So Much Silliness

There is a Silly Picture contest going on this week at And The Rest is History so I thought, "I have silly pictures." And I began to look through our pics for the silliest. I realized one thing - our child makes some goofy faces. Maybe I just find them funny (and adorable) because I'm his mom, but I had to make a slide-show of some of my all time favs. So, if you want to look at 28 goofy pics of Micah - see the slide show. But, first, here is my pick for Silliest Picture (thus entering the contest :)


And, here is the slideshow. (Oh, and there are 2 of George in there with sunglasses - those had to be added for their silliness too :)

Do I Really Need...

Please tell me that I need to get these pants for Micah (so to justify spending the money on them). Are they the cutest little skater pants you've ever seen?

I found them here, along with a bunch of other totally cool punk rock clothes for babes. And, hey, they're on SALE! :)

Thanks Amari!

This weekend we received a package from beautiful Amari. Micah & Mamush are both in love with her. So, Micah was pretty excited when she sent him a present that her mom Jill brought home from Ethiopia! THANK YOU AMARI! We love it!

Tagged

I was tagged by Lori, so here goes... (and these are in no particular order - just be aware!)

8 things I'm passionate about:
1. Adoption and how it is now a part of my life
2. Animal welfare
3. My own personal spirituality
4. Good food and good wine
5. My family & friends
6. Making a difference - it's time
7. Wool socks - I love them (especially SmartWool)
8. Politics (Unfortunately. It would be so much easier if I didn't care, but then I'd be one of those people who doesn't vote. I loathe people who don't vote.)

8 things I want to do before I die:
1. Go back to Ethiopia
2. Adopt another child
3. Have a job where I am making a difference in the world
4. Travel, travel, travel (including across the US & Canada - especially Alaska- in an RV with Kevin - it's our dream)
5. Eat at the best restaurant in the world - whatever that is (any suggestions?)
6. Write a book- fiction? non-fiction? Not sure
7. Finish my masters degree (perpetually only one thesis away!)
8. Be there when my grandchildren are born

8 things I say often:
1. Did you poop?
2. Hammie, stop barking! The baby is sleeping!
3. What do you want for dinner? (or, more likely, What are you making for dinner?)
4. I need a new book
5. "In the great green room, there was a telephone, and a red balloon..."
6. No! Don't give kissy-face to the dog!
7. BEANS! (I usually say this when going in to Micah's room when he wakes up - we think it's funny.)
8. So Big! (Micah is addicted to So Big and I have to say it every time he raises his arms up, which is a lot.)

8 TV shows I recently watched:
1. Family Guy (I know - totally offensive, but it's funny)
2. The Office (we just started tivo-ing the Office - I love it!)
3. Ace of Cakes
4. Grey's Anatomy
5. The Backyardigans (I love this show)
6. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (That's right - I'm not afraid to say it - I LOVE THE FRESH PRINCE! Really - it's on Nick at Nite and sometimes I am up in the middle of the night, you know.)
7. Project Runway
8. The morning news (is that a show? does it count?)

8 Songs I never tire of listening to:
1. Come Away with Me - Norah Jones
2. Another State of Mind - Social Distortion
3. Banana Pancakes - Jack Johnson
4. The Boy with the Arab Strap - Belle & Sebastian
5. Sixteen Military Wives - The Decemberists
6. Polyester Bride - Liz Phair
7. Pretty in Pink - the Psychedelic Furs
8. New Slang - the Shins

8 things that attract me to my friends:
1. Sense of humor
2. Sense of the world outside of themselves
3. Passion - about something that matters
4. Balance - I'm attracted to people who balance me and I them
5. Ability to let go and have a good time
6. Honesty
7. Dependability
8. The ability to talk for hours on the phone about nothing

8 Things I learned in 2007:
1. Being a mom is not easy
2. Being a mom is amazing
3. I actually like this blog stuff (who would have thought?)
4. Changing a poopy diaper in near darkness is not the best idea
5. Exersaucers and highchairs cause poo explosions
6. I love Ethiopia - the people and the place
7. Moms put a lot of pressure on themselves (well, I do at least and I'm learning that it's not just me)
8. Teething sucks

So, there you have it. That was harder than I thought. I was going to tag Jocelyn because she announced to the world at Lori's blog that she hates being tagged. But after doing this, I realized that she has much too much going on to think about all of this. (Unless you need a break Jocelyn -then you can pretend I tagged you.) The eight people I am tagging are Mrs. B, Misty, The Mixons (newbies!), Annie, Nell Ann, Jenni, Mike & Jo, and Tanya (although her link isn't working?). Have fun!

Teeth

So, I've been kind of lame with not sharing many pictures lately. The reason - teeth. Micah is getting FOUR new teeth. Yes, four. Seriously. He has his two bottoms, and is now working on the two top and then the two on the outside of those are also just about to break through. So, he has not been very giving of cutie Micah smiles lately. Instead, this is what we get...

In this one you can see the first top tooth poking through...

