What a Great Week!

Look at me getting funky with my new blog header. And, yes, Tara, I was inspired by you, but your blog is still the coolest on the blog block.

I promised Christmas pics, so here they are in a nifty slide show. (Again - look at me learning to do new things!) My favs are Micah on the orange giraffe rocker his dad picked out, Micah riding his tonka truck from his Uncle Ryan and Micah wearing the blueberry hat my sister knitted for him. Cute!



Speaking of Christmas - can I tell you how amazing my husband is? Yes, yes I can. We weren't supposed to do gifts this year, but we both cheated (of course!). I got Kevin a last-minute-found-it-on-ebay-gift - Guitar Hero III for the Wii. He is playing right now- it's hilarious. I've been rocking out - perfecting "She Bangs the Drums" by the Stone Roses (takes me back to high school!), and Kevin has been perfecting a song by Poison. Awesome. :)

Anyway- on Christmas morning there was a little bag under the tree for me with a little box - I supposed it was jewelry, which of course would be very sweet, but I was wrong. It was a gift card for a SPA DAY! I don't know why, but I bawled when I realized what it was. He knows me so well - that was the PERFECT gift for this tired mama. I'm planning my massage for very soon and I'm going to save the rest for later. I LOVE the spa and he got the gift card from one of my favorite Aveda salons. I love him. :)

And, this has been such a great week in adoption blog land. I have seen so many referrals coming in lately - it is just wonderful. Congrats to the Gurskes and the Magers who received their referrals this week! I'm so happy for them and for all the other families who had Christmas surprises!

Whoosh!

Micah's first Christmas is over - it was a wonderful two days, but we were EXHAUSTED!

On Christmas Eve I spent the day cooking my Ethiopian feast - I made shiro wat, doro wat, and lasagna (we had it in Ethiopia!). Micah really liked the shiro - he kicked his feet for more. I must say, even though my doro looked nothing like the doro I've had before, I was pretty impressed with myself for cooking the meal. Kevin is the chef here and my specialties are limited to fish sticks and mac n cheese. (Pretty fancy, I know.) I put on a small scarf I had bought in Addis and wore it for inspiration all day (the UPS man stopped by and gave me the STRANGEST look ever :). I wish I had a picture, just to show you all what a big dork I am, but I was too busy simmering for pictures.

Here is the table - I used the shawls I got from Ethiopia for chair covers - pretty nifty huh?

My mom and I - the Bean was still napping when she got there so we relaxed a bit before he woke up.My doro wat simmering...

Kevin was getting into the holiday mood...

Micah was dressed in his traditional Ethiopian outfit for the occasion. He looked very cute...

Micah & Mimi

Our Family

We opened gifts from Mimi that night - Micah was a little confused by this, but he had fun...

This was his Radio Flyer wagon!

His Rody - a little inflatable donkey-thing that he can bounce on - very cute!

Typical baby - he was more interested in the ribbons. :)

If you can believe it - we then went down the street to our friends' house to give their kids their gifts and they gave Micah a really cool ball popper.

Chuck was way into it - he kept screaming & laughing at the balls as they popped up. Micah is so smart - when a ball would pop out - he would put it back in. My little genius. :)

This is just cute - it is one of those tunnels and Micah thought it was great. I'm definitely getting one! (Unless Chris hands it down to us first :)

Like I said, Whoosh! That was just Christmas Eve! That night, as I was changing him into his jammies (and we were both exhausted), I told him the story of Christmas and how one of the wise men was King Balthazar from Ethiopia. I also told him how much we love him and how happy we are that he is here with us for his first Christmas. Sweet boy.

I'll post Christmas pictures soon!

10 Months Old!

Dear Micah Bean,

I've been thinking of writing you a letter for some time now. It is coming up on your first Christmas, and you just turned 10 months old. There are so many things you are learning and doing - you are amazing. Since your mama is bad at writing things down, but good at blogging, I've decided to write you a letter each month to remind us someday of what you were like.

Here are some of the amazing things you are doing:
*You have just begun to figure out how to move around. You are not quite crawling, but you are definitely rolling. In the past few days you have figured out how to move forward, but it is kind of like an inch worm moving along. It is so cute. Your favorite thing to get into when rolling around is the dogs' water bowl.
*Your favorite foods are yogurt, cheerios and sweet potatoes. You also like peas because you really like to grab things and put them in your mouth.
*You LOVE your doggies. Each time you wake up, I pick you up out of your crib and you immediately look toward the door for the doggies (who are gated out of your room). As soon as you see one of them, you flash a big smile (usually behind your binky). You also like to "bark" back at them - especially Ham. Sometimes when I am changing your clothes, we'll hear Hammie bark and you 'bark' back at her. It is so cute. Here you are with Pedro...

*Your favorite books are "Baby Colors" and "My Little Miracle." You really like to read books - I sit you on my lap facing me and read them to you while you turn the pages. You get a very serious look on your face most of the time, but sometimes you will smile and look up at me to make sure I see it too. Your dad reads to you too...


*Your least favorite things are having your hair combed and putting on your coat. The sight of a comb or coat can make you very mad.
*You really like listening to music and you think it's very funny when mom and dad sing along- especially when I use a spoon for a microphone. You really love the Beastie Boys. (Just kidding)

*You LOVE bathtime. You often try to swim right out of your inflatable tub!
*You have lots of nicknames, including Micah Bean, Beanie and Yabbie.
*You have the best laugh ever. My favorite is when you belly laugh - it is very cute. You are also very social and say your version of 'hi' to everyone in the store. If they don't acknowledge you, you will yell at them until they do. You are very popular with the checkout people at the grocery store too. You will always give them a smile.

