty shelf, in an empty aisle on the verge of being smothered by incoming Christmas decorations. Who knows what would have happened to him if I hadn't come along? Now who could say no to a face like that (especially donning a red clearance sticker)?

We also found the other cute little buddies online. The little guy on the left, Lovey, will probably make the trek to Ethiopia before we do. We are thinking of including him, along with other treasures, in the first package we send to Hannah's Hope when we get the referral of our precious son.

One Simple Word: Part 1 of 2

As I was telling a local aquaintance about our adoption process she admitted that she didn't know the right quesitons to ask, and she doesn't know anything about adoption. At the moment I thought, no big deal I enjoy talking about it....as a matter-of-fact I could talk your ear off if I ignored social etiquette. After telling her about investigating multiple adoption agencies, applying to AGCI, gathering all the notarized paperwork, filling out form after form, going through an extensive homestudy and now being in the midst of a potentially 2-6 month wait for a picture and medical record of a baby thousands of miles away from a different country and culture, and then waiting 2-5 more months to travel to him, I felt my blood start to boil when she casually stated, "Oh, it's just like the real thing!"
Real? This feels pretty real to me! What is the real thing? Pregnancy? Just like? How so? Did she not process what I just told her?

After thinking of a myriad of potential responses, I responded by pointing out one of the most obvious differences, "We don't even have a due date, so it's really nothing like that."
She fumbled around some words, "You know what I mean, when you're pregnant, you don't know--"

I interrupted with, "It's really nothing like that."

End of conversation! On one hand I felt good that I did not back down and just agree with her, oh you're right, it is just like the real thing, but it still did not feel good to just shut her up. I pray that I won't be in another situation like that but reality tells me I will.

In retrospect, I believe that her awkward and thoughtless comment was a reflection of her own uncertainty about adoption. By her own admission and quite unfortunately, she "knows nothing about adoption". Therefore, she never came to the understanding that adoption is a means of forming a family that is equal to but different from the biological approach. Due to this lack of understanding and although probably unintended, her response was disconcerting and seemed to imply that adoption is second-best or should naturally be compared to pregnancy. Neither of which is true.

People don't usually intend disrespect in what they say, and using considerate language when discussing adoption does require a conscious effort in the beginning. Most of us have grown up with sloppy or inaccurate adoption terminology and perceptions. Therefore it's not easy, but over time it becomes natural. It just takes practice. At times I have reluctantly reflected over my experiences throughout life involving adoption and wonder what inaccurate or ignorant things I've said. Did I ever refer to someone as adopted when that fact had no relevance on the topic? Did I make a statement that seemed to portray the message that adoption is second best? I am sure I've used language or made statements that I now know were thoughtless.

Since November is National Adoption Awareness Month we figured this would provide us a great blog theme to follow in the next few weeks. It gives us the perfect opportunity to share with you what we have learned about adoption. The timing is right, especially since we're in the midst of THE BIG WAIT!

Click here for a chart of positive adoption language.

If you've taken the time to think about your own perceptions of adoption or language you use then we thank you and hope that you find the information and experiences that we will share to be useful and informative!!

In May I walked into Barnes and Noble with a list of transracial adoption books that our social worker recommended. The woman at the counter took my list and started typing, searching for the books as I stood and nervously watched. This was the first person outside of our family that would know we are adopting....it felt sort of like an announcement. At one point she stopped and said, "Can I ask you a question?" I nodded. "Are you doing this [adopting]?" I said, "Yes." She made two fists, pulled her bent elbows in toward her body and said with passion, "YES!!" No proclamation about "knowing nothing" about adoption and no irrelevant comparisons; just a simple, joyful celebration about the formation of a family... our family.

Let's celebrate adoption this month and always!

See Haile Run

The following is a medley of highlights of Ethiopian long distance runners that we love. It is set to the music of Ethiopian musician Teddy Afro and illustrates the national pride in Ethiopian endurance running. The footage includes Abebe Bikila, Haile Gebrselassie, Sileshi Sihine and Kenenisa Bekele among others.

