You know what is fun about adopting? (Well, besides the obvious of having a baby - that is a given :) I love getting excited all over again when good news comes in from other families. I remember my excitement on referral day, passing court, and traveling, so it is so much fun for me to see other families experience the same. This is especially true during a week like this when there has been some sad news for some families. My heart breaks with the sad news too.
Here's some good news from this week - Eric & Tara got their referral for little Malak! Yay! The Mager family made it through court - finally after a long journey (I think their dossier went to Ethiopia not long after ours). I'm so happy for them! You can go see their sweet baby boy. This family also made it through court (on the third or fourth try I believe). You can also go see their sweet boy! After a long journey herself, Jocelyn made it through court last Friday (I'm late, I know) and is now sweet little Pacey's mamma. Yay!
So, there are my shout-outs. I'm so happy for these families. I hope I didn't forget anyone. I'm also currently stalking 2 blogs for referrals (both from our area EKC), so hopefully more good news will come in soon.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Blog Book
Ok - shut up! I can't believe you can do this! You can turn your blog into a book. Seriously. How super-cool is that? And, you can edit it, so if some of the posts are boring, or aren't really applicable to your book (i.e. this one) you can edit them out. I'm so excited about this. I'll have to put it on my list of things to do after making Micah's lifebook, finishing his baby book, finishing our photo book from our Ethiopia trip at Shutterfly.... lalalalala.
Thanks to Eva's future mommy for the suggestion!
Thanks to Eva's future mommy for the suggestion!
Monday, January 21, 2008
Happy 11 Months!
Dear Micah,
Today you are 11 months old. You are getting so big - I can hardly believe it! You are learning more each day and it is so much fun for your Dad & I to watch.
Here are some of the fun things you are doing at 11 months...
*You are almost crawling! You get around really well with rolling - you can roll about 5 times in a row - really fast! And, when you want to move forward, you army crawl with your front arms and your right leg. Your left leg is still dragging behind, but you'll get there!
*We have to watch you very closely because you are so fast at getting around. And, you are kind of a stinker and like to get into things. You think that cords are for eating, and we keep telling you NO, but you still want to try them out. We've had to hide all the cords! You also really, really want to follow me into the laundry room - which is not baby-proofed. You roll superfast when I go in there to do the laundry - we usually end up doing the laundry together with you in my arms. (Did I mention that you're getting very big and heavy?) Here you are in mid-roll...
*You have gotten your two top teeth in the past month. Your right top is half-way in and the left one is just now breaking through. You do NOT like teething. At. All.
*Your favorite books are My Little Miracle and now Goodnight Moon. You smile every time I read them and then, when I'm finished, you yell and bang the book for more until I start again. You have no problems sitting still for books.
*Your favorite toys are your Fridge Farm, your music table and your mini Radio Flyer Wagon. You also really like spoons. Here you are opening your Fridge Farm on Christmas morning - you were pretty shocked and excited...
*Your new favorite food is spaghetti. You love it. It makes you smile... (and look - you can see your three teeth!)
*You say three kind-of words: Hi, Dad and Wow. Wow is especially cute- you say it when you see something that is super-cool.
*You have a new trick: SO BIG! You like to show everyone your trick - especially if you are in your high chair and everyone is watching. You really think it's great if they all clap for you. You also play "Where's Micah" with your blanket - you put it in front of your face and wait for us to ask, "Where's Micah?" and then you pull your blanket down and giggle. Your are the cutest ever.
*You still get up once a night and you prefer to have a bottle before you go back to sleep. Mommy is tired, but you are also very sweet in the middle of the night when you have your bottle. I will miss that sweet time, but I think we should start working on sleeping through the night very soon. What do you think?
We are both very excited for your first birthday next month, but we also can't believe how fast you are growing up. That's pretty much why I'm writing you these letters each month. I don't want to forget this time - because it is flying by! I guess no matter how big you get though, you'll always be our little Bean-Ball. We love you!
Today you are 11 months old. You are getting so big - I can hardly believe it! You are learning more each day and it is so much fun for your Dad & I to watch.
Here are some of the fun things you are doing at 11 months...
*You are almost crawling! You get around really well with rolling - you can roll about 5 times in a row - really fast! And, when you want to move forward, you army crawl with your front arms and your right leg. Your left leg is still dragging behind, but you'll get there!
*We have to watch you very closely because you are so fast at getting around. And, you are kind of a stinker and like to get into things. You think that cords are for eating, and we keep telling you NO, but you still want to try them out. We've had to hide all the cords! You also really, really want to follow me into the laundry room - which is not baby-proofed. You roll superfast when I go in there to do the laundry - we usually end up doing the laundry together with you in my arms. (Did I mention that you're getting very big and heavy?) Here you are in mid-roll...
