Inspired by Ethiopia

Happy Summer!

2009-07-10T19:12:00.012-04:00

I'm always amazed at how quickly I get so behind on the blog. It's not that I don't check others, or even think about what I'll write next, I just never actually execute my plan (story of my life these days). Luckily, with the first week of camp down and very tired kids, it's only 7:15 pm and all four are IN BED. So, with a Corona beside me and the sun setting in front of me, it seems like the perfect time to update.

Although we had a very rainy, cold start to the summer here, I think we're actually set now. We have been in our new house for one year. It's the first house I have ever lived in in my entire life with central air. I was very happy about that, except for the fact that I'm a stubborn New Englander and HATE to have it on! This house didn't actually even come with screens, which is so weird to me (and ridiculously expensive to remedy!!). I am so happy that we have had the windows opened the entire season and haven't had to use the A/C once so far. I guess that is the only benefit of a cold, rainy start!

Anyway, things have been busy here. The kids are all happily in camp (except Sophie, who hangs out with me). Katie finally found her love - horses. She is riding every day from 8:30 to 3 and loves it. Matthew is fully ensconced in sports camp and William is doing a good old fashioned beach club camp with swim lessons, arts and crafts and play time. These guys all need so much sleep, so they have been totally wiped out.

What else has been happening? Since I haven't posted in months, I have some catch up to do on pictures. The next few are from Easter morning. I'm sure William will kill me when I show this one to his friends when he's a teenager, but it's a classic. I'm so grateful that the Easter Bunny, Santa and the Tooth Fairy still make their visits!

Here is Katie at her first riding lesson. We had to try it out before she did camp here. She's famous for dying to try something and then hating it (tennis, soccer, softball, etc). I'm not sure how she ended up loving horses, hockey, piano and art. Seems like an odd mix to me, but we're just happy she found what she likes at this point!
Matthew on the other hand is pretty easy to please as long as it's sports related (although he also loves piano). I thought I was going to be SO BORED watching 8-year-olds play baseball, but it was far more exciting than I anticipated. He's a pretty good little player for now, so I'm sure that helps. Again, as long as he's happy, so are we.
CCD does seem to be the hardest "activity" to get them to, but we do it. Here is my little holy (short) one about to receive first communion. He was very excited to wear a tie and coat since he sees Daddy wearing that sometimes and absolutely worships his father.
Here's William at our neighborhood beach on Mother's Day. I'm guessing he was mad he couldn't be in the middle, but I forget. His BFF got the middle spot, so I'm sure he was over it in no time. As much as Matt worships Daddy, William worships Tommy (and it is mutual).
Here's Katie with Tommy's big sister. Although she hates pink and princesses, she will still dress up if it's goofy enough!
At one of Matt's final baseball games there was another mom who was in love with Sophie. She took so many great pictures of her just because and then very nicely sent them all to me. Sophie is fully a two year old, but isn't too terrible, which is great. I'm not quite ready yet (nor is she), but I think by the fall she'll be in a big girl bed with no more diapers or naps. Three huge milestones for me. We've had diapers in the house for 8 years and 8 months, so that one is especially appealing to me right now!
I do try not to go crazy with the animal prints on her, but I couldn't resist this one!
Sophie adores her older brothers and sister, though she's just starting to learn how to push their buttons.
Here are Matt and Katie at their first ever piano recital. The poor things were so incredibly nervous (and the entire family was hit HARD with the stomach bug that week, so I was worried someone would puke on the piano on stage). Luckily, they did amazingly well and it actually got them even more into the lessons. I don't play, but I'm jealous. The piano teacher is great because she's given them all sorts of current songs to learn, so they like to show off by playing Coldplay and others, which I love!
Here is Sophie at a Sunday night dinner on the beach. Have I said how much we love our new neighborhood? We are at the beach nonstop and there are so many families with young kids that it's fun for everyone.
Getting ready for wiffle ball....
Here is our last-day-of-school bus stop celebration. Who doesn't love popsicles on the last day of school?
This was a bittersweet day for Matt and Katie since it was their last day of this elementary school. There is an International Baccalaureate magnet school in the town next to us that will be opening a brand new, state-of -the-art, green building in September. This is the first year that this IB school is open to other towns. We were so excited when we heard this for so many reasons. Our current town has a really great public school district, but we have always worried about how homogeneous it is (can you say blonds in Lily Pulitzer EVERYWHERE?). We love the education and have made some really great friends, but we've been struggling to find ways to add some diversity to our lives. Stamford (where the new school is located) is so ethnically and economically diverse and the IB program is essentially a private school model in a public school setting. It seems like we are going to get the best of both worlds in terms of education and diversity, so we are really excited. We were actually shocked to hear that they both got in (lottery based, but only 6-9 spots available per grade). Luckily, they accepted all out-of-district sibling groups, b/c we had already decided that we couldn't split them up if one got in and the other didn't. Anyway, we can always put them back in the neighborhood elementary school if things don't work out the way we hope, but we're pretty confident that this is going to be an amazing experience for all of us.

Here is William and BFF Tommy, who incidentally is going to marry Sophie (and she seems more than fine with that :)
Here is William with our cousin's dog Nori. A dog will definitely be the next addition to our family, I'm just not sure when. The younger three LOVE dogs. John and I really want a dog, but the bottom line is that I know I will be doing all the work, and since I didn't grow up with a dog, I know there will be a steep learning curve, so I need to wait until Sophie's a little older. All I know, is that it has to be a big dog - lab, golden, etc. I have to be ready to deal with all the shedding!!

Here is Miss Sophie at our Western Connecticut gathering for ET adoptive families. I think we had about 7 families join us at our beach on the very first nice day of the summer. It was so nice to get all the kids together and all of the older siblings too. I think it was especially nice for the older bio siblings to see that there are many other families out there that look like theirs. I'm sad to say we won't be making it to Chicago this year for BU'09, so this will have to suffice for this year. Next year though, definitely!
Matt and Katie had a really cool 3-day camp up in Bridgeport this year. They got to play baseball in the minor league stadium with many of the Bridgeport Bluefish, which was so fun for them. After the 3 days, we got to go to a game, which they loved. This is the first time Katie's been more interested in the game than the cotton candy b/c she knew so many of the players personally!
And finally, our first 4th of July in town. Over the past 8 or 9 years, we've always gone out to Long Island for the 4th. I hate to sound rude, but Shelter Island doesn't know July 4th. Growing up, July 4th was a BIG DEAL - road race in the early am, followed by a big parade (ok, when I was 8 it seemed big - at least I remember they threw lots of candy at me), with multiple BBQ's, boat rides, etc, followed by a big fireworks display in the harbor. I finally got a July 4th compromise and I think we've found our new way to celebrate. Our town doesn't do it quite the same, but it is much closer and a lot of fun. I had never even bought July 4th decorations or t-shirts before. The kids had a ball - 2 nights of fireworks (and the first night we could see 4 displays simultaneously out in the LI sound - in both CT and LI - it was really cool), beach games, BBQs, etc. This is the first place I've lived that I've felt almost at home. I still think I'll be back there someday, but for now, this will tide me over in a good way!

OK, maybe he didn't love the bike parade as much as I projected it on him! It's hard to be 4 and freshly out of training wheels and needing to keep very straight at a very slow pace!

If I can't get back there permanently, at least I know that there are even more people for me to visit "back home" (aside from pretty much all of my family, high school and college friends). I recently found out that a woman I grew up with is a famous ET blogger! It's a long story of how I figured this out (random pics on facebook and some serious blog stalking!!), but I was so happy to find Katy and her beautiful twin girls. I can't wait to get back home and see her again and meet those two adorable girls. I know most of you know her blog already (Straight Magic), but if you don't, you need to check it out - so funny and insightful. Katy, please tell your husband that I promise to stop harassing him now that we've connected!

OK, now that I have babbled incessantly about our very regular (but happy) life, I will go enjoy the quiet. Happy Summer!!

Thanks to Mama Dog

2009-02-23T21:19:00.041-05:00

Well here I am again. I have to say, I have been struggling over the past few months about whether to keep going with the blog. It's not that I am a very private person, but I think this whole facebook craze has made me a little nervous about "putting it all out there." I also don't know if it should still be a Sophie blog, or a family blog, etc. I was introduced to a new blog (new for me, anyway) by one of my favorite bloggers, Lori. I think Lori is perhaps one of the most insightful writers I have come across. No surprise, that one of the blogs that she follows is as well-written and thought-provoking - Bright Beating Hearts by Mama Dog. So, right when I was ready to pack it all in, I got a comment from Mama Dog. They are still out there! People still check! And some even like! At this point, I'm sure my family has all but given up on us, but if there is even one adoptive family still following, I guess it's all worth it. Especially if it introduces me to interesting, funny and touching blogs written by other Ethiopian adoptive families.

So, now that it's been about six months, I have a lot to catch up on. Of course, the easiest way for me is through pictures. That being said, I have a few very willing to be captured on film, one who is very fickle about it, and Matthew, who is in the stage of hating it.

One of our highlights from the new year is having our new friend Charlie come home to our town from Ethiopia (via Gladney). We are so excited to have more and more Ethiopian babes in Connecticut. I hope to get a few pictures with he and Sophie soon.

I guess one reason to update more frequently is because I have way too many pictures to share - I'm sure I'll lose a few readers mid-post! Anyway, here it goes.

This seems to be a theme of our kid pictures so far - everyone wants to squeeze Sophie, and she just wants to breathe. Not a bad problem to have that no one can get enough of her! This was Christmas Eve after Santa brought new pjs right to our door with sleigh bells and all (we love our new neighborhood!)

Santa brought a great doll for Sophie. It's a little big for her right now (I think she's intimidated by her!), but when we put Sophie's hair in a band, she looks just like her!
This is her favorite buddy Johnny. While Katie will kiss ABSOLUTELY NO ONE (including us), Sophie is all for free love.
Happy 2!!! She was most excited about Dora, all the balloons, and especially....
her doggy cake (this is everything I got people!)
Here is my little diva on her Christening Day (well, conditional Christening since we know she had been Christened in Ethiopia). She was SOOO good and looked adorable. It's so different having a 2 year-old there as opposed to a newborn. She definitely stole the show.
The Monsignor wanted me to email him some pictures, so we got to get a few with him. He specifically asked me to schedule it on a day he would be performing the Baptisms - he thinks she is just precious.
The kids with 2 of 16 cousins. I think these guys could be 2 more brothers. The boys worship them (and I love them AND their boxes of hand-me-downs ;)
Here's my sun goddess. This one absolutely loves the water and the sand. She would roll around for hours on the beach in Punta Cana.
Sandcastles with Daddy.
Post-sand - happy as a clam.
This is one of the few pictures I have of Matt without a pout. It's not a smile, but I'll take it. He really wants to be a teenager - and NOW.
Oh! A smile!! On a donkey, no less!
I do get lazy about her hair sometimes. I do love her hair - it's pretty easy to do, but I am not a girly-girl and I'm only now getting better about adding hair-time to our morning rituals.Here's my extra smiley one.
Trying to look cool....
And the real William
These two literally cannot get enough of each other. I swear it's like I have two little old married couples. M&K are a grade apart (though almost 2 years apart) and they are best friends. They are amazingly respectful and thoughtful towards each other - and we obviously love to see it. I think that the same will be true for W&S (though they'll be 2 grades apart). Both boys are so protective. Maybe I see it more b/c I always wanted an older brother. We do have moments where I think K&W could kill each other, but that almost seems more normal to me (though unbelievably irritating, obviously).
My vet-to-be
Just another happy donkey ride.
Poor Paco the donkey. He'll never be the same!
This picture is allowed b/c it's an action shot. M&K are on the same hockey team and they were able to play during an intermission at our local NHL farm team arena, which was really cool. Matt's a big fish this year, but will get a dose of reality next year when he moves up to squirts. I think my days of being a hockey mom are numbered, but they both seem to love it at this point, so that's all that matters.
Katie, Katie, lemon lady waiting to skate out.
Her new favorite camera face....
William and his best buddy ever, Tommy, at the freezing Easter egg hunt.
Now, I get it, I'm supposed to scream CHEESE.
April vacation at Great Wolf Lodge. We drove to the Poconos for a night at the indoor water park. The kids had an absolute blast and I was as tired as they were! I think 2 nights would be my max, but it was a great way to pass the cold, wet vacation at home.

I think that's all the excitement from our end. I am really hoping to be in Chicago in August, hopefully with the entire family this time, but we'll have to see. Although I've been quiet on this front, I do still check the updates of others. It is so amazing to me to see how many families have already started the process for (or even returned with) another Ethiopian family member. It is so incredible to watch these families grow. I feel like I have lots to say about many recent posts, but just no time to say it (where to send your kids to school, the use of the term "gotcha" (don't like it), etc.) Maybe I'll post again sooner, or maybe I'll try to comment more often. Bottom line is I haven't forgotten you out there. Keep the updates coming!

Yes We Can - Barack Obama Music Video

2008-11-04T23:16:00.001-05:00

O Boy!

2008-11-04T23:02:00.006-05:00

Wow - what a moment. After so many people told us how lucky Sophie is to have us, I can say yet again how lucky we are to have Sophie. Although my political opinions probably wouldn't have changed, I am so blessed to be watching history unfold with an entirely different perspective. I underestimated how I would react at this moment - I am emotional. My daughter will not have to question what she is able to achieve. As first stated over 200 years ago, we are infinitely closer to "all men [being] created equal." No matter who you voted for, or what political opinions you hold. You have to be in awe. Yahoooooooooo!

I just saw this on a poster on the news - don't know exactly who to thank for it....
Rosa sat,
so that
Martin could walk,
so that
Obama could run,
so that
our children can fly!

Tagged

2008-10-15T13:45:00.004-04:00

I have been tagged by Jen (who I can't wait to meet because she currently lives with her family in my hometown)! It may be hard to read the above, but here are the 7 random/weird things about me.....you asked for it!

