Would a fly without wings be called a walk?

We sent out our care package to Kidus this morning. We included a blanket my mother made that we slept with for two days and a photo album for babies. Inside the album we put close-ups of all our faces labeled in Amharic (in case the nannies can read it to them). We forgot to take a picture of the stuff before we sent it, but here is the album. Picture our faces inside it. :-)

I have also been working on my Amharic. At this point, I think I can ask for the phone, the house, the bed, count to three, apologize, and confirm or deny. However, I cannot guarantee that I will not do it in an offensive manner. I am working on that. (the language is male or female sensitive, like Spanish or French. Oi.)

I also scheduled our appointments for our shots and malaria prescriptions. I am kind of excited because I found a travel doctor in the area (The Travel Doctor) who will not only give us all the shots and medicines we need, but we will be spending 1.5 hours with him, reviewing Kidus' medical reports, and discussing everything that we need to know about the trip and what to expect. How cool is that? We have been to Africa before, but never with an infant. I want to be as prepared as possible.

Oh yeah and I got an invitation to a baby shower today... Kinda put me in a funk. I know it shouldn't, but it did.

How does Blogger make their money?

Seriously, if anyone knows how Blogger makes their money, I would love to hear it. I have been knocking that question around in my noggin for a little while now... Still, I have nothing.

Well, it is way past my bedtime. I spoke with a new friend and fellow adoptive parent earlier, so my mind is restless. They are preparing to leave for Ethiopia to pick up their son in one short week. I am excited for them (and maybe living vicariously through them- just a little bit, LOL) and of course that makes me think of our eventual trip to Ethiopia. Honestly, the best way I can describe my feelings right now is that it feels like it will never happen. The whole process seems so abstract at this point.

I am thinking of Kidus, how he is, when I will get to meet him, etc. The truth is, I have been kind of at a loss for words lately (a rare occasion if there ever was one) and have had nothing to blog about. My brain has been all Kidus, all the time. And honestly, how much can I really type abou the adoption and lack of info without sounding sad and impatient?

We are getting ready to send some items over to him in Ethiopia. At the suggestion of a wise, (very) soon-to-be-mom, I am sleeping with the little blanket we are sending to Kidus so that our scent will be on it. That may be another reason I cannot sleep: I am sleeping with a blanket that will hopefully be sleeping with my son next week! Wow! Mind boggling...

Our Military Men and Women

“Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.”

~Billy Graham

Just want to take this opportunity to say "Thank You" to our past and present military men and women.


Have a great Memorial Day everyone.

Why is it that when you are driving and looking for an address you turn the radio down?

Alright, so two days of hard work and the garden is finally weed-proof. Well, as weed-proof as you can get a garden. It has been weed-blocked, wood-chipped, Preen-ed, and fertilized. Now I just wait. Story of my life!

By the way, that is my husband down there, not the gardener. It is the gardener's week off. :-)

On the adoption front: Nada

Can your face actually freeze while making ugly faces?

Life is a train of moods like a string of beads; and as we pass through them they prove to be many colored lenses, which paint the world their own hue, and each shows us only what lies in its own focus. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

This is exactly the reason why I decided to study Psychology. It fascinates me that two people can view the exact same event and see it an entirely different way. Not only that, neither view may be correct. How many people actually realize is? How many people believe that everything they see, hear, think, or believe is the absolute truth with no interference? Our baggage (some good and some bad) affect everything we say, do, or hear. God built us this way. God even talks about it in the Bible. Of course, we humans like to think we discovered cognitive thought, but I think we all know who really had His hand in it :-) All very interesting stuff, if you ask me (and since this is my blog and you are reading it, you technically did ask me).

So, why am I thinking about all this "stuff"?
For the last two years I have been volunteering as a mentor at a Women's Center and today was my last day there. I decided that I would retire from there when the baby came home, but honestly, I think I needed a break a while ago. It is exhausting work, mentoring someone with a completely different view on life. I enjoyed my time there, but I am truly happy for the time off. Most people in any type of a ministry need a break from time to time and this was my time.

And for those of you keeping track...

On the adoption front: No News.

If the cops arrest a mime do they tell him he has the right to remain silent?

Well, I have had a really nice time gardening this weekend. We have four different types of tomatoes planted plus: watermelon, cantaloupe, carving pumpkins, habanera peppers, jalapeño peppers, bell peppers, tomatillos, broccoli, peas, carrots, green beans, green onions, spinach, lettuce, chives, basil, and cilantro. Basically we have a spaghetti sauce, salsa, and baby food garden.

Next week we will be putting wood chips down in between the boxes to keep the weeds under control. I think this will be a fun year. I love summer!

