Cutest. Baby. Ever.

Yeah, that's my daughter. I just entered her in the Adoptive Families magazine photo contest. A and I had a hard time deciding, but in the end, we decided we would go with a recent picture. Here it is!...

9 Month Photos

We got R's 9 month pictures taken on Aug. 13 and got them back today along with a CD. Here are some of my favorites from the shoot:

I love this yellow outfit so I had to get her picture taken in it!

This dress is from my mother-in-law, and she actually made the bonnet! (Doesn't she look like a pilgrim? I think this is hilarious.)

R in her Ethiopian dress. I love how her little baby foot is sticking out! I think she looks so beautiful in this dress...

All in all, we were really happy with the pictures! I can't believe how big she's getting!

Homecoming: Feb. 22, 2008

We celebrated 6 months home this evening by going to our favorite Ethiopian restaurant. It was wonderful!

Homecoming, 6 months ago....

(I do not have many pictures, so sorry.)

The last leg of our journey home was exhausting. We were supposed to be in the DC airport for only a few hours, but due to horrible weather on the east coast and an ice storm at home, we were there until Friday afternoon. (We arrived in DC around 7am local time.)

As we walked through the airport, hardly anyone really noticed us. This was so weird to me because while we were in Ethiopia, we attracted attention everywhere we went. Ethiopians love children, and they really follow the "it takes a village" philosophy. Often, both Ethiopian men and women would take our little one out of our arms and walk around a shop or restaurant, showing her off to others. The "Ethiopian Scoop" was something we grew really used to. Back in the States, we were just another family traveling. I guess, looking back, this was a good thing because of how tired we all were and how sick R was.

As our flight to Atlanta got pushed back further and further, I became nervous. By this point, all I wanted was to get home, sleep in my own bed, and be somewhere familiar. Like I mentioned previously, we did end up being able to change our flight to a direct flight close to home but not the same city. My parents were picking us up and were fine with this; they just wanted us home. I also called my in-laws because they were supposed to meet us at the airport, too.

At one point, A went to get something to drink, leaving R and me to look out the window. Actually, R was sleeping at that time. I was absent-mindedly watching suitcases being loaded into the plane we were originally supposed to be taking to Atlanta. Suddenly, I saw a small red suitcase that looked a lot like mine going up into the plane. Our other 2 suitcases soon followed.

I called A's cell phone and asked him to go the counter to try to get our bags off the plane. They took 2 off, but our 3rd one ended up arriving on our doorstep the following day. One of my biggest fears was that our luggage with all our Ethiopian treasures for R and our family wouldn't make it home. It all did, thank goodness!

As I was talking to A, I caught the attention of a woman sitting across from me. She asked me where I was going, and I told her. As we chatted, I told her we were on our way home from Ethiopia with R. She asked if our family had seen her yet. Nope. Tears came to her eyes and she thanked me for allowing her to be a part of our story.

Finally, it was time to board the plane home. R woke up and was very fussy. At her doctor's appointment a few days later, we would learn that she had an ear infection as well as RSV. Poor baby! Looking back on it and realizing how sick she was, I am amazed how well my poor little baby girl with pretty curls did on this journey home.


R cried the entire take off, flight, and landing, which was about an hour and a half. My poor baby girl had just had enough. Finally, we landed, but it was freezing cold. As we deplaned, I had to carry R down some wet, icy steps and across the tarmac. It was awful because I was afraid I would drop her and that she would get too cold. She was ok, of course, but it was not pleasant.

I immediately called my parents, who were almost to the airport. They were not planning to come in, just pick us up at the entrance so they didn't have to park. As we waited for our luggage, I looked up and saw my mother rushing towards us! How can I describe introducing my mother to my daughter? It was almost surreal... and very emotional. At the moment she saw her, my mother fell in love with R. I know we both were teary-eyed. My mom kept saying how beautiful she was and that she was "so sick." (We did take a picture, but it was with my mom's camera so I don't have it.) Finally, our luggage (except one piece) came out, we did the paperwork to get the missing piece to our house, and we went out to find my dad waiting in the car outside.

