Happy Halloween

NaBloPoMo ?

I'm going to attempt this. Wanna try it?

Maybe it will help me to actually write something on this blog again. I keep getting e-mails saying," I used to really like your blog."

Sigh.

Also, if you wonderful people of the Interwebs sent a gift to M&m to the address on the sidebar, I APOLOGIZE PROFUSELY. I didn't make it over to the P.O. Box. (If you must know, I have a wee bit of anxiety about leaving the homestead with the two small darlings). I am sorry if it was returned to you, and thank you so much for thinking of us.

Oh shit! There is no way I am going to be able to blog everyday for a month. Just now, I turned and found Meazi sucking on a battery. I have TWO KIDS!

Wordless Wednesday

Sunday Snapshot

Boy in Hossana.

Free Falling

Remember to always take the time to thumb wrestle.

Saturday mornings...

way more fun with kidlets.

Wordless Wednesday (Nearly)

Sunday Snapshot

Wordless Wednesday

Sunday Snapshot

Ethiopian National Museum. Addis Ababa.

Pause, Fast-Forward.

I lie in bed with her as she falls asleep. She is in her brown, fleece, footie pajamas, the ones with the pink polka dots. Her hair is in puffs, our second attempt. She is tired. We talk about our plans for tomorrow. I tell her her daddy will be home when she wakes up. Presently he is still at work, late on a Friday night.

"When we wake up," I say, "we will have breakfast, pancakes maybe."

"Mommy, I like that. I like pancakes."

I know she does. I tell her that after breakfast mommy, daddy, Meazi and Melese will go to her school to plant trees. She says, "Planting, planting, all over planting." I tell her in the afternoon we will come home and carve pumpkins. She wants to carve the witch stencil she saw on the carving tools packet.

I so much want to freeze her at this moment. I want to press pause, but I also want to press fast-forward. I want to keep her here with me, this size, this age, this girl-my daughter, but I also want to move forward, forward to a day when her belly is no longer distended from the persistent parasites that won't seem to die. I want to fast-forward to a time when she really, really, understands that we will always love her no matter what she does. I want to fast-forward to a time when she doesn't have to tantrum, and to test. I want to fast-forward to a time when her self-esteem is elevated, and to a time when she understands that the events that have unfolded in her life are not her fault.

I want to fast forward to a time when she feels secure.

I want her to know that although this is her fifth stop, this is indeed her last stop. She will not have to go anywhere else.

No matter what.

Wordless Wednesday

Change in the Weather

Leaves fall, there is a crispness in the air, and the four of us begin to settle in as a family. It took longer than I expected to feel like this. Last Friday I had a beautiful day with the kids, and I thought, "Now this is what I imagined." I felt happy, and so very, very grateful for the gift of these children. We have been home just over two months.

A lot has happened, and I feel like I should backtrack a bit, but probably don't have time. It is currently 2:00 am and I am wide awake. I have a lot of posts in my head.

Let's talk about the kidlets a bit. They are remarkable, resilient, rambunctious, beings. There have been a lot of firsts for them. Every day seems to bring a new first; for instance yesterday morning we watched Meazi's eyes get huge as she sat in a convertible and watched the top come off. We have spent the last two months trying to find a balance between letting them experience new things, and keeping them cocooned with us. Meazi is really social, and since the day we met her has said the words, "Children?" and "School" repeatedly. She thrives on being with other children, and so we have responded by spending more time than we imagined with other people during this early, crucial adjustment time.

Meazi's referral paperwork stated that she was turning three this past September 12th. We think that she is older. Her doctor agrees, and eventually we will probably do bone scan to see for sure. We debated whether or not to throw a birthday party. We wanted to celebrate, but we didn't want it to be too much. We decided to follow that old rule, "Invite as many friends as years old you are". So, we invited 3-5 friends. (Little Ethiopian adoption joke there. Did you catch it?)


I worked on getting her into the Pre-K class for four-year olds. Her doctor wrote a note. Meazi is in the program now, and couldn't be happier. It is only ten hours a week, but the structure and the ritual of it have made a huge difference for her. Her English is remarkably better since starting just three weeks ago.
Testing out her backpack for orientation day.


First day of school.


We continue to refer to Melese as "The Bringer of Joy."


And please, somebody get this kid a purple crayon!


Doesn't he look like this guy? Only cuter?

We have been lucky in that both kids love the dogs.


Melese was a little scared the first two weeks, but now hugs and kisses Teddy and Moses as much as Meazi does. Meazi calls Moses, MOE-ZEUS, so now we do too. Moe-Zeus seems to enjoy the boost in stature with his new name. The dogs, while not getting as much attention, have created opportunities for themselves to make up for it. For instance, when mom needs to take Mel for a diaper change during dinner, and Meazi follows (curious to see just how large a poop it is) Moe-Zeus climbs up onto Meazi's booster seat and eats everything off of the dining table. He polished of an entire Chinese food dinner one night, with egg rolls.


I spend a lot of time like this...


Trying to comfort Mel (he is teething, and also doesn't like to be put down), while trying to make sure my daredevil of a daughter doesn't crack her head open.

Meazi loves the water. Our water bill has doubled, and we have had to treat her for swimmer's ear.
Baths, showers, sprinklers, and kiddie pools have been our best friends at home. Just yesterday, she started to melt down a bit and I asked her if she needed to take a nap. What she needed was some time in the tub, so she asked for it, and in we went. It calms her down, comforts her and brings us closer together.

Here are some other things we have been doing,




Celebrating the Ethiopian New Year...



I just realized that it is 4:00 am. I am going back to do more of this while I still can...


Things aren't perfect, but they are decidedly...

Better.

Much better.

Sunday Snapshot

Coffee ceremony. Hossana. Following birth family meeting.