By the way, I had some complaints about my last profile picture. Apparently, some "people" [April :-) ] suggested that I am trying to be too artsy with my profile picture. Well, I changed it, but I am still looking for a good picture of me that I can leave up there.

On the adoption front: No news. For those of you reading my blog for adoption news, sorry. If I had it, I would give it. Hopefully, my ever so exciting life will tide you over until the time that I can share some good news with you!

Why is the fear of long words called hippopotomonstrosesquippedalioph?

So, I promised to post a picture of my friends and I in Shipshewana (as I am sure you all are overcome with anticipation) and here it is:


Our "nutty" friend Amy we were a bunch of mixed nuts and should be labeled as such :-)

Why does belly button lint not match your shirt color?

I am having a blah day. I don't know if it is the weather or my pessimism getting the best of me, but I feel BLAH. As I write this blog it is 9:00pm in Ethiopia. My son is probably in bed right now and I can almost picture him. Almost. Almost was enough for me to hang onto for a while, but today almost is not enough. I have been trying to do things to keep myself busy, but it is impossible for me to get him off my mind today.

I tried going for a walkjogrun, but of course, that just gave me time to think. I tried to take in the nature and even went back at the end of my walkjogrun with my camera. I got some cool pictures, but it still gave me too much time to think. Especially when I took this picture:


That mother swan has been sitting there, patiently, for at least three weeks waiting for her child to arrive. Of course, I couldn't help but be reminded that someone else is sitting in my nest, nurturing my child. That makes me sad, but eternally grateful to whoever it is that is taking care of him for me while I am unable to be there.

Anyway, with my mood the way it is today, do not be surprised if you see another post from me before the day is up.

Oh, by the way, on the adoption front: No news.

If WalMart is lowering prices daily, how come nothing in the store is free yet?

Nothing too exciting going on around here lately. We went to a band banquet/concert tonight (my daughter plays the flute). It was very nice and they did a great job - especially with a medley from the Broadway musical Chicago. Anyway, I wanted to share this picture of my daughter and I after the concert:

Unfortunately, James had to work so he was unable to join us, but we missed him. Soon he will be able to attend all these after-school functions (he is switching to first shift - PRAISE THE LORD!)

Maybe I will use part of that picture for my profile photo...

On the adoption front: No news.

If trailer parks didn't exist would tornadoes exist?

So, I had a very eventful day. Spent the first half of the day in beautiful Shipshewana, Indiana at the flea market. I would have pictures to share, but I forget to bring my camera and my friend not sent me a copy of the one she took. Anyway, I got some plants for the garden and various items of personal decoration for myself. I also had a whole lotta fun with some good (yet nutty) friends of mine. I will post pics when I get them (eh-hem, April?) :)

The second half of the day was spent at the mall with my daughter. Normally, this would have been a ho-hum blogging experience (and heck, maybe it still is), but there were tornado warnings in the area so we had to bunker down in some sort of back alley hallway with a bunch of strangers until the storm passed. I did, however, meet a nice lady from Charlotte, South Carolina.

If I was a good story teller, I would go through all the details of how my husband called me to warn me about the storm just as Macy's announced over the PA that we needed to proceed to the back of the store, etc., etc., etc., but I won't. The whole thing was fairly scary because we were in an unknown area with no windows. All we could hear was hail, wind, and thunder. Personally, I would've felt a lot better at home during the storm. Wow. What is really scary is that this is the most excitement I have had in a while!

On the adoption front: No news. Still waiting on the court date.

The Goguen Family: Useful tips for families travelling to Ethiopia !

This is the most all inconclusive list of "things I wish I had brought (or had known) to Ethiopia" (by someone who has been there for an adoption) that I have ever seen. It is awesome and I plan to review it often while packing for Ethiopia.

The Goguen Family: Useful tips for families travelling to Ethiopia !: "Useful tips for families traveling to Ethiopia !"

Video on how to cook injera (Ethiopian flat bread)

Ok, so I have never tried this process of cooking injera, but I plan to very soon. This is very different from all the other recipes/formulas for cooking injera that I have used and failed at. That means maybe it will work! Promised I would post it and here it is:

Addis Live - Ethiopian Music, Videos, News : Ethiopia Music on Video and Radio - Documentary

Non-adoption post

Is it true that cannibals don't eat clowns because they taste funny?

I have started a new hobby (besides blogging). I am teaching myself to knit. Last night I was able to get my first section of knitting off that looked semi decent.

