Taking the Scenic Route to Parenthood...

One year anniversary!

2008-04-24T20:27:00.009-04:00

Today is the one year anniversary of the day that we were introduced to our beautiful son, Seth Kidus. That day was the beginning of many wonderful days that were to come.

For you long-time readers, you may remeber that while we were waiting for our courtdate (which took a longer than your average wait) I had a certain bond with a swan that had nested down the road from us. You can read about that, here: A Swan Story.

Well, last week was kind of cool because I was able to show Seth that same swan. I am assuming it is the same swan. Oh well if it wasn't, in my mind it was one of those moments :)

I know it has been a long time since I posted. I have pretty much fallen off the face of the earth. Trying to get my degree done in a reasonable amount of time while juggling family time takes up every last moment. I am going to be taking classes through summer and back to full-time in the fall. After that, I will be transferring to the Western Michigan University, where full-time does not even begin to describe what I will be doing while completing my Psychology degree with an Anthropology minor. James and I are doing a great job of juggling without needing daycare (with a little help from our friends and family), plus I take a few online course, too, but there isn't much time left for anything else. Family time always comes first...

...I guess what I am getting around to is the fact that this will be my last post. I will probably leave this blog up for a little while so people can use it for pictures and information while going through their adoption, but this will be it. That being said, let me tell you a little bit about how things have been going.

Taylor just turned 16. I know, freaky! She is actually going to prom this weekend. I can't believe how fast time has flown. She is turning into a wonderful woman. So much maturing goes on in these years. Oh, by the way, this is not only the anniversary of our referral of Seth, but it was also my due date, 16 years ago. Funny how things work out like that, isn't it?

Seth is SO MUCH FUN! He babbles and runs all the time. He is really starting to talk A LOT. And he is funny. Just a great kid to be around. Lately, he has been a big-time daddy's boy, but he still comes to mom for snuggles and love. He is amazing.

Seth also loves his books. I often find him like this (clearly having difficulty deciding which book to read):

We discovered that Seth is a fish and LOVES the water. He even goes under water on his own.

Here we are on Easter:

My two boys:

My little man:

Seth is also staying busy planning our next vacation:

Taylor and Seth before Taylor's band concert. Seth's first symphonic concert and he enjoyed it quite a bit.

So, there it is. We are doing great, just very busy. Thank you all for your support and wonderful comments over the past year that you have brought to this blog and our family. They have meant the world to us.

Godspeed!
The Norris Family

When cheese gets its picture taken, what does it say?

2008-02-26T23:00:00.002-05:00

I wonder if anyone actually reads my blog anymore? I know it has been a while since I have updated, but I needed to get at least one post in so I could give this piece of advice: NEVER take Biology online. There, now you know why I have been absent.

So, here are the things that have been going on around me while I had my nose in a biology book:

Seth got a haircut.

The finished product:
He had a lot of hair! It is so much easier to comb now and looks so healthy. Of course, he was very good while getting his haircut. He did decide at one point he was done, but once I gave him pretty much everything from my purse (keys, phone, mints) he was happy.

The other day, Seth and Daddy went outside to see the horses. They got all bundled up,
Played in the snow a bit,
Watched the horses,
Pet one of the horses,
And fed the horse Seth's mitten.
I guess the horse thought that Elmo looked yummy and just sucked it off of Seth's hand. Don't worry, we got it back. No! Not that way, the horse spit it out :)

Oh, and here is a picture of Taylor hamming it up for the camera in her cheer leading uniform. She just finished a season of competetive cheer and loved it.

And speaking of hammin' it up...Like sister, like brother. "Are you talkin' to me?"
I will try hard not to go so long between updates. Maybe I should post the occasional biology update. Naw, I wouldn't subject my friends and family to that.

"The pen is mightier than the sword, and considerably easier to write with." - Marty Feldman

2008-02-15T08:17:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I had two root canal restorations done. For those of you that have never had the pleasure, let me give you a brief rundown of what that entails: During a root canal (which I had in November), the endodontist drills down through a tooth and completely removes any root that is left in the tooth. Then the endodontist fills it with a temporary filling. In my case, they did this because I had an infection in the roots of two teeth that were side by side. During a root canal retsoration, the dentist puts a post where the root used to be and fills it up just like a cavity. When I had the root canal I was going to a random dentist I choose because he accepted our insurance. He had BEAUTIFUL office with fountains and imported furniture. Seriously, the waiting room was very nice. However, to be honest, I never felt entirely comfortable with him. So, when my husband's job switched insurance January 1st, I called up my former dentist, who I had been seeing since a kid.

Now, I absolutely hate going to the dentist. Not necessarily through any fault on the part of the dental professionals, just because I cannot stand the thought of the scraping, etc. But the price I was about to pay (as quoted by the dentist with the beautiful office) made me want to put off that root canal restoration as long as possible. He quoted me $800 per tooth, 80% of which would be paid by my insurance. That still left me to pay $320.00 for something I did not want to have done anyway. But I knew it had to be done so I went on Valentine's Day (Happy Valentine's Day to me) to my former dentist. Do you know how much they charged me and my insurance? $144.00 per tooth, meaning my total was only $52.00! What the heck??

So, I have a question for everyone out there. Did you know that you had to shop dentists for a good deal? I knew there would be differences in pricing, but $1300.00? Is that ridiculous, or what?

"Neurosis is the inability to tolerate ambiguity." - Sigmund Freud

2008-02-13T22:46:00.002-05:00

You have to admit: Even though Freud was some-what nutty, he was still a fascinatingly intelligent man. But, I am not here to bore you with talk of Freud and his weird fixations...

I want to introduce you to (drum roll, please): Toddler Seth!

I know, he is heartbreakingly cute even when he is in the throws of a small temper tantrum. The past few days a new, more confident, Seth as emerged. As a mother, this frightens me a little. I have to ask myself, "How long will this last? It seems too soon!" However, as a psychology student I say to my self, "Yay! Development right on course. Maybe even a little advanced! That is so exciting! He is in the Objective-Self phase."

To give you an idea of what kind of major infraction could cause a face like this, let me tell you how it all started. I asked him for my car keys back, he nicely gave them to me, I put them away. That is when I got this face.

Just a couple hours before this, Seth and I were in the kitchen preparing dinner. Seth walked over to the garbage and grabbed an empty plastic bottle off the top of the garbage (it was kind fo full, waiting for Taylor to get home). I turned to Seth and said, "What do you have?" He took off running. I gave chase and just as I was about to reach him, he threw it to the side and broke down into a mini temper tantrum. It is hard not to laugh in moments like these. He is just so darn cute - I knew that was going to be trouble for me when this phase started!

So far, the temper tantrums have been small and short-lived. And they really are a welcome sign of Seth becoming his own little person. He is learning that he has his own thoughts and feelings about some things, and often they are not the same as mommy's thoughts and feelings. Case and point, he thought it would be great to play with garbage, but mommy thought it would be icky. Go figure :)

On the flip side, his sleeping has done a complete 180 degree turn. It is so awesome! He wears himself out running around all day, leading to 12 hour nights and TWO 1 - 2 hour naps a day. I could not ask for a better sleeping baby if I tried. He really does enjoy going to bed and sleeping. I am sure that this will pass, but I am accepting this very welcome reprieve from sleep deprivation. Truthfully, I am not sleeping more though - just studying more. Which is what I need to get back to doing.

I am working on getting a good video of Seth dancing to post on here. He has some pretty good moves (like his daddy), but every time he spots the camera, he stops dancing. Also like his daddy.

Okay, that is enough procrastinating for one night. Back to the grindstone.