We drove home in an ice storm. It was terrifying, but my dad was so calm and got us home safely. I do not remember at all what we talked about in the car. The poor tired princess slept the whole time, and she did well in the car seat, which she had never been in before. When we arrived home, my in-laws were there in the ice and snow to greet us with balloons and smiles.




R is so lucky to have such wonderful grandparents! They all loved her so much right away, and I am so thankful that we live close to all of them so she will be able to grow up surrounded by that love.

Our family did not stay long. A and I were so tired that we collapsed into our bed, along with our miracle of a daughter, at 8pm. After over 28 hours of travel, we were home FOREVER!

She can stand now! And 6 months ago today we left Ethiopia.

So, baby girl is now standing for like 30 seconds at a time by herself. She just decided tonight that she could do it. She's been standing for a few seconds here and there a lot more frequently lately, but this is the longest she has. I stood her up on those cute baby feet, gently lifted my hands, and to my shock she just kept standing there. We did it repeatedly for like an hour!

I would stand her up on her feet, say "Big girl stand!" and let her go! A and I would cheer and clap for her, and eventually she started to attempt to clap, too. She also took a step or two toward the sofa when she got tired of Big Girl Standing. We finally decided to start filming her, but by that time, she was pretty much done and started crying. I will have to try it again tomorrow or something. I can't believe how big she's getting.

On to the second part of my post...

It was 6 months ago today that we left Ethiopia to bring our daughter home. We left our hotel in a hurry because we had an evening flight, and our agency was worried we wouldn't have enough time if we didn't leave super-early.

We got to the airport, and our translator/guide, J, and driver, D, helped us to unload our bags from the top of the van and onto carts. We got to a certain point, and they could go no farther with us because they didn't have passports. It was hard to say goodbye to these men who had taken such good care of us. D kissed my daughter's hand and said good bye, and I almost started balling.

Before entering the airport, I took one last picture of Ethiopia.

We checked in with little hassle and did some shopping while we waited. I changed R's diaper and put her into something with pants and long-sleeved so she would be warm on the plane.

As we were going through the last bit of security right before we boarded the plane, I said to the Ethiopian Airlines worker who was checking my ID and ticket, "I love your earrings!" (They were beautiful silver hoops with a cool design on them.) She smiled, put her hands to her ears, and said to me, "Would you like them?" I didn't let her give them to me, but this just shows you again how amazing and generous the Ethiopian people are.

We got to our seats, which did not have a bassinet. (If you travel with a young infant, request a bassinet; it will save your lives and make your flight so much easier!) One of the attendants said, "Where is your seat?" I said, "right here." She said, "No, no, no, I'll come back for you." Right before take off she did return and moved us to bassinet seats. Just one more reason why I love Ethiopian Airlines.

As we took off, I started to cry, sob, really. I had such a mixture of emotions. I was so glad to be bringing our baby home... But I was so sad to be leaving her native country. I worried so much that she will one day resent our decision.... I worried that we were doing the wrong thing taking her from her homeland... I worried that one day she will wish we never would have adopted her. All things things and many more were in my head. (They still are sometimes!)

Our flight was LONG, but the fact that R could sleep in the bassinet helped a lot. We could change her there, too. It was nice to not have to hold her for the whole time. She slept a lot on the flight from Addis to DC, and that was a blessing. I think she only had one time of about 45 minutes in which she cried. I found this amazing and so lucky!

Once we finally got to DC, we were exhausted. (The flight from Addis to DC is 18 hours.)

We still had to go through customs and immigration. We didn't have a problem, but it just took a long time. We busted out the "enveloped that must not be opened" and gave it to immigration with no problem. (In case you were wondering what was in it, I did peek. It has all of R's info in it, our homestudy, our tax information-- pretty much everything that you have to give to the US embassy is in it. That's all. Nothing too exciting!)