1 - All four of our children were born within 4 ounces of each other - 7 pounds and 14, 13, 10 and 11 ounces (in age order). I think that's all my body (and obviously Sophie's birthmother's body) could take b/c they all arrived at totally different times - Matthew was 2 weeks early, Katie was on her due date, William was 3.5 weeks early and Sophie was 8 months late ;) The later they came, the faster they arrived. Katie was the shortest labor with 2 hours from first pain until arrival - no time for drugs on that one!! Sophie, of course, was the longest ;)

2 - I have known three of my closest friends for a total of 79 YEARS! I met them in nursery school, 8th and 10th grades. Even better is that I have a girls' weekend away with two of them this coming weekend - yahoo!

3 - I am physically incapable of burping. I am not polite, I really wish I could do it, but I can't. My mother says she wishes I could have as an infant. I spent hours of my childhood getting lessons from my friends' older brothers to no avail.

4 - When I am very hungry or very hot, I am NOT NICE. The two problems with that are that I really dislike air conditioning and I have a very big appetite, therefore, I am hot and hungry often.

5 - When I can see or hear the ocean I am VERY HAPPY! The ocean always makes me feel at peace with everything around me. For the first 18 years of my life I lived about 2 miles from the ocean. For the last 5 years of my life I have lived within a half mile of the ocean. I cannot move farther than the ocean again. There is nothing better than the sight of the sun bouncing off the water or the sound of waves crashing - however little they may be.

6 - OK, I wasn't going to put this one, but I can only think of 6 others, so here goes. My belly button is OFF LIMITS. My kids think I'm crazy, but NO ONE (including me) may touch it. It hurts! I think the OB that delivered me must have made some sort of umbilical cord mistake - I'll never know, but stay away!!!

7 - I am 37 years old.....TODAY!

You're it....
Jocelyn - Happy Birthday to you too!
Carey
Lori
Maria
Jennifer
Heather
Laurie

One year ago

2008-09-21T09:38:00.006-04:00

Wow, has time flown. A year ago last Friday, we met sweet Sophie for the first time. A year ago from this coming Thursday, we brought her home to meet the rest of the family. As I read the blogs of others who have traveled recently, our trip to Ethiopia seems like it was just yesterday. I remember so many faces and stories and images of the country. We are really looking forward to the day that we can all return as a family of six. We don't know when the right time will be, but I'm sure we'll figure it out when the time is right.

We were lucky enough to join many other Gladney families in NYC last Thursday night. I was so happy to see Belay again. Of course he remembered "Yordie" right away. I wish that she had felt a little more comfortable so that he could hold her, but she was a little overwhelmed. It was so nice to see how many local families are in process, and of course so nice to see so many children home forever. I even saw one older girl who I remember from Kechene. I think that she held John's hand the entire time that we toured the orphanage (all the girls were obsessed with his very straight hair!). She was so sweet. We weren't allowed to take pictures there, but her face has stayed with me this past year. I was thrilled to see her at the dinner. Although she didn't remember me, at least I know that she has found a forever family.

First Day of School!

2008-09-08T22:22:00.010-04:00

My first and second graders! A tiny subset of our big, fun bus stop

Off to preschool

And with school, comes activities.

Our first karate lesson (he was a natural - shocker)

And the first time as catcher
Happy 6 Katie! All the girls from her class came for waterslide fun. You have to love 80 degrees in mid-September (otherwise, they would have done some pretty lame crafts led by the most unimaginative mom ever!)

By now and we're all settled into school and doing great. The transition from 3/4 day kindergarten to full day 1st grade is still happening (tired and cranky, anyone?), but we're getting there! We try to go easy on activities in the fall, but hockey is about to start full force, so that keeps us busy! Sophie is walking like a maniac (after finally starting at 19 months!). I think her favorite word right now is hungry - she fits in well :)

I hope you are all enjoying the beginning of fall. This is by far my favorite season - the weather couldn't be more perfect - enjoy!

Favorite summer things...

2008-08-26T16:14:00.019-04:00

In no particular order...
Fishing (and actually catching fish!)
Summer reading

Snorkeling and boogie boarding

Using our imaginations (homemade light sabers and jet packs)

Sunset picnic dinners on the beach

Getting ALMOST all your teeth in

Tubing of any kind

EARLY morning cartoons

Outdoor naps

Family time

Eating 'smores

Hanging out on the dock (and jumping off of it)

Visiting with family (Grammy and cousin Jasper)

Learning to walk!!

And these are only the things I have pictures of. We can't forget playing wiffle ball, tennis and golf, boat rides, sunset cocktails, and outdoor showers. And the list could go on......

Blog Union 2008 & Referral Anniversary

2008-08-09T22:07:00.010-04:00

Sophie, Katie and I were so happy to celebrate the anniversary of Sophie's referral with over 40 other Ethiopian adoptive families in Hermosa Beach, California last weekend. I cannot explain how amazing it was to meet these families and see these beautiful children together with their families. John and I had actually met several of the kids in Ethiopia when we went to pick Sophie up. Having "met" so many of these families via email and blogs it was so nice to actually meet them in person and be able to spend some time with them and watch all of the kids interact.

I am so grateful to Drew & Carey for organizing and hosting this enormous crew. Not only were they so generous by spending days of their lives organizing such an amazing weekend, they were able to set up photographers to capture the fun. I have a short slideshow of the weekend below, but you can visit their blog for all of the pictures that their photographers took. Finally, they also gave me some extra adult time by lending me one of their babysitters so that I could put my poor, exhausted East Coast girls to bed early and rejoin the adults after dinner both nights. Thank you guys - your rock star status has elevated even higher in my eyes after meeting you!

It's so hard for me to believe that we saw this precious little face for the first time a year ago. We can't imagine life without her.

BU 2008 Pictures!

2008-08-09T21:32:00.012-04:00

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Summer Pictures

2008-07-31T22:36:00.012-04:00

Happy 80th Birthday Poppa!
Bridge jumping in Martha's Vineyard

Martha's Vineyard Lighthouse

Bathtime

Swim team

Last day of school!

Sophie loves the slip 'n slide

Sliding sisters

Kindergarten Writer's Tea

First Grade Field Day

Digging Deep

2008-06-07T18:49:00.006-04:00

Back on June 7, 2007 I was two days away from my first triathlon - the Mighty Montauk in Long Island. The timing was perfect - I trained from February until June - basically the exact time that I was also preparing our documents for the adoption. Along with being mom to 3 kids, it really helped pass the time. I have run many races, but this was the first time in a swim and bike race and I was really nervous. I trained by the book so that I knew I'd be prepared. I spent hours in the pool, on my bike and on the road thinking about what our newest family member would look like, what the circumstances would be that would bring her to us, what Ethiopia would be like, what it would be like if we could meet her birth family. There were days that I really had to dig deep to get through a session, but thinking of Sophie made it that much easier. So many families in the waiting stage ask our opinion on how to pass the time. I think training for some sort of physical fitness test is perfect. You don't sit around eating pints of ice cream feeling sad that you haven't heard anything yet and you are in shape to start the marathon of parenthood. In the end, I finished the race about 20 minutes faster than my ultimate goal time and I was thrilled. I was literally floating around I was so excited - not only was the race over (and I didn't drown!!), but we were that much closer to our sweet little girl.

This year was a whole different story. On June 7, 2008, I was competing in my second triathlon (the same one). I was lucky enough to have a crew of women from my town (all mothers of 3-4 kids themselves) to train with and commiserate with. They were all so motivating and fun to be around. This year I knew I could actually do it, so I was a little more focused on my time. This year my thoughts were also often on Sophie, but this year I actually knew her, had held her and loved her more than I ever thought humanly possible. This year, during the race, when I was tired (and wondering why the swim was so much longer than last year!), I had a new focus that allowed me to dig even deeper. This year, the race marked the one year anniversary that Sophie's birthmother relinquished her to the police. This year, I got teary more than once during the race, and it wasn 't from the physical pain of the race - it was from the pain that I could only imagine that her birthmother was feeling all the way across the world, wondering how her daughter had grown and how she was being loved and cared for. We plan on telling Sophie everything we know about her birthmother and our meeting with her. We will show her every picture and video we have as many times as she wants to see it. Maybe one day, she will get to meet the woman who brought her into this world and loved her enough to suffer her own pain to give her a better life. She will know the key dates of when everything happened that we know about. On June 7th every year I may not remind all of our family members of this certain anniversary, but I will have my own bittersweet feelings that will forever conflict in my mind. I will thank God for bringing Sophie into our lives, yet my heart will break for the woman that had to sacrifice so much to make that happen. I will remember that no matter how deep I've had to dig in my heart and soul for ANYTHING in my life, it can never compare to the the suffering of one Ethiopian woman thousands of miles away from us.

My inspiration.....

The panic/excitement sets in.....

May Flowers

2008-05-27T22:05:00.019-04:00

Another late hello, but better late than never! I can already tell the set up of this page will be messed up, but I'm too tired to figure it out. As always (and as with everyone else, I'm sure), we've been busy, but are finally enjoying some great weather here. This was the best Memorial Day weekend that I can remember in a LONG time. Luckily, we were able to enjoy it and relax before a very busy next month (moving, end of school, etc).

Basically, I thought I'd share some pictures of the weekend and tide our family over for a little while! This first one is everyone having some quiet time (that's not really possible with four, but they do calm down a bit once in a while). Sophie MUST be right in the middle of the action at all times and loves to crawl right up and give hugs and kisses even if it's in the middle of a wrestling match! She's about to walk (I've been saying that for about two months now, but I really do think it will happen any day now). She is talking much more and absolutely loves the beach/grass/outdoors in any way. She visited Shelter Island with us for the first time and we had a blast. She absolutely loved the boat (good thing, since she wouldn't have much choice!). It's hard to believe that she's been home now more than half her life. Now, if only she could help me pack some of these boxes.....

Here are Matt & Katie enjoying the sun.

Our copy cat and boat lover.

You have to love a morning on the swings in your pjs.

The rest of these are a little older, but show a bit about our spring.

Hindley Happening bumper cars

The whole family meeting our new cousin Vieve and her mom (my cousin) Jen. Welcome to the family Genevieve!

And the biggest hit of the season - the bubble machine! More to follow sooner, I promise!

Very Bad Blogger

2008-03-16T21:05:00.013-04:00

Well, what can I say? Having four kids keeps me on my toes, and although I would rather be updating our blog than doing many of the things that need to get done in any given day, I just haven't been able to sit down and do it. To be honest with you, now that we are so settled into our routine, it almost seems weird to update our blog. Believe it or not, Sophie will be home with us for SIX MONTHS this week. So now I keep thinking that if I'm not giving my opinions or personal anecdotes as they relate to our actual adoption process (which I know from personal experience can be very helpful to fellow adoptive parents), and I'm not updating our friends and family on our actual trip, then isn't it a little weird just to update everyone on our everyday lives? Although we are immensely proud of our children and the little and big things they do on a daily basis, does anyone else really care? I'm afraid I'll start sounding like a braggy Christmas letter from a random acquaintance. But then, someone who has been asking me often for updates reminded me that I am not asking people to come read this - it's not like an unsolicited email or letter, so it's a little different and certainly ok. I hope that is true, but I will now warn you that my blog has sort of morphed into the mundane (though very happy) tales of the Daileader clan. I will not be offended (and probably won't even know) if you disappear and never check our blog again. But for our family and friends that live far from us, and for those of your that are just curious as to how things are going, I continue to think that this is a great way to share pictures and updates. And it's even a little cathartic for me!

So onto the fun stuff! Here is Sophie watching the big kids on their scooters in the driveway. I cannot wait until spring (and for her to walk) so we can be outside a little more often.

Sophie aboslutely LOVES her bath (as do William and Katie - I think they like it more because they can play and splash with Sophie because before she came home, they both preferred to shower!)

She's actually not usually this happy on her changing table, but perhaps she's still reveling in her post-bath joy.

And here we are at the local children's museum climbing on the gorillas. The place was a bit overwhelming for her - she still doesn't like me out of her sight in big crowds, but was fun for her when she was out of the stroller.

Here she is with Chloe the dog. She abolutely loves dogs and is actually making me think that we will need to get one fairly soon. Our new house already has an electric fence installed, so my excuses are running out. Don't get me wrong, I know I will love having a dog, but since I've never had one, I think I am very afraid of the time commitment and think it might make more sense after the kids are a little bigger.

I was lucky enough to be able to escape the cold for a few days when my mom and I celebrated her 60th birthday in Miami in early March. Happy Birthday Mom! We had a great time for four full days of girl time in the sun.

Here the kids are on the swings just today. They still can't really get enough of Sophie - she can do no wrong in their eyes. Even if she bites them (only while teething - not maliciously) they are actually pretty good with her!

She is going to be a daredevil - she doesn't seem to have any physical fears yet, and absolutely loves the swings.

Well I think those are all the pictures for now. Otherwise things are really busy but lots of fun. We are actually moving within town in June and are very excited to be closer to the beach. It will be a lot of work to move, but luckily, the house itself won't need any work, so I'm already trying to convince myself that the move and getting settled doesn't have to happen overnight. I'd rather enjoy the summer with the kids and spend time finishing all of that up in the fall when they are back to school. (I know, most of you are laughing at this knowing how type-A I am, but I figure if I say it out loud, I may actually do that!)

All of our winter activities are slowly finishing up. Matthew and Katie had a busy winter skiing and just started learning to snowboard, which they both love. Matthew played hockey for the first time this winter and lucked out by being on the league champion team. Although we don't think he'll be the next Bobby Orr, he scored lots of goals over the season and seems to love it. I was dreading it at first (mostly b/c of the schedule), but it's really hard not to get way over-excited at the games. I probably would have embarrassed him with my cheering in the stands if he could have actually heard me. Now Katie wants to start next year - I think I'm officially a hockey mom.