"I have been on a calendar, but never on time." - Marilyn Monroe

2008-02-12T13:44:00.000-05:00

I have been getting some flack from my mother for not posting enough, so I thought I would try and squeeze a post in. I have been really busy with, well, life.

This morning I tried to cut Seth's hair. Really I just wanted to take a little bit off. I was able to take off less than a little bit. I was way to scared of messing up those beautiful curls. This week, I need to get him in for a trim. His hair is so long it has the beginnings of a little mullet :) Don't get me wrong, I love long hair, he just has some frizzies on the ends that need to be cut away so you can see his adorable little curls. To give you an idea of how much I actually cut:

I guess I need to leave it to a professional. I am too much of a wimp.

Last Thursday, Seth and I were standing in the checkout lane at a grocery store, when an elderly woman got in line behind us. Now, if I have learned anything these last 5 months, I have learned that there are two types of people who ask odd questions about the fact that Seth and I do not fit the "standard" mother-son mold: elderly ladies and small children. For the most part, it doesn't bother me. So, when this woman started talking to me, I had a feeling that it was going to take that direction. I will name this lady Madge, for story-telling sake:

Madge: Does you mother work out at (such and such) gym on (such and such) road?
Me: No. My mother and I both live in (our small town).
Madge: Oh (Looooonnnnngggggg pause) Because there was a woman that I did aqua aerobics with whose daughter married a black man.
Me: (internally: oi, I am too tired for this) Hmmm... Well, my husband is white (even longer pause to make her squirm) Actually, my son is from Ethiopia.
Madge: Oh! So he's adopted!

The story went on and on from there. I know that these conversations upset a good number of transculteral families out there, but I think it is important to consider the source. This woman was 73 years old. Of course, my first instinct was to teach her a few things about race and culture and minding-her-own-beeswax, but really she was just a very lonely lady who was trying to start a conversation.

What really bothers me is when people stereotype Seth based on his color, even when the stereotype is positive. "Oh he will be good at this or that." Usually these comments come from people I know and love and they almost always catch me off guard. I am working on developing a set of comebacks that will not cause an argument, but will get my point across. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

With that, I need to get back to Biology (UGH!). I will leave you with a cute baby picture and proof that Seth hates a clean house:

R.I.P Old Friend

2008-01-31T14:39:00.000-05:00

It is official: they totaled my Dodge. I am very sad about this because I really liked that vehicle. It was like an old pair of shoes or jeans...Just really comfortable, you know? So, we will be car shopping this weekend. Blah.

Here are some pictures that James took when he went to clean out all our belongings. It looks like they straighted out the wheels, though. Maybe so they could move it around the shop? Either way, it doesn'y look nearly as bad as it did last week, and I don't know if that is hindsight talking or what.

Anyway, I am feeling better. I am also very, very busy with school. Biology online is much tougher than I anticipated. I am sure it would have been easier if I had actually taken the course in-class, but my life just doesn't have that kind of freedom right now.

Did I hear someone requesting baby in the snow pictures? Your wish is my command. By the way April, he does love the snow. God's cruel joke on a mom who hates it. :) Good thing his daddy likes the stuff!

Everyone makes mistakes. The trick is to make mistakes when nobody is looking.

2008-01-28T10:18:00.000-05:00

So, I should be studying (I am a good three days behind) but instead I feel like blogging. It has been an interesting few days around here, to say the least.

Last Friday I had a doctor's appointment in the AM, then I was going to run home really quick, pick up Seth, and continue on to an adoption get together. Well, I was just about ready to turn into my driveway when a pick-up truck came around the corner too fast (from the opposite direction) and side swiped me. Luckily, I saw him coming and tried to get over or else he would have hit me head on. The pick-up truck continued a little farther down the road and hit a tree. Both of us were okay, but neither of our vehicles were drivable. Actually, it looks like my vehicle might totaled, but we do not know for sure yet. The kid who hit me was from the Flint area, and a new driver who was not used to driving on snow or dirt roads, so I felt kind of bad for him.

Fast forward 24 hours...

I was very sore, but as far as I could tell, I had no real injuries to speak of. Late Saturday morning I started getting terrible squiggly lines in front of my eyes. They got so bad that I had to let my friend April drive. The squiggly lines went away and were replaced by a headache and dizziness. This was by far the worst headache I have ever had. So, about 3pm I decide to let my husband take me to an urgent care facility to be checked out. That way I won't have to go to the ER in the middle of the night. Well, guess where I ended up anyway? The ER getting a CT Scan (which turned out fine). The doctor thinks that maybe I just had a slight concussion from being jostled around and sent me home with some really good, um I mean, potent drugs :) I spent Sunday in a haze and now I am almost back to normal (whatever that is). I still have a slight headache, a few bruises, and a sore back, but otherwise I am just really happy everything turned out how it did. It could have been worse and I could have had the kids with me. Praise the Lord!

Ironically enough my friend April's vehicle was in a car vs. deer accident just a few days ago. She was thinking clearly enough to get pictures, I was not. Maybe the body shop will email me some so I can post them here. I really like that vehicle (Dodge Durango), so I am hoping she pulls through okay :)

"I like work. It fascinates me. I sit and look at it for hours." - Jerome K. Jerome

2008-01-22T08:45:00.000-05:00

First, thank you all for the compliments on my hair. They made me feel really good. I know that some of you stay at home moms can relate to this, but sometimes you just don't feel pretty. I REALLY needed to get out and do something about that :)

We have had nothing but non-stop snow in West Michigan these past few days. I need to give you an idea of just how much snow.

I also had to post that for my blogging buddy over at As for Me and My Haus because she has been posting a lot of pictures of their family at the beach and I am getting extremely jealous. :)

School is going well so far. Tonight is the first class that I actually have to leave the house for, but I am sure it will be fine. In my experience, these 3 hour classes usually tend to run shorter than normal, so hopefully this class holds true to form.

Have I mentioned how much Seth loves his sister? This morning I woke up to, "Tay-Lor! Tay-Lor! Momma!" on the nursery monitor :) And the feeling is definitely mutual! I highly recommend having your kids 15 years apart!

He also loves our dog Wilber (who he attempted to put a diaper on last night).

And of course, he loves his Teletubbies.

Okay, I really just wanted to show of some cute pictures I had in my camera.

"Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it." - Mark Twain

2008-01-17T13:37:00.001-05:00

Tada! I give you...bangs. I like them :)

"Time is a great teacher, but unfortunately it kills all its pupils." - Louis Hector Berlioz

2008-01-17T08:51:00.000-05:00

Cute Seth stories:

Seth's new favorite thing to do is walk around the house yelling (very loudly), (insert cute baby voice here) "TAYLOR! TAYLOR!" It is adorable. Half the time she is at school when he does it, but when she is at home and out of his site, he immediately goes on the prowl, (insert cute baby voice here) "TAYLOR! TAYLOR!"

For the next story I need to give a little background. Our house has a bathroom on our main floor and the laundry/storage room can only be reached by walking through this bathroom. The dog food and water is in that laundry/storage room. While it is daylight and Seth is awake, we keep that bathroom closed most the time because Seth loves to play in the dog food and water. What kid doesn't? At night, it has never been an issue because he refuses to venture very far into the dark without someone beside him. Now the story:

Last night I was in the kitchen taking care of dinner. Seth had his clean jammies on and had just got out of the bath. Taylor was talking on the phone (not that unusual, surprisingly) suddenly I realize that I had not heard Seth in a while. So I look where I last saw him (quietly playing with toys in the next room) and he is not there. I start looking around and find my way back into the laundry/storage room where it is pitch black. There sat Seth, soaked head to toe, beside an empty dog water dish. Apparently I did not do a good enough job washing him and he thought it deserved a do-over. Also, he is no longer afraid of the dark. I guess his curiosity conquered that fear.

