Please go read Lori's recent post about this amazing community that we have. When I stop to think about how blessed we are by our online friends - family, really- I am always in awe. Lori's post describes this well and is definitely worth reading!
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
I'm Back!
My obsession with the Twilight series books is over. Well, at least until the movie comes out. :)
I really don't have much news - so here are some cute pictures...
E took Micah down the slide
I think he liked it. :)
E's little brother J - wearing his giraffe headband. (We spent some time in the giftshop that day.)
At our EKC event last weekend...
Micah and Zoe.
I sat him down next to her to take a picture and he immediately leaned in for a smooch.
I think Micah might be smitten.
The family who hosted our event recently returned from Ethiopia (with their beautiful daughter). They were kind enough to put on a traditional coffee ceremony for the group! It was wonderful!
I really don't have much news - so here are some cute pictures...
At the zoo a few weeks ago...
E took Micah down the slide
I think he liked it. :)
E's little brother J - wearing his giraffe headband. (We spent some time in the giftshop that day.)At our EKC event last weekend...
Micah and Zoe.I sat him down next to her to take a picture and he immediately leaned in for a smooch.
I think Micah might be smitten.
The family who hosted our event recently returned from Ethiopia (with their beautiful daughter). They were kind enough to put on a traditional coffee ceremony for the group! It was wonderful!We also went to the Festival of Nations over the weekend. I would have pictures, but I gave the camera to George, who is 3, and he decided to take pictures of the people sitting next to us rather than of us. Then my battery died. I found it quite funny to realize he had been taking pictures of random people - I wonder if they thought it was funny? (I didn't notice because I was busy enjoying some yummy Ethiopian food.) But, I did get this one of George before the camera died...
And, if anyone has any book recommendations - please share. I'm going through withdrawal. It's so sad.
And, if anyone has any book recommendations - please share. I'm going through withdrawal. It's so sad. Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Gobledeegook and Some News on our Second Baby
I know I've been a bad blogger lately. I know I'm not commenting on your blogs. I've not taken time to catch up with our friends. I blame Stephenie Meyer and this blog, (which, by the way, is a hilarious blog - you should read it). Anyway, if you haven't figured it out, I've been consumed since I started reading the Twilight Series. It all started with this book...
It should be noted that I do not like scary books or movies (although I once co-wrote a 20 page paper about slasher films - go figure), but since these books are written for a teenage audience, I seem to be handling it okay. Anyway, that is my excuse for being a bad blogger - I've become obsessed with teen lit. Now onto some more meaningful stuff...
MICAH IS HAVING A GROWTH-SPURT!! And, I don't just mean physically - I also mean mentally (if that makes sense). In the past week he has started communicating with signs and with words - like crazy! He always used to sign for "please" but now he is using "more" and "eat." (I promise to get video - especially since my awesome husband got me this for my birthday. Isn't he the best?)
Also, he is now saying the word "yep" when you ask him a question, as in,
Me: "Do you want to go see the dogs?"
Micah: "Yep." or
Me: "Do you want a pretzel?"
Micah: "Yep."
It is quite adorable. BUT, there is more! He has also started to use a sentence!!! Seriously, I thought single words were supposed to come first but lately Micah will point to something and say, "I want that." Okay, yes, it sounds more like, "Iuntdaaat" but it's become pretty obvious that he is indicating his want of something. It is amazing. I love it.
He is also still swiffer-ing like a madman - especially if I get out the vacuum - he goes right to the closet where the swiffer sleeps and points to it saying, "Iuntdaaat."
He got a new Amharic t-shirt today. We got it from this site (go look- you will love them) and it looks adorable on him....
And, finally, some news on his baby sister! Today we went in for our homestudy update with Erin at CHI and our new plan is to have our homestudy submitted to CIS as soon as possible and then hopefully have our dossier ready to go by November. Or December at the latest. (We've sped things up a bit in our timeline since we expect wait times to increase in the near future.) I'm going to start on it now (especially since the update paperwork was very simple) so I think I can have it all ready to go when our 171-H comes. The current wait-time for that in our state is 4-6 weeks. Last time it took 9 days, so we'll see.
So, with wait-times growing we are now going to just say that we hope to be traveling or at least have a referral by Micah's third birthday, which is February 2010. I know that seems hopelessly far away, but I'm trying to prepare for a long wait. Of course, if it happens sooner, you know I won't be complaining! :)
Eeek! I am excited to get our dossier off to Ethiopia!!!