William has really turned the corner and seemes to be much more of a "big boy" now than a toddler. He takes such good care of Sophie it's really sweet to watch. He always wants to know where she is when she's napping and can't wait for her to wake up. With everyone else, he's pretty much a bruiser, so this caring side of him gives us hope!

Sophie has 6 teeth now and doesn't seem to be stopping teething any time soon. She has had the hardest time with new teeth of the four. I'm sure part of it is amnesia on my part, but her teeth just seem so painful these days. She's cruising a ton now, but probably won't walk on her own for a good couple of weeks. Babbling away, playing on her own more now and generally being loud just to make sure we still know she's there! She's been pretty consistent at her Dr's appointments - she's basically about 60-65% in height (and climbing) and only 5% in weight. NONE of us have been like that, so she will probably be the thinnest and tallest in the family.

OK, now I am starting to sound like one of those letters, so I'll stop here. I promise to try to be better about posting. I generally take more pictures as the weather warms up, so that will probably be my inspiration to post more!

Women in Burkina Faso

2008-01-31T09:30:00.002-05:00

***UPDATE TO BELOW***

Dear Friends of Burkina Faso (and just friends in general!),
I want to share with all of you that the Lambs For School Project in Burkina Faso, for which we sought your support in December and January, has won one of the four international $50,000 awards through America's Giving Challenge!

With your generous support and networking, we were able to generate sufficient funds to enable close to 1200 girls (300 more than our initial goal of 900!) to enter school in northern Burkina Faso over the next four years ... girls who would not have had an opportunity to attend school otherwise.

I just wanted to make sure I posted this and to say thank you to anyone who took the time to donate. A few had asked, and although the contest is over, you can still donate to the cause. Thanks so much!

*****
Unfortunately, I just received this email today (which is the deadline). I figured that this would be the perfect place to spread the word - no pressure, but the possibility of getting these women an additional $50,000 for the cause. My Dad's cousin lived in BF for 20 years and it's therefore even closer to our hearts. Take a look if you feel inspired. Thanks!!

"Dear friends and colleagues, the following is a wordy message about a VERY worthy and unique project to help educate girls in Burkina Faso. Some of you know that I lived in BF for twenty years and this project is so very important to the development of the country and the efforts to raise third world country women to first class status. I can give you more information, but time is of the essence. A mere $10 will put us in contention for earning an additional $50,000 for the project but the deadline is Jan. 31. All (yes, all) the funds go directly to the education of girls...there areno admin costs. If you can, take a few minutes to do this...thank you! Terry"

Dear friend of Burkina Faso,

We've reached the final days of America's Giving Challenge! The contest deadline is Thursday, January 31, at 3pm EST and the Friends of Burkina Faso(FBF) is currently in 4th place. All of this is thanks to the positiveresponse from all of you and your fabulous networking outside of FBF!

But, it's not over yet, and the race remains very close! There are only 30 donations between 5th and 4th place- and we must finish in the top 4 in order to receive an extra $50,000 for the "Lambs for School" Project. This means that we must accelerate our efforts in these last few days of thecontest in order to be awarded the top prize. We are asking for your continued assistance during the final countdown!
Here is how you can help:
* If you have not already donated $10, go to the FBF web site(http://fbf.tamu.edu/), click on the link on the left-hand corner of our home page, and donate your $10. We've provided you with a template below. Friends, family and colleagueshave responded enthusiastically in the past week, enabling us to go from 125to 457 donors in one week. So we know this works and we think this is our key to being successful!

FYI, a maximum of two people (spouses, partners, and parents and childrenover 18) in the same household can donate with the same credit card and becounted as "unique donors" if their names and email addresses are different.

You can also follow where we are in the competition by clicking on "How is our project doing in the competition?" on our FBF home page. Reading the"Leader Board" is the most exciting part of all!

Our very sincere thanks for your support in this extraordinary endeavor!

Happy Birthday Sophie!!

2008-01-19T15:28:00.000-05:00

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you!! I can't believe that she's one! Today also marks the day that we have been together for exactly four months. Or another way to look at it is that she has been with us longer than she was in the orphanage and foster care, combined. And in 20 days, she will have been with us longer than she was with her birth mother, and therefore, longer than she has lived anywhere. Pretty amazing.

Of course, this is the first birthday of any of our children that is also a little bit sad for us. I have been thinking of her birth mother a lot today. I know that she must be terribly heartbroken, but there's a spot in my heart that's really hoping that she's happy, or at least relieved, knowing that she is in a wonderful family that loves her so much. I can't imagine that would ever outweigh the sadness, but merely lessen it ever so slightly.

Most importantly, we are celebrating her birth today (and also about the year anniversary since we started this journey). The kids had so much fun singing to her and making her cards.

GOT MILK?

A very happy one year old!

What Kind of World Do You Want?

2008-01-16T20:02:00.000-05:00

1 in 150 children are diagnosed with Autism. Unfortunately, one of our wonderful nephews is one of them. If you do not know someone already with Autism unfortunately you will. Awareness is so important so that these precious gifts are accepted in our society. The music group Five for Fighting is donating 40 cents every time this video is viewed. Please take a few moments to watch, become aware and in the process allow money to be given to these children. Please pass this on.

So much to say...

2008-01-13T20:00:00.000-05:00

Eleven months and counting.....

Well, Dr. Ethiopia had it correct in his comment on a previous post of mine. I have so much more to say than I actually do. Unfortunately, at this point, I have so little time to say it. I used to try to keep the posts relevant to my audience - fellow Ethiopian adoptive families and my own family. Over the past month or two I have realized that I don't even know exactly who is in my audience! I have had such positive feedback from so many pockets of my life - acquaintances in town, John's colleagues, my old high school/college/work friends and friends and family of these people. It really amazes me how far this blog has reached. Once things settle down I hope that I have more to share than our daily family experiences, but for now, I barely have time to even share those. By nature, I am not very confrontational, however, for issues and topics that are close to my heart, I tend to get pretty fired up. I have no doubt that those will start to surface as my children get older and are inevitably hurt by other people's comments. Let's hope for now I can focus on the joy they bring to our lives and each other. In the meantime, I want to thank all of you lurkers out there for your silent support - I really appreciate it!

On that note, I also want to tell my fellow Ethiopian bloggers that my recent lack of commenting in no way indicates how often I check your blogs or how touched I am by each and every one of them! I won't actually admit how often I check some of them, but I will say that I have finally cut myself off from new ones. I have a definite line on the Gladney list of blogs that I will no longer allow myself to cross. I would like to read them all, since each story is so familiar yet so unique, but I do have four children that need my time!! So I will continue to read my old favorites (especially to watch how Sophie's foster house mates and the kids that we met are growing and thriving with their new families), but I just may not comment on every cute picture and informative post!

But the real reason for this post is to say Happy New Year! We have had a very full month since my last post. Despite a double ear infection for Sophie and a bout of pneumonia for William beforehand, we had a great Christmas this year. The kids had a great time, although I'm not sure Sophie had ANY idea what was going on. Since Santa had to bring something for everyone, we ended up getting Sophie every children's book we could find either about or related to Ethiopia. We found some great folk tales by Jane Kurtz that I'm sure many of you have seen.

My best present by far was a POTTY TRAINED LITTLE BOY! For some reason, 2 years 10 months had been the magic age for the boys. A few naked days and we're done. He's very proud and I am relieved. We've had some accidents, but he is definitely a big boy now. Onward and upward!

Here are the new scooters and Sophie watching it all from the queen's throne (I did find a TEENY lego in her diaper one day, so I thought it was best to keep her somewhat away from the chaos until we were able to remove all the little pieces that Santa might have brought). Ooops!

We were able to escape the Connecticut cold for a while and headed to Florida right after Christmas. We went to the Panhandle, which isn't balmy, but it was absolutely gorgeous and great to get out on the bikes and get a little swimming in to tide us over until the warm weather returns here.

Daddy's little man

"Pirate Girl"

I tricked Matt to look at me in this one - despite his handsome face, he is not a fan of pictures these days!

Mommy and her surfer girls. Sophie LOVED the water.

Sisters and their beach hair.

One of the few days (in her life) that Katie actually allowed me to experiment with her hair, only because her older cousin told her how cool braids are!

Swimming alone with his big muscles.

Sophie was entertained for hours (or at least through meals) with pineapple, orange, lemon and lime drink garnishes. Thank goodness for small miracles.

This proves how bad I am at doing hair. I promise, this was a never-to-be-repeated experiment. Sophie and I have similar hair. It's very curly/frizzy in the humidity, but pretty straight in the dry weather. She has all of these parts that are really long, while other parts are short. One part on the top is particularly short thanks to William!! Luckily for us, they were the kid scissors and no one could notice except me. I guess I can't even go to the bathroom anymore around here!

And our new year was made even happier with the arrival of my brother's first son, Jasper (who obviously looks nothing like us and looks exactly like his mom). He is the 16th cousin for our kids, but the first nephew (or niece) on my side of the family. Welcome to the family Jasper!

OK, well I think that's all for now. I'll have lots of pictures to come since Sophie turns one on Saturday (AAGGHH!! I can't believe it!). I have a feeling she is going to like cake :)

Happy Holidays!

2007-12-14T22:15:00.000-05:00

Snow & Wheat

2007-12-14T19:19:00.000-05:00

This is a picture looking out my front door at 11am on Thursday. As you might notice, there is no snow on the driveway, none on the walkway and none on the street. However, when we arrived at the bus stop at 8:09am, we were informed that school was CANCELLED! What? There was not a flake of snow or rain anywhere to be seen. We live in NEW ENGLAND people. They name storms after us. We're tough, we can handle snow. Or even the slightest possibility of snow. I find this to be so annoying. Especially because the kids can't even put on their snow gear and enjoy the first snow day. They actually rode bikes on the first snow day! We are becoming soft. Snow days when it might snow, trophies for every kid who even wore the soccer shirt so that no one will feel left out. What ever happened to the hard lessons in life? You don't always win, snow days are a rare (and fun) occasion, life is unfair. I feel like that served us well, but I'm afraid that my kids won't learn this. Don't get me wrong - I want them to enjoy life, but don't we enjoy the ups more when we have to experience the downs too?

Anyway, one down part of my day today is that we found out today that William is allergic to wheat. Yes, he is almost three and we're just finding this out now. We suspected lactose intolerance, but even that was only a few months ago (and we won't even know if that's true until we let his belly heal a bit from the wheat overload). I'm feeling like a bad mom that I've been poisoning him for approximately two years now with no knowledge of this fact. I guess technically it's a wheat intolerance, since it's not life-threatening and is really just an intestinal issue. That's a positive. The second positive is that he's not allergic to gluten, which is in far more things than wheat alone. So, once I become educated on the best wheat-free products to buy, it will be fine, but right now it's kind of a bummer - no bread, most cereals, crackers, cookies, pasta, pizza. Granted, they do make all of these things with no wheat, but I don't know how appetizing they'll be. The loaf of wheat-free bread I bought today resembles a large brick more than a loaf of bread. Anyway, I am happy to know why the poor kid has the largest, hardest, distended belly at bedtime and rarely eats dinner. I think he just got accustomed to feeling lousy - poor kid.

As far as Sophie, she's doing really well. She is still sleeping like a champ and starting to eat a lot more big people food despite having only two teeth (I can practically see all the others, so apparently they will all arrive at once - that should be fun!). She has gained a pound and an inch each month home. She is over 50% in height and head, and catching up in weight. Her Dr. is pleased and so are we - she's healthy as can be.

We have our 3 month homestudy update on Monday. In Connecticut you don't have to "readopt", you simply validate the international adoption in the local probate court, which took all of 30 seconds with a very nice judge. By the way, anyone who is adopting in Connecticute, DO NOT hire a lawyer - I almost paid $3,000 for a random lawyer to stand with us at this 30 second court date until our social worker told me I didn't need him - thank you Barbara!

She's definitely expressing herself these days (often screaming at the top of her lungs just to hear the sound) and absolutely loves wrestling with the big kids. And I mean full-on, tackle to the ground, wrestling. She loves it! It is so funny to watch. I love that she is going to be one tough cookie.

Ok, well I feel like I have whined enough in this post. I just sent out our Christmas cards today, so once I know that people have received the paper version, I'll post the pictures on the blog. I love how they came out - they really captured the kids well. Before I go I also want to say a big congratulations to the Runnions, the Clevingers and Ethiopia Mama. They are all officially parents of beautiful Ethiopian babies and are in various stages of travel or prepping for travel. I also want to congratulate Jocelyn on the referral of Pacey - she's had a long road and by the looks of the pictures, it was worth the wait - Pacey is beautiful!! To the Quinn girls, Frey family and Renee and Geert, we're thinking of you and have the court dates on the calendar - we can't wait to hear the good news!

Oh, I almost forgot. For those of you who haven't seen this Elf site, I can promise you it is the funniest thing I have seen in a VERY long time. If you don't know my kids, it's probably even funnier if you do it with your own, but it's hilarious nonetheless. Check it out for a good laugh. Have a great weekend everyone!

Holiday Giving

2007-11-30T22:22:00.000-05:00

As I've been pouring over other Ethiopian adoption blogs lately, watching new referrals and court dates and anxiously anticipating others, the one thing I've found is that so many people have had such great ideas for gifts. Gifts for birth mothers, care takers, other children in the orphanages, etc. I am kind of bummed out that I hadn't thought of many of these things, or more bloggers hadn't gone before us so I could copy some of their ideas. There is no heat in Addis (yes, pretty much anywhere except for the hotels), so the best birth mother gift that I have seen is a hand made quilt. My mother-in-law is a master quilter and I'm sure she would have been thrilled to have made such a special quilt. And I would have loved to be able to wrap Sophie's birth mother in a warmth that would forever remind her of her daughter.