The first thing we did once we got into the terminal was find some breakfast and have some diet Coke with ice in it (you can't use ice and there is no diet Coke in Ethiopia). The weather on the East coast of the States was horrible, and our flight to Atlanta kept getting more and more delayed. Finally, it was so delayed that it was scheduled to arrive in Atlanta 2 minutes after our last leg was supposed to take off from there. Luckily, there was a direct flight from DC to an airport fairly close to our destination that we were able to take. It was lucky because we would have had to stay overnight in Atlanta if we would not have been able to get on that flight.

I will tell you about our last leg of our journey and our homecoming tomorrow!

First Day with Students

Our first day of school was today. I have had work days the past two days, though. My students seem like they'll be fine. I have 3 classes only because I teach language arts so I get a period to teach reading and one to teach writing. (I integrate it so I usually do not designate one for each. Anyway...) I have 2 classes of 11 students and one of 25. That is sort of annoying, but it'll be fine. In my large class, there are a few talkative ones, but I know I will be able to handle them, too.

However, I am feeling some major guilt as far as R goes. I hate leaving her, despite the fact that every day of the week she is with people who love her and take exceptional care of her... And yes, I did return to work right at the beginning of May last school year. However, last school year, pretty much the entire time I was back, I had a student teacher who did all the planning, teaching, and grading. So when I got home in the evening I was able to spend every minute with my girl. This year, no student teacher so I am having to do everything. It's my 8th year so I have the whole teaching thing down... it's just that in the evenings I will need to plan and grade and all that.

Also, I feel like a bad mom today. I spent the day on my feet talking for hours and hours and am pretty tired. Sometimes it is exhausting to be "on" all day! So I know I didn't play with R as well as I usually do, not to mention the fact that I had about 4 hours with her today instead of the whole day. I just miss her! And I know she missed me as she clung to me for like an hour after I got home.

And I look around at my life and our house and our things and wonder why o why we didn't try to live on just one income when we got married. I don't know how people do it! I would love to be able to stay home with R, at least for a few years until she goes to school. (Or at least only work part time,) It just won't happen, and I have to deal. Plus, a part of me knows it would be really hard for me to give up my career no matter how much I want to be home with my girl.

6 Months!

That's how long we've been a family. It was 6 months ago to the day (it was even a Monday!-- Feb. 18, 2008) that we met our daughter for the first time...

We had arrived in Addis the night before, late, and crashed as soon as we got to our hotel, a mere 2 "blocks" from where our daughter was spending her last night at Hannah's Hope. We were so tired that the reality of what was going to happen in a few short hours didn't even keep us awake.

Early the next morning, the alarm went off. A and I looked at each other, not knowing what to say or really how to feel. I was nervous, excited, anxious, and, at the same time, very peaceful. We got dressed (I remember commenting that I needed to decide what to wear to meet our baby) and went downstairs to have breakfast with the other 2 families and our case manager, J, who happened to be in Ethiopia at the same time.

The other 2 families were down having breakfast with J. The mood appeared to be calm from the other families, and it was so wonderful to meet J after talking with her on the phone and via email for 8 months! Finally, someone spotted A, the director of Hannah's Hope, walking through the hotel gate and up the steps.

She came in, handed us more paperwork, and walked us through how to fill it out. Somehow, I managed to fill it out correctly although at that point, my mind was only on getting to R as quickly as possible.

Finally, we were all finished and were ready to go. A and I hardly spoke as we took the short walk to Hannah's Hope. We reached the gates, and I think I gasped. I had seen pictures of this entrance and wondered what it would feel like to actually step through them into Hannah's Hope for months now.

We walked through the gates, and to my surprise, the babies were all out getting their morning massages and laying in the sun, our daughter among them. We walked closer to the babies, and, suddenly, I spotted her, my sweet baby girl. I had expected to be taken into the main house and meet our daughter privately in a room. Nope. (The experience was so perfectly Ethiopian, and I love that we met her in this way!) She was out there with all the other babies, in a little prop-up seat facing away from us. I saw her beautiful hair and then her big toe. I had studied photographs of her for months, and she has this way of curling her big toe... She was doing it then, too.