Today I am going to the hair salon for the first time since August. I have decided I need a trim and bangs. Last weekend I went out with my good friends Amy, April, and Deena to celebrate Deena's birthday. Deena had her hair cut earlier that week and got bangs. She looked so YOUNG! Not that she normally looks old, but they really looked great. I had been toying with the idea of bangs for a while (admittedly to cover up forehead wrinkles) and once I saw how great Deena's looked, that sealed it. I am totally copying her :) If it looks good, I will post a picture. If not, I will hide for the next year while they grow out.

Oh yeah, and I am so excited about this (proving I may not be a science nerd, but I am a computer nerd): I just ordered a new laptop from Dell. It won't ship until the 29th, and I cannot wait to get my hands on it!! It is for school and will be really nice to have around the house. Right now our computer is in the kitchen (because we have a teenager in the house) and if I want to do school work while Seth plays, I have to be in another room. This way I can be right in the room with him. My adult side did win out over my computer nerd side on one thing, however. I choose not to pay the extra $25.00 to make it hot pink. Black is cool too, right?

Side note: for those of you who often wonder what products I use in Seth's hair, I have recently switched to Shea butter and like it so much better. It is really making his hair much healthier and there is no buildup. Plus it is natural, so I don't feel like I am putting a bunch of product in his hair. Last night I put some in and did finger coils after his bath. We were doing it while watching Teletubbies, so I only had as long as the show, meaning I only did half his head. It is kind of a fun bonding experience though. At least for me it is :) I am not sure how well you can see them, but here is a picture:

He looks like a boy who just had to sit through a half an hour of his mom playing with his hair, doesn't he? :-)

"If it were not for Thomas Edison, we would all be watching television in the dark." - Michael Landon

2008-01-16T10:32:00.000-05:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I am a bad blogger. My number of readers has dropped significantly because I am a bad blogger, a has-been. The other day I was talking to my friend April and she told me that the reason I don't have anything to blog about is because this blog has focused around parenting and I feel compelled to only write about that. Here's the sad part: no I don't. I really just don't have anything else interesting to say. :)

I can tell you countless cute stories about Seth...
I can tell you stories about Taylor (she's 15, and would die of embarrassment)...
I can tell you about how my house is always in disarray...
I can tell you about what I have been doing lately (but if you read the last three lines, that pretty much covers it)...
I could tell you about school. Okay, I will do that.

I started my two online classes this Monday. I am taking Biology 101 and Communication 101. Both are required pre-requisite courses that have nothing to do with my degree. Between you, me, and this computer screen, I think that 8 years in the business world should give me an automatic credit for the Communications class, but my college does not see it that way.

The Biology class will probably be more work, but it will also be a little more interesting for me. The instructor is someone I went to school with (she is actually younger than me, which is kind of strange), but I know that she is highly intelligent and I respect her a great deal. That will make the class worthwhile.

Next Tuesday I start my Developmental Psychology class, and I am a little sad that there will be one night a week that I will not be putting Seth to bed, but I am sure we will all adjust to it in no time. One thing I have noticed is that I have all that new-parent guilt all over again. I thought that only happened with your first child, but apparently it reappears if you wait 15 years between them. Maybe I am just neurotic. Maybe? Who am I fooling?

So, there it is in a nutshell. The only other thing I have been working on is my weightless, which I have started chronicling in another blog (you can find that in my profile if you are interested.)

Maybe next time I post I will be able to tell you something about cells :) Just kidding. You think I want fewer readers?

Examine what is said, not who speaks. - Arabian Proverb

2008-01-09T08:48:00.000-05:00

Wow, my updates are getting farther apart, aren't they? I honestly do not have a whole lot of new stuff going on. Seth does all kinds of adorable things, but how can I relay every single on of them here? :)

I start school back up this coming Monday. I am taking three classes this semester, which is really difficult for me. I am still tempted to just register for one more and make it full-time. Two of my classes are online, so they will be a lot more work, but worth the extra effort since I will be able to be home with my family. The third one starts next Thursday. It is an evening class, so I won't be leaving the house until 5:30pm, Taylor will put Seth to bed at 7:30pm and I will be home around 9:30pm. Honestly, I was excited at first, but now I am a little nervous. I am sure it will turn out fine, but last time I did school while raising a baby I was 15 years old. Of course, I also did not have a loving and supportive husband and daughter at that time either.

My evening class is a developmental Psychology course, so fully expect to use Seth as guinea pig :) Just kidding...sort of!

He is such a smart and fun little guy. We are all having a great time with him.

I am not sure if I have mentioned this on here before, but James is in the process of adopting Taylor. All our paperwork has been submitted, etc, but now the court has to come do their own inspection/homestudy. Which kind of stinks because the reason we waited until after Seth's adoption was os we could use that homestudy and save time and/pr money. Either way, we are looking forward to the day (soon, hopefully) that we be able to announce that there has been another adoption in our family.

Here are some of the latest pictures.

Hello. My name is Seth Kidus. Some of my favorite pastimes include:

Cuddling in soft blankies...

Putting things in my mouth (even when my mommy doesn't care for me to do that)...
Screaming when I am happy...
And hangin' with my sister (who seems to sleep a lot!)...

Well, Seth is waking up from his nap, so I gotta go.

Wrinkled was not one of the things I wanted to be when I grew up.

2007-12-28T14:35:00.000-05:00

When the weather outside is frightful... I blog. Here is a taste of what it looks like outside my window right now:

Yuck!

We had a really nice Christmas. Seth was such a trooper. He was on the go from the minute his feet hit the ground that morning. We visit three places on Christmas day: James' mom, my mom, and James' dad. Needless to say, by nighttime we were all exhausted. Nobody was more tired than Seth, but he couldn't have been in a better mood. He LOVED Christmas, but I think that he loved the socializing the best.

Here he is in the chaos of Christmas morning with his cousin, Lincoln:

And here is one of the only times you will see Taylor's nose in a book (she is the black sheep in the family when it comes reading and does not like it):

She had a really nice Christmas, too. She was given a merit scholarship to a well-known fine arts camp this fall (she plays the flute), but she needed to come up with a fair amount to make the difference on tuition (it is quite pricey), so many people gave her a gift to go towards that goal. Thanks to that, she is getting close to the balance already!

Seth is walking all over the place now:

Don't you love the pink slippers? I used to babysit a friend's daughter and I bought her these to use while she was at my house (the floors get cold). I found them the other day and they fit Seth perfectly. I have to say, his dad is not thrilled :)

I hope everyone has a great New Years. We are planning on a nice, quiet, night in (translation: sleep and home improvement projects, not necessarily in that order.)

Please pray for two families that are leaving December 31st to pick up their children from Ethiopia: The Bryant family and The Kikstra family. Godspeed and God bless!

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. - Matthew 1:21

2007-12-24T10:29:00.001-05:00

Touchstone Archives: The Brotherhood of Sons

2007-12-20T21:42:00.000-05:00

Touchstone Archives: The Brotherhood of Sons: "Days go by when I never think about the adoption, and when I do think of the boys as “adopted,” it is always as a past-tense verb, not an adjective."

This is one of the best articles I have ever read about adoption. Not only that, but this quote I pasted above sums up my feelings about Seth and his adoption into our family. Feelings I have never been able to put into words until now. I encourage you to go read this article (which I found on The Hausam's blog). I encourage you all to go read this awesome article. I will give you fair warning though: have tissues on hand.