I also wish that I had brought more for the other children. We brought lots of random things, but with up to 120 kids in some of these places, you really need to have a LOT of things so as to avoid anyone being left out. We ended up leaving a lot of our bags of goodies with Belay so that he could distribute them as he saw fit, but I would have loved to see all of those beautiful eyes light up with even the simplest of gifts.

I guess my main point in thinking about what we could have done is that there are still so many ways that we can still help. Several friends have asked how to make a donation in Sophie's name in lieu of another baby gift that we don't need. I think this is probably the best gift we could ask for. One friend gave directly to the Gladney Fund and another donated a farm animal to a needy family in order to break the cycle of poverty through Heifer International. John and I sponsor two children from Rwanda (and will add two more to our sponsorship - to have one for each of our own children) through World Vision. The kids love to receive the letters and pictures from our sponsored children and love to send photos and hand-drawn pictures back. We know that one day, they will understand how truly important all of this is. We plan to make several trips back to Ethiopia throughout our lifetime and will include each of the kids in philanthropic projects right here at home as each is old enough to understand. This year, we plan to focus most of our annual giving on Ethiopia. After reading the recent accounts of Drew and Carey and the Mestas Family, I think it's best for those of you interested to go straight to their blogs to see about the specific projects.

Drew and Carey are involved in a great project that provides free wheelchairs for people around the world (and specifically in Ethiopia if you want to request it). You can donate one wheelchair for a mere $75. After seeing the many people in Ethiopia in dire need of a wheelchair, this one is a no brainer.

They also took some great pictures of the run-down playground equipment that we all saw at the orphanages, which you can view here and here. Gladney is trying to raise lots of money to pay for 5 new playgrounds for the orphanages. As you can imagine, the shipping alone is astronomical, so any little bit helps.

Finally, one of the other Ethiopia-specific projects near to us is the new library for the older boys at the Kolfe orphanage that we visited and that I wrote about in a prior post. I think the Mestas family explains it the best in their blog post entitled The Forgotton Boys.

If either of the Gladney projects are of interest to you, you can send checks payable to:
The Gladney Center for Adoption c/o Scott Brown.
Mail to: 6300 John Ryan DR.Fort Worth, TX 76132-4122
In the memo line of check write: “Ethiopian Humanitarian Aid”
I assume you should include a note if you want the money to go specifically for the playgrounds, Kolfe or if you want Gladney to decide how best to use it.

This year, we decided that none of the adults need to exchange holiday gifts in our families - we all have most everything we need and if we don't we usually just go buy it ourselves anyway. We're trying to simplify the holiday season and plan to enjoy it and the company of our friends and family more, rather than spending time stressing out about what to buy the uncle who has everything. In lieu of that, we're going to focus our holiday giving on some of the projects listed above and hope that you might be inspired to do the same. Happy Holidays!

Sophie & her friends

2007-11-25T15:01:00.000-05:00

I just started going through our pictures so that I can get them labeled and into an album before we forget who/what everything is. I need some help on a few. I know these babies were referred and Berahne was brought home in early November. I would love to have full, American names in the albums so that Sophie can see who her first roommates were. Also, I'd be happy to email these pictures. You can email me directly if you'd rather not leave a comment, and I would certainly take the pictures off if you don't want these up. Thanks so much!

The one in the pink next to Sophie looks SO familiar to me - can someone help me with a name? Robin, is this Pickles? I think the pacifier is throwing me off. I have stared at every picture on your blog, but since she has a HUGE smile in every one, it's hard for me to tell if this is her! The picture was taken by Lisa Holliday in August.

I recognize Berahne from Drew and Carey's blog (I have one more of him from our trip that I can also email you) .

Thanks for your help!

Fun with Leaves

2007-11-16T15:58:00.000-05:00

Hmmm, I don't think I should trust that face!

Yup, still just two down there...

Here are some more pictures. Although it was freezing outside today, the kids had a blast making leaf piles, burying each other with leaves and making leaf angels. I only brought Sophie out for a few minutes so that she wouldn't eat all of the leaves, but she loves being outside. Matt was still at school. Happy Fall!

Family fun

2007-11-14T18:12:00.000-05:00

Ok, ok, here is a new post. I have had many people ask why I've been so lax, so I'm sorry for the lack of exciting news. I have to say, I was about to update last week when I found out that my blogging friend Jocelyn, lost her referral right before her court date. I have just been really sad for her because she had already fallen in love with that adorable little girl. The baby's birth parents decided that they couldn't give her up, so at least we know that she is very well loved all over the world. Jocelyn is moving forward as best as she can right now and will hopefully be able to open her heart to a new baby girl waiting for a forever home. Please keep her in your thoughts.

As far as us, we've been settling into life nicely - things seem so normal at home now that I haven't taken many pictures. We do have down time tonight between dinner and bed, so I made the kids take some new pics. I think they all look the same as last time, and Sophie even has the same outfit on! As far as milestones, Sophie is still teething like mad - she's an expert double-fisted-teether with 2 fingers in her mouth pretty much all the time. She finally started moving forward (as opposed to rolling everywhere sideways and scootching backwards), but is more dragging herself then crawling. She has gotten on all fours though, so I'm sure it will be any time. I think I better get baby-proofing, thought I'm not sure that's really possible with three other kids at home!

We've noticed that she's let her guard down even more. It seems so bizarre to say that about a 9 month-old baby, but it's true. Now when she sees us she literally screams with delight and kicks like crazy. Not that she wasn't happy to see us before, but both John and I noticed an entirely different level of excitement. It's really great to see. Sometimes the kids are so rough with her (with hugs and kisses, but still!). I'm amazed at what a good sport she is - she really seems to like it! I'm starting to realize how impossible a good Christmas picture is going to be with four. We can barely get a good one with three of them at once! OK, well it's bedtime for the kids, so more later.

A final Halloween picture
William LOVES Sophie
More loving

My pink twins

Me and my little ham

She is all over the floor these days - I better start vacuuming more!

First dumb comment.....by me!!

2007-10-28T19:11:00.000-04:00

Well who knew that the first really dumb comment would come directly from me! So, as you can see from the picture, we had our neighborhood Halloween parade today, which is always so much fun for the kids. We have a ton of kids in our neighborhood and our street leads down to a little beach where they have a candy hunt and the adults all watch the chaos and have a drink. Although our neighborhood is not exactly the most diverse our neighbors have been SO welcoming of Sophie and supportive in every way. It's really been a joy to share this experience with them. So John and I are standing down at the beach talking to a nice neighbor that we just met. I was holding Sophie in my arms. A 10-year-old girl in full costume (maybe an 80's roller queen?) comes up and says:

Girl: "Oh she's so cute!! What is she?"
Me: "Uhhh, I'm sorry?"
Girl: "What is she?"
Me: "Uhh, she is from Ethiopia"
Girl: "Oh" and goes on her way

Me (to John): "Well, I've never gotten that one before!!"
John: "Yeah, hmm" (both of us thinking, ok, she IS 10)

The nice neighbor we're talking with then touches the antenna on Sophie's head when it dawns on me. OH!!!!!! SHE'S A LADYBUG!!!!!!!!!!!

I am an idiot!

Welcome Home & Pumpkins

2007-10-21T09:03:00.001-04:00

Music

2007-10-20T15:34:00.000-04:00

I know that songs weren't part of the original tagging, but that is probably much more part of my life than movies or books, so I am adding it. I went running today for the first time in about 2 months and realized how much I missed my workout music! I never used to run with an iPod when I was actually running long distances, or training for something, but now, it's one of the few times I can listen without someone asking for a different song, or little people talking/yelling/crying over my songs. So here it is (and I want to know yours too):

All Time Favorites
The Waiting is the Hardest Part - Tom Petty (not only do I love the sound of this song, I think you would all agree that it's so true - especially this crowd!!!) This was part of my high school yearbook quote and I have never wavered - love it.
American Girl - Tom Petty
Comin' in from the Cold - Bob Marley
Beautiful Day & Sweetest Thing - U2
Romeo & Juliet (live) - Dire Straits
Ant Marching & Crash - Dave Matthews
The Boys of Summer - Don Henley
Stay - Lisa Loeb

Relatively Current Favorites (remember, I mostly get to listen to my music while spinning or running, so cut me some slack :)
Mama Africa - Akon
Move Along - All American Rejects
Big Girls Don't Cry - Fergie
The Sweet Escape - Gwen Stefani
Mr. Brightside - The Killers
It's Like That - Mariah
Hey There Delilah - Plain White Ts
Streetcorner Symphony- Rob Thomas
Fix You - Coldplay
Over My Head - The Fray
With Arms Wide Open - Creed (those of you expecting a new child have to listen to this song - the first time I really listened to it, I was about 2 weeks away from giving birth to Matthew and I was bawling my eyes out. It's a sweet song).

My kids are also big music people, and luckily for me not just Barney. Here are their current favorites:

Matthew - anything by the Rolling Stones - especially, You Can't Always Get What You Want (did I brainwash him?) and Brown Sugar, but also very masculine favorites like Beyonce
Katie - California (the theme from the OC, but I promise she never watched it) and Black Horse and Cherry Tree - KT Tungstall (sp?)
William - We Will Rock You (must be from all the sports on TV at our house, b/c that is definitely not on my iPod during dance party dinner making time)!

Hope you are all hanging in there while waiting!

Tagged

2007-10-18T20:21:00.000-04:00

For all of my family and friends, all of us adoptive families addicted to each other's blogs basically do the same silly email that often goes around, but just post it rather than email it. Carey (who, with her husband, Drew, will hopefully officially be mom to baby Zoe in mere days, who was with Sophie in the Gladney foster home in Addis) tagged me, so here goes:

JOBS
-Mom
- private equity associate
- equity research analyst (one summer)
- commercial banker
- bus girl (I lasted 1 day!)
- sunglass polisher in a factory (for a whole summer!)
- bank teller
- babysitter

PLACES LIVED
-Darien, CT
-Chappaqua, NY
-New York, NY
-Toulouse, France
-Hanover, NH
-Hingham, MA

PLACES I'D RATHER BE RIGHT NOW
-at the beach (not too hot) watching my kids play
-a long weekend away with John
-a weekend away with girlfriends (only 3 weeks away - yahoo!)
-This is a hard one. After a week away from the kids, and traveling to Africa, I'm really perfectly happy right here at home for now!

FOODS I LOVE
-All Mexican
-Most Italian
-Nana's roast beef, beans, mashed potatoes with LOTS of gravy
-ICE CREAM
- Any salad I didn't have to make
-Most comfort food - chili, thick soups, etc.
-Sweet potato fries
-Egg & Cheese on a toasted wheat bagel

FAVORITE TV SHOWS
- Brothers & Sisters (overall winner by FAR)
- The Office (although I liked it better as 1/2 hour)
- Grey's Anatomy
- ER
-Lost
- lots of shows that I shouldn't admit - most were cancelled b/c I was the only loser that watched them! (Bachelor, What About Brian, Jack And Jill etc)
-Studio 60 - is it really gone?

MOVIES I LOVE
- I really don't like to see movies more than once, and I'm a total sucker for romantic comedies (whether or not they're even good) so this may be lame
-Love Actually
-The Holiday
-A Lot Like Love (I may have a crush on Amanda Peet)
-I'm braindead - can't remember any others, but I'm sure there are more

BOOKS I'VE LOVED IN THE LAST YEAR
- Many by Jodi Piccoult
- Jane Greene & Cecelia Ahern books (mindless, beach reading)
-There is No Me Without You (and I just met Melissa Fay Green at the New Canaan Library - she was so funny and great to hear speak - Her stories about her own Ethiopian adoptions were so heartwarming)
- The Kite Runner

AND I TAG the Jennifers - Ethiopian Mama & Runnion

Sitting is fun!

2007-10-15T18:40:00.001-04:00

Well, I don't think that I've tried sitting her up lately (she's usually is on my hip, being carted around by Matthew or Katie, in the exersaucer, on her belly, or asleep). Who knew she could sit up!?!?!?! I know, I'm already neglectful - oops!! Katie was playing with her and decided to sit up and she just stayed there and played! She seemed very proud of herself - and is quite the poser too!

She also seems to have turned into quite the Mommy's girl. She has a cry/scream on her that could scare anyone, but if I pick her up, it melts away. Many of you may be saying awwwww, but with 3 others that also want my attention, it would be helpful if she was a Daddy's girl too! The transition continues to go well - Katie is so enamored, and I am thrilled with that b/c Katie can be very difficult when it comes to dealing with things/people she doesn't like. She has never liked kisses (even from me and Daddy), but ever since Sophie came home, she won't get on the bus or go to bed (or let Sophie go to bed) without kisses for everyone. It is truly a very welcome change!! We certainly feel blessed.

By the way - Happy Birthday Jocelyn! I'm going out on a limb and guessing that I'm older - the big 3-6. It was a very happy one with lots of songs from the kids, a wonderful massage and a very nice dinner with my husband. Can't get much better than this :)

Yahoo! No Rickets!

2007-10-11T08:51:00.000-04:00

We got the results back from the leg xrays, and although there is evidence that she wasn't eating as much as she should have been in the beginning of her life, there is no sign of rickets and she is already overcoming any initial issues she had. Her skin is clearing up so well and she now wakes up every morning babbling, rolling around in her crib - very happy!!

Life at home

2007-10-08T07:37:00.000-04:00

Well, since I have been religiously checking blogs for court dates and referrals with no luck, I figured I should use this time to update our own blog. I'm feeling a little responsible for everyone being on edge. I really thought that things would move so much quicker once the courts reopened, but a week open with no news is really frustrating. The one thing that I did learn while I was over there (and during our process) is that Gladney tends to get everything buttoned down before getting ANY information out (most likely to avoid any potential and unnecessary disappointment). So for those of you waiting on various things, I have to believe that once you actually get a referral or court date, everything will move at lightning speed. I know that Belay, Ryan and Abby are working overtime trying to get the referrals ready and papers submitted to the courts, even though you aren't hearing anything yet. Hang in there - I can't wait to see the news coming pouring in!

