It has been...

Forever since I have posted. We just enjoyed Flippity's 6th birthday. Things are going great. I am almost through the first semester of nursing school. Only 3 more to go...

Disney world next month. I have more pictures to download, but it will have to be another day.

The wait date for the adoption is sloooowly creeping towards us. It seems like things are up in the air in Ethiopia. I can't really say much, but I just hope and pray that everything gets sorted out and the people working in the courts (bless their souls) are able to muddle through the stacks and stacks of court cases awaiting attention. So far there is no news that adoption cases are being heard from our agency. I know that some agencies are moving cases through quickly, but not the case here. I think God has His hand on our child and is holding her until the exact moment He has intended for us. The Big Guy and I went to an adoption seminar a couple weeks ago and all the couples in the room had a different agency. One of them received a referral for an infant within 3 months of turning in paperwork. It is so crazy how the wait times and expedition of cases seems to be so different from agency to agency. I am shooting for a referral sometime between March and May, of course I have nothing to say about it, but one can dream...

Kindergarten!

The first week of kindergarten is complete. Everything went well. I cried. He did not. Good. School has started for me - Yikes! It is sooooo much work. All of my free time is spent studying. I feel guilty doing this right now. The only time I have with Flippity is waking him in the morning and rushing him out the door. They are both asleep when I get home at night. I know it won't be forever and school is so stimulating. I love the school, I hate the being away yet love it at the same time. I feel like I am finally doing something for myself. I know it will benefit the whole family in the end. The Big Guy has really been picking up the slack and doing a great job at it. Baby M is still a crappy sleeper which has been a challenge for quality sleeping purposes. He is doing well with the sitter. He is having to go there 3 hours per day while I go to school. He screams like someone is ripping the heart out of his very chest when I leave him, but he settles down quickly.

Courts are closed in Ethiopia, like every summer. We are still 91/2 months behind the next person on the waiting list. And the next person on the waiting list may be the next person for months. It is just how it all falls. Not in a rush to get a referral. When it happens, the timing will be right (I hope). I think about my Ethiopian baby every day. Hopefully as we move into the next year, and our agency has to get reaccredited in Ethiopia, everything will work out. Please God it has to.

Numb

My hand is numb. Not my left hand, but my right. Not sure why or how long it will last. Very frustrating. I woke up last week and it was numb and remains so as of now. 1 week with a numb hand. I am right handed of course. I don't have carpel tunnel and have never had symptoms of such. I had a sore neck for 2 days and then the hand went numb. It is possibly linked to sit-ups, but the chiropractor is in awe that the treatments haven't relieved the symptoms. Nothing is swollen or painful. The numbness is in the thumb, pointer, middle, and half of the ring finger. Somebody help!

What the heck is going on around here?

Well, Baby M has had his vision checked and could possibly need glasses! I can't imagine he would leave them on his face if this proves to be the case. It seems that just one eye has poor vision and of course they don't want that eye to get lazy. He is on his 5th ear infection for the year so he will be getting tubes sometime soon. Flippity has been in karate for the past year, and has now decided that he doesn't want to do it anymore. We decided not to force him, because I don't want him to hate going. My summer school class (Microbiology) is proving to be a joke. Nothing against young instructors, but this one just turned 25 and is a total pushover. She really wants everyone in the class to get an A, so she's making it so just shy of letting us use our notes on the ridiculously simple exams. I think the next one may include a photo of Elmo for us to identify (just pure speculation). My sister, neighbor, and friend of mine (all separate people) are doing a fitness bootcamp 5 days per week for 4 weeks. It has kicked my butt this past week. It starts at 5:30am, so of course, I don't have to worry about where the boys will go. Isn't that crazy that if mothers of small children want to exercise (or do anything for that matter on our own) we have to get up before the sun or do it in the dead of night. That same rule doesn't seem to apply to dads for some reason... We have a new camera that we are trying out, so all my pictures are stuck on there until I have time to figure out how to upload them.

The Sad Reality of Adoption

I have been following a blog of a fabulous family for years. I watched them receive their first referral for an amazing baby girl from Ethiopia a couple years ago, and now their second referral for a 2 month old beautiful baby girl last week. The second baby that was referred to them has now passed away. I can't imagine the overwhelming sadness that lives in their house right now. These children are so precious, so innocent, so fragile. A common reason why these birth mothers want so desperately for their child to go to a family that can afford to feed them. Something as simple as food and water. Something we, as Americans, take for granted. The most basic need of the human body is water. When a child gets ill because of dehydration, it seems so simple to fix. Not the case in Ethiopia. Pray for these children and families facing this situation.