Bikila set the world marathon record and won an Olympic Gold in Rome in 1960... oh yeah, he did it barefoot. This was the first time the Ethiopian national anthem was played at the Olympics.

Ethiopian long distance running has advanced incredibly in the past 47 years. The best example is the sweep of the World Championship 10,000 meters by Bekele, Gebrselassie, and Sihine in 2003.

The following is an Adidas commercial featuring Haile Gebrselassie. He has held numerous world records and most recently set the marathon world record in Berlin on September 30th.

Long Time No Blog

Yikes, it's been too long since our last post, but we don't have any news at this time. We have been on the referral waiting list for what....16 days. So far it hasn't been too difficult because we've just been trying to get things ready around the house, and we were busy the entire month of October traveling and visiting with family.

Despite all that we are constantly thinking about bringing our first son home. I had a dental cleaning appointment and it was so exciting that I did NOT reschedule my next 6 month appointment because I'll be working around a baby schedule by then!!! Also, when I'm grocery shopping and checking the expiration dates on say....the sour cream, I think "oooh, we might have a referral by then!" He's always on our minds! As for Casey, he was really wanting to toss the football around with me last Sunday and I wasn't really in the mood but gave him a few tosses anyway. When we finished he sheepishly said, "I love you, Dee Dee, but I need a son." I agree and can't wait!!

Tracie Tagged Me

Thanks to Tracie from Our Journey of Adoption I'm taking a slight break from adoption blogging to play tag and I'm it! I'll also take this time to plug her oh-so-cute stationary. We ordered a few sets and received them all tied with raffia bows ;) I love them!!!

You can order your own stationary at Make It Personal Designs.

Now on to the game. These are the categories that I have to complete since those are the ones that Tracie answered. Here goes....

Jobs:
Veterinary Clinic
College of Dentistry
a fair amount of babysitting in middle school, high school and college
Video Depot (whew, thanks Tony!)

UPCC Daycare
Von Maur department store (children's department)
substitute teacher
public school teacher (3rd, 4th, and 5th grades)
nanny for a precious 2 year old and 3 1/2 year old (current)
SOON-TO-BE FULL TIME MOM!!!

Places Lived:
Northwest Illinois
Iowa City, Iowa
Highwood, Illinois
Iowa City, Iowa (again!)
Central Illinois

Favorite TV Shows:
CSI: Las Vegas
American Idol (Yes, I voted for Taylor Hicks and sort of regret it.)
numerous Food Network shows

Books I Love:
anything about adoption
children's books....I could sit in the Barnes and Noble children's section for hours
The Nanny Diaries by Emma Mclaughlin and Nicola Kraus
Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas by James Patterson

Food Favs:
pizza
Mexican

summer salads
Noller's broasted chicken

Places I've Been:
numerous childhood vacations (i.e. Canada, Mexico, Washington, D.C., California, Pennsylvania, New York, South Dakota, Colorado)
all-time favorite vacation spot growing up: FONDA, IOWA
France
Spain
Florida
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (OUR HONEYMOON--I didn't know where we were going until we were at the airport.)

Things I Enjoy:
home improvements
spending time with family
cooking
volunteering
sewing
just hanging out with Casey

There....nothing too exciting. Now is Julie going to do it, Tracie??

Guess What??

IT ARRIVED!!

The FINAL piece of paperwork necessary before being placed on the referral waiting list came in the mail today!! Yes, we were sort of expecting it, but we've been told "expect the unexpected in adoption". We got an agency update today and it appears that we'll be lucky number seven! This is sort of a random picture. Casey is on call tonight and I didn't want to tell him over the phone that our FDL arrived, so I drove to the hospital and found him in the doctors' lounge. He didn't hear me come in and didn't even notice me until after I scrounged around in my purse for my camera and startled him with the flash.