As far as us, we have settled in nicely. It's hard to believe we've been home for two weeks. The first week was chaotic. It actually was really only hard trying to get everyone back to normal - go through all the mail, school papers, laundry, etc. I just kept piling the mail up and up until I couldn't ignore it anymore. I'm happy to report that that pile is now gone!

I think it was the first day that John left for work that I realized that I am responsible for FOUR little people. He was heading out of the kitchen and they were all eating and playing in the kitchen and I just looked at him like, you are really ok leaving me with all of them?!?!?! I feel like I'm still an irresponsible high school kid sometimes and couldn't possibly be in charge of all of this! Have no fear - they were all safe and we were able to keep everything under control!

The kids are doing so well with Sophie. It really makes all the difference when the new baby can laugh and smile immediately. They have all been so proud to get huge belly laughs out of her. I think Katie has made every bottle for her that she's been home for and Matthew and William love to read her books - see below :)

She has been a great baby. She sleeps about 13 hours a night - straight through. It's pretty unbelievable, actually. She also goes to bed SO easily. Pop in the pacifier, rub her forehead or belly for a minute and she's out! One night she even fell asleep while I was changing her diaper and putting her pjs on. She takes two naps and those were probably most affected by jet lag. They were each about 3 hours when we first got home, which was actually kind of a pain to be "trapped" at home for so long, but now she's settled in to about 1.5 hours for each, which is perfect. It took her about a week and a half, but she now actually wakes up happy in the morning. At first, she would wake up with this terrified cry. At first I thought she was starving, but then I realized that she calmed down as soon as we got her and was didn't need to eat right away. I don't know if it was being alone in the crib or room, but I think we're over that hump now.

The biggest issue has been all of the health stuff that they warned us to expect. The first day home I brought her to the city to a pediatrician specializing in adoptions. She was checked from head to toe. She had an ear infection, a terrible skin rash and possibly rickets (vitamin D deficiency). They gave her 5 immunizations and took a ton of blood. The shots were nothing compared to the blood work. Because they needed so much, they laid her on her back and had her head hang off of the table while they drew blood from her JUGULAR!! As horrifying as it was (although the "hanging" and being held down bothered her much more than any needle did), apparently it is the easiest and fastest way to draw that much blood due to the screaming and gravity. I'm not so sure about that! Anyway, she was 3% in weight, 12% in height and 45% in head circumference, so we're thrilled that she's even on the charts. The way she's chowing now, I bet she'll blow through these %s. Her birth mother was so tiny, though, so I don't know how big she'll end up (though her mom might not even be done growing). Looking at her most recent pictures, I think her face has already fattened up!

Last week we saw our regular pediatrician. In hindsight, I probably should have just started here since he seemed totally on top of any potential issues from Africa and that way he doesn't have to wait around for results from labs he doesn't know, etc. He was surprised to hear about the rickets and doesn't really think she has it. He had us take her for leg xrays (the least invasive and most conclusive way to check for rickets). He left a message saying everything was fine, but I'll speak to him in person today. The amoxicillan wasn't doing anything for her ears, so he switched her antibiotic, which had the added benefit of killing the bacteria that we found in her belly at the same time, so that's good. We had to treat the original rash with a pretty harsh cream that basically set her cheeks on fire! She also has excema, and it really flared up on her cheeks. We've been able to keep it calm since we figured out that it's just excema, but it's definitely still there. Given how many random little annoyances she's had in the past two weeks, she's really doing great. She is eating a ton and generally very happy. We'll see the Dr every month for a few months to check her progress, but he is optimistic that she'll continue to grow well.

Two days after we came home, we had the opportunity to see Melissa Fay Greene speak at a local library. She was even better in person than in her book – and she’s really funny! For those of you who don’t know it, or haven’t read it, I highly recommend Melissa’s book http://www.thereisnomewithoutyou.com/. It was so great to see local families with Ethiopian babies at home. I even ran into a woman that I know from town that's seriously considering Ethiopia for adoption. I'm so happy to see this really starting to happen in our community.

Oh, and I almost forgot - this was a big week for TEETH! Sophie got her first tooth on our first Wednesday home and got her second this past Thursday. She has two more on the verge. And her biggest brother Matthew FINALLY lost his first tooth this week (he might be the last kid in 1st grade with all baby teeth!). I think Katie and I were much more excited about the tooth fairy than he was since he tried to give the dollar to Daddy in the morning!

Ok, that's all for now. I can't wait to see new baby faces on other blogs soon. Hang in there guys!

See the first one? It's there!

Day 5 - 9/23 & 9/24/2007

2007-09-30T17:01:00.000-04:00

Well this is it, the last day – hard to believe that it’s the day that we go home today. Although I’m feeling like there must be so much more for us to see and do, I am definitely ready to get back to the kids and our own life. I think that “best pizza outside of Italy” finally put me over the edge, so today I will be having Immodium, water and bread all day long. At least if I starve myself for the day I know I can survive at least until we get home! This morning we laid low trying to sleep in, pack, etc. Basically, John had Eyasu take him to an Ethiopian Catholic mass (in English) while Sophie played and I packed. I did a little more souvenir shopping at the hotel – mostly books about Ethiopia that I had wanted to bring home. I had a lot of trouble finding any books at home on Ethiopia, so this would suffice. Some of the picture books are from 1995 and it looks like they must have had a “beautify Addis month” before the photos were taken. Granted, most of my pictures of the city are taken from the car window as we’re driving past the scenes, but it still is a very poor, run-down city.

At noon we headed back to the Gladney baby house for more pictures (I forgot to get any of the actual house and rooms during our whirlwind visit last time) and some last minute loving of Baby Zoe and the Mestas twins. Sophie’s primary caregiver, Almaz, was working today, so I was happy to be able to get a proper goodbye and more pictures with her. The twins were practicing sitting up and playing, which was very cute. There is so little space in the rooms (especially because they are in the middle of painting the upstairs, so 3 rooms worth of cribs and babies are in 2 rooms until that’s done), that I don’t think they get much time to practice sitting up, etc, so it was good to see that. We got lots of pictures and videos and then it was time to say goodbye. I don’t know who actually started, but saying goodbye to Almaz was one of the hardest goodbyes this week. We both were crying pretty hard and not wanting to let go. I’ve said it before, but it is so amazing to know how much your child was loved before you were able to get to her. We are so very lucky.

The outside of the baby home
The back - laundry day!

One of the three crib rooms - freshly painted

The many wonderful caregivers - many of whom were once orphans themselves.

Dear Almaz

Next stop was at the older Gladney foster home again, but unfortunately, it was naptime. We did get to peek in and some of the older kids were still awake, so we got some hugs and smiles and let them rest. They are so darn cute – I really hope that there are families waiting to come scoop them up soon.

After we said our goodbyes, we headed to a circus! Basically, Lucas, the director of Kechene orphanage sponsors a circus for underpriveleged kids in Addis. They must practice quite a bit to keep them active and out of trouble and they were PHENOMENAL! There was lots of acrobatics and more dancing. The kids were performing these unbelievable feats with huge smiles on their faces. Happiness seems to be a national trait amongst these kids – truly amazing. At the end of the show, they had an auction for a circus poster. The entire auditorium was filled with Ethiopian families and although we were helping Belay bid for the poster, when they heard that Americans were trying to win the auction, they would NOT let the poster out of Ethiopia. Everyone was laughing and it was all in good fun – they were really just trying to get the proud Ethiopians in the audience to be the ones to bid it up and raise money for the children’s organization. Unfortunately, we could not understand most of the auction (which lasted longer than the circus itself), but what we did understand is that Belay is THE man. He was cheered and cheered each time he got on stage. At another point, Lucas insisted that a foreigner get up on stage to voice their opinion about the show. Well, let’s see…it was either John, a German woman that works for Kechene, or me (out of a few hundred people). Lucas didn’t want to hear from his own employee and there was no way John was going up, so that left little old, emotional me. I’m sure John would have won a lot of money if he were a betting man – yes, surprise, surprise, I cried. I brought Sophie up with me and basically just said how amazing the show was and how proud I am that my daughter is from such a beautiful and interesting place. Everyone cheered and John was very proud. And I was very glad the circus was over :)

After the circus, we only had two hours until we had to leave for the airport, so Ryan and Abby came to the hotel to say goodbye and introduce us to Enoch and Marta – their children. Enoch is 1½ and adorable. Abby said she’s always thought that there was something similar about he and Sophie and I definitely agree – I don’t know what, but they do look similar to me. Marta is about 9 and is beautiful – she was very good with both Enoch and Sophie. We still had some packing to do, so the visit was short, but it was nice to meet their children and to thank them again for all they do. I think that they have a very fulfilling, yet difficult job. They get to help all of these adorable children get forever homes and see their hard work come to fruition. On the other hand, they also have a lot of “entertaining” to do – and so much of it is repetitive – they continually host families like us for a week at a time and they also have their own children that need them all the time. I have the utmost respect for them and all of the Gladney employees that we have workedwith. We certainly couldn’t have done it without them and I will remember that every time our sweet Sophie smiles.

We were able to have a last meal outside at the Hilton (we both stuck with chicken nuggets and fries!) and then head to the airport. The trip home was as good as we could have expected. For a 17 hour flight, Sophie did MUCH better than we did! She had a great bassinet attached right to the bulkhead in front of our seats, so she was either asleep or eating in our laps. The only problem was that Ethiopian Airlines decided that we needed to eat (with EVERY light on and all eyes open) every two hours. It was very annoying to me – I wish that they would have just let us sleep more than two hours at a time.

Final dinner in Addis

We were so happy to have a welcoming crew in DC. Customs/Immigration took a little longer than normal since Sophie has an Ethiopian passport, but it really wasn’t bad. Once we cleared through and rechecked our bags, we were greeted by John’s oldest brother’s wife and two of his daughters. We were also joined my one of my oldest friends (from nursery school), Melanie. It was SO nice to see familiar faces and to introduce Sophie to her new extended family. After a quick lunch (it’s amazing how good airport food tastes after being afraid to eat anything for days on end), it was back on a plane. Unfortunately, we had to sit on the tarmac in DC for an hour with no A/C , and it was HOT!). We stripped Sophie down to her diaper in DC so that she didn’t sweat through her clothes. Anyone who knows me probably wonders whether I was tempted to do the same (only because I’m a sweater of course)! At this point, we were so anxious to get home to the kids that we really didn’t care what happened.

Obviously, the best part of the whole trip home was actually getting home. We called ahead so my mom brought the kids out to the back yard so she could greet us and grab the video camera so we could record their reactions. They were so surprised to see us and it was SO GOOD to see them! Will was napping, but Matt and Katie couldn’t have been cuter. They were so gentle with her and very anxious to hold her, etc. When William finally came downstairs, I almost didn’t recognize him. He looked SO big to me! I remember that the biggest Matthew has ever looked to me was the day he came to see Katie in the hospital on her birthday. I guess it’s the relative size that really blows you away. My 2-year-old is a big boy now. All three of them were great with Sophie. I think having her smile and laugh right away makes the transition much easier than having a newborn that does nothing but takes Mommy’s time away. Of course, they all get over that anyway and are probably better for it, but nothing could beat watching the three of them make Sophie laugh on day one!

Day 4 - 9/22/2007

2007-09-30T15:14:00.001-04:00

This morning we started with our usual coffee (coffee originated in the Kaffe area of Ethiopia by the way, so it’s pretty tasty) and then went to the National Museum. The building itself is not very big, but we spent about 2 hours learning all about Lucy and the other pre-human and human fossils that have been discovered in Ethiopia. This is considered the cradle of humanity b/c of all the discoveries that have been made here. Ethiopians are EXTREMELY proud of their heritage and all that originated here – humankind, coffee, but they are not overbearing about it, just very matter-of-fact. They also believe that the original Arc of the Covenant (with the ten commandment tablets) is located here. We found out more about Sophie’s given name, Yordanos. She was actually born on the day that Jesus was baptized in the Jordan river, and that is why she is named after this river. When we have told any Ethiopian that (especially the tour guides at the Holy Trinity Cathedral and the National Museum), they are very happy for us and tell us how much more special that makes our little girl. After the museum, we went to the “best pizza restaurant outside of Italy”. It was certainly delicious, but after spending so many years in NYC I’m not totally convinced J The power kept flickering on and off because of very heavy rains. Since this was really the only day that we dealt with the rain for more than a few minutes, we really didn’t mind. Yesterday was absolutely beautiful – it felt like 80 degrees without a cloud in the sky.

Since it was so rainy and Sophie could use a nap in the crib rather than trekking around on our laps, she and John went back to the hotel while I was driven to do some souvenir shopping. Apparently, the Mercato is the largest ourdoor market in all of Africa with everything from jewelry to tires for sale. All of the Gladney people here basically told us that it is a total nightmare and the biggest discount you would get on any one item (compared to more civilized areas) was $1. Apparently it is so full of people that it’s very easy to get lost in the crowd and if you are going to have any pick-pocketing issues, etc, that’s where they would be. With that in mind, I let them take me to the best alternative – the post office area. Once I can post pictures this might sink in a little better, but suffice it to say, I felt very uncomfortable pulling up on the side of this muddy road in a spankin’ clean white mercedes with my driver. Granted, I had no other option since I don’t speak Amharic and have no idea where I’m going or what I’m doing, but I felt like an idiot. In the 4 or 5 tiny store fronts, I was able to buy lots of souvenirs for very little money. I had picked out one pair of leather sandals with pretty beads on them for myself and when the saleswoman told Eyasu (my driver, bag handler, interpreter and guardian) the price, his eyebrows went way up and he said the equivalent of “WOW! in Amharic” He then looked at me and said, “these are very expensive”. I was prepared to put them back when I asked him how much. He told me 130 birr with a surprised tone in his voice. I pretended to think about it and then decided that I would splurge and spend the $14 or so. I’m sure he thought I was way too extravagant with my purchases, but I just told myself that it couldn’t have been the first or last time he would witness an American buying up the store (it was really just 1 or 2 bags, but it felt like the store!) I’m sure he was also wondering why I wasn’t bargaining, but to be honest, I just didn’t have it in me. I’m getting a HUGE bargain, and they’re barely making a living – let them charge me a little more than they would an Ethiopian – what do I really care?