All the things I love about my boys...

Flippity:

He is a tenderhearted child who genuinely cares how others are feeling.
He is generally a good listener and helper.
He can stick with a task and see it through.
He loves me and seeks me as comfort.
I usually don't have to worry about what he is doing.
He has a great sense of humor.
He has an amazing memory.
He is very well behaved (compared to most children).
He is a good friend to others.
He is an interesting child.

Baby M:

He has a fun sense of humor.
He can do it himself and will.
He is very independent.
He is not afraid to try new physical things.
He has a fabulous laugh and smile.
He is always busy.
He is loves his mama.
Others are drawn to him.
He is a perfect child (usually) in the presence of new people.
He knows what he wants and is not afraid to ask for it.

We are learning to take the good with the bad, a lesson that needs constant refreshing, and learning to look past the muck and enjoy what we have. Babies are hard, thats all there is to it. But if you let the 'hard' be dominant, you'll never enjoy the stuff you should.

Angry Baby

Just what do you do with an angry baby? Anybody? Baby M (disregard his angelic, happy little face) is mad. If anyone takes something from him he throws a tantrum. Turning off the water in the bath, picking him up when he is in the wrong place, taking something from him that he should not have... all these things cause him to beat on me. He will throw things at me (very hard), and pound on me in anger. Once again, this is like being a first time mom. I do not know how to deal with a child like this. It seems like a 1 year old child should not have this much rage. What do I do, and how do I change this behavior in him? Is it even possible? Baby M will even throw food at the table out of spite. He will look me in the eye, after I have told him it is naughty, and throw the food anyway. I am very certain that he understands 'No' and 'Naughty'. He is a smart child and I think this is only the tip of the iceberg as far as us butting heads will go. Somebody HELP!

Happy Birthday Baby M!

1 year old today...

The Beautiful Eyes of My Boys

Don't they have the most amazing eye color?

The answer is... teeth

The question is... what emerges in a baby's mouth starting around 6 months of age? Baby M is pushing 12 months old and only has 2 teeth! What the heck?! Flippity didn't get a single tooth until he was 10 months old, but when he started getting them they all came very quickly. Baby M got 2 teeth at 7 months and here we are. No real evidence that there are more on the way either. We keep blaming his heightened crabbiness on teething, but then again we've been blaming his crabbiness on teething for the past 8 months. I refuse to believe that I have kid with a crabby personality. It just won't work.

On the topic of Flippity, he has been jumping over hurdles in life like a champ. He is 5 years old. He has recently learned how to tie his shoes, and ride a 2 wheeled bike! Tonight during karate he was invited to test for his blue belt. The belt rank is white, yellow, orange, purple, blue, etc. You must demonstrate that you know certain things at each belt level. It took him almost 1 year to reach purple belt from orange. He has only had the purple for 1 month! They said he's the first ever in the 'tot' class to move up to blue belt that quickly. It is because he has a great memory and can recite the complex combinations so well.

Are we there yet?

I. Am. Tired.

I am ready to do the cry-til-you-fall-asleep thing with baby M. Perhaps he's getting more teeth. Perhaps another ear infection. Whatever it is that disturbs his little soul at all hours of the night, is making me insane. For awhile I thought we were on the right track. We were both getting sleep, albeit in his bed, but we were both sleeping. I am so tired of being kicked in the stomach and punched in the eyes by flailing hands for hours on end. During the day he's like a baby koala. He clings to me all the time. He must be picked up, then he must be put down (repeat). He can't seem to do anything alone. I can't walk to the bathroom by myself or he has a major meltdown. If anyone has had a child like this, when does it change?

Rockin the 'hawk!

Baby M's hair is a mohawk that stands about 3 inches high. There is no static involved. The mohawk of the baby simply defies gravity. Most people ask us how we get it to stand up like that. Everything is going well here. Not much to report. Baby M is nearly 10 months old.

