One down, how many to go?

We had our 1 month post adoption visit this afternoon. I am relieved and happy to say that it all went off without a hitch. I realize, again, just how lucky I am to be able to call these two gorgeous ethiopian babes my Sons.

In case I haven't said it in a  while - THANK YOU GOD!!!!!!!!!!!

My Ahbie Dancing

In Ethiopia Asart Sad, In America Asart Happy

Asart told us yesterday while driving in the car "In Ethiopia Asart Sad, In America Asart Happy"....
What exactly does a Momma say to her baby boy when she hears this? Communication is still trial and error, a lot of demonstrating with hands and words strung together that make you sound as if you are talking to a toddler. This is not to diminish my Sons intelligence or ability to understand, simply it is to put a perspective on why we couldn't go into an in-depth discussion about why he was sad, what happened to make him sad, etc...So I said this "Ekurtah(I'm Sorry) Asart was sad in Ethiopia. When Asart and Abrehem were in Ethiopia Mommy and Daddy were sad, but when Asart and Abrehem came to America Mommy and Daddy were very happy" He smiled - if you ever see this smile you will see how it lights up everything- and said "Yes, Mommy Daddy happy Asart Abrehem come to America"

My Asart is going through a transition right now and he is shunning all things Ethiopian. He did not want to go to the local Ethiopian restaurant. When we got there he had no interest in playing with the children who knew him from the Care Center. He refused to eat his food without a fork and once he finished what little he ate he was adament about leaving right that minute. Driving home he said "I dont go to insert name of restaurant here again, Asart no like"

More often then not when we ask him what a word is in Amharic he says "I don't know" he used to offer up this information completely unsolicited.

On Sunday we were going to go to the Ethiopian Festival. We wanted the Boys to where their traditional Ethiopain outfits. Asart was not having any of it. "I don't like Mommy, please no" and so he didn't. Which was OK because at lunch, before we went he started crying. After some prompting he finally said barely above a whisper "I don't go to Ethiopian Park" and he cried quietly. We decided that the anxiety this caused him was to great and we would not go.

We are following his lead on this one. His experiences have led him to this point and we will hold his hand through his journey. I pray he comes full circle and embraces his beautiful heritage. He has much to be proud of.

Until that day comes I will continue to thank God that "In America Asart Happy"

Missing Ethiopia

I miss Ethiopia. I miss the very early morning wake up call from the rooster and the responding barks from the dogs. I miss the morning prayers over the loudspeaker. I miss the sound at 4:30am of a car driving by every 5 minutes or so, before the heavy all day long traffic kicks in. I miss the friends I made there, and the music played in the restaurant at the guest house. I miss the walks down the street to the grocery, where we would buy juice and afoofas (balloons). I miss the people who were always so kind, and once you said Salem their faces would light up and beautiful smiles would follow. I miss Sele Enat and the children there. I miss the Nannies and Teacher and Bete and Lydia. I miss the piece of my heart that has been left behind.

Journey to our Beautiful Sons

Please click on the link below to see our journey to our Beautiful Asart and Abrehem.

http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/view_shared?p=e96acdb8d73c773c3170c3&skin_id=1901&utm_source=PostFacebook&utm_medium=Share&utm_content=PostFacebook&utm_campaign=PostFacebook&origin=facebook

Where does the time go?

I was looking at my blog and realized I haven't updated it since April 15th, which seems like a lifetime ago. Three months have passed since then and my life is not remotely the same as it was. In three short months - 90 days - everything has changed. I never could have dreamed life had so much to offer, yet here I sit with a beautiful family, I am Mommy now to two more amazing boys, I have a Husband whom I adore, and each day I wake up more happy then the one before. As Jimmy and I say "It's like Christmas morning every day"

Oz and Ahbie start school on August 3rd. We meet with the principal on July 25th to see which grade Oz should be placed. They will attend ESL classes where they receive the one on one attention they need and I am confident that by Christmas break they will be thriving.