After shopping, Eyasu and his cousin Tafesse took us to “Dreamland” (they’ve been alternating driving us, but Eyasu doesn’t speak very much English, so it’s nice to be able to quiz Tafesse along our journeys). We drove about an hour outside the city into the countryside a bit to this restaurant that sits on the edge of a volcano crater that has been transformed into a lake. While we weren’t able to see a sunset through the clouds, it was a magnificent view and well worth the trip. We had a delicious meal for four with the incredible view for a total of $15 – including tip!!! We had an interesting ride home in the dark along with all of the huge trucks on the main commerce route back into Addis. The sun sets here at about 6:30pm. It’s so hard for me to believe that we’re going home tomorrow. We are going to the Gladney foster home again tomorrow and then hopefully to a circus with some of the orphanage children. With all of the excitement of meeting Sophie, her birthmother and then having to rush off to our Embassy appointment the first time, I didn’t get any pictures of the actual house or the rooms and I want to make sure that Sophie can see as much about her first 8 months as possible. One other family got a referral of their beautiful 10 week old baby girl while we were here, so now I can find her there and take lots of pictures of her to send back to her mom and dad. I hope they don’t mind if I hold her and send some hugs and kisses from them too! Congrats again, Drew, Carey & baby Zoe!!Well I don’t think I’ll be posting again from here, so good luck to all of those others that are waiting for referrals. Belay, Ryan and Abby are bracing themselves for a VERY busy fall! Belay predicts that they will place 160 children this fiscal year (starting September 1) compared to only a third of that last year. Hang in there guys – you are almost here!!!!

Mommy & Sophie overlooking the volcanic crater lake - we didn't even get to see a sunset and it was still spectacular!

Daddy & Sophie at Dreamland Restaurant

Day 3 - 9/21/2007

2007-09-30T14:53:00.000-04:00

Sophie slept all the way through the night last night and it was great! We’re finding out that when she wakes up, she isn’t very happy. I thought it was because she wanted food IMMEDIATELY, but I think it’s more of a scared, where am I? and where are all the people? cry. This morning we met Tafesse after breakfast He took us to Entoto, which is the highest mountain in Addis and was supposed to be where the Emperor was to build his palace way back when. But his wife discovered hot springs in the lower area of Addis, so she insisted that the palace be built right by the hot springs. Now Entoto is simply a beautiful mountain with amazing views of the city and fresh air (a rarity in the lower parts of the city where we’ve mostly been breathing diesel fuel). We saw another traditional Orthodox church and paid a man with a big gun $1 so that I could take his picture. We watched tens (hundreds?) of donkeys and women load their backs with dung patties, eucalyptus leaves and wood to bring down from the mountain to sell. Yes, the donkeys and women have the same job, but I think it’s a little easier for the donkeys because they were mostly running and the women were doubled over to carry the goods!

Sophie's favorite Hilton employee :) The donkeys at work The man with the gunThe view from Entoto The daily task of hauling eucalyptus branches to sellAfter walking around the top of Entoto breathing the air for as long as possible, we met Ryan for lunch at a delicious Chinese restaurant. He had spent the morning at the Embassy for us and we now have Sophie’s Ethiopian passport, US visa and all of her paperwork to bring her back home. After lunch we went to the Alert Hospital, which is a whole compound for the treatment of Leprosy, and is the only such hospital in all of Africa. The main reason for visiting there is because the people that have been treated there spin cotton and weave all of these beautiful cloths and clothing. We were able to see the whole process (all hand done) from pulling the raw cotton into yarn to the looms to the final embroidery. John even got to spin some cotton himself! We bought quite a few souvenirs for the kids and our home there and felt like we paid way to little for such beautiful handiwork.

John spinning cotton at the Leprosy Alert HospitalOur last stop before naptime was the Lion Zoo. For $1 a person (+ $2 for your camera), you can see the black maned lions in these horrible, cement cages. Although being that close up to the lions was absolutely amazing (and I think the kids will love the pictures), PETA would not be very happy. It was a little depressing and the raw slabs of meat in the cages leftover from lunch was not all that appetizing!

Close up at the lion zoo
A lot of people have asked whether Sophie is Ethiopian or foreign (and many people thinks she looks like John except for her button nose!) Ryan said it’s mostly a function of her lighter skin and slightly straight hair. It’s funny b/c I can almost see the people discussing and guessing before they ask. The people have been so great. It’s going to be hard to come home and not be able to have someone else hold her all the time while I get things done. Everyone here (stranger or not) wants to hold and kiss her!Well after lots of rest yesterday afternoon, we had a quiet dinner with Belay at a restaurant called Serenade. It felt very familiar – small, quaint and the food was delicious. John and I felt kind of guilty as we scarfed down our delicious meat dishes while Belay had to have a medley of vegetables served in halves of eggplant – Orthodox Ethiopians fast on Wednesdays and Fridays, which means no meat or any animal products on these days. After dinner Sophie and I passed out at about 9. For some reason, John and I have been on opposite nap schedules, so since he wasn’t tired, he hung out in the hotel lobby for a little while watching Rugby. We’re so conflicted because we want to spend every minute soaking in the city and the culture, but we are truly exhausted. Luckily, neither of us has gotten sick, but that being said, neither of us has felt “normal” since we arrived. I really don’t know if it’s jet lag, the altitude (~8,000 ft about sea level), the intense diesel fuel we’re breathing in, or just the fear of getting sick. I have been either freezing or really hot the entire time we’ve been here. I also have felt a little light-headed and my stomach sort of feels like the days after you’ve had a bad stomach bug and haven’t eaten for awhile. Although we are certainly ready to get home to the other kids and to resume a normal life, I’m afraid of all that we’ll miss. My body is definitely ready to come home though!!

Day 2 - 9/20/2007

2007-09-30T12:14:00.000-04:00

First of all, I’m so glad that Mom is posting all of this for me since I can’t for the life of me figure out how to do it from Ethiopia. I’ve been on the other side checking blogs every half hour to get a glimpse of someone’s trip knowing ours was coming, so I wanted to keep as up to date as possible. We’re having a great time bonding with Sophie. She is a power sleeper. John and I went to bed late last night (around midnight) and she woke up right about then. Since she seemed awake enough (and we were still awake), and since the foster home gives all the babies a bottle at 2am, we decided to give her a bottle then to see if she would last through. She’s certainly old and big enough to sleep through, but we just didn’t know about night #1. Well, since we had to meet Ryan and our driver at 8:45am in the lobby, we finally decided to wake her up at 8:30!! We were very happy – and only wished we had gone to bed sooner! Ryan brought us to Enrique’s – a cafe in the city that had great coffee and pastries.

Ready for the day....Today was the day that you need your strong hearts. Wow. Today is the day that we were able to visit the three government orphanages that Gladney is able to refer some children from. We started at Kolfe, which is the home for older boys. We had been warned about the conditions and Ryan told us that the boys (around 12 years and up to ~20 from what I could tell) do not get many visitors at all and barely any attention even from the employees there. To be honest, I think I was so well prepared for the conditions, that I thought it would be harder. Don’t get me wrong – they were certainly dire, but I think it helped to see one of the buildings that had been redone and knowing that Ryan, et al are working so hard to improve the conditions for them. The boys were all so welcoming and friendly. They clearly respect Ryan very much and were genuinely happy to see him. I think seeing so many of them smiling helped me to reconcile the entire situation. We started out with only a few of them around us – mostly the ones that Ryan knows the best. They all really loved Sophie and John and I didn’t hold her the entire time we were there – she was passed around by all the boys and hugged and kissed . I think the best ice breaker we could have imagined was the polaroid camera. Many of the boys were watching some old, grainy movie when we arrived and didn’t really even look up. The other boys were happy to have their pictures taken with my digital camera – and liked to look at the image, but when I pulled out the polariod and snapped the first picture, they literally came out of the woodwork to see us!! It was amazing to see how happy they were to have a picture of themselves. Some wanted pictures with their friends, some wanted a picture of themselves alone – smiling or serious, depending on the boy. They wanted pictures with us and Ryan and Sophie. It was great. By the end (only 30 pictures), it was hard to tell who had already had pictures – I wanted to make sure I had gotten everyone, but I’m still not sure. They were starting to get a little grabby and Ryan was getting a little disappointed in their behavior. I thought they were fine, especially since many had never before seen pictures of themselves, but he has been trying to work with them about appropriate behavior in the real world, which makes a lot of sense to me. They wanted us to leave the camera so that they could start a business on the side of the road and charge 5 birr (~45 cents) to take someone’s picture. I really wanted to leave it for them, but Ryan had to explain to them about the film and that it would cost them much more to get the film, etc. I ended up copying all of my digital pictures and gave them to Ryan to give them as well. I think that anything that brings a smile to their face made me happy to know that they are still even capable of smiling despite their circumstances. By the end they were all hugging us goodbye and many were even yelling we love you!

Kolfe - the older boys orphanageTesfa in the "kitchen". He was the nicest guy with the coolest hair. It was very difficult to breathe in here. Taking pictures right back at me! John and his buds. One had a name that meant "be large" and he was very proud of that! He also happened to be very personable, polite and smart. Big brothers and puppies Many of our new friendsThe next stop was to the largest orphanage in Addis – Kechene. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to bring our cameras into this one (per the Director), but it was great to spend time with these kids. Many of the Bright Futures campers are from here, so they are just waiting for their families to finish the paperwork and come take them home. It was funny because when they found out that we were from America they all wanted to know whether we lived in Texas or New York (where Gladney hosts Ethiopian camps in the summer to try and get more older kids adopted here). Although the conditions at the orphanages are nothing like we’ve seen back home, they seem to take great pride in keeping the babies well fed, and the rooms clean. The older girls’ rooms were immaculate – apparently they have competitions between rooms to see whose are the cleanest. They all loved to touch John’s hair because it is so straight and soft. John had a gaggle of older girls around him (12-15 years old) and I had three toddlers hold my hand everywhere we went. We were able to meet Renee and Geert’s little girl (and see their sleeping son). She is a firecracker! I know what people meant now – she was probably the smallest one following us around in our pack, but seemed as old and smart as the older girls! Ryan gave her your package right away (and lots of other kids letters from their families – I guess there are a lot of Bright Futures kids there waiting to go home). She would not let go of the bag for a minute. I have a feeling it will need a good washing when you get home b/c I think she will hold it until the day you arrive! She LOVED the pictures and was SO proud. She followed us around pointing to Renee and Geert saying “Mummy, Daddy” and proudly showing you to all of the kids. She must have come back over to me six times during our tour to point and say “Mummy, Daddy”. Sometimes she would say it with conviction, like, yup, they’re mine all mine and other times it was like she was checking again just to be sure. She’d say it and then point to her chest and have inquiring eyes. I think we succeeded in assuring her that they were her parents and were coming really soon to bring her home! Absolutely adorable. I really wished that I could have had my video camera for that – it was so incredibly heartwarming. She was very excited to see her room and the older girls loved seeing her house (very beautiful they all said) and their extended families. One boy in particular loved saying Nana, Papa, Oma and Opa – he thought that was very fun to say! The elephant was also a big hit. She carried it around for awhile and then I saw the tag that said pull me and I realized that she wouldn’t have known to do that. I thought her eyes were going to pop out of her head when she heard the song! She loved it. While she went to lunch, she let one little boy guard her elephant and he played the song over and over and over against his ear with a big smile on his face.
Their son, Keller, was napping the whole time we were there. We did get to see him in his little bed – he had on a very cute, very pink one piece outfit with old fashioned looking shoes and appeared to be a great napper!!! He looked very peaceful and adorable.
After saying goodbye and promising to write to our posse, we went to lunch and then stopped at the final orphanage – Kibebe Tsehay. This is where Sophie was for 1 month and 2 days. For people who don’t necessarily remember their own birthdays, some things are very important for them to count – thank good ness for us. I am not sure that I can articulate why this was the hardest one for me. Maybe it was because this is where Sophie was, maybe it was because it was all being painted and spruced up so it appeared a little disheveled (although it was obviously for a good cause, there were cribs outside and I think it was also laundry day, so clothes hanging everywhere outside), maybe it was because many of the babies looked SO sad. We met some of the older kids here, but mainly stayed in the area with all of the babies. This is where we got to see Kozit! Maria – I was able to get an amazing video and lots of pictures of her opening her gifts from you. She was SO happy and recognized you and her sister right away and had a big smile on her face when she saw the pictures. I honestly don’t know who was happier about the bag – her or her caregiver! Her caregiver dove right in and put her new sneakers and shirt and hat and necklace on and Kozit had as much as she could possibly carry in her arms and wasn’t about to let go!! First and foremost was the snowman – it was almost as if she knew – she held onto that with all of her might. I promise to try to send the video while we’re here, but I tried to make it as long as possible, so I’m not confident that it will go through. We had coffee with the caregivers and I just sat holding one little boy around 2 years old who was so looked so sad. I asked if I could take him from his crib and as soon as I did he just held me around my neck so tight. I think it’s pretty common for them to pass colds and coughs around, so I really don’t think he felt well – he was sort of just staring out to space. That’s the moment I broke down. At least with the other kids, you know that they don’t have a great life, but they are so friendly and appear so happy that you have enormous hope for good things to come. With these little babes, you can’t talk to them or understand what they are thinking and it is so frustrating knowing that you just can’t take them all home. Harder than picking him up or holding him was having to put him down. That was the first emotion we saw from him and he just cried. Luckily Ryan had given us the 10 minute warning before we had to leave so I could prepare myself to let go. The woman are so loving and hold as many babies as they can at a time, but there’s just too many.I’m looking forward to seeing all of our pictures and watching the videos when we get home. As much emotion that is occuring on the spot, I think much of it won’t even sink in until we return and remember so many of these little faces. Luckily, I learned from Ryan that not only does Gladney have families matched to all of the babies in the foster house, they also have been given several referrals from the orphanages and those children will be moved to the foster home as soon as there is room. The good news out of all of this is that once the courts reopen, the process will get so much quicker and the Gladney home will be a revolving door bringing babies out from these conditions into loving homes.