*You have gotten your two top teeth in the past month. Your right top is half-way in and the left one is just now breaking through. You do NOT like teething. At. All.*Your favorite books are My Little Miracle and now Goodnight Moon. You smile every time I read them and then, when I'm finished, you yell and bang the book for more until I start again. You have no problems sitting still for books.
*Your favorite toys are your Fridge Farm, your music table and your mini Radio Flyer Wagon. You also really like spoons. Here you are opening your Fridge Farm on Christmas morning - you were pretty shocked and excited...
*Your new favorite food is spaghetti. You love it. It makes you smile... (and look - you can see your three teeth!)
*You say three kind-of words: Hi, Dad and Wow. Wow is especially cute- you say it when you see something that is super-cool.*You have a new trick: SO BIG! You like to show everyone your trick - especially if you are in your high chair and everyone is watching. You really think it's great if they all clap for you. You also play "Where's Micah" with your blanket - you put it in front of your face and wait for us to ask, "Where's Micah?" and then you pull your blanket down and giggle. Your are the cutest ever.
*You still get up once a night and you prefer to have a bottle before you go back to sleep. Mommy is tired, but you are also very sweet in the middle of the night when you have your bottle. I will miss that sweet time, but I think we should start working on sleeping through the night very soon. What do you think?
We are both very excited for your first birthday next month, but we also can't believe how fast you are growing up. That's pretty much why I'm writing you these letters each month. I don't want to forget this time - because it is flying by! I guess no matter how big you get though, you'll always be our little Bean-Ball. We love you!
Interesting
Although I haven't picked which candidate I'll be voting for in our state's primary (I'm still researching - I like to be an informed voter), I found this to be interesting (although it won't inform my decision or anything). This morning I was watching the news and saw Hillary Clinton speaking at a church - and behind her I saw the word, "Abyssinia." So, of course I was curious and googled Hil+Abyssinia. Turns out she spoke at the Abyssinian Baptist Church over the weekend. I read an article about it which had this little blurb about Ethiopia:
The church’s reverend Calvin talked about Ethiopia saying “We believe that that's the real center of the redemption of Africa, the real heart of Africa because it's peaceful, it's never been colonized and its people are fiercely independent and self reliant, and that's how we see ourselves."
What is also interesting is that Hillary hired an Ethiopian man, Addisu Demisse, to be her Political Director in Connecticut.
Again, I'm not endorsing Hillary here - I am still undecided on my choice and I'm not sure I'll even share it because people can get pretty fired up about politics - including me - and although I respect each person's own decisions, I fear that politics is so divisive that I don't want it to be a part of my blog. I just thought it was interesting that Ethiopia is touching the presidential election in some ways.
The church’s reverend Calvin talked about Ethiopia saying “We believe that that's the real center of the redemption of Africa, the real heart of Africa because it's peaceful, it's never been colonized and its people are fiercely independent and self reliant, and that's how we see ourselves."
What is also interesting is that Hillary hired an Ethiopian man, Addisu Demisse, to be her Political Director in Connecticut.
Again, I'm not endorsing Hillary here - I am still undecided on my choice and I'm not sure I'll even share it because people can get pretty fired up about politics - including me - and although I respect each person's own decisions, I fear that politics is so divisive that I don't want it to be a part of my blog. I just thought it was interesting that Ethiopia is touching the presidential election in some ways.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Party Time
Micah's first birthday is coming up next month, so I've been planning his party. I love planning parties- I used to be an event planner so I have to be careful not to go overboard. I'm trying to keep everything low-key so that Micah won't be overwhelmed. We decided to do cupcakes instead of a cake (I stole this idea from Tiny's Mom). Kevin already went out and bought a book on making cupcakes (remember - he is a former chef and has a degree in pastry arts), so it looks like we'll be baking instead of ordering, as I would have to do it since I can't really cook. But, I am getting crafty. I'm going to try and make a Happy Birthday banner. I know it won't be professional, like the banners that Autumn makes, but I wanted to try and make it myself. (I am still thinking of ordering one from Autumn that has Micah's name on it for his room. I think I want to get it before his party... should probably get on that huh...)
So, if anyone has any fun ideas for a first birthday party - let me know! I'd love to hear them!
Other than that - it's freezing and we're stuck in the house. Tonight we're going down the street to sit by the fire and watch Superbad. I need funny right now and from what I hear that movie is hilarious. Micah falls asleep really well down there (which is good since we're down there a ton in the summer), so we're able to put all the little ones to sleep and then watch movies. It's great when some of your BFFs are also neighbors!