A day for firm decisions! Or is it?

2007-12-20T16:55:00.000-05:00

My guys, showing some school spirit!

And now some gratuitous cute kid pics...

“Cleaning the house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling the drive before it has stopped snowing”. - Phyllis Diller

2007-12-18T19:45:00.000-05:00

This was a story recently on the local news that was really neat... A guy had been searching for his biological mother for four years and found nothing. When he was finally able to get the correct spelling of her last name, he discovered that he had been working with her all along. How cool is that? You can check out the story here: Son finds birth mom as co-worker

Right now, I am trying to make cookies for some of the people James works with, but I am running into every problem known to man... To be perfectly honest, I prefer cooking a meal to baking. Maybe I should whip up a Chicken Cordon Bleu for them instead :)

We finally got our tree up and decorated. Thank goodness for snow storms. Since the weather got icky on Sunday, everything was canceled and we finally had a free moment to decorate the tree together. Seth was about as impressed with the decorating as you would expect a 13 month old to be. He lit up when we turned on all the lights though - almost as much as the tree itself :) He also has been a perfect gentleman with the ornaments and has not grabbed even one. This may have more to do with the poky-ness of the tree and less to do with his exceptionally good manners. LOL

I am almost done with Christmas shopping. Taylor and I have a few more gifts to pick up on Thursday and then we will be done. Can you believe Christmas is only a week away? Where has this season gone.

My original intention to get as many pictures of Seth on Santa's lap as possible has not worked out. Apparently you have to leave the house in order to get pictures of Santa (I don't do that a whole lot these days). I guess I could just wait until Christmas Eve and catch him when he comes in. I don't think you are supposed to do that, though...

Always borrow money from a pessimist. He won't expect it back.

2007-12-10T14:48:00.000-05:00

We have officially started decorating for Christmas. Usually we have our tree and all the decorations up Thanksgiving weekend, but it didn't happen this year. First, there was the whole "nativity set" issue: I have a nativity set I adore and Seth is tall enough to reach all our flat surfaces. So, before a single decoration went up, I had to find a table tall enough to protect the nativity. We found one, on clearance. ;-)

We put up a few more decorations, but the tree is going to have to wait until this weekend. Working around everyone's schedule can be a pain, but what can you do? It seems odd waiting this long to put a tree up!

Seth has been his usual comedic self. He is growing so fast. When we first brought him home, he was not strong enough to get up the first step. I took this picture today:

He was fast, too! Part of it might be how much he loves to eat...

What can I say, he likes his Mama's cooking.

"All those who believe in psychokinesis raise my hand." - Steven Wright

2007-12-04T21:22:00.000-05:00

I have decided to make it my goal to see how many pictures of Seth with Santa I can get this year. So, without further ado, here is number one:

I think he kind of liked Santa. He wasn't scared at all and grabbed right on to his beard :)

While I am posting pictures, I would like to show you Taylor's new hair color. It is kind of a reddish, pinkish, orange-ish, strawberry-blondish shade. It actually looks pretty good on her. I am holding out for the blue, though. I think that would look COOL! (Oh, maybe I am living vicariously through my daughter. Am I too old for blue?) :-) It is hard to see in this picture, but it is quite a bold shade.

Some of Seth's favorite books right now (in other words, these are the books we read over and over and over):

This is my favorite because at the end it says, "Oh David, I love you." and Seth always gives me a hug and kiss when I read that... But I always have to wonder if he thinks his name is David when he does that! LOL

And at bedtime we read a book we can both enjoy...

He who laughs last thinks the slowest.

2007-12-03T19:43:00.000-05:00

Last week was difficult for Seth and I. Seth was miserable because he has two more teeth coming in, and well, if you have kids you know how this affects the rest of the family. I felt really bad for him, and his mood was completely uncharacteristic. I was glad when he started to come out of it on Saturday, and I now have my baby back.

We filled out our first post-placement report today. That was a nice jaunt down memory lane. Hard to believe it has been three months. For those of you that don't know, Ethiopia requires post-placement reports at certain intervals: three months after you're home, six months after you get home, one year after you get home, and each year after that until the child reaches the age of 18 years. You also attach eight photos with this short little report and a description of each photo. It is a really great idea because not only is the Ethiopian government able to see how well the children are doing, but the orphanage keeps these on file for the biological family to come and review whenever they like. Seth's uncle assured us that he will be doing this. So, I thought I would share the photos I put in the report. Some you have already seen, but, come on, who wouldn't want to see more Seth? ;-)

***

Meeting family and new friends for the first time at home.

With daddy after a bath at home.
All bundled up with mom at Seth’s first football game.
Seth with his sister (Taylor) at home.
With mom at the zoo, looking at the llamas.

Decorating the Christmas tree with his Grandmother.

Having dinner with Seth’s friend from Adera Orphanage.

The entire family together on the day Seth was officially dedicated (welcomed) into the church.

***

I really do hope that Seth's bio family has a chance to see these reports and finds comfort in them. I know that we are looking forward to going to Ethiopia some day when Seth is older and looking them up.

I am looking forward to the return of the next round of Adoption Associate families who are returning from Ethiopia on Wednesday. Pray they all make it safely and have a nice, relaxing, flight home.

“Anywhere is walking distance, if you've got the time.” - Steven Wright

2007-12-01T16:17:00.000-05:00

Every time I have picked up the camera to tape Seth walking, he either looked at me and sat down or looked at me and fell down. Well, I finally caught the little bugger ;)

Couple notes on the video:

1. It is dark. Sorry about that, no time to turn on the light and catch him walking.

2. There are random chairs laying all over the place. No, Seth has not destroyed our house, I was mopping the dining room and moved them in there. No doubt it will look like that all the time in a year or two, when Seth can walk, talk, and move furniture into a fort :)

0
+.1555

Beauty...

2007-11-29T08:30:00.000-05:00

How can you not think of God when you see a sky like this?

Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.
The voice of the LORD is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the LORD thunders over the mighty waters.
The voice of the LORD is powerful;
the voice of the LORD is majestic.
Psalm 29: 2 - 4 (NIV)

When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

2007-11-27T08:31:00.000-05:00

Hello. Remember me? I know, I know... It has been a while since I have posted any kind of an update, but I have to admit that I am sleep deprived. Mind you, I am not whining or even complaining, but I am giving a good excuse as to why I do not sit down here and post very often; not that I needed one... God had a sense of humor when he gave me a child that requires far less sleep than I do. Luckily, He is also giving me the strength and the large amounts of caffeine to persevere through this (hopefully) phase :)

Well, let's start with the exciting news: three families from our agency are on their way to pick up their children. in Ethiopia. Please keep the Voke family, the DeYoung family, and the other DeYoung family in your prayers (No, I don't think they are related). Also, check out their blogs and hopefully we can follow their progress while they are in Ethiopia. Personally, I find it especially exciting because we were able to meet some of these children while we were in Ethiopia.

What have we been up to? Well, for starters, Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We had a nice day. Of course, we have so many things to be thankful for this year that if I posted them all here we would end up with a post longer than my last one :)

Seth has been teething, so he wasn't especially excited to eat that day, but the rest of us had no problem. We had Thanksgiving here at home with my mother and step-father. Taylor is still fighting off that nasty cold she has had forever (she is now on the mend with a good combo of various medications), and when you add in the fact that she is a teenager, Tryptophan, and a full tummy, you get this on Thanksgiving:

I have a personal goal of getting at least ten pictures on this blog of her sleeping. This should not be difficult.

