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.
Monday, January 21, 2008
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
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
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.
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.
Monday, January 14, 2008
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.
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.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
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...
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