It should be noted that I do not like scary books or movies (although I once co-wrote a 20 page paper about slasher films - go figure), but since these books are written for a teenage audience, I seem to be handling it okay. Anyway, that is my excuse for being a bad blogger - I've become obsessed with teen lit. Now onto some more meaningful stuff...MICAH IS HAVING A GROWTH-SPURT!! And, I don't just mean physically - I also mean mentally (if that makes sense). In the past week he has started communicating with signs and with words - like crazy! He always used to sign for "please" but now he is using "more" and "eat." (I promise to get video - especially since my awesome husband got me this for my birthday. Isn't he the best?)
Also, he is now saying the word "yep" when you ask him a question, as in,
Me: "Do you want to go see the dogs?"
Micah: "Yep." or
Me: "Do you want a pretzel?"
Micah: "Yep."
It is quite adorable. BUT, there is more! He has also started to use a sentence!!! Seriously, I thought single words were supposed to come first but lately Micah will point to something and say, "I want that." Okay, yes, it sounds more like, "Iuntdaaat" but it's become pretty obvious that he is indicating his want of something. It is amazing. I love it.
He is also still swiffer-ing like a madman - especially if I get out the vacuum - he goes right to the closet where the swiffer sleeps and points to it saying, "Iuntdaaat."
He got a new Amharic t-shirt today. We got it from this site (go look- you will love them) and it looks adorable on him....
And, finally, some news on his baby sister! Today we went in for our homestudy update with Erin at CHI and our new plan is to have our homestudy submitted to CIS as soon as possible and then hopefully have our dossier ready to go by November. Or December at the latest. (We've sped things up a bit in our timeline since we expect wait times to increase in the near future.) I'm going to start on it now (especially since the update paperwork was very simple) so I think I can have it all ready to go when our 171-H comes. The current wait-time for that in our state is 4-6 weeks. Last time it took 9 days, so we'll see.
So, with wait-times growing we are now going to just say that we hope to be traveling or at least have a referral by Micah's third birthday, which is February 2010. I know that seems hopelessly far away, but I'm trying to prepare for a long wait. Of course, if it happens sooner, you know I won't be complaining! :)
Eeek! I am excited to get our dossier off to Ethiopia!!!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Micah's New Toy
Yesterday Micah discovered his new favorite toy. I had to pry it from his hands at bedtime, tell him to say night-night to it and then rock him through his sobs. He was very distraught. Here he is in action with his new toy...
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Micah Day!
It's Micah Day! (Or Family Day, or Gotcha Day - whatever you want to call it :) One year ago today we met our sweet baby boy. Today we celebrated with gifts in the morning - a TMX Tickle Me Elmo that had us all giggling.
And this afternoon I baked Micah a cake - I even made my own icing (because it was 800 degrees outside and we didn't want to leave the house to go buy some). Then we went to dinner at the Ethiopian restaurant. The owner, Henock, was there tonight and recognized Micah right away. Micah ran into his arms about 4 times and Henock gave him big hugs and kisses each time. I tried to get a picture, but our little wiggle-worm wanted down as soon as Henock picked him up. It was very sweet. (Oh- and I found the camera cord! BU pics coming soon...)
But, he'll eat cake with his hands...
Happy Family
And, of course you know I had to make a little montage for Micah's first Micah Day! Here are some of our favorite pictures from our first year together...
And this afternoon I baked Micah a cake - I even made my own icing (because it was 800 degrees outside and we didn't want to leave the house to go buy some). Then we went to dinner at the Ethiopian restaurant. The owner, Henock, was there tonight and recognized Micah right away. Micah ran into his arms about 4 times and Henock gave him big hugs and kisses each time. I tried to get a picture, but our little wiggle-worm wanted down as soon as Henock picked him up. It was very sweet. (Oh- and I found the camera cord! BU pics coming soon...)Micah loves to eat with a spoon - even Ethiopian food...
But, he'll eat cake with his hands...
Happy Family
And, of course you know I had to make a little montage for Micah's first Micah Day! Here are some of our favorite pictures from our first year together...
Monday, August 4, 2008
BU Memories
I would really love to post some of the adorable pictures of Micah at the Blog Union from this past weekend, but it seems I have left my camera cord in Hermosa Beach. So sad. Especially because Micah absolutely loved his first visit to the ocean - the waves were his favorite. The sand was not my favorite, but when I can finally post pictures, you will see that Micah had a mission to cover his entire body with it.