Lovin' Lena

Casey and I just got back from a relaxing weekend in Lena with Nanna and Grandpa Russ. We had a great time despite learning that my favorite pumpkin patch in New Glarus, Wisconsin, had closed. We'll have to search for a new favorite to take our little guy to next year!

We enjoyed catching up with them, especially laughing at Nanna's silliness and antics.....her following us around with the cheese plate until we'd eat some, chucking Oreo cookie cakes at Casey, and making a recliner out of a chair and two bean cans (figure that one out!). Thankfully, Iowa State had an equally unimpressive weekend as the Hawks, so we didn't have to hear too much about the Clones from Grandpa Russ.

Our beloved Iowa Hawkeyes yet again caused great anguish with their loss over the weekend, but being the loyal fans that we are we were thrilled with the Hawkeye scrubs from Nanna and Grandpa Russ. Next year's Halloween costume for Sprite?!?!

Thanks you two!

Sprite's Light

Here is Sprite's light.....



We hooked up one of our Christmas candles to a timer, so every night between 5 and 11 Sprite's room is illuminated. It reminds us to be diligent in prayer. He needs lots of thoughts and prayers. We're coming . . . .

As you know USCIS approval is all we need before we can begin the wait for a referral. I noticed on someone's blog that they got a confirmation letter that USCIS received their homestudy. We had not received any confirmation and it made me a little concerned, so I called USCIS even though the phone number I found online was for emergencies only...this seemed like an emergency to me!!! ;-) I was fortunate enough to get a real person on the phone, and she not only confirmed that we were in "the system" but she also told me that we should have our I-171H (FDL: Favorable Determination Letter) next week!! On one hand this is great news, but on the other hand next week will SUCK if it drags on longer and we don't get it (excuse my language).

Endurance

I ordered this video:




It is about the true-life of Haile Gebrselassie, the fastest Olympic long distance runner the world has ever seen, and it follows the story of his life in Ethiopia through his gold medal performance at the Atlanta Olympics.


It came in the mail today...couldn't find it on DVD, so we're stepping back in time with the good ol' VHS tape. Anyway, I'll add to this post whether or not we liked it. Of course, we'll probably LOVE it no matter what for sentimental reasons alone. I'm signing off to go for a run....NOT! I'm hoping that the video will inspire me to become an avid runner. Dream on!

A family got a referral!

Check out the family using our agency that got a referral. Click on Expecting from Ethiopia . You can just feel the emotion...at least I can.

IT'S ON ITS WAY!!

I got the official word from our agency that our dossier was sent to Ethiopia TODAY! Last week I wrote that it would be sent any day, so now it has really happened. We have been waiting on USCIS for about two weeks and expect that to take a couple more weeks. Then we'll wait for the referral of our SON. Hooray!!!!

Outstanding Ethiopians

The Illinois Ethiopian Kids Community (IEKC) has a great link on their website.
Click here to see these talented Ethiopians.

Apparently Marcus Samuelsson (the first guy shown) was adopted as a child by a Swedish couple. He now owns a restaurant in NYC (can't wait to dine there someday), writes cookbooks, and has a television show. I believe it airs on Discover Health,
which we don't get :(

The Bowflex was invented by an Ethiopian....how random! Love it!

Very interesting! Enjoy!

Now on to Ethiopia

We got a call last week from our agency stating that our dossier is back from Washington, D.C. Therefore, this week it will make it's journey to ADDIS ABABA!! It will feel good to know that our paperwork is that close to our baby boy.

These last couple weeks have felt really strange. I have fallen off the adoption reading wagon, I think because this all feels very surreal. I was going through a stretch where I couldn't quite grasp the fact that we'll be getting a referral soon. But then I washed the crib skirt and sheets that we purchased, smelled them when they came out of the dryer and just felt a pain in my heart...longing for the day I smell the sweetness of our baby.