There are so many more wonderful things that you are learning to do. Your dad and I are constantly laughing while we watch you roll around and begin to crawl. We love to sit and watch as you figure things out. You are very inquisitive and I have a feeling you'll want to get into everything when you start to walk.

Your dad & I are so excited about your first Christmas. Last year at this time we were beginning to dream of you and traveling to beautiful Ethiopia to meet you. Now you are home with us, and you bring us more joy than we could ever have imagined. You are our sweet little bean and we love you so much.

Merry Christmas!**

Merry Christmas from Kevin, Stacie & Micah!

(click on the link for you Christmas surprise :)

**Yucky - it is not working! It did work earlier. Anyhoo - just to let you in on the fun... you can go to elfyourself.com (or you used to be able to) and upload photos to make dancing elves of your family and then email them to people. You can even do the dogs (and the cats for you cat-people! :). I have made three already. I really don't have this much free time - I just keep putting off the things I need to do (laundry!). So, Merry Christmas anyway - sorry your Christmas surprise isn't working!

Whole Lotta Rambling (& Pictures!)

First things first... how cute are these pictures that Kevin took?


I mean, I think they're adorable, but these might be the kind of pics that only a mama would find cute. :) I even had to make them large because they're so cute. (And, in case you're wondering - he does not eat with a spoon yet. He chews on them. They're his after-dinner treat.)

Speaking of pictures - here is the one I finally decided on one for the Christmas card. Since they've been sent, I can share. I did not use the one everyone loved because, as my Aunt Terry pointed out, I didn't even iron the sheet I had draped over the chair. It was a practice run, people! So, here is the winner...


I just think he looks like a little elf baby in this one, so that's the one I used.

This week the UPS or FedEx man has been to my house every day. Sometimes both in one day. Or the mailman who likes to knock loudly and aggressively on my door and then run back to his truck. I need to put a "Baby Sleeping" sign on the door because he always comes during naps. Have I mentioned that Hammie has a personal vendetta against the mailman? Well, the mailman, the UPS person and the FedEx person. She has serious probs with all of them, which include barking hysterically when they, or their trucks come anywhere close to the house. Anyway, this is what the delivery fairies brought me today (among other things)...

That's right - we're FINALLY going to tackle the art of Ethiopian cooking. I was inspired by Mike & Jo who are just beginning their wait for a referral and have already made a fabulous looking Ethiopian meal. So, Kevin and I decided to make Ethiopian food for Micah's first Christmas Eve. My mom is coming over for dinner and she's a fan of Doro Wat & Shiro Wat (right Mimi?) so that's what we're having. We're also having lasagna because that was served to us in Ethiopia at our big feast, so we figured, why not? We're not going to tackle injera yet - we're trying to keep things low-key. But, did you know you can buy fresh injera at EthiopianSpices.com? Yep! That's where I got the spices too. Ok, so our feast may not look like the one we had in Ethiopia ...

but, I'm sure it will be yummy. I'll be sure to take pictures!

Oh, and since we're having Ethiopian dinner, I thought I'd dress Micah in his traditional Ethiopian outfit before he grows out of it...

Can someone please help me and tell me how to wash this? I don't want to ruin it, but I want to wash it before (and assuredly after) he wears it. Please let me know if you have some tips!

Chub alert: Micah went to the doc yesterday and has gained 2 lbs. in the last 6 weeks! He is 20 lbs. now! We didn't measure him, but last time he was almost 29 inches. He seems huge to me! But, don't worry, he has himself on a baby yoga program...


This is Micah's way of getting from sitting to rolling position. It totally cracks me up. When he gets to rolling mode, he looks up at me and I have to clap a little bit and say, "You did it!" or else he may cry because he bumped his head a teeny bit on the way down. Cutie. (Oh, and please excuse what appears to be a dirty floor - it isn't really dirty - it is just old and needs to be replaced. It is LAST on the list of all of the things we have replaced in this house - including entirely new floors/carpeting in the rest of the house, completely re-painted entire house, 2 new bathrooms, and a brand new deck. But, I digress...)

I'm sure I have more to say, but it's getting late, and someone (I'm not saying who) is teething and kept both of us up for 2 hours last night. I'm scared for tonight...

SNOW!

We love snow around here. We don't get it that often, so when we do (well, if it's more than a dusting) we get pretty excited. Kevin watches the Weather Channel all day & night when there is "weather" on the way. I even got him a Weather Channel t-shirt and he wore it. (Kev - hope it's ok I'm giving out your secrets :) So, when it snowed about 7 inches here last night - he was VERY excited to take his son out in the snow.

Just to prove that we had the kid bundled up, let me tell you that he had on 2 shirts, baby legs, socks, fleece footie jammies and then this snowsuit (I LAUGHED the entire time I was trying to put this thing on him! Poor child.)

I'm still laughing. My sister handed this down to us and, although the tag says 9-12 months, she told me her son wore it at age 2. Okay - I believe it. This thing is HUGE and hilarious. All I could think of was Ralphie from A Christmas Story. I think we need to invest in a proper snow outfit if we get another snow.

Here are some pictures of Micah's first foray into snow!

He's still traumatized from being put in the snowsuit.

A little confused about why we just put him down in the snow.

Kevin is trying to show him how much fun snow is...

He got into it for a minute.

Cute boys!

This Tops The List...

This is the question I got tonight from someone (someone I've known for years!!) wondering about Micah: "Is that yours?"

Incredulous, I answer a bit sarcastically, "You mean this?" rubbing Micah's sweet belly. I put my face up next to my son's and asked, "Cant' you tell?"

For a minute I thought about saying, "Oh no, we just borrowed him for the night."

Seriously.

Oh - and FINALLY - It snowed! I asked for 6 inches - that's what we got! :) Pictures later!