You can see pictures from the weekend here at Drew & Carey's blog.
Here are some of my favorite memories from this past weekend:
*Dancing with little Abe in my arms after spending some time talking with his mom. That Abe is one sweet boy. And, his mom is pretty great too.
*Seeing Micah's friend Silas again - and knowing that the two boys went and played together with their dads on Friday night. We also had fun walking up the hill to the Hampton Inn (no Beach House for us :) with Amy & Josh each night. Good times.
*Seeing this adorable baby boy and his mama too! (We missed his dad - next year he'll have to come too!)
*Meeting Courtney - the only other fellow CHIer at the Union. Courtney - you had a huge smile on your face all weekend! I was so happy to have met you! I can't wait until next year when you bring your little one to BU 09! (And bring Jason too!)
*Seeing old friends - Pacey & Nathan - and meeting so many new friends. There is just something so easy about being around people who have walked the same path as we have. There is an unspoken understanding there and I love that.
*Finally getting a big (HUGE) bear-hug from Habi. It was one of the best hugs ever.
*Watching Kevin meet all of these people that I've been talking about for a year now (or longer, really). I think I caught him looking at blogs this morning after I walked away from the computer! It was fun to share this weekend with him - and with Micah of course!
So, of course, a HUGE thank you to Drew & Carey for the AMAZING weekend! I really can't put into words how grateful I am for all they did to bring us all together. The bar has been set very high for BU 09 (I'm talking a full-on production crew, shuttles - the works!). I believe Jocelyn & Kerri are taking this on and moving the event to the good ol' Midwest. Just to get you ready, one way to say hello in the Midwest is "Woo-hoo!" but really loud and with emphais on the 'hooo!' So start practicing! :)
(Please do not be offended if you are a Midwesterner - I am one too and I do love it. I do not love that it is a swamp outside and the heat index is 112 degrees, but I do love it, really!)
You can see pictures from the weekend here at Drew & Carey's blog.
Here are some of my favorite memories from this past weekend:
*Dancing with little Abe in my arms after spending some time talking with his mom. That Abe is one sweet boy. And, his mom is pretty great too.
*Seeing Micah's friend Silas again - and knowing that the two boys went and played together with their dads on Friday night. We also had fun walking up the hill to the Hampton Inn (no Beach House for us :) with Amy & Josh each night. Good times.
*Seeing this adorable baby boy and his mama too! (We missed his dad - next year he'll have to come too!)
*Meeting Courtney - the only other fellow CHIer at the Union. Courtney - you had a huge smile on your face all weekend! I was so happy to have met you! I can't wait until next year when you bring your little one to BU 09! (And bring Jason too!)
*Seeing old friends - Pacey & Nathan - and meeting so many new friends. There is just something so easy about being around people who have walked the same path as we have. There is an unspoken understanding there and I love that.
*Finally getting a big (HUGE) bear-hug from Habi. It was one of the best hugs ever.
*Watching Kevin meet all of these people that I've been talking about for a year now (or longer, really). I think I caught him looking at blogs this morning after I walked away from the computer! It was fun to share this weekend with him - and with Micah of course!
So, of course, a HUGE thank you to Drew & Carey for the AMAZING weekend! I really can't put into words how grateful I am for all they did to bring us all together. The bar has been set very high for BU 09 (I'm talking a full-on production crew, shuttles - the works!). I believe Jocelyn & Kerri are taking this on and moving the event to the good ol' Midwest. Just to get you ready, one way to say hello in the Midwest is "Woo-hoo!" but really loud and with emphais on the 'hooo!' So start practicing! :)
(Please do not be offended if you are a Midwesterner - I am one too and I do love it. I do not love that it is a swamp outside and the heat index is 112 degrees, but I do love it, really!)
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Updates on Micah and Then Some
Micah turned 17 months this week - he is officially a toddler who can run, almost jump (he tries) and can definitely CLIMB. He wants to climb everything and is learning that you can stand on things (like the wipes box) in order to try and climb over something (like the baby gate). He has actually lost weight since he started to walk (I've heard this is common) because he is so busy. Here he is in a pair of shorts that I promise fit him last month...
Apparently, he could get a ticket for wearing his pants in this style. We changed shorts right away to elude the authorities. (But not before I spent a good 5 minutes laughing uncontrollably at how cute he looked with his bootie hanging out.)