While Casey and I were on a walk last night we saw an old torn, dirty crib mattress sitting on the curb for the weekly garbage pick-up. I said, "Oh, we could have used that and saved some money." Casey said, "It's probaby better than what he's sleeping on now." Those are the realizations that make us want to get to Ethiopia NOW. We just keep praying that he's being held and loved by someone.

Is This Heaven?

Sunset cruise on West Lake Okoboji

Raspberry picking at Gettings Farm with Grandma Lois and Grandpa Larry

(Like the pose, Ann??)
Kayaking at Marble Lake

IT'S IOWA!

Get Out the Tissues!

Casey is on call tonight, so I'm just fiddling around on-line checking out adoption websites. Some of you may have stumbled upon this through our agency's website and some others we've shown it directly to already. Whatever the case may be we'll share this video on our blog for those who haven't seen it.

Here's a little background...
Between the time that we get our referral and when we travel to get Sprite he will stay at Hannah's Hope-Ethiopia, which is our agency's transitional home. This aspect of our agency, the fact that it is a Christian agency, and the "family feel" they provide were huge factors in our decision to use them. We also felt they had a high ethical standard. They were the first agency to respond to our application request and answered all our questions (all 20 something) and then some! I like "signs", which I believe to be God whispering in my ear. The very first book we read 6 months prior about difficulty starting a family was entitled Hannah's Hope!

Our case workers can be seen in the video. Almaz represent us in court, help care for our baby, etc. etc. etc. can also be seen in the video walking the children to HHE. She's Ethiopian-American and is an amazing woman from what we hear.

Here is a video that Casey and I watched countless times. It's about 8 minutes long, you'll need to have the sound on, and maybe grab a couple tissues. The part that we bawl through is "The Joy of Shoes".

Hope this link works. Please let us know if you find that it isn't working.

Click on this link and select the video entitled Hannah's Hope Ethiopia
http://www.allgodschildren.org/about/videos/

6 Things to Do When the Dossier is Complete

6. Finish making cornhole

5. Fertilize the dead grass (click on the photo to see Casey's cute face close up)

4. Install a dimmer switch

3. Attend a St. Louis Rams game

2. Buy baby bibs.

1. Paint Sprite's room

Referral in 3-6 months?

I found out today that it will probably take a month to get USCIS approval once they receive our homestudy next week. Our agency called today to tell me that our dossier looks great and that it will be sent to Washington, D.C., tomorrow!!! YES!! If USCIS takes a month and it takes about a month for our dossier to make it's way to Ethiopia we can maybe expect a referral in 3 months (at the least). I know that it's fruitless to calculate dates because anything can happen in the world of international adoption, but I like timelines.

As for now we need to line up an pediatrician who focuses on international adoption that we can send our referral to when we get it. I know there are a few in St. Louis that we'll be able to use. We will need to eventually find out what shots Casey and I need to get in preparation for travel. We have time to work those things out, but that's what we'll work on in the next month or two.

Next stop: Washington, D.C

On Monday we got our weekly phone call from our agency. She had received our dossier and was going to try to start proofing it. She usually only works on dossiers on Fridays, but she said she'd try to do it sooner so ours could be sent to D.C. with a couple others this week. At worst, it will be sent to D.C. next week. At that point it will take a week and a half to be authenticated before being sent back to our agency. At that point it will go to Ethiopia where it will be translated and a referral will be found. HOWEVER, before the referral we have to get USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) approval. When I asked her for a timeline she said we could expect a referral 2-6 months from our USCIS approval...not what we wanted to hear :( I asked how long USCIS takes and she said that it depends on our state!!! Again, not what we wanted to hear considering Illinois moved at a snail's pace on our homestudy. The one good thing is that we've already been fingerprinted and they just have to approve our homestudy. Simple, right?!?

We painted Sprite's room (that's what Casey calls him...so sweet) over the weekend. It's blue!

SOLD!