Last night we went to Grandpa and Grandma's house to decorate the Christmas tree. We had fun, but Seth clearly preferred all the musical decorations they have around the house to actually decorating.

Seth is still trying to walk. He can take about four or five steps at a time when he really gets in the groove. I will try to get video and post it later.

Why Adoption?

2007-11-20T08:56:00.000-05:00

In honor of Adoption Day, I am posting a paper I wrote a while back about why adoption is a wonderful choice. I have actually seen quite a few keyword searches that have lead to my blog that are obviously from people who are searching for answers... Hopefully this will answer some questions for them. Please excuse the sometime repetitive format... it was an English paper. By the way, I know it is long, and I really do not expect that many people to read it. I just thought it might give those searching people a few things to consider. :)

Why Adoption? - Deanna Norris

Truman Capote, John Hancock, Michael Bay, Charlotte Church, and Deborah Harry (“Famous Adoptees,” n.d.): What do all these famous people have in common? All of them were either orphans or were adopted as small children, and they all went on to do great things. There is much talk about celebrities doing the adopting these days, but little time is spent on those that were adopted. The reason could be that once a child is with a family, it becomes second nature, and the word “adopted” seems odd to include. An adopted son or daughter is a son or daughter: no clarification necessary. Adding to the family through adoption is becoming more prevalent because due to an increase in infertility rates, the strain of infertility treatments, and the cost of such treatments, more couples are considering adoption as a way to bring children into their family. It is a mistaken belief that the cost of adoption can be prohibitive because there are numerous ways to fund adoption, a considerable number of foster children who can be adopted for less than $500, and a substantial tax credit from the state and federal government for all adoptive families. It is a common misconception that it is difficult to adopt because of lack of available children, but there are large numbers of children who have been left without family or parents in Michigan, in the US, and abroad. With the growing infertility rates, the many outlets available for financial help and large number of children who need homes, adoption is a beneficial solution for all parties involved.

Although adoption has been around since the beginning of time, it has definitely been given more attention in the past few years. Due to an increase in infertility rates, the strain of infertility treatments, and the cost of such treatments, more couples are considering adoption as a way to bring children into their family.

The increased levels of infertility, partially due to increased obesity and the increased average age of the couples when they start trying to conceive, has led many couples to consider adoption as a way to bring children into their family. There is a very good chance that every American knows someone who is experiencing infertility. The last 10 years have seen a dramatic increase in the number of infertile couples. This translates to an increase in adoption as well. Which means that what starts out as a bad experience, becomes a good one. In 1995, there were around 5.8 million Americans dealing with infertility and in 2002 that number was somewhere around 7.3 million Americans (Feldstein, 2006). What could cause such a dramatic jump in the number of infertile couples? Some researchers believe that as American’s waistlines increase, their chances of conceiving naturally decrease. This is especially true with men: overweight men have a twofold chance of being infertile (Harper, 2006). Another reason doctors believe that the number of infertile couples will continue to grow is that more couples are waiting longer to start their families (Feldstein, 2006). After struggling with infertility, many couples turn to adoption. It is estimated that only around 20% of the couples who adopt already have biological children at home (Cudmore, 2005). This means that 80% of the adoptive couples may have suffered some form of infertility (Cudmore, 2005). What do all these numbers translate to for the millions of children out there waiting for homes? Forever families: a happy conclusion to the epidemic of infertility that is sweeping the United States. This also means that these couples have a soft place to land after the draining process known as infertility treatments. Therefore, maybe there is a positive aspect to obesity and age: homes for many children who would not otherwise have one.

Sometimes the positives of infertility require hindsight because infertility treatments are time consuming and emotionally draining, so some couples choose adoption instead. According to a recent article by Leslie Stahl (2006), “It may be hard for those who take their fertility for granted to realize how stressful infertility can be” (p. 1H). The medical process alone is draining. Visiting the doctor monthly, blood tests, drug treatments, temperature readings, charts, injections, medical procedures, and the waiting for a positive pregnancy test can quickly consume the life of a couple trying to conceive (Stahl, 2006). So much effort is being put into the process of conceiving, many of the emotions involved are being swept under the rug. This leads to an emotional exhaustion that some experts compare to that of a person with a terminal disease (Stahl, 2006). Sometimes the pressure that the couple is under can cause strains in their marriage and other relationships. Often, the grief is not discussed during the infertile stage because the couple is embarrassed at their failure to conceive. In today’s society, there seems to be an unwritten rule that it is one’s right to bear children who are biologically connected (“When Infertility,” 2006). Not only that, but the “keeping up with the Joneses” seems to stretch into the area of fertility as well (“When Infertility,” 2006). All these emotions can lead the couple to look elsewhere to fulfill their desire to have a child: adoption. For the infertile couple, adoption can be a relief and is always a joyous occasion. At this point in the process of infertility treatment, both the child and the couple may come to the relationship with something to share: grief. Adoption is a happy occasion, but there is a certain amount of loss experienced by all parties (Cudmore, 2005). The infertile couple may grieve their inability to conceive a child and the child may grieve the loss of the biological parents or previous caretakers. This may create a stronger bond in the family, with each understanding a little bit of what the other is feeling. The process of infertility leads many couples to not only adopt, but allows them a better understanding of their child, and that child’s loss, once he or she arrives.

With the loss of infertility comes the price tag of the treatment, infertility treatments are expensive and are rarely covered by health insurance, leading some couples to consider adoption. Many couples continue the process of infertility treatments under the mistaken impression that the treatments are cheaper than adoption. With more than 75% of the employers not covering infertility treatment, the couple usually ends up footing the bills themselves (Elswick, 2005). Most of the time, the couple may find themselves taking out a second mortgage, maxing out the credit cards, and cleaning out the savings account without any promise of return on their investment (Feldstein, 2006). This, of course, adds extra strain on the couple. Even the most frugal couple can be convinced to shell out their last dime on the small chance that their dreams of having a child will be fulfilled. This is yet another area where adoption can be a relief for the infertile couple. In most cases, the cost of adoption is far less than the cost of infertility treatments. One try at in-vitro-fertilization [IVF] can cost upwards of $12,000, with no guarantee of success (“When Infertility,” 2006). In fact, it usually takes at least two or three procedures before a pregnancy even occurs (“When Infertility,” 2006). The cost of adoption can vary, but ranges anywhere from $500 to $30,000, dependent on many variables. The average couple would certainly not be saving any money by continuing the infertility treatments.

Although both infertility treatments and adoption can be expensive, it is not always the case. Due to an increase in infertility rates, the strain of infertility treatments, and the cost of such treatments, more couples are considering adoption as a way to bring children into their family. With the infertility treatment being both emotionally draining and financially expensive, adoption is a logical and loving choice. It is a mistaken belief that the cost of adoption can be prohibitive because there are numerous ways to fund adoption, a large number of foster children who can be adopted for less than $500, and a substantial tax credit from the state and federal government for all adoptive families.

The large numbers of foster children who can be adopted for less than $500 prove that the cost of adoption need not be prohibitive. In the United States alone, there are more than 100,000 children waiting to be adopted right now (Spake, 1998). Many couples are looking to adopt, but only want to adopt white, healthy infants. For this reason, there is a common misconception that there are no children available for adoption, so the wait is extremely long: this is untrue. This translates to long waits for white children, with plenty of minority children still waiting for the perfect home (Barth, 1997). This is a sad fact about American culture, but an accurate one, nonetheless. Most of these children are older, of Hispanic or African-American heritage, and will never find their “forever home”. Statistics show that only about 16% of these children will ever find a permanent home outside the foster care system (Spake, 1998). Sometimes, just being over a certain age in the foster care system can classify these children as special-needs. Once you take into account the subsidies and credits available for the family who wants to adopt from the foster-care system, the out of pocket expense can be as low as $500. If a family adopts a special-needs child from the foster care system, the State of Michigan is prepared to help that family financially. The reason, according to “Foster Care and Adoption” (2002), is “…because of the expense of raising a special-needs child (60 percent of families who adopt a special-needs child have an annual income under $40,000)” (p.127). The subsidy amount starts at $14.00 a day and can go up from there, depending on the needs of the adopted child (“Foster Care,” 2002). Cost is a non-issue when thinking about adopting a child; there are far too many programs available to help the prospective adoptive family out, financially.