We visited their school yesterday to show them the playground and to look through the windows since this si the first time seeing an "American School". Ahbie could not stop smiling and at least 20 times said "WOW"....They are both excited to go and to start making new friends.

That's all for now, just want to end with this - I love my Sons like crazy.

It is almost here

I have not blogged since February 28th, the day we learned of our Court Date.

In the time between then and now I have been able to finish the play room, their bathroom, made some changes to their bedroom, packed, bought a lot of last minute items for travel, made books for the boys and for their birth Father, celebrated Jimmy's birthday, rearranged my bedroom furniture, organized the storage room in the basement (It is now my sewing room/gift wrapping room; in addition to storage), got everyone to the dentist for cleanings, adopted a new dog, gave away a dog to a new home, deep cleaned my house; literally cleaned and polished my hard wood floors by hand, finished my travel shots, met with my Dr for anti-biotics to take should I get sick during my stay, lost almost 10 pounds - and counting, confirmed our hotel stay and airline reservations, met without adoption coordinator for final last minute paperwork etc, prayed for the health and safety of my children halfway across the workd, and about a million other things.

I can't believe that we leave in only 7 days, and even more unbelievable is that in 10 days I will meet my Sons for the very first time. I am now starting to feel as if I am walking in a fog. I don't dare let the excitement get the best of me because once I lose control of that I will be a wreck and every second of every day will seem like hours.

One of the outings Jimmy and I are going to enjoy while in Addis Ababa is horseback riding along the Ethiopian Countryside. I have not been on a horse in about 30 years (the horse decided it didn't want to listen and ran me under a clothesline) and haven't missed it a bit, but there is something magical to me about having that adventure and experience in my Boys homeland.

I will keep everyone in my prayers while I am away. Be safe and God Bless you!!!

Lisa

WE GOT A COURT DATE!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe the day has come, we were given a court date. I received the call at 9:49am on the home nubmer. It was Aneata with IAN and she said "I have a surprise for you" I could hardly stand it and felt like I was going to faint. She said "We have a court date for you of Wednesday April 27th" I could not believe my ears. Finally a date to look forward to. A milestone, something to shoot for. It is a miracle!!! Thank You God!!!!!! It also happens to be Donovan's birthday, so it is a double blessing...This day 22 years ago my Son was born, and this day 22 years later we find out the "due date" of our two beautiful Sons...God is good.

Amharic Word of the Day

Handsome - meul-keu meul-kam

Amharic Word of the Day

Dad - a-ba-ye (ah-bah-yay)

2 Books Down 2 To Go

So I finished reading My Fathers' Daughter by Hannah Pool and what an amazing story it is. Hannah Pool was adopted from Eritrea Africa by a British family as a baby in 1974. The book is about her journey to meeting her biological Father and Siblings as an adult. Beautiful and inspiring, I would recommend it to everyone.

I also recently finished This Is a Soul The Mission of Rick Hodes by Marilyn Berger. This fascinating true story is about Dr Rick Hodes who traveled to Africa two decades ago to help the victims of famine, 28 years later he is still there. What an incredible person this man is, his heart is so big and he lives every day to help more and more of Ethiopia's beautiful children.

I am now reading There Is No You Without Me and will write about that as soon as I am done...
 

Amharic Word of the Day

The boy's speak Amharic so we bought a phrasebook online called "Ethiopian Amharic" by Lonely Planet. It is OUTSTANDING!!!! With that said, everyday I will post a new word as it is said in English and Amharic...

Mother - e-nat ( eh-knot)

I've made a decision

As you may or may not know when we go to Ethiopia for our court date that is only the first step to getting our Boys home. The second step is to then go to Embassy which is approx 6-10 weeks after our court date. After a lot of soul searching and conversations with my Hubby we have decided that after court Jimmy will fly home but I will STAY in Ethiopia until Embassy!!!

I am so excited for this adventure. I will stay at the guest house where there will be families coming and going at a constant pace. I get to keep the Boys with me at all times, they will not have to go back to the orphanage!!!