We are still in a nap-time flux around here. Micah still takes only 1 nap per day, but lately he wants it to be in the morning as opposed to the afternoon. This is confusing for mom, but we've been working with it. He's also decided that it is no longer fun to sleep until 7:30 or 8. Nope, that's so last month. Now it's fun to get up at 6 or 6:30 (which could be the reason the nap has switched to the morning).
Here he is sleeping - this was taken about three weeks ago.
And this one was taken almost a year ago - about 2 days after we got home from Ethiopia. So sweet.
I just like saying the part about the pigs singing "La La La" (So maybe this is my favorite :)
He loves this one - especially the page with all the animals. He points to each one and we have to say what it is and then make the animal sound. He loves the kitty best. Does anyone know what sound a hippo makes? I'm not so sure.
Apparently, he could get a ticket for wearing his pants in this style. We changed shorts right away to elude the authorities. (But not before I spent a good 5 minutes laughing uncontrollably at how cute he looked with his bootie hanging out.)We are still in a nap-time flux around here. Micah still takes only 1 nap per day, but lately he wants it to be in the morning as opposed to the afternoon. This is confusing for mom, but we've been working with it. He's also decided that it is no longer fun to sleep until 7:30 or 8. Nope, that's so last month. Now it's fun to get up at 6 or 6:30 (which could be the reason the nap has switched to the morning).
Here he is sleeping - this was taken about three weeks ago.
And this one was taken almost a year ago - about 2 days after we got home from Ethiopia. So sweet.Since we gave up the bottle (almost two months ago), Micah's new bedtime routine is all about books. He loves to read books, and now will sit in the glider with us before bedtime and and listen to books. Here are some current favorites:
A classic - he loves to turn the pages with the holes in them.
A classic - he loves to turn the pages with the holes in them.I just like saying the part about the pigs singing "La La La" (So maybe this is my favorite :)He loves this one - especially the page with all the animals. He points to each one and we have to say what it is and then make the animal sound. He loves the kitty best. Does anyone know what sound a hippo makes? I'm not so sure.Micah has just started to give real kisses instead of trying to make out with you. Here is how he usually gives kisses...
His Uncle Ryan was the lucky recipient of that open-mouthed love. Just yesterday he started to close his mouth and even make a kiss sound. So of course we made him give us 100 kisses just because it is so cute. Love it!
And now, an update on #2...I wanted to thank you all for the wonderful comments about our second adoption. It still feels pretty surreal and all of the old worries and fears are coming back out (our poor social worker - I've already called her with a list of questions and we haven't even been officially accepted yet :). But, then I remember that things will work out the way they are supposed to, so I try to let those things go.
A couple of you asked about a timeline - Of course I know that there is no way to plan in IA, but here is our plan (I can hear our SW laughing now!). We hope to have our homestudy finished by October so that we can apply for the free extension for the I-600a. We'll then get to work on our dossier and plan to submit that by December-January-February (I'm being very open with our plan, you see). CHI is quoting the wait for referral at about 6-10 months, so if that holds true, we could see a referral as early as next Summer, or as late as Winter of 2009. Of course, things change, so it could be earlier or it could be later. (See my easy-breezy attitude about this? Hah- I know what you are thinking, and yes, in 1 year I will probably not be easy-breezy, but please do not remind me of this then. :)
In the meantime, we are waiting to hear back from CHI on our application, and then we can get started with the homestudy paperwork. Yipee!
And now, an update on #2...I wanted to thank you all for the wonderful comments about our second adoption. It still feels pretty surreal and all of the old worries and fears are coming back out (our poor social worker - I've already called her with a list of questions and we haven't even been officially accepted yet :). But, then I remember that things will work out the way they are supposed to, so I try to let those things go.
A couple of you asked about a timeline - Of course I know that there is no way to plan in IA, but here is our plan (I can hear our SW laughing now!). We hope to have our homestudy finished by October so that we can apply for the free extension for the I-600a. We'll then get to work on our dossier and plan to submit that by December-January-February (I'm being very open with our plan, you see). CHI is quoting the wait for referral at about 6-10 months, so if that holds true, we could see a referral as early as next Summer, or as late as Winter of 2009. Of course, things change, so it could be earlier or it could be later. (See my easy-breezy attitude about this? Hah- I know what you are thinking, and yes, in 1 year I will probably not be easy-breezy, but please do not remind me of this then. :)
In the meantime, we are waiting to hear back from CHI on our application, and then we can get started with the homestudy paperwork. Yipee!
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