If the family doesn’t qualify for subsidies or grants the federal government and the state of Michigan (and many other states) offer substantial tax credits to help cover adoption expenses and confirm that the cost of adoption is not prohibitive. The initial investment of an adoption is usually the only hurtle to jump, financially speaking. Once the adoption is completed, the federal government allows a tax credit that can recoup all expenses relating to the adoption up to $10,960 (“Tax Topics,” n.d.). There are some criteria that need to be met for this credit, but for the most part, the average citizen adopting a child from anywhere will qualify for the credit. The second way that the government helps make adoption affordable is through the state tax credits. The State of Michigan is one of many states that offer a tax credit for adoption that reaches above and beyond the federal credit. If the out of pocket expense for the adoption reaches over the federal amount allowed, the State of Michigan will add in an extra $1,200 tax credit (“Qualified Adoption Expenses,” 2006). Both of these tax benefits are credits, not deductions, so adoptive families receive the entire amount back when they file their taxes. Therefore, thanks to the government has made it economical to adopt a child, just one of the many benefits of adoption.

If the family cannot afford to wait for the tax credits and need help with the initial funds there are many grants and low-interest loans available for families that want to adopt, so the question of the cost need not prevent families from adopting. Employers have even gotten into the game of adoption by offering adoption reimbursements for their employees as part of a benefit plan: in 2003, there were about 40 out of every 1,000 employers offering some sort of adoption assistance (Kranz, 2004). With the increase in adoption, that number is sure to go up. Many organizations are also finding a way to help families and children by offering grants for adoption expenses. There are literally hundreds of groups out there whose sole purpose is to help families with the financial aspect of adoption. Some organizations are specialized, some more general, but all them have one thing in common: they are interested in giving the prospective adopted parents money to help cover the cost of bringing a child into a loving, stable, home. Shaohanna’s Hope is just one example of this type of organization: Started by Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapmen, Shaohanna’s Hope is (“About Us”, n.d.) “…dedicated to helping prospective adoptive parents overcome the financial barriers associated with adoption” (p.1) If a family is unable to get a grant, there are always low cost loans designed to bridge the gap between the time the adoption begins and the tax credit comes. Many well-known lenders’ and non-profit organizations offer low-interest adoption loans. If all else fails and the family is unable to get extra benefits, grants, or loans, many adoptive parents start a “creative fundraising” campaign. Some prospective adoptive parents do odd jobs, hold garage sales, sell items at craft shows, or even donate plasma to raise funds to bring their child home (“Affording Adoption,” 2007). With enough motivation, adoption is affordable, and for most families, the love of their child is all the motivation they need.

Thanks to so many benefits that have come about as a way to make adoption an affordable solution, adoption is now available to even those families with meager incomes. It is a mistaken belief that the cost of adoption can be prohibitive because there are numerous ways to fund adoption, a large number of foster children who can be adopted for less than $500, and a substantial tax credit from the state and federal government for all adoptive families. Once a couple realizes that they can afford to adopt, the next question is whether there will be a long wait for a child or if there are even any children available for adoption. It is a common misconception that it is difficult to adopt because of lack of available children, but there are large numbers of children who have been left without family or parents in Michigan, in the US, and abroad.

In Michigan alone there are approximately 4500 children awaiting and eligible for adoption, thus dispelling the mistaken belief that adoption is difficult. All 4500 of these children are waiting in the Michigan foster care system. Most people think of foster care as a temporary place for children to stay, but the truth is that many of these children spend their entire lives in foster care with an average of four different caseworkers (“Foster Care,” 2002). The caseworker is often the only stable person in these children’s lives and the turnover rate is high. What does this mean? This means that there are not only children out there that need homes, there are children out there that need steady, loving, families. The children in these statistics are not half-way around the world; they are right their in our own backyards. A foster family provides some stability, right? Not always. Most children in the foster care system are moved frequently from one foster home to the next (Lynch, 1997). There is some good news in all of this: in the last few years, thanks to positive legislature, the State of Michigan has had an increase in foster care adoptions (“Foster Care,” 2002). The state has made foster care adoption easier, and the result is that more of those 4500 foster children who are waiting for families are finding them.

Of course, Michigan is not the only state where there are orphans, in the United States alone, there are approximately 500,000 children in foster care with about 25% of those children awaiting adoption, and this again shows that adoption is not as hard as some might think. There is a significant difference in the rate that white children are adopted versus the rate that minority or biracial children are adopted. According to Richard Barth (1997), “The probability of being adopted was 10.8 higher for a Caucasian child than for an African American, Latino, or other child freed for adoption…” (p. 2). If a family is willing to open up their home to any child, regardless of race, there are plenty of children in need of homes. The federal government has recognized this problem and has instated laws that make it easier for families from all over the United States to adopt across racial and state lines. Although the ability to adopt across state lines was given with the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children [ICPC], recent attention has renewed the effort through websites such as http://www.adoptuskids.org (Hansen & Hansen, 2006). Adopt US Kids has a photo listing of many of the foster care children available for adoption across the entire United States. Initiatives like the ICPC and the Adopt US Kids website make it even easier to adopt a foster child who is waiting, even if he or she is waiting on the other side of the country.

If a family wants to expand their borders through adoption there are innumerable numbers of adoptable children living in foster homes and in orphanages worldwide; in Africa alone there are 12 million AIDS orphans, so there are many opportunities for American to adopt internationally. International adoption has received quite a bit more attention in recent years due to celebrity adoptions from Cambodia, Ethiopia, and Malawi, just to name a few. Although at least one of the adoptions raised some much needed concerns about international adoption, the others were able to bring much needed attention to the plight of orphans in the non-Western world. Madonna adopted from Malawi, where there are many orphans who need homes, but Malawi is not normally a country that adopts their orphans to non-residents: So much controversy was raised (Schneider, 2006). But that controversy sparked conversation and brought up a good question: what countries can be adopted from and how many orphans are truly out there? According to a recent article by Jackie Burrell” (“Yearning for Family Transcends Borders,” 2006), “Fifteen years ago, about 7,000 U.S. families adopted children from other countries annually. Today, it is more than 22,000, a three-fold increase…” (p. 1). The number of orphans varies by country, as do the adoptions. Not all countries allow foreign adoption, but some of the top countries that do are: China, Russia, Guatemala, South Korea, and Kazakhstan (“Top 20,” 2003). Even though there are few African countries that allow foreign adoption, Africa has the largest orphan population in the world, with around 12 million of those orphans becoming that way due to the AIDS epidemic (Roby & Shaw, 2006). Most of the Africans being adopted are coming from Ethiopia, with a few coming from South Africa, Kenya, and Liberia (Roby & Shaw, 2006). There are undoubtedly millions of children out there who need homes, both here and abroad, for the couple that wants to expand their family and their borders.

Despite the many myths that surround adoption, there are plenty of children in need of homes all over the world. It is a common misconception that it is difficult to adopt because of lack of available children, but there are substantial numbers of children who have been left without family or parents in Michigan, in the US, and abroad. Of course, there are those that give adoption a bad name through accusation of the trafficking of orphans.