We will have weeks if not a couple of months just the three of us to bond. I am so looking forward to living there for that time, to be submerged in their culture, learning their language, learning about their foods, traditions, everything...I will be able to use this time to teach them English and to prepare them (as much as you can anyway) for waht is to come in America. There is so much I am looking forward to it is hard to put into words.

Don't get me wrong, I am also very nervous. I don't know the language, I have never traveled abroad without Jimmy, and I will have two little angels to look after who's English is exceptionally limited at best. Talk about stepping outside of my comfort zone...It is a challenge I am both terrified and over the moon excited to embrace.....

I will take the laptop so that I can skype with the family back home. This will be the Boys first introduction to Ryan and Kennedy. I want their faces and voices to be familiar to them when we finally come home. Jimmy will stay in Ethiopia after court for two weeks, bonding with the boys, and then, as with Kennedy and Ryan the boys can skype with Daddy too.

Now if only we would hear about our court date!!!!!

Feb 11

Ethiopia is 10 hours ahead of us, so it is already February 11. This date is important because there are four families whose adoptions have been held up due to their children comng from the Selam Orphanage (the same as our Boys). If the Judge rules in their favor this will mean the issues with that orphanage are all resolved, finally....What this means for us is that there is nothing left to hold up the process of getting our court date.

I now tell myself that we wont hear about a court date until April. Doing this allows me to get through my days with no expectations. When you live your life waiting for a phone call day in and day out it can be pretty miserable. So with this newfound perspective life is really pretty easy...Why didn't I do this a long time ago?

Lets see if I am right

I had a dream the other night that we received our court date, it was February 21st...

One Day Closer

Yippee!!! It is February 9th and we are 1 day closer to our Son's...No we did not get a court date yet but in the spirit of thinking positive, each day that passes truly is one day closer to them. I went through a bit of a depression but I snapped out of that horrible place to be and am good as new.
The boys room is finished and I am working on the playroom now, and having a ton of fun doing it. I forgot what it was like to decorate a young child's room and at first was stumped. Now the ideas are coming to me left and right and it's great!

I'll take what I can get.....

I found out today that the orphanage approval for all of the cases from the Gambella region (this is where our Boys are from) will be presented to the Ethiopian Courts on February 11...I am not sure if we will be notified of our court date after that time or before.

We also recived an update on the Boys and they are doing very well. It was said of them both that they are very polite, respectful,  and social. My little men are already making their Mama proud.

God thank you for the many blessings you have so graciously bestowed upon me. I surrender to you and to your will, what will be will be. Please keep my children safe and send upon a breeze a whisper in their ear that they are loved and will be home soon... 

Will sleep ever come?

And here I am again 11pm and I should have been asleep long ago. I can't sleep anymore, I can't focus when I am awake, I feel like I am going a bit mad. This wait is starting to take a toll on me. I don't know which was worse, starting the process in July knowing we would wait, or now knowing that any day we can recieve a call with our court date. I obsess over my e-mail now, in the hopes there is news...I stare at the phone as if I can actually will it to ring, with news of a court date on the other end...And at night I lay awake tossing and turning thinking about my boys who are on the other side of the world (literally) and wonder what they are doing at that exact moment...I try to force myself to sleep but that is simply an exercise in frustration becasue it does not come....So here I am wide awake but exhausted, wondering how my Boys are, what they are doing, when will I get to meet them and when will they be home....

God please give me the strength I need to get through this, and the faith I seem to lack, that you do indeed have this under control.

Waiting...Waiting...and more....Waiting

I know that this waiting will come to an end but on days like today it seems as if the end will never be here. I feel anxious and like nothing can satisfy me. I want my Son's home. I have completed their room and now have to work on the playroom but no matter how much I do I can't quench this need to have them home and in my arms. I am frustrated today and depressed and feeling like I can burst in to tears at any moment. I know that this journey is so completely out of my control and that when God says the time is right the time will be right. To know that is one thing, to live it is something completely different.

We are waiting for a court date and are praying that we hear something this week. 

Lord please give me strength and patience while the wait to bring our Sons home continues