Babies in every bed at Kibebe Tsehay Me and my sad friend. Hoping he'll be happy and with his forever family soon! Kibebe Tsehay Orphanage (Sophie's) Kibebe Tsehay Orphanage Sophie & her primary caregiver at the government orphanage, Kebebe TsehayAfter our orphanage tour, we came back to the hotel and rested – she took a good 3 hour nap – yippee! Luckily, we are so wiped out that we come back for nap time in the afternoons, which is a perfect time to update you all (and selfishly, this is my way of trying to keep all of these memories fresh because I know I’m going to forget so much!). Sophie’s primary caregiver from the Gladney house (Almaz - who we did not meet the other day) came to out hotel room to babysit while we went to dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant called Fasika with Belay and Tafesse. It was SO fun to see Sophie’s reaction when Almaz walked into the room. I have not seen her that excited since I have known her! She was wriggling her legs and babbling and literally squealing with delight. It was great to see how much they really loved each other! Almaz gave her a beautiful traditional Ethiopian outfit and I was able to take a picture of Sophie in the outfit with Almaz.Dinner was phenomenal. The restaurant itself (Fasika) was down this long alleyway in what appeared to be a poor area of town (as opposed to…?). Then all of a sudden, you drive in this tin gate and there was this somewhat fancy restaurant appearing out of nowhere! The food was delicious. There were musicians, singers and tribal dancers with many different costumes and moves that you wouldn’t believe! They were all from a specific tribe in Eastern Ethiopian (I forget the name). I barely got to put my video camera down because it was all just so amazing! When we returned Almaz told us that Sophie had not slept a wink – oops, maybe it was the 3 hour afternoon nap? I actually think that Sophie just wanted to be with her and not sleep through the visit, because she fell asleep in my arms as soon as we got home! I will say that I was happy that she was almost as excited to see us when we returned as she was to see Almaz arrive.
Sophie & Almaz Traditional Ethiopian food The dancers and beautiful costumes The restaurant - Fasika John, Belay & Tafessa (in mid-blink - he doesn't even drink, so he's not tipsy!)

Day 1 - 9/19/2007

2007-09-30T10:38:00.001-04:00

We’re safe, sound and HAPPY!! View from the Hilton On the way to Sophie - a typical sceneWe arrived late last night, and by the time we got to the hotel we basically just crashed to prepare for our big meeting this morning. We arrived at the Gladney house at about 10am. We met Belay, Ryan and Abby and made small talk while my nerves calmed down a bit. I was shaking, I was so nervous! With Ryan and Abby armed with our video and regular cameras Belay brought down Sophie and it was love at first sight! Well, she was woken up from her nap to meet us, so maybe she had to warm up to us a bit, but we thought she was amazing from the first second! We were able to hold, hug and kiss her without completely freaking her out while we asked a few more questions. Belay told us that he did have her birthmother’s phone number, so he could contact her when we were ready to meet her. No more than 5 minutes after being introduced to Sophie, Belay was called into the “milk kitchen”. He came back with a very strange look on his face. He said, “well I am totally shocked by this, but Yordanos’s birth mother just arrived here”!!! I think that Belay, Ryan and Abby were way more surprised than we were by the coincidence. Since we had no idea what the timing of everything would be, we had tried to fully prepare ourselves for anything. Apparently, she had come to visit Sophie a few times since relinquishing her (and since going to our court date to do so legally). She knew we were coming sometime soon, but didn’t know exactly when. She gets one day off a month, and even though this was not her day off, she woke up this morning and told her employer that she could not work today because she HAD to come see Yordanos, but didn’t know exactly why. I think she was shocked that we were there. I will leave out the details of our meeting, but she was very sweet and loving towards the baby and I am actually very happy to have seen their interaction and to have met her. Of course it was very difficult for everyone, but am relieved to be able to show Sophie how loved she has been from day one.

After we spent more time with Sophie, we got a tour of the house and saw all 20 other babies. Yes, the house is very full right now (with 20 caregivers on shifts). For all of those waiting families – they are onto our ploy, so I didn’t get any specific info, but I do know that of the 20 babies, only 3 have already been referred, but all 17 others have been matched!! Sooo, as soon as the paperwork, medical testing, information gathering is complete, you will have your referral! Of course, this takes time for each child, but I can promise you that they are working very hard to get all of this done soon so they can take full advantage of the courts reopening. And amazingly, every baby there is under 9 months – and a few are only a month or so old!! Soo teensy – but not from lack of food – just from age!

They really want to see me RIGHT NOW?!?!?!?!

Belay on his way downstairs with Sophie!!! Sophie, her two moms and Daddy. Coffee ceremony to help us celebrate meeting Sophie and her birthmother. (I was shaking too much to eat popcorn or drink coffee!!) Gladney older home - girls' bedroom. Again, SO neat and bright. The "dining room" in the older Gladney house - it was SO clean, bright and airy - very cute! Caregivers at the older Gladney home - so nice! Gladney house neighborhood (very nice neighborhood compared to others in Addis) Rainy season

Watching the sights with Daddy Content in the car Holy Trinity Cathedral with Mommy

Meeting Sophie!!!!

After that, we went to the older children’s house with 12 kids aged three to eight there. They were all so sweet. One sibling group had two sisters and one brother (ages 3-8) and there was a set of sisters (probably 7 or 8). We did not get a chance to meet Abel (he was out having his haircut!). He was already referred to the Mestas family with his twin sisters (who are in the baby house). We did meet the twins and took lots of pictures. So cute!! We hope to return to the foster homes, so we’ll try to get more. The older kids were so outgoing and friendly, which apparently is a little different from how they were three weeks ago when the foster home first opened. They are all doing great. Although a few have been matched with families, these children tend to stay at the foster home much longer than the infants, so we will pray for loving families for them as well.

After the foster homes, we had lunch with Abby and Ryan (and Sophie) at a restaurant high above Addis called Top View. I think it poured rain every time we were inside today, but was totally clear when we were outside. Someone was looking out for us :) After that we visited the Ethiopian Orthodox Holy Trinity Cathedral and learned more about their religion (an ancient form of Christianity (Ethiopian Orthodox) – a varient of Koptic) and some other things about Ethiopia in general. Then, we came back to the hotel to walk around, hang out with Sophie in the room, eat pizza and go to bed. Sophie started to lose it a little while we were eating, so John finished up while I brought her upstairs and while I was walking her from the hotel room door to her crib she fell fast asleep! We’re pretty tired but looking forward to the orphanage visits tomorrow.

It probably took a full six hours or so for Sophie to fully warm up to us. She was very quiet and just watching our every move. After her settling in period, she now can’t get enough of babbling, smiling, laughing and touching us. She has a very strong grip and loves to touch our faces while she eats. She seems very mellow righ tnow, but who knows how much of that is sensory overload and pure shell shock!!
Toby & Neile, please give the kids big hugs and kisses from us and tell them that we miss them like crazy. We can’t wait to bring Sophie home and all be together!!! xoxoxo

We're home!

2007-09-24T20:53:00.000-04:00

We're safe and sound and the kids are loving every minute of Sophie, as she is loving them. It's amazing how quickly we've all come to feel comfortable around each other and how normal it all seems! I am exhausted and ready for bed. Although we are home, our bags didn't make the connection (though we had to recheck them in DC, so we're confident that we'll actually get them!). Once I get my cords to connect the cameras and computer, I will post many more pictures of our trip. I will also post about the final day and other thoughts. Thanks so much for all of your good wishes and prayers for our safe return home - it's been so nice knowing how many people are out there cheering us on!!

Original Day 4

2007-09-22T17:56:00.000-04:00

Once we got home, I moved this posting to include the pictures, but wanted to keep the comments!

Original Day 3

2007-09-21T11:14:00.000-04:00

Once we got home, I moved this posting to include the pictures, but wanted to keep the comments!

Original Day 2

2007-09-20T11:25:00.001-04:00

I moved this to include the pictures, but wanted to keep the comments!

Original Day 1

2007-09-19T19:33:00.000-04:00

Once we got home, I moved this posting to include the pictures, but wanted to keep the comments!

Sophie pics!!

2007-09-19T19:23:00.000-04:00

Cloud Nine

2007-09-17T19:14:00.000-04:00

What a great name for an airline club!! It is 7:15pm and we are sitting in the "Cloud Nine" lounge for Ethiopian Airlines in Washington DC. We board in 30 minutes and we are truly on cloud nine! It is starting to sink in as I see so many Ethiopian people here at the airport. I can't wait until I can show off our pictures on the plane. In NY our flight was delayed for about 2 hours and I was CLIMBING THE WALLS. I was walking around listening to Akon's "Mama Africa" (no laughing - I love that song), and I could barely contain myself. I kept looking at everyone around us thinking, "I wonder where they're going and what they're doing." Couldn't POSSIBLY be as exciting as what we're doing!" (The top picture is actually clouds over Africa!)

We just got a call from our travel agent saying that we finally have a hotel room for the last night. As it turns out, we'll be able to stay at the Hilton for the entire time, which was not known at 2pm today! That's good - since we're only there for 5 nights, I really didn't want to have to move around.

Anyway, I should go do a few cartwheels or something to get the adrenaline out - I told John I either need to have a drink or start running laps! YIPEEEEE!! Next time we post, we'll have her in our arms!

PS - if you're reading this at home, we love you MK&W!! Matt, try to hold onto that tooth until we get home! But if you can't, don't worry, I want to hear all about your first tooth fairy visit!

Frustrated

2007-09-14T22:23:00.001-04:00

That's what I am. My office is overflowing with wonderful gifts from friends, family and neighbors of clothes, toys, diapers, formula, gifts and everything you can imagine to bring with us for the children of Ethiopia. And it's still not enough. Four 50 pound bags - that's what we can bring. We can pay to overstuff and get them to 70lbs, but they won't take them if they weigh more than that. I barely need to bring anything for me, John and Sophie. 280 pounds is not enough. I'm so frustrated.

I am stealing this video from the Elliott's blog. I love the song and I think that the video illustrates what I'm saying. The images are actually in Rwanda, but I don't expect to find things much different in Ethiopia.

Packing

2007-09-07T13:56:00.000-04:00

Ok, so we're leaving Monday, September 17th whether we're ready or not. Now that the kids are fully in school I am feeling a little more sane, but the more I pack, the more questions I have. I have lots of great stuff for the kids at the Gladney house (and orphanages), but I'm a total loss as to what to get for the caregivers, Belay, Ryan and Abby. I feel like Belay did backflips to get us to Sophie sooner than we ever expected - what can you possibly bring to this man who does so much for your family?!?!?!?

As far as other packing, I'm trying to pack as little as possible for me and John so that there is as much room as possible to bring things to leave there. Sounds like it's much cooler than I might have imagined, so that's good to know ahead of time.

What about bottles/formula/food? What did you all bring? Only my oldest would ever even take a bottle (of anything), so I am completely out of the bottle loop. I originally thought to bring the bottles with the plastic drop in liners since it might be hard to clean the bottles (is it?), but now I'm realizing those must be impossible to mix powder formula in, so I should bring regular bottles. How do you wash them? I am not a huge stickler on these kinds of things, but I've been told not even to wash my face with the water, so now I'm confused. Is it different b/c she's lived her whole life there, so washing bottles with regular water there is fine. And what about cereal? She will be 8 months the day after we arrive, so if she's not eating it yet, she should be. Did you bring the cereal, bowl and spoon? I assume that we we can just make the formula and cereal with bottled water.

Luckily, I know that she's now 15 pounds, so at least I know which clothes to bring. Decisions, decisions! My brother told me to bring a polaroid camera and take pictures at the orphanages (and maybe of Sophie for her birthmother?) because many of these kids/people have never seen a picture of themselves. Hopefully that's a hit. OK, well I better get packing now that I actually have 2 at school and one asleep (for his WEEKLY nap - ugh!). I will take any and all travel advice that you have - ANYTHING!!!

We have a birthdate!

2007-09-01T22:17:00.000-04:00

I thought I'd share a few more pictures that Lisa Holliday sent to us. Have I said how grateful we are to them for all of these fantastic photos? The best! We received news this week that we now have an actual birthdate. She was born on January 19. I don't know why it matters to me so much, but I don't think I would be feel very settled if I didn't know my real birthday, so that made me happy. It was originally estimated at 2/7, but since that is one day before William's, we were thinking of moving it farther away after we heard our doctors opinion on her age. Really, in the scheme of things it seems silly - your birthday is completely dependent on your time zone, so why do I care? I guess just any facts I can gather for her are better than all of the guessing she'll be doing during her life.

We also found out that we may in fact get to meet her birthmother, which we didn't think would be possible before this week. We still may not, but at least I can prepare for the possibility now. I think this is going to be pure torture for me - I have given birth to three children and cannot fathom the pain involved in giving away your child. That being said, again, I feel like it is so important for us to gather as much information for Sophie as possible (and pictures, etc), so it will be worth every painful moment. I think I will have to warn Belay that I am very emotional. Although, that will probably be pretty evident from the first moment that I touch ground in Ethiopia! I am a crier. No two ways about it. I was even told once to keep it down at a funeral - no joke! Hopefully I'll be able to keep myself in check, but I'm really not figuring out how that will be possible!!