Here was the first day's trials & errors:










And here is my first, fairly decent, knitting specimen:











If anyone has any knitting tips, I am happy to hear then. Well, I am on my way garage-sailing. If I find any really good buys, maybe I will share them with my blogging buddies :-)

Our Son, Kidus

I promised I would give more information about our son at a later date, and here I am. His name is Kidus (pronounced Ki as in kit and Dus as in doos. Ki-doos... I think. ) Kidus means "blessed" in Amharic (the official language of Ethiopia), and we are truly blessed. We are blessed by God, by Ethiopia, by his birth family, by Adoption Associates, etc., etc., etc. I could go on and on. Anyway, he is perfect. I literally spend hours (ok, maybe all total) staring at him and trying to imagine how he smells, feels, sounds. I cannot wait to hug him to me. I know that my husband feels the same way.

As for pictures, I don't know why but I don't feel like sharing him with 'the world' yet. I love to show him off to people in person, and our friends and family, but there is something different about posting him on the web. I think I am going to hold off on posting pictures of him. However, I will happily post pictures of my other babies :)

This is my husband and our daughter, Taylor. She is all done-up for a Follies program they did at the school. She was in the kick line (aka Chorus line).

This is a RARE photo because my husband's tongue is not sticking out. If you know him, you understand. If you don't, then you are probably assuming he is weird in some way and you would be right. That is one of the many reasons I love him so much. And somehow, even though Taylor is not his biological daughter, she is just as weird as he is. Proof for the nurture versus nature debate! This means that by default, Kidus will probably be called weird himself someday :) In our family, that is a compliment.

Back to Kidus for a moment: he is 6 months old and seems very healthy based on medical reports and pictures. I know it may seem silly, but I have been praying that God will give him dreams of us so he will know us when we get there. It is easier for us because we are able to start bonding with him now; he will be thrown into it. It hurts me to think of the losses that he will be feeling when we take him from all he has ever known. However, I know it is in his best interest and that he will fit into our family like a missing puzzle piece. I also know that it will be easier on him because of his age. I am grateful for that. Adoption is an emotionally complicated thing that you can't truly comprehend into you are knee deep in it.

For a final note, I leave you with pictures of our dogs: Napoleon (the little white one) and Wilbur (the big red one). And this time of year they give us endless amusement and leave pieces of themselves all over the place to remind us they are there (their fur!)

Here we go!

It is official, I am blogging. I have had a bug in my ear about blogging now for at least 9 months (since we started the adoption process). Various friends nagged me (in a nice way!) and reading other blogs finally encouraged me to start one. Of course, I am borderline neurotic, so it takes me two days just to get everything right so I can actually start typing posts...

Side note (you may see these often with me): Where did the phrase "Bug in your ear" come from anyway. Kind of an unpleasant thought.

Okay, back to my purpose here. I am shamelessly addicted to reading blogs. Especially from people who are adopting from Ethiopia, as we are. For your reading enjoyment, I have started compiling a list of the blogs I read to the right of this blog. While reading a blog this morning (The Vokes Adoption Journey), I was inspired by how the writer condensed their journey to adoption in one short post. Since I have absolutely no moral fiber, I will be copying that very idea for my post. Just kidding, I think you can copy general ideas and still be considered an upstanding citizen and a good Christian.

So, here is my life story in a single blog (man, I LOVE technology!):
April 1992 - At the age of 15 I gave birth to my daughter, Taylor
1997 - Became a Christian
June 2002 - Married my husband, James
December 2002 - Decided to go on the mission field to Tanzania (enter our love of Africa)
January 2004 - Diagnosed with Cervical Cancer
February 2004 - Cancer removed, but need to stay in the States for another 3 years. We decide to extend that stay until 2010 so Taylor can finish high school (the end of the 3 years would have been right at her sophomore year).
August 2006 - Submit application to Adoption Associates, Inc. to adopt from Ethiopia.
September 2006 - Start homestudy
November 2006 - Homestudy meetings completed (on my 30th birthday!)
December 2006 - Submit I600A
January 2007 - Paperwork problem, resubmit 1600A
February 2007 - Fingerprints
March 2007 - Dossier submission to State Department
April 2007 - Paperwork issue, resubmit to State Department
April 2007 - Paperwork to Ethiopian Embassy
April 24, 2007 - Referral and acceptance of 6 month old gorgeous little boy (more on him in the next post, I swear)
May 2007 - Paperwork winding its way through Ethiopia while we wait on a court date.

So, as you can see, for the last 9 months, this adoption is our life. I eat, drink, and sleep the adoption process! I am a mom, wife, and a full-time student as well, but somehow the process of adopting slips into my dreams and any other spare minute I have :-)