You know he is usually all smiles when he's in his highchair. Sad boy.

This is the other photo option - hands in the mouth. Poor little guy wants to chew on his fingers constantly.

So, there you have it. Until we are feeling better, I might have a hard time catching the smiles. (I will say that Mrs. B got him to smile a lot the other day when we went out to lunch. She is his new BFF. But of course, I didn't have my camera. Sigh.) In the meantime, we will be here with our teething tabs, tylenol, frozen binkies and hopefully a few smiles here and there. :)

Good News This Week

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.

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!

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!

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.

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!

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. :)

Please Read This

Please go to the Dalai Mama's blog and read this post - especially if you are a family adopting from Ethiopia and have a blog - this is scary and I'm feeling so sad for the family this post is about.

Basement Monsters

We have this puzzle from Melissa & Doug

It is a puzzle that makes sounds - i.e. the fish makes bubbles, the cat meows- you get the picture. It is in Micah's toy pile in our lower level. Each night the last person to come upstairs has to turn off all the lights. Invariably, when we turn out the lights, one of the sounds from the puzzle would come to life - usually the bubbles, which can actually sound very scary when you aren't expecting it. I think I almost cried the first time it happened - surely there must be a ghost in the basement who sounds like bubbles, right? I finally realized it was the puzzle - and that this ghost just must like to play with the puzzle the minute we turned out the lights. So, I would turn them off and bolt up the stairs two at a time followed by, "MEOW... MEOW."

I FINALLY figured it out - because I am so smart - it is the LIGHTS! This puzzle makes the sounds when the piece is returned to the puzzle - the chip underneath recognizes that it goes dark when the piece is placed in the right spot and makes the noise. So, it turns out we do not have a puzzle-playing ghost, or basement monsters who like kittens. Thank goodness.

P.S. I am only telling you this because you may have this puzzle too and you are currently being terrorized by it as we were. It's a public service announcement, if you will.

Memory Lane

I was just going through my old emails from my Yahoo email address - looking for an email from a woman in Denmark who had contacted me because our sons were at the same orphanage. (Do you know I emailed with two families from Denmark who had children at Hope for Abandoned Children? Crazy.) Anyway, I never deleted any emails from last spring and summer and I'm so glad I didn't. It is amazing to look back through them. For one, it is fun to read everyone's congratulations after our referral and court date - I mean who wouldn't want to read again about how adorable their son is? :) But, I also read a lot of emails that people (maybe you) sent me wondering about Ethiopian adoption, or our agency, or travel or whatever. For example - Jocelyn - I didn't realize we've been email buds since July! Did you? And, there were so many other names that I recognized of people who were asking about adoption - and are now adopting - some even have their referrals! I just think this whole process is amazing and our online community is amazing. That's all.

And, what's a post without pictures? (Especially two in a row.) So, here is Micah eating spaghetti. It's his new favorite. Is this not hilarious? We obviously thought it was - we took about 45,000 pictures (not all of them are in the slideshow!). Oh - and btw, he did have a bib on, but he now takes his bibs off Hulk-style. He grabs them and makes a tough face and pulls them right off. Then he tries to pull his shirt off too. His new nickname might be David Banner.

Love my Chuck T's

Did you all know that you can now buy product (red) converse? If that wasn't cool enough in itself, you can also now go to the converse website and DESIGN YOUR OWN product (red) chucks. It is so much fun! You get to pick all the colors and you can personalize them. I'm working on a pair now, so I thought I'd share this! I wish I could show you a picture of the ones I'm working on, but it won't let me copy it. :( You'll have to wait until I'm modeling them for you! (Although - I'm not getting too crazy - they're kind of boring, but I will love them.) I'm trying to figure out if you can design your own for babies too...

Sick Boy

That's right - we've been home almost 5 months and we just experienced our first Sick Baby day (and night). I had the stomach flu yesterday (I never get sick, so being sick twice in one month is really annoying). It was so terrible in the morning that I called Kevin and told him he had to come home. Mr. Wonderful did come home and worked from home so he could take care of the babe all day while I slept the ENTIRE day.

So, last night Kevin was trying to put Micah down to sleep and every time he left the room, Micah began SCReaming. It was terrible. I tried too, but same result. I even freaked out and called one of my BFFs (mom of 4) to ask if there is anything we should be doing. Nope. But she did tell me that since he was being quiet while rocked, there was a good chance he would fall asleep eventually. He did, so my freaking out was for naught. He slept okay, except for being awake from 3:30 a.m. - 5:00 a.m. Thank goodness I was feeling better by then.

I have no idea why I am documenting this all for you. I guess it is just such a BIG deal when your little one is sick for the first time. It's scary and you feel helpless. I've dreaded him getting sick, but I have to say that we've been extremely lucky that he hasn't been sick until now. And, the good news is that, after a day of moaning and whining and crying, I FINALLY saw a smile from him just before bed tonight. His Dad was being silly and it worked - I really don't think I had seen a smile all day until then!