As if our weekend couldn't get any better...yesterday while we were painting our neighbor called to inquire about our bathroom remodel. He proceeded to tell me that when Casey and I move after residency a neighbor lady from further down the street would maybe want to buy our house as she'll be ready to downsize. Everybody knows that we'll move in June 2010, so we really appreciate finding this out. If we can sell it by owner without even trying that would be awesome!! I know it's a long ways off and I feel really sad when I think about leaving our sweet little home, but it's good to know.

We painted one coat on the baby's bedroom walls, but we're not sure if we like it. We'll wait until we're a little more content with it before we post pictures. The color is pretty bold but very baby. I think it is hard to really know if it is going to work while the bright blue trim tape is up and there is no furniture. We'll see...

Coming to Amharica

What does Coming to Amharica mean? I can't take any credit for the great title because it just came to Casey one night and we loved it. It's a combination of things....
1) Amharic (pronounced um-HAR-ic) is the official working language of Ethiopia. We hope to learn a few key words and phrases in Amharic to use with our baby.
2) "Coming to America" is a Neal Diamond song about the path of immigrants and their dreams of America. It is also the title of a silly '80's movie starring Eddie Murphy as an African prince and his trip to America.
So it is a play on words except instead of looking at it as our baby coming to America it's more about our path to our baby and coming to know his Ethiopian culture (i.e."Amharica").

We're excited to share our blog with all of you. We decided to try out blogging as a way to formally document all the steps in our adoption process. We have really found joy in reading about other families who are adopting from Ethiopia as well. We decided to try it out for awhile to see if it is something we felt comfortable with, and we've found that it could be a great way to share new info with all of you without writing emails and using ofoto. Maybe in just a few months we'll be adding posts to our blog from Addis Ababa with our baby in our arms!!!

Safe travels, Dossier!

Kissing the dossier goodbye. . . shoot, I should have taken a picture of us kissing it. Maybe that's going too far?!





Casey working hard at the copier.

HOMESTUDY HAS ARRIVED!!

Our homestudy arrived yesterday!! We thought we wouldn't hold it in our hands until next week. Here it is....

We've compiled all of our dossier documents, and we're on our way to FedEx Kinkos to send it off.

After sending our dossier we're going to pick up the paint for the nursery and go out for lunch to celebrate kissing our dossier good-bye. Afterwards we're home to paint. Oh wait, Casey is watching ESPN talk about football. He just said, "All right, now I'm revved up.....now I'm starting to think of questions for the football pool." Maybe we won't get the room painted this weekend ;)

Best Week Ever (so far...)

What a week it has been!! If you would have told us on Monday that on Friday our COMPLETED HOMESTUDY would be dropped through our mail slot we would have NEVER believed it.

Yup, that's right....after our miraculous Wednesday Connie emailed our homestudy to our agency's Department of Social Services to get our initial homestudy review. It was quickly okayed, signed, notarized, mailed, and was lying inside our front door when I got home this evening. WOW!

Casey's on call tonight...so tomorrow we will compile all of the dossier components, double and triple check things over, make a bajillion copies (in case it gets lost in the mail), and FedEx the dossier to Portland, Oregon. I'm choked up just thinking that we're at this point.....

The long wait and now the quick completion of the homestudy really makes us realize that God has perfectly timed all of the events that are leading up to our placement of our little guy....amazing!

The next step in the process is Authentication/Translation/Legalization. After being reviewed and approved by our agency, the complete dossier is sent to the U.S. Department of State as well as the Ethiopian Embassy by courier where it is authenticated. During this process documents in the dossier are checked to make sure that the state certifications and notaries are current and valid. Once they are verified, the U.S. Department of State and the Ethiopian Embassy will attach their authentication sheet to the cover page of the dossier. After the file is authenticated and reviewed one last time by our agency's staff in the U.S., they will send our file to their office in Addis Ababa and the in-country program director will have the dossier translated and submitted to the Ministry of Women’s Affairs (MOWA) to begin the process of approval for the adoption. At this point, we'll officially qualify to receive a referral of a child.