There are critics that claim adoption is nothing more than purchasing a child, but the evidence clearly contradicts this argument. There are always bad apples that spoil the bunch, but most adoptive parents are doing their best to stay within the law when adopting their child. Many families even go out of their way to find information about their child’s birth families, something that would be unheard of if that child had been adopted illegally. In the last decade, the importance of birth family relationships has stretched from domestic adoption to international adoption, with many families hiring “searchers” to find long lost relation to their child (Tyre, 2005). Clearly, this is the act of a parent who loves their child, not a consumer who is protecting their purchase. Money does need to be discussed when discussing adoption only because it is a fact of life, just like giving birth to a child costs money. Sometimes critics are caught up in the fact that there are large amounts of money involved and forget what the parents are really paying for: to find a child, not buy a child. According to “The Economics of Adoption” (Hansen & Hansen, 2006), “Potential adoptive families pay to be matched with the children who they are well-suited to parent, either by the best judgment of the family or by the best judgment of a social worker” (p. 3). Adoption is a noble service of connecting families, provided by professionals, regardless of what its many critics may say.

Finally, despite many misconceptions about adoption, there are so many reasons that adoption is an excellent solution for the family that wants to start, grow, or feels that they have the love and resources to share with a child. Due to an increase in infertility rates, the strain of infertility treatments, and the cost of such treatments, more couples are considering adoption as a way to bring children into their family. It is a mistaken belief that the cost of adoption can be prohibitive because there are numerous ways to fund adoption, a large number of foster children who can be adopted for less than $500, and a substantial tax credit from the state and federal government for all adoptive families. It is a common misconception that it is difficult to adopt because of lack of available children, but there are large numbers of children who have been left without family or parents in Michigan, in the US, and abroad. With the growing infertility rates, the many outlets available for financial help and large numbers of children who need homes, adoption is a beneficial solution for all parties involved.

References

Affording adoption. (2007, February). Monthly News from Adoption Associates, 1-2. Retrieved February 19, 2007, from Adoption Associates, Inc., http://www.adoptionassociates.net/newsletters/2007/02/affording_adoption

Barth, R.P. (1997). Effects of age and race on the odds of adoption versus remaining in long-term out-of-home care. Child Welfare, 76(2), 285-309. Retrieved March 25, 2007, from Proquest database, http://proquest.umi.com

Burrell, J. (2006, August 6). Yearning for family transcends borders. Contra Costa Times, 1-7. Retrieved March 24, 2007 from Newspaper Source database, http://search.ebscohost.com

Chapman, S.C. & Chapman, M.B. (2006). About us, 1. Retrieved April 3, 2007, from Shaohannah's Hope, http://members.shaohannahshope.org/about_us

Cudmore, L. (2005). Becoming parents in the context of loss. Sexual & Relationship Therapy, 20(3), 299-308. Retrieved March 24, 2007 from CINAHL Plus database, http://search.ebscohost.com

Elswick, J. (2005) Employers grow wary as demand for infertility treatment swells. Employee Benefit News, 19(15), 1+. Retrieved April 1, 2007 from Business Source Elite database, http:// search.ebscohost.com

Famous adoptees & fosterees. (no date). Adoption.com, 1-3. Retrieved April 1, 2007, from http://famous.adoption.com/famous/a-z-index.html

Feldstein, M. J. (2006, August 6). Parents to be feel the cost of infertility treatments. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 1-4. Retrieved March 26, 2007, from Newspaper Source database, http://search.ebscohost.com

Foster care and adoption. (2002, April 1). Michigan in Brief, 123-127. Retrieved April 2, 2006, from http://www.michiganinbrief.org

Hansen, M.E. & B.A. (2006). The economics of adoption of children from foster care. Child Welfare, 85(3), 559-583. Retrieved April 10, 2007, from Academic Search Elite database, http://search.ebscohost.com

Harper, J. (2006, September 2). Obesity found to reduce fertility. The Washington Times, 2-4. Retrieved March 26, 2007, from NewsBank InfoWeb database, http://docs.newsbank.com

Kranz, G. (2004) Successful adoption programs cost little but enhance loyalty a lot. Workforce Management, 83(4), 60-61, Retrieved April 3, 2007, from Academic Search Elite database, http://search.ebscohost.com

Lynch, M.W. (1997). Fiddling with foster care. Reason, 29(3), 8-9. Retrieved April 10, 2007, from ArticleFirst database, http://search.ebscohost.com

Michigan qualified adoption expenses mi-8839. (2006, November). Retrieved March 23, 2007, from Michigan Department of Treasury, http://www.michigan.gov/documents/taxes/MI-8839_181172_7.pdf

Roby, J.L. & Shaw, S. A. (2006). The African orphan crisis and international adoption. Social Work, 51(3), 199-211. Retrieved March 6, 2007 from Proquest database, http://proquest.umi.com

Spake, A. (1998). Adoption gridlock. U.S. News & World Report, 124(24), 30-37. Retrieved March 25, 2007, from NewsBank InfoWeb database, http://docs.newsbank.com

Stahl, L. (2006, November 23). The stress of infertility. The Courier-Journal, 1-6. Retrieved March 26, 2007, from NewsBank InfoWeb database, http://infoweb.newsbank.com

Top 20 countries for U.S. foreign adoptions, 1991-2003. (2005). World Almanac & Book of Facts, 1-3. Retrieved March 4, 2007 from Academic Search Elite database, http://search.ebscohost.com

Topic 607 - adoption credit. (no date). Retrieved March 23, 2007, from Internal Revenue Service, United States Department of Treasury, http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc607.html

Tyre, P. (2005, August 1). Seek and you may find; Eager for answers, adoptive parents hire 'searchers. Newsweek, 49. Retrieved March 4, 2007 from Junior Edition database, http://0-find.galegroup.com

When infertility remains unexplained. (2006, May 30). Irish Times, 1-3. Retrieved April 1, 2007, from Newspaper Source database, http://search.ebscohost.com

Never go to a doctor whose office plants have died. - Erma Bombeck

2007-11-17T16:23:00.000-05:00

We had a really nice dinner with the McKinney family yesterday. As some of you may remember, their son Mikias and Seth go way back. Since they were itty-bitty babies they were in the same orphanage. And when they were linked to their families, they were moved to another orphanage, together. About a month ago, they were reunited with very little fan-fare. Each did their own thing, in the same general vicinity. This time was different. Seth could not keep his hands off of Mikias - hugging and kissing him from the moment they were together. Mikias, on the other hand, had just woke up and was not really sure what to think...

Mikias had a good time, too - once he was a little more awake. We have decided that since the boys' birthdays are so close together, we would get together at least once a year to celebrate. Of course, I hope we are able to get together more than that because the boys clearly enjoy each other's company - luckily the adults do, too :)

If something "goes without saying," why do people still say it?

2007-11-15T17:25:00.000-05:00

Nothing too exciting around here these days. Nothing worth blogging about anyway. Since when has that stopped me, you may ask yourself? Since sitting down to blog requires one of two things: giving up my precious few nap times I have to try and make my life sound interesting OR popping in a Teletubbies video when I need a mental health break. LOL. That is what I am doing right now. As I type this I hear "Uh Oh" and "Tubby Toast." Seth LOVES Teletubbies and since he has apparently given up his naps for the upcoming Advent season, I thought maybe he could use some r & r in front of the boob tube. And I could use a little r & r in front of the... What do you call a computer if the TV is "the boob tube?" Any ideas?