*Edit: Thursday morning and now Kevin is sick too! :(

Here are a couple of pictures from before the sickness (because you know I love pictures)...

One of his goofy faces.

His whistle-face. He does this and then breathes in and out and actually whistles. It is hilarious. He's a genius.

Good Times & GO BUCKS!

No, not the show... my weekend - it was filled with good times. On Friday Kevin & I took Micah to the mall to return some gifts that did not fit. Ok - not terribly exciting, but it is always fun to get out.

Saturday afternoon we got together with other area families that have adopted from, or are in the process of adopting from Ethiopia. I think we had 9 families there so it was a lot of fun. It is great to see the kids together. One family had recently adopted 3 children - ages 4, 6, and 8 (two girls and a boy). When they came in myself and another mom teared up. She has an excuse - she's a couple of weeks from traveling and I remember being very emotional then too. Me? No excuse really - it just makes me happy to see these children for some reason.

It was also great to see all of the families talking about their experiences and giving tips to the families who are traveling soon. (One family brought a pad of paper and a list of questions - so cute!) Since we're hoping to continue to meet up and form ourselves a little (or someday probably big) group, one dad said to me, "These children will all be like cousins - our daughter's Ethiopian cousins." :)

We got a couple of cute pictures of Minnow, Boomer & Micah. Here they are way back in early September...

And here they are now!

They've definitely grown! And, we've learned that in order to get happy pictures, we should give them each a toy. :) It didn't last too long though, as you can see...

This one I just think is cute of Micah and Minnow (Boomer is quick - he was gone already!)

So, after that we drove home with a very sleepy boy. I had to get home to finish cooking for a dinner that I was going to with the girls from high school. We've been doing a Christmas dinner now for about 16 years, or is it 18? Anyway, these girls are like family - we're all very different, but there is something about having friends for so long. Sometimes we only see each other this one time a year and it is always fun. So, I got home and started to finish my appetizer and realized that we had no water because of the water main break down the street. NO WATER. This means no shower. No! Good thing one of my BFs lives down the street right? (I showered at her house and the water was fixed by the time I got home that night.)

I had a great time with all the girls - lots of laughter and sharing (and eating and drinking). Here we are...

We had three mamas who are expecting, and we throw mini-showers for every baby, regardless of if it is first, second or fourth! Every baby is special. I got Nikki this cutie gap product (red) sweater sleeper. I love this thing - you should all go out and get one because it is so cute.

Sunday was lazy, but it was a beautiful 70 degrees (!!!) outside so it was just a great day. Kevin grilled hot dogs and we had my mom over for dinner. We pretended like it was Spring and that it wouldn't really be 20 degrees again next week. So, overall, it was a great weekend - good times.

OH - one last thing! I know this is LONG, but this is a great idea I saw over at Coming to Amharica. They are waiting for their referral, so they decided to have a special ringtone on their cell phones for their agency. That way they don't freak out every time the phone rings, and when they hear that fun ringtone, they'll know it could be the call. I wish we had done this and I think you all should. :)

Okay, one more last thing, I almost forgot - GO BUCKEYES! Ohio State is playing tonight in the BCS National Championship, so you know Micah will be decked out in his scarlet and grey. He is already getting ready for game day...

But this will be him if they don't win...

*Edit: It's the second picture - yup, they lost, again. So sad for Dad.

Prayers

Please say prayers for Ted and Lori - their court date did not go well and they are unsure of what will happen. They need our support right now.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone! We spent NYE with our very good friends down the street. Sadly, we left before midnight and were in bed by the time the fireworks started. Eight year old Gracie said our party was 'sucky.' I told her when she's 20, she can go out and party if she wants to, but for now she has to hang with us lame-o older people. I'll defend our lameness by pointing out that I was sick all weekend and now Kevin has it, and Micah is also getting over it, so we have a good excuse! We did stay up long enough for a yummy dinner of crab legs, and some good wine! Can't beat that!

Here are some pictures from our sucky party:

Mr. Grumpy wants Mr. Happy's hat (you might not be able to see it, but all three little boys have on shirts that say Mr. Grumpy, Mr. Happy & Mr. Funny. Yes, we planned this :)

We tried to get a picture of all three Misters, but Mr. Grumpy wasn't having it.

Again, Mr. Grumpy is missing from the shot. (He's living up to his name)

Happy Mama with Mr. Happy (who is not living up to his name in this one!)

Mr. Funny being... Funny!

This we did not plan - but look at these cuties in their matching jammies!

Micah is learning the fine art of binky theft. Look how excited he is that he got Chuck's binky!

And now he's trying to give it back. Cute boys!

So, we had a fun night. We put the little ones in bed around 8 and had a yummy dinner, and then made it until about 10:30, came home and got in bed. I was awake for the fireworks on our street though. I still can't believe Mic slept through it!

I hope that 2008 brings little ones home to all who are waiting and that everyone has a wonderful year! Merry New Year!