Anyway, we leave Monday, September 17 and return the following Monday, the 24th. I really hope to post from there. For those of you who have sent comments - thank you so much. I love hearing from you all and knowing how many people are out there cheering for us! For those of you who asked, we did use Susan Parr for travel, we're flying Ethiopian and staying at the Sheraton. I did a bunch of travel homework ahead of time, and Susan was great - super fast and definitely got us the best deals and flight times. I will probably have a whole list of questions to post this week. Ally and Christian's post looks to be hugely helpful so I'll have to figure out what else I need to know after starting to pack! Most importantly, I hope to find out how big she is so I know what clothes to bring for her!!!

Happy Labor Day!

Expect the Unexpected!

2007-08-27T17:08:00.000-04:00

She's ours!!! We are in shock. We will have to think of something very special to bring to Belay when we travel to pick her up in SEPTEMBER!! I know those of you who are waiting for a court date are wondering what is going on...here's the scoop. Lisa left me a comment on a previous post saying "I don't want to get your hopes up, but I think a judge may have seen your case while the courts were closed. Belay said the judge had asked him to come back the next day, and he was hoping that was the reason." Well I am very happy that she gave us a head's up, because I think that I would have had a heart attack if Natalie called today with the news. Basically, Natalie said that this is highly unusual, but Belay was able to find a judge that was still working to approve our case. Apparently, they need to have the birth mother at the court date if that is at all a possibility. Well at one point, an address that Sophie's birth mother had given was not correct so they were not sure that they could contact her. Recently she came back so Belay asked the judge to see our case today since the birth mother was willing to come. So, our case was approved today and she is officially ours! It looks like we will travel in mid-September. My head is swimming with all that there is to do to prepare for travel (including getting the kids settled in school starting Thursday and having family members come stay with them while we're gone). All the chaos of the next three weeks will be worth it. YIPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Travelling families are the best

2007-08-26T20:10:00.000-04:00

A post to Lisa Holliday and family - THANK YOU, YOU ARE THE BEST!!! Getting little tidbits of info about Sophie, and especially pictures has made our whole week. Of course it makes us want to get our hands on her that much sooner, but if the rumor is true, and Belay was able to get to the judge, that may actually happen. I'll be sure to let everyone know as soon as I know anything. Thanks so much for the information, Lisa. I especially love hearing how many fun and loving visitors she's getting - it looks like Bennett and Camille took good care of her, so I'm sure she's missing them already. Luckily for them, they just got home forever this week. Congrats and welcome home to the Holliday family. And a million thanks again.

I love summer vacation

2007-08-26T20:03:00.000-04:00

Well, with the last week of summer here, I thought I'd post some pictures of the family. We're having a great time and trying to squeeze every last second out before school starts on Thursday! I hope to post soon with a Sophie update. We're almost at a month since referral, so I hope to have some new measurements and pictures from Gladney. I'll be sure to add them when I can.

Perspective

2007-08-17T11:22:00.000-04:00

Well, I have a few moments to post only because John was able to bring a laptop home from work. Yesterday, my computer crashed for the third time. This time is was permanent. I was REALLY starting to get upset about it and nasty to those around me. I had just uploaded some of the best pictures I've ever had of the kids and then erased them from my camera. My outlook had ALL of my contacts (addresses, email, phone, birthdays, etc) and every single adoption document and email. I had tons of emails that I hadn't replied to and can't remember what I owe to whom. I ordered a new computer, but it will take 2 weeks to get here. I was feeling really sorry for myself (and pretty stupid since I hadn't backed any of this up for months and knew it was inevitable since it was the 3rd time and the laptop was 4 years old).

Then I looked at Sophie..... What a way to snap out of it. I mean, really, Heidi - are you kidding yourself? Look at that precious little face and all the loss she has experienced in her short 6 months on this earth. And then remember that there are nearly 5 MILLION other kids in Ethiopia alone with a similar history. I feel very fortunate to have such a wonderful family and friends that are all relatively healthy and happy and well-cared-for. I have a great life - and I realized that this TEENY inconvenience is so insignificant in the greater scheme of life. Thank you Sophie - we haven't even held you in our arms yet and you have taught us so much about patience and love. I can only hope that this is the first lesson of many that we will teach each other. We can't wait to have you home. xoxo

Questions, questions, questions....

2007-08-14T09:51:00.000-04:00

I guess the one good part about waiting is that we will have lots of time to figure out as many questions as we can ask about Sophie's first six months. Of course, we are certainly curious, but more importantly, we feel the need to gather as much as humanly possible to give her a better understanding of where she began her life. Our case worker was able to determine that her mother named her, which makes me very happy - there is no question now that we will keep Yordanos as her middle name. For other Gladney families out there did you ask most of your questions to your case worker and have them find things out, or did you just ask Belay things when you got there? I'm thinking of things like the religious background of Yordanos or her mother, her ethnicity, the language the mother spoke, etc. I don't want to keep pestering Natalie at Gladney, but I feel like there is so little information to give her when she's older.

On another note, Natalie did tell us that she can try to contact a family traveling soon and we can send a mini photo album over for Sophie to look at until we can go get her. So whoever gets tapped for that job, thank you so much in advance! Maybe I'm crazy, but I think it will help her to absorb our faces for the next few months. It's certainly helping me that we have a huge picture of her in the house! William keeps walking by it saying "Hi Sophie" in this really high pitched voice. It's really cute - hopefully he'll find her as cute when she's here playing with his toys!

6 Months Old & flat out begging

2007-08-12T08:28:00.000-04:00

It's hard to remember when these guys were 6 months old, but here they are (Matthew top, Katie middle, William bottom). Time flies so fast as they grow. I can only hope that our wait time until November will fly too. I can't wait to get more pictures of Sophie.

There are a few Gladney families traveling to Ethiopia this month and next to pick up their precious babies, so I have resorted to flat out begging for any pictures that they can get while they are there - and for any of you that haven't been personally begged, here is my plea! I will also settle for any stories of how she's doing, how she's interacting with the other kids, etc.

Another family just got their referral for 6 month old twin girls (born just a week after Sophie) and their big brother (who is 2). Its so nice even seeing pictures of other kids that are in the Gladney home with her (and I'm sure there are a few more referrals coming before we go get her). The boy (Josiah Abel) looks like he will certainly keep the babies smiling!

http://www.jobsdaughters.blogspot.com/ and http://www.myethiopiansisters.blogspot.com/

Here she is!!

2007-08-07T16:15:00.000-04:00

Introducing Sophie Yordanos Daileader! First of all, the "facts". Her full Ethiopian name is Yordanos Ayele and her estimated birthday is February 7, 2007 (a day before William's 2nd birthday), making her 6 months old. Yordanos means Jordan, for the Jordan river, which forms the boundary between Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and Jordan, and flows south from Syria to the Dead Sea. It is mentioned in the Bible as the place of Jesus' baptism. I am trying to find out whether her mother named her or her original orphanage. If her mother named her, we will definitely keep Yordanos as her middle name. Otherwise, we may find another Amheric name that means something special.

The whole process of getting a referral was absolutely crazy. Before I get off on a tangent, I want to say thank you, thank you especially Natalie and Belay, both with Gladney, for bringing us to Yordanos as fast as humanly possible. We had lots of questions and they were both so patient with us. There was a period of a few hours that we thought that we could get her through the Ethiopian courts before they closed (which unexpectedly happened yesterday), and we really appreciate all of the running around and staying up late they did to try to facilitate that. Unfortunately, we were not able to officially adopt her before the rainy season, so now we'll pray that the courts reopen by September 25 as expected (or earlier) and that everything goes smoothly in court so that we can go get her in late October/early November.

So here's the story - I went to the Gap Wednesday specifically to buy (PRODUCT)RED shirts for the whole family (including the new baby-to-be). For those of you who don't already know this, (RED) was started by Bono and others to raise awareness and money to help women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa to produce (PRODUCT)RED branded products and use part of the proceeds of these products to buy AIDS medications. I was very happy with my purchases and decided to wear my shirt on Thursday. It has now become my lucky shirt because at 11:30 Thursday morning, Natalie called from Gladney to give us our referral for Yordanos and to give us all of her information and the two pictures you see above. Luckily, John was in town, so we were able to have a conference call with Natalie and hear and see all of the information at the same time. As her referral reads, "she is a pretty little girl with beautiful, big eyes and a cute round nose. She is very playful and happy and loves to be held. When you hold her and play with her, she is very engaged and interactive." She sounds like a great sleeper and pretty good eater (we'll certainly beef her up in this house).

We had chosen a pediatrician that specializes in international adoptions in NYC to review the pre-adoption medical reports that we received. I called the office at noon on Thursday and we had her initial assessment of the medical report to us by midnight! I was shocked that she could do it so quickly (not because we received very much medical information, but more because this is a woman in very high demand and we were lucky that she was even in the country today). We finally spoke to her over the phone this afternoon and officially accepted her referral.

I have decided to post pictures of our other three kids at about 6 months (but I'm having trouble getting the pics in, so that will have to wait - aarrgghh). We hope to have a smiling picture of Sophie soon, so that will be easier to compare. The few people that have seen her picture and know our kids think that she actually looks like them. I have thought that about several families, so I wonder if Gladney doesn't try to find similar facial characteristics? I think she shares their cute button nose and is so beautiful that I don't really care who she looks like, we just can't wait until she's really, truly ours!!

Two favorite blog moments

2007-07-29T15:52:00.000-04:00

I realized that having spent so many hours watching other Ethiopian adoption blogs I really need to share my two favorite moments. I have spent most of my time on the Gladney Ethiopian adoption blog list given that those timelines are the most relevant for us (http://www.adoptionsbygladney.com/html/international/ethiopia/blog.html). It's amazing to me how much the personalities of the authors shine through the text and pictures. My first favorite moment is one that I cried my eyes out when seeing (not just the first time, but every time). You can find it on the Bottomly's blog - (http://bottomlysandethiopia.blogspot.com). The entry is in their archives under April 8, and it's a slideshow of them seeing their precious baby boy, Silas, for the first time. Really touching. My second favorite moment is one that I laughed out loud because it is so cute - the presentation of Christian and Ally's beautiful son (yet to be named) on July 27 at http://fromaxumtohere.blogspot.com/. Seeing families get their referrals certainly helps our own wait time go by faster, so I really appreciate all of the updates (especially all the pictures that people post while in Ethiopia, which I really hope to do when we're there), so thanks for the inspiration to start our own!

Paperwork tips...

2007-07-29T09:13:00.001-04:00

Now that I've just gone through our adoption papers to list our timeline (see bottom right), I realized that I have some suggestions for those of you just starting the process. Let me preface this by saying that I can already hear my family laughing at me and how "type A" I am, but I can tell you that it came in very handy during this process, so I'll take the ribbing this time!

1) A seemingly ridiulous level of organization is key. Photocopy and save EVERYTHING you compose, receive and send out (I put it all in order in a 4" 3-ring-binder). You never know when something will get lost in the shuffle. A checklist of what's written, received and notarized helped me too.

2) I would compose your letters and compile all of your request forms at the very begining. Depending on your state and your home study agency, you have no idea how these two entities will affect your wait time, so even if you think you have time, do everything that you have control over asap. For example, in Connecticut, we were able to get our CIS fingerprinting done way before our home study was ever complete, and then because I had waited to contact our home study agency (and weirdly enough, they had lots of other things going on other than our home study!), that was what we had to wait the longest for.

3) For whatever reason, both our health and life insurance companies were happy to send us proof of insurance, but would not notarize anything. Of course, they didn't tell me this when I requested it, they just seemed very eager to help. But when I received the form letter of proof of insurance and then called to find out why they weren't notarized, I was informed that they will not do that. I would suggest requesting this letter directly from your HR department or life insurance agency at the same time to cover your bases. It was REALLY annoying running to the mailbox everyday waiting for those letter only to receive something that we couldn't use.

4) Use KBS Dossier Service (especially if using Gladney)!! Kate was so helpful and saved us so much time and agony sending things to the county and state. I think her rates were more than reasonable and it was worth every penny. She knows the system. I have no idea how much she does with other agencies, but she knows exactly what Gladney needs and saved me so much time.

I think that's it for now. Please feel free to ask any questions that I didn't cover in my timeline b/c I know I was obsessed with the timing of things for a long time and these blogs were invaluable in keeping me sane (and probably saved a few phone calls to our agency asking about minute details!)

My first blog

2007-07-28T18:07:00.000-04:00

Well, I didn't think that I was going to start a blog of my own, but after learning, laughing, crying and enjoying everyone else's Ethiopian adoption blogs so much, I now feel compelled to share our story as well. We have 3 wonderful biological children - Matthew (6 - 1st grade), Katie (almost 5 - kindergarten) and William (2 1/2), and as of tomorrow we are two months into our wait for a referral of a baby girl up to 18 months. We are using Gladney out of Texas and couldn't be happier with the experience so far. I think that I was a little hesitant about starting our own blog for many reasons - afraid of the weirdos in cyberspace, afraid that there is no way I could make ours as interesting/funny/touching as some of the others that I've seen, etc. But now I realize that it is just so helpful, especially for those waiting. I will certainly post a timeline b/c I think that is one of the things that I looked at the most as I prepared our documents. In general terms, we started the application early January 2007 and had everything complete by May 29. Belay, our in-country Gladney representative received our dossier on June 8 and we've been waiting for the call ever since. Unfortunately, we will probably now be waiting until at least October to travel given that we haven't gotten a referral yet, but this will be infinitely better for my brother and sister-in-law who will be staying at our house with the kids while we're gone. Given that she is pregnant with their first, I think having the older 2 in school for the week will be much easier!! Ok, I will post more later including pictures and timeline, but wanted to at least get this started!!