Dear America, It's Your Lucky Day...

Getting Ready.

It is early.

One man's flag is another man's microphone.

Oath.

Citizens.

Always one random stranger in our family photos. Must learn photoshop.

Celebrate.

The number one way we determine whether a restaurant is fancy enough to celebrate HUGE family moments-little jam jars. Check.

What happened when he heard they didn't have hot chocolate.

 Sure she asked to wear red, white, and blue.

Yes, she asked that her hair look like Dr.LaBootie's crown.

Doesn't change the fact that they will always remain...

Ethiopian.

Two Years Ago

We met.

And it's Just too Bright...

So I guess I'm not ready to give up the blog just yet. I will just have to figure out what to share. I have a feeling Meazi will help me with that. I hope that she doesn't mind that I share the following.

Today was the two year anniversary of our referral for Meazi and Melese. I had mentioned that fact to Meazi early on in the week. I asked her if she remembered what had happened on May 27th. She didn't. I showed her this video again. Then she remembered. Last night, for the first time in months, we talked extensively about Ethiopia. Meazi told me a couple of happy stories that I had never heard before. Then she asked me why her new friend Aster needed a family. I told her that I wasn't sure. We agreed that she must feel really scared, being here in Los Angeles for only a couple of weeks.

This morning Meazi slept in. We had talked about playing Pippi Longstocking again in the morning. I am always Pippi, Meazi is Annicka, and Melese is Tommy. We play this a lot. I lift our rocking horse over my head repeatedly, and we eat a lot of pancakes. This morning we made a huge stack with a slab of butter in the center, doused in syrup, and smothered in whipped cream. While I was cooking I asked Meazi to choose a not so loud cd for us to listen to. We have a messy collection of about 30 miscellaneous cds in our living room. Amazingly enough she chose a cd I made for myself and my waiting friends while we waited, and waited, for children. The songs are about waiting, and At Last is at the end. Cue ugly happy cry number one. Meazi asked me again to describe what happened on May 27th, 2009. I got to the part about "A 2 1/2 year old girl and her baby brother" and completely lost it- big, heaving, sobs. She just smiled at me, knowing that I was crying because I was happy and grateful. She has been especially sweet to me, and to her baby brother all day.

 I was thinking that we might not pay much attention to this date in our family. Really, probably not a happy day to mark for M&m. But, now, as with many things, this date has a new significance for all of us. Meazi, the perceptive wonder that she is, realizes fully that this day was a REALLY big day around here. As we sit together in the same room where all our friends came to celebrate, I think we will definitely use a sharpie marker to mark this day on our family's calendar.

This has been a day so full of happiness that I feel like I may actually burst. Yes, there are problems. Yes, there is sadness. Yes, there is loss.

But not today.

Today is pancakes and Pippi, libraries and parks, picnics and playdates. Today I am overwhelmed with gratitude. Today I am sure that I must be the luckiest mom on the planet.

The very luckiest.

 Another song from the cd...



For Bridget. Hold. On.

May 27th

Upon Referral, May 27th, 2009.

Meaza.

Height: 36 inches.

Weight: 29 pounds.

Today.

Height: 47 inches.

Weight: 47 pounds.

Upon Referral, May 27th, 2009.

Melese.

Height: 25 inches.

Weight: 14 pounds.

Today.

Height: 36 inches.


Weight: 31 pounds.

Happy best day of my entire life.

Self Soothing

Melese had a bald spot on the back of his head when we met him. It was from moving his head back and forth quickly in his crib. For months after we came home, he continued to do this self soothing behavior. He couldn't fall asleep unless he did it. It is how he comforted himself when no one was there to comfort him. It was how he relaxed when no one was there to tell him everything was going to be okay. I knew we had finally turned a corner when this behavior stopped. He began to feel more secure.

Yesterday there were some pretty big changes announced in the Ethiopian Adoption process. While I am happy about a couple of things, (first that they didn't close the program altogether, and second that they will be able to have more time to make sure every adoption is ethical), I can't help but think about all of the children violently moving their heads back in forth in a crib. Alone.

I don't want to start a conversation about ethics. I just wanted to know if anyone else felt sick to their stomach?

I recently met a woman who had an unethical adoption. She was lied to. Her child was lied to. It is awful. It was wrong.

We had an ethical adoption. We, against all odds, now have an open adoption. We had to. Our children need it, and we have it. Please don't ask me to elaborate.

I don't really know what the answers are.

I just feel sick, and sad, and I am also worried for my friends who are smack dab in the middle of their adoptions.