If you were impressed by my very knowledgeable explanation in the previous paragraph DON'T BE.....I copied and pasted most of it from the agency website. ;)

This is really a HUGE step in the process!!!!

Please keep praying for us....it's easy for me to let up when things are going well, but I'm trying not to let that happen.

We're moving forward...

Finally we've made progress!!!! As I've mentioned we have been at a stand-still waiting on DCFS to give us background clearance to proceed with the adoption.

Sorry, but I'm not even going to try to "make a long story short"...
This morning I was reading about families using our agency who are in Ethiopia picking up their babies, so I impulsively picked up my phone to see if I could make progress with DCFS today. Up until now we have made 5-10 calls to DCFS and have gotten NOWHERE! Today a nice-sounding woman answered the phone and I asked who I should talk to about our fostering license. She said she would find an 800 number form me to call (that is basically a dead-end). She stated that she was just walking through this particular office on her way to her office, but she heard the phone ringing and saw that there was nobody there to answer. Despite it not being her desk she picked up the phone---and it was me! Then I told her that she sounded so nice that I'd like to tell her our dilemna to see if she could help. She proceeded to tell me that she is the legislative liason and doesn't speak to "just anybody" (That's us!). Come to find out she is exactly the person we needed to talk to. She took our information and said that she would see what she could do and call me back. When I hung up the phone I just started sobbing because I just knew that this was the person who would be able to help us. I called Casey, Nanna, and Grandma Lo to tell them to start praying....

About an hour later while I was at the Farmers' Market buying sweet corn I got a phone call from Margaret (Our Angel from DCFS) stating that she pushed us through and we have clearance, she called Connie our social worker, and she stated that we can proceed. Tomorrow Connie will send us our homestudy, which we will notarize, and send to AGCI with our COMPLETED dossier!!! WaaaaHoooo!!!

With caution I'll tell you that based on other families it takes about 2 months between the time they send their dossier to our agency and the date they get their referral. So if we send our dossier on Monday then maybe, just maybe we'll get a referral in late October/early November.

Oh, so after THE CALL I hustled to my car, grabbed my camera, went back to the Farmers' Market, and had the man who was selling me sweet corn when Margaret called snap a picture of us. I thought about reenacting the moment by holding a phone to my ear and looking excited, but I felt that would seem a little weird and psyco so I just smiled like a "normal" person.

Needless to say, today's developments have made our day! Casey is thrilled and hasn't even heard all the details because every time I page him he gets another page. On a final note, I said to Margaret on the phone, "I don't know if you believe in miracles, but you answering my phone call seems like a miracle." She said, "I DO believe in miracles and I think this was one because I've never answered that particular phone before and don't really know why I felt the urge to do so today." I don't know about you, but that gives me chills!!

Calling Our Congressman

We got a call from our social worker on Wednesday recommending that we call our congressman to see if he can "flex his political muscles" and get our case moved along. Still no word! We are just holding tight, constantly praying for our baby, and praying to move along soon.

When the background check is done we will paint the nursery blue. Casey and I are so excited to do this!

Still waiting...

While we aren't getting anywhere with our homestudy background check we've tried to busy ourselves with other projects. Friday night Casey said, "Do you want to go to Babies r Us and register?" I think it is so exciting that HE suggested that. He is so eager for the adoption to be complete and hold our baby in his arms. So we spent the weekend researching baby products and registering at a couple stores. It was fun at the time, but I think when it was all said and done it just reminded me that our case is going nowhere at this moment. All in God's timing!

Yesterday we kept busy by trying to finish our second bathroom remodel. When we bought our house we knew that we wanted to refinish the hardwood floors and gut the 2 bathrooms. Well, we're a couple coats of paint away from being done with the 2nd one!! We did the work ourselves....Casey figured if he could get through medical school he could at least try figure out how to lay tile, build a shower, and hang beadboard. Plus, we don't have the $ to hire professionals. In my opinion both bathrooms look great and we did get the floors refinished, so our house will be ready for the real estate market in 2 1/2 years when we are approaching the end of residency.