A and I just stood there; I don't think either of us knew what to do. Quickly, someone picked R up and handed her to me. How can I describe that moment? I think it is probably impossible. I felt a mixture of the purest joy, happiness, and relief. I kissed her little forehead and gazed at her. She actually smiled at me! I guess she knew I was her mommy.

Some people worry about not loving a child they didn't give birth to, but for A and me, that wasn't the case. We loved her instantly. There was no doubt that this small girl was meant to be our daughter.

Six months later, unbelievably to me, I am more in love with this child than I was that day I first held her. R is the answer to my prayers, the brightest of bright spots in my life. Sometimes I look at her and am in awe that I was given the gift of being her mom.

9 Month Check Up

R says, "I am such a big girl!" (Ignore my hand. I was trying to get those flowers to stay on her head for a different picture.)

R had her 9 month doctor's appointment this morning. She is now 19 pounds, 2 ounces and 28 inches long. She is growing like a little weed! When she came home in Feb. she was 12 pounds even and 24 inches long. The doctor was pleased with her progress and said she just looks "perfect." R is where she should be developmentally, if not a little ahead, so that is good to hear, too! She had one shot and screamed her little baby head off after it, but she calmed down pretty quickly.


I love her doctor. She is very good with R and, although not an adoption specialist, she is very conscience and considerate of R's unique needs.

Update on my Aunt

My aunt received more test results today, and so far, all are coming back negative... meaning that she will most likely have to come back in a month or so for more testing to see if there are any changes. She is still having the symptoms, but there is more hope than there was initially that it is not cancer.

Guess who is 9 months old!

If you guessed a baby girl with pretty curls, you are right!

Can you believe that this teeny tiny baby.....

(shown here about 5 days after coming home from Ethiopia).....

Is the same child as this one?

(In her pj's in our cabin in Wisconsin last week)

I am so blessed to be this girl's mom!

My mom bought her that top when we were in Wisconsin. About 2 days after that, she knew how to spin it and now does so with ease. She is so talented! :)

One super-cute thing that she has just started doing in the last few days: She has known how to "kiss" Mommy and Daddy for a couple months or so now. This week, though, she has really perfected it. AND, now she will be playing with a toy on the floor, will crawl up into my lap, and kiss me, unprompted! Then she goes back to playing, only to return for another kiss in a few minutes or so. Absolutely adorable.

Happy 9 month birthday, baby girl. I LOVE YOU!

Our Wisconsin Trip

Our Little Family in the North Woods

We are back from the North Woods. We actually have been home since Sunday, but it has been a busy week. I think R enjoyed the time with family and trees and lakes. It was good for her to spend time with her Uncle "La La," which is her name for my brother A. It is really cute.

We didn't do too much up there-- mostly just relaxed! We did go shopping, caught up on reading, ate pasties, hiked, kayaked... and just in general enjoyed being away from home and, in A's case, away from work!

R with her Uncle La La

Go Pack!

Beautiful Baby and Beautiful Trees

Now it is almost time for me to return to work, too, and I am getting depressed about it. I know once I get back into the grove of things it'll be ok, but I'm not looking forward to it right now. I always hate surrendering summer and returning to work. But, at the same time, I know that I am very lucky. Most people don't have 3 summer months off from work to spend with their children... and this is one reason why I became a teacher in the first place.

Prayer Request

We are home from Wisconsin, and I will post about that when I have time to download and include some pictures.

For now, please pray for my Aunt R. She has been experiencing some signs of brain cancer and has been undergoing test after test over the past week. She had breast cancer when she was in her 30s and has been cancer free since then for over 20 years. She was supposed to come with us to Wisconsin but wasn't able to due to some symptoms she was experiencing and having the tests done.

Aunt R is my godmother, and we have always had a very special relationship. Her having cancer would be devastating to our family.

Thank you,
M