Why anyone would think a 5-8 year old girl who has lost everything is better off in an orphanage for months or years, instead of enjoying a nature rich Oregon in the spring, or a culturally rich Los Angeles in the spring, is incomprehensible to me.

Excuse me if I don't publish your comment about unethical behavior. I am devoting this post to my ethical adoption, and others that may be ethical too.

Self soothing myself I guess.

State Department Conference on Ethiopian Adoption

I thought folks might want to know about this:

Ethiopia Adoption Notice
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Office of Children’s Issues

The Special Advisor for Children's Issues
Ambassador Susan S. Jacobs
invites you to attend Ethiopia Adoption: Solutions into Action.
January 24, 2011. 9:00a.m. - 3:00p.m.

To participate via teleconference, please dial:
 tel. 888-363-4749
 Access Code: 6276702

"How do we move forward to ethically and transparently protect children, birth families and adoptive parents in Ethiopia? Join us to discuss this important question with other participants, including government agencies, UNICEF, adoption service providers and NGOs."

And, a waaaaaay less important issue...

Is my new Blogger Header blurry or am I just drunk?

It's Official...

We are a family.

Today was our court date for the re-adoption.

Judge said Yes.


My sister Katie came with us.


We went out to celebrate.

You know it is a special occasion when they bring you those little tiny jam jars. I love those little tiny jam jars. You also know it is a special occasion when Orlando Bloom is having breakfast there too. (Sorry, no picture, but I did slip him my sister's phone number).


The judge said something like, "And now I make you a family." I think I may have snorted at him, because clearly he must have been joking. He had very little to do with us becoming a family. The four of us have done that ourselves over this past year.

Tomorrow marks exactly one year since we landed in Addis. I don't have a 'twelve months post'. I did find some journal entries though. They are pretty boring. I'll post them if you are interested, but, again, no great shakes. It is stuff like, "Dear diary, today I met my children." I also wrote them in the dark.

Today is a good day.

"On May 27th, We Found Out About Us."

I can't believe that I am a person with a referralversary. One year. Really, I don't believe it. We waited, and waited, and then it happened. Our lives changed. I blathered endlessly about that day and how I felt. The posts are on the sidebar if you missed it. The short version is, I thought that it may have been the happiest day of my whole life. Now, having met them, I would have to confirm that thought; it was the happiest day of my whole life. It was also the saddest, because really if our stories are melding , and we have really become one family, well then that day was full of sadness too. Although it felt like a rainbows and unicorns kind of day for me, it wasn't. In a way it was a confirmation for my children that their losses were so devastating that they were going to need another family. They were matched with us. Thank you Jan, and Kristina, and CHSFS.

There are some good things about our adoption, so today, just for a little while, we will celebrate them.

Today I am remembering the outpouring of love from all of our friends and family, including all of you. Thank you.

Today we'll get an ice cream cake just like the one Pip and Squeak brought last year. Today we'll remember the good things.

Make video montages at www.OneTru

Two Trips

I don't have any time today, and I am having computer issues, but I just wanted to send out a word of support to those families who are getting new hoops to jump through. I know as a woman firmly perched on the other side it is easy for me to say that it will be worth it, but...

It will be worth it.

Fortunate

Steven has this week off from work. We scheduled our first post-placement visit for yesterday afternoon.

Steven got to walk Meazi to school in the morning.

Our social worker came after naptime. It seems that we are doing okay, and that we are allowed to keep the children... for now. (I am kind of joking here, but I have to admit that I kind of feel that way. When do you stop feeling like someone can take your adopted children away from you?)

The night before had been a bit rough. Melese woke up four times in the middle of the night, Teddy had to be let out to pee, and I heard Moses puking in the kids room. I bolted from the bed in an effort to get him outside before he puked on the rug. I ushered him out, and then tried in vain to locate the mess. It was 1:00 am, I was groggy and I couldn't find it. I finally gave up and went to bed. The next morning I spent a very long time looking for dog puke. I was just picturing our social worker saying, "Excuse me, what is this substance in the children's room?" That coupled with Mel's fat lip from a clumsy tumble, and a mysterious welt under Meazi's eye from bumping into my camera lens, made me a bit anxious about the visit. Steven assured me that Moses had eaten his own puke, and that everything would be fine.

It was.

We celebrated with Chinese food...

We were having a lovely time. Meazi had us in stitches. Melese feel asleep early. It was giggles and laughs until Meazi opened the fortune cookie that was obviously meant for me....


This made me burst into tears. Meazi looked worried, and once again I explained to her how sometimes mommy cries because she is so very, very, happy.