We're at a Stand-Still

Yesterday Casey and I both called DCFS and got nowhere! We are waiting for our Illinois background check to be done so that we can send our homestudy to USCIS and our dossier to our agency. Casey and I both called DCFS at different times and we were told that they don't track the background checks, so we can't find out when it will be done. Also, when asked how long we'd been waiting for it I said, "Two months." And the respond was, "You'll just have to wait, they usually take THREE months to be completed." Our agency said that some states are notoriously slow at getting those done, but other states have it done in just a couple weeks.

So, purely out of boredom I got a head-start on opening registries. We'll do amazon.com, Babies R Us and maybe Target.

I found these great multicultural memory cards at http://www.eeboo.com/, but you can also find them at amazon.com by typing in "I Never Forget a Face".

Everything baby!

I couldn't stand it anymore. I had to buy a baby outfit. SO I BOUGHT THREE!! We are requesting a boy 0-12 months old, so we have no idea how big he'll be, thus making baby clothing shopping difficult. This is probably a good thing ;)

I found these outfits and couln't pass them up. Also, I've been going crazy buying books. I love He's Got the Whole World in His Hands by Kadir Nelson. The pictures are awesome! I have read it to the little girl that I nanny, and she is just mesmorized by the pictures and song. I CAN'T SING and she STILL loves it!

The Waiting Game

We are waiting before we are "officially" waiting. In order for our homestudy to be complete we have to get an Illinois fostering license in order to adopt, and the background check relating to that is not complete. All of our paperwork is finished and we'll overnight our dossier to our agency whenever this background check comes through. That will be means for celebration!

Let's Recap

July 17, 2007 St. Louis Outing
Today I took the morning off, Casey was post-call, and we went to St. Louis to get fingerprinted for USCIS.

June 24, 2007
To celebrate our fourth and FINAL homestudy visit we made homemade mint oreo ice cream for Connie. It was delish!

June 21, 2007
Today we sent our USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) application, so we are awaiting a fingerprint appointment.

June 15, 2007
The crib and changing table arrived and so did the cute Land of Nod bedding. Can you tell I was anxious to start nesting for our baby?!?!? Thanks Nanna!


June 14, 2007
Received dossier packet from our agency

May 28, 2007 First homestudy appointment with Connie

May 14, 2007
We requested an application packet from Illini Christian Ministries (ICM) to conduct our homestudy.

May 11, 2007
On this day we called our agency and requested that they send us their application packet. There was a great sense of relief and contentment in our decision to use this agency.

April 30-May 4
We spent these days "interviewing" the agencies we have been researching. We also made contact with families that have used the agencies. We've gotten only positive remarks about our agency.

April 29, 2007 Decision Day!
We're adopting from Ethiopia!!
We had been discussing it since January and finally decided to go for it. We were so excited to begin the journey.

April 28, 2007
Casey started reading Successful Adoption: A Guide for Christian Families while I was at Ann's wedding shower.

April 27, 2007
I was driving to Iowa to attend a wedding shower for Boo. I know how to get around Iowa City since I lived there for 6 years, but I took the LONG way through downtown to get to Ann's apartment. My jaw dropped when I saw that there is a new Ethiopian restaurant in downtown Iowa City. Little things like feel to me like God's whispers...

November 3, 2006
I was driving to Iowa City to meet up with the girls for a Hawkeye weekend. As I was approaching the Mississippi River and scanning through the radio stations I heard a woman's voice come through the speaker, but the radio kept scanning. Something inside of me told me to turn it back to the previous station, so I did. It was a Christian radio station doing a segment on adoption since it was National Adoption Awareness month. It brought tears to my eyes as I drove and listened. I could literally feel the Lord tugging at my heart pulling us toward adoption.