The Injera Experiment

For those of you who may not know what injera is welcome to the injera experiment. Injera is a sour tasting flexible flat bread that is used as a utensil to eat food and looks much like a crepe. It's main ingredient is from a grass crop that readily grows in Ethiopia called teff. I have never had injera before, but have wanted to try if for a long time. Since we'll be bringing a child home from Ethiopia (sometime in my 30's) I thought I'd try to make it. There are so many different recipes for injera I came to the conclusion you can just make up you own. I did it the 'traditional' way the first batch and let it ferment for 3 days with the help of some yeast. I wasn't sure if it was ready to cook, but I forged ahead anyway. The result, very sour injera. The second batch, I found a recipe for on someones blog (faux injera). This one didn't use teff flour just wheat and white. The texture was the same as 'authentic' injera but not at all sour. The third batch I made, I used the teff flour again but did not let it ferment at all. I just mixed it up and cooked it. This one tasted different than the regular flour injera, but not sour. The conclusion: I do not like really fermented injera, but the 2nd and 3rd batch were not at all sour. SO... next time I think I will let the mixture ferment only slightly and try it.

Heading in the right direction

Several good things are happening here. Baby M is starting to sleep at night thanks to the really expensive formula. He has 2 teeth now and can crawl. He is slooooowly starting to become less clingy. Flippity is registered for Kindergarten in the fall and will begin to ride the bus home from his morning class soon. We have been 'waiting' one month for our baby girl. I have been accepted to the nursing program for the fall. Hopefully I will be able to finish the classes before we have to go get her, but if not that's O.K. too. The Big Guy just got his big raise, and now we can afford to live from paycheck to paycheck without robbing Peter to pay Paul. Finally, our taxes are done. Here's some new stuff to look at.

Yes, I look just like my daddy!

Wait Date = 12/31/07

The agency granted us the wait date of 12/31/07 as long as we got them the new letter of reference ASAP. It was in their hands as of yesterday morning. The expected time frame is 14 - 18 months as of now. Surely it will increase. The longest waiter for an infant girl has been waiting for 15 months now. I think those particular referrals have been taking at least 16 months.

Baby M turns 1 in 4 months. I cannot believe it! He is still not sleeping through the night. The new doc. is having us try a new formula. It's hypoallergenic (Enfamil Nutramigen). Just for a comparison the formula we have been buying (I am not a formula snob) costs us $14 for a 26 oz can. This new stuff costs $27 for a 16 oz can. I know we cannot afford to keep him on the stuff, but we are trying it for a week to see if it makes any difference. Unfortunately, he does seem to be sleeping better (so it must be working). We are pushing the baby food, so he learns to eat solids faster. If he's not so dependent on the formula, maybe he will do better - I don't know. The thought behind this new formula is that he has a sensitivity to the proteins in the milk and soy based formula. The nutramigen is milk based, but something in it prohibits the protein to break apart in the digestive tract causing less of a system irritation. So obviously I should have just breastfed the kid. What was I thinking trying to get my body back to myself - how selfish!

Randomness...

Baby M has a tooth that has popped through the skin. He is doing well. He's almost ready to crawl, I think we may have to get a corral when this happens. Flippity amazes me everyday. He is a great 5 year old boy who is sensitive to most everyones feelings at all times. I wish all parents could have one child like him. I am exhausted. Just from life in general. I got an A in my A&P class. The second half of it starts Jan 15. I wish I loved to learn the way I do now 10 years ago.

Adoption news: CIS approval as of 12/31. For those who may not know all the fun stuff about the process - in our agency the dossier AND CIS (fingerprint) approval must be done before you can get on the waiting list for a referral. Our dossier was sent Dec.10. The normal time frame for reviewing a dossier is 7-10 days. We got a call saying that the dossier had been approved, and we were just waiting for the fingerprint approval. So we got the CIS form in the mail and I faxed it right over (loving in my mind that we were now on the wait-list as of 12-31). I faxed it yesterday 1-4-08. We got an e-mail later in the day stating that one of our reference letters (written by my sister) was no good. Evidently reference letters must be from a non-family member. Does it state this in the instructions? Oh no. My last dossier included a reference letter from the same person - no problem. So to wrap it up, now our dossier is NOT complete or accepted so we are NOT on the waiting list. I asked a good friend to write a letter, and I know she will do it ASAP. It's just that one day difference on the wait list equals a month for a referral, in most cases. So imagine what an extra week means. I know there is nothing I can do about it. It makes me mad that somebody drops the ball when I have worked so hard and furiously to make sure all bases are covered. Not to mention what these people are being paid to do their job. Do you think they could make an exception in our case since it took them nearly 3 weeks to find the issue in the dossier? Who knows, I have yet to get up the courage to e-mail bring this issue to their attention.