And, just for fun, here's some cute stuff... Micah riding his truck -
SO BIG!
So, if anyone has any fun ideas for a first birthday party - let me know! I'd love to hear them!
Other than that - it's freezing and we're stuck in the house. Tonight we're going down the street to sit by the fire and watch Superbad. I need funny right now and from what I hear that movie is hilarious. Micah falls asleep really well down there (which is good since we're down there a ton in the summer), so we're able to put all the little ones to sleep and then watch movies. It's great when some of your BFFs are also neighbors!
And, just for fun, here's some cute stuff... Micah riding his truck -
SO BIG!Friday, January 18, 2008
Shaken Up
I have to get this out - I am shaken up by what happened recently to a family who had posted pictures (before court) and had fundraising on their blog. I am terribly sad for this family and have been reading the posts on the big Ethiopian Yahoo Adoption message board. Many people seem to be blaming this family, but I put the blame on the agency. This family (and all the families) should have been told that it is against Ethiopian law to post pictures before the court date. As far as the fundraising - well, I've never heard of that being a problem, so perhaps that is new information that the agency had not been made aware of. (Please note- there are many excellent agencies that did not tell their families about this law - I am not saying anything bad about these agencies, and I'm sure that they will be changing in the near future - for the families' sake. I remember wanting so badly to post pictures of Micah before the court date, and I probably would have without thinking of it if we hadn't been expressly told not to.)
Anyway, there was a post about the issue over at the Dalai Mama and someone (I'm guessing an Ethiopian man) left a long comment and one of the things he spoke about was that children are valued higher than gold in Ethiopia. This is something we were told and was one of the reasons we chose Ethiopia to adopt from - we knew that our child would be loved and cared for until we were able to bring him home. But, hearing it in this way reminds me of the precious gift we have been given. Micah is truly a gift from God, but he is also a gift from his birth family and the Ethiopian people. We have been entrusted with raising our child who is valued more highly than gold. We feel this way about him, as I'm sure many bio parents feel about their children too. But, somehow I feel our responsibility has greater, or maybe different implications. Many times when I'm rocking him to sleep, particularly after a tough day (of teething or refusing to nap), I think of his Ethiopian Mom and how she entrusted us to always do our best for him- I know that she would be doing these things if she could, and so I feel a responsibility to live up to her in my mind. I know I never met her, but I know she loved her son, our son dearly. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by trying to live up to her standards (which are created only in my mind - so they are, in fact, my standards), but this man who left the comment reminded me this is what we signed up for. Adoption is not one-sided - it has many facets, so many emotions and is a constant learning and growing experience.
I've read that families someday turn a point when their child becomes just their child, without the constant thought of how they came into their lives. I'm not sure I'll turn that point, and I don't know if that's bad or good. I'm not saying I'll introduce Micah as "our son who was adopted," or anything like that. He is just simply our son. But the ties to his birth family and his birth country are a part of that statement too. They are one and the same.
I know I'm all over the place here. I just had to let some of this out - airing out my feelings for everyone to read helps me to make sense of them. :)
Anyway, there was a post about the issue over at the Dalai Mama and someone (I'm guessing an Ethiopian man) left a long comment and one of the things he spoke about was that children are valued higher than gold in Ethiopia. This is something we were told and was one of the reasons we chose Ethiopia to adopt from - we knew that our child would be loved and cared for until we were able to bring him home. But, hearing it in this way reminds me of the precious gift we have been given. Micah is truly a gift from God, but he is also a gift from his birth family and the Ethiopian people. We have been entrusted with raising our child who is valued more highly than gold. We feel this way about him, as I'm sure many bio parents feel about their children too. But, somehow I feel our responsibility has greater, or maybe different implications. Many times when I'm rocking him to sleep, particularly after a tough day (of teething or refusing to nap), I think of his Ethiopian Mom and how she entrusted us to always do our best for him- I know that she would be doing these things if she could, and so I feel a responsibility to live up to her in my mind. I know I never met her, but I know she loved her son, our son dearly. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by trying to live up to her standards (which are created only in my mind - so they are, in fact, my standards), but this man who left the comment reminded me this is what we signed up for. Adoption is not one-sided - it has many facets, so many emotions and is a constant learning and growing experience.
I've read that families someday turn a point when their child becomes just their child, without the constant thought of how they came into their lives. I'm not sure I'll turn that point, and I don't know if that's bad or good. I'm not saying I'll introduce Micah as "our son who was adopted," or anything like that. He is just simply our son. But the ties to his birth family and his birth country are a part of that statement too. They are one and the same.
I know I'm all over the place here. I just had to let some of this out - airing out my feelings for everyone to read helps me to make sense of them. :)
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Please Read This
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