I am pretty blessed, though, because even when Seth is lacking sleep and ornery, he still isn't half bad. :) And as long as he keeps sleeping fairly well through the nights (which he has been), I can live with a few days without naps.

He did take a step for the first time yesterday. I am pretty sure it was a step that came from momentum, but a step is a step, right?

Seth enjoys having his hair combed, so I thought I would post a photo showing how much his hair has really grown since we brought him home. He has a little 'fro now and it is ADORABLE.

We finally have a pretty good handle on the hair routine, but the 'fro does require frequent combings to keep it 'fro-ish, so as long as he likes his hair combed, we are okay.

Uh...I don't like to gush or anything, but is this kid cute or what?? ;) Is that an unseemly trait in a parent? The gushing and the going on and on about how cute their kid is?

NyQuil, the stuffy, sneezy, why-the-heck-is-the-room-spinning medicine.

2007-11-10T20:54:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to take a moment to wish the Tanis family a safe and wonderful journey to Ethiopia. They left this morning. I invite you all to follow along on their journey: Changing the world TWO little heartbeats at a time

Godspeed, Mark & Wendy!

The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.

2007-11-05T16:43:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was Seth's first birthday. I am so happy that we were able to have him home to spoil him rotten for it. We had a great party with lots of family and a few friends. Seth had a BLAST!

I have good news and bad news: The bad news is that Taylor has been sick and we left her in charge of pictures while Seth opened his presents. That means there is one blurry one... The good news is that I had the camera during cake time :) Daddy was in charge of video, so at least we have that.

Here is the cake we ordered:

And the one I made just for Seth:

Here he is deciding if he wants to eat it:

His final decision was made:

And finally, the reason we don't have any picture of the presents (she is gonna kill me for this LOL):

On a side note, the Hahn family (the family we traveled with in Ethiopia) was recently interviewed by their local new s. You can't watch the video, but there is a nice article here:
http://www.nbc25.net/news/news_story.aspx?id=62372

Did you know?

2007-11-01T08:34:00.001-04:00

Did you know that if you dress up a cute baby in a costume, people will give you candy?

How come you never hear father-in-law jokes?

2007-10-29T22:08:00.000-04:00

So, in the interest of updating my blog with my oh-so-not-interesting life, I will post some oh-so-adorable pictures.

Seth, Taylor, and I attended our local library's costume party with our friends Nichole, Heath, and Brock. Funny enough, Nichole and I picked out the same costumes for Heath and Seth this year (who are only a month apart in age).

Are they adorable or what?

Seth had a blast! He is an avid people-watcher (like his parents) and there were plenty of interesting people to watch. Seth got so excited at one point, his face was turning red while he laughed and pointed furiously. As you can see, he partied a little too hard:

(No, I am not a bad mom. I threw the candy there AFTER he fell asleep :) )

Something I have been thinking about lately is how can people ever even entertain the idea that they cannot love an adopted child as much as a biological child? I am telling you this now: you may have to be more intentional about it at first, but the result is the same - you love them so much it hurts.

Oh, and I registered for classes today for the Winter/Spring semester. I am only taking three classes (two online), but I am SO excited to get my brain working again... It's a sickness, really.

What is the speed of dark?

2007-10-23T08:27:00.000-04:00

I had a really funny "duh!" moment this morning that I thought I would share.

Since I was having peanut butter toast, I got to thinking that since Seth is almost a year old he was old enough to have peanut butter. I got online and went to a medical site that addressed the question "When is your child old enough to have peanut butter?" According so the website, if you and your family have no known peanut allergies, a year old is perfectly fine to try giving peanut butter. I carefully thought through our family history and determined, "nope, no peanut allergies", then I gave him some peanut butter toast.

It took me a minute to slap my forehead on that one! :-)

See how quickly they become your own?

You tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is 'never try'. -Homer Simpson

2007-10-22T19:08:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, Seth was dedicated in our church. Dedication is like 'baptism-lite', if you are not familiar. James and I decided before we got married that our children would be dedicated to God as infants and when they were ready to be baptized at the age of accountability, they could be baptized. Basically, we stand in front of the church as witness to the fact that we will raise him in a Christian home. It was a nice ceremony with all our family present. The pastor used this passage during the dedication:

"But then the right time came. God sent his Son. A woman gave birth to him. He was born under the authority of the law. He came to set free those who were under the law. He wanted us to be adopted as children with all the rights children have.
Because you are his children, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts. He is the Holy Spirit. By his power we call God "[Abba.]" Abba means Father. So you aren't slaves any longer. You are God's children. Because you are his children, he gives you what he promised to give his people." - Galatians 4:4-7

Well, I am tired and keeping this short. I will share all my profound wisdom with you on another day. Until then, know that I am praying for all the families who have (or had) court dates this week.

Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway. - Anonymous

2007-10-18T14:46:00.000-04:00

A good friend of mine recently mentioned that she did not need to use quotes because she can come up with her own words. I say that it has all been said anyway, so why waste the brain cells? The quote I used for my subject line is a perfect example.

Anyway, I digress. I am taking just a moment to hammer a few words out while Seth is taking his afternoon nap.

He is doing so wonderful. In just two weeks he will be one year old! Amazing! This time last year we had just begun the adoption process, which meant that we had just begun to pray for our baby and his biological parents. It is awe inspiring to think that while Seth was in his biological mother's womb, we were praying for both of them. I remember saying to a friend, "It is possible that he or she is being born right now." I wish that I had written down the date that I had said that. It is possible that Seth was born today or yesterday or a week from now... Since the Ethiopian country choose his birthdate, it is almost impossible to know what the actual day was that he was born - and it doesn't really matter. We don't really celebrate Christmas or Easter on the actual day, why should a date make that big of a difference? Wow, I am rambling now!

Here are some milestones that Seth has reached since we have been home:

He is saying a few words - Mom, Dadda, more, and all done.
He is actively requesting things like his favorite book (Moo, Baa, La La La) and will moo on command.
He will walk around with the assistance of anything he can push across the room.
He is sleeping through the night and taking at least one good nap in the afternoon.
He eats EVERYTHING (with the exception of green olives and white mushrooms).
He has acquired the taste of a pacifier, which leads to the next milestone...
He will sit in his car seat, awake and without screaming, for a reasonable amount of time.
He dances like a crazy man and LOVES music (this comes in handy since we go to a lot of band performances.

He is doing well and I am even starting to adjust :) I will not lie - it has been fairly difficult to go from having all my freedom during the days to being attached, but we have worked out a pretty good little routine. And he is so much fun, who could not love spending the day with the little guy?

Well, I need to go. The long afternoon nap has ended.

If at first you don't succeed, then don't take up sky diving!

2007-10-13T15:07:00.000-04:00

First, I would like to invite you to visit the Full House and Full Hearts blog. This is the story of a family who is in the process of adopting their 11th child, Solomon, who is HIV+ and from Ethiopia. They have an amazing story of faith and I hope that you will visit the blog, and if you feel lead to do so, give to their worthy cause.

Second, I want to share some great pictures of my kids all dressed up and heading to the homecoming dance. Okay, only one of my kids is dressed up. Oh, alright, only one went to the homecoming dance, too.

I think Seth thinks his sister is pretty, what do you think?

Here is Taylor and her friend, Renida.

Seth and I spent a quiet evening at home as everyone headed out to the dance (James is chaperoning). Well, okay, the truth is that they left and Seth went to bed...

While Renida was here, we had an interesting development. Seth was extremely tired by the time she arrived and everyone was ready to go. So, for about 30 minutes prior to and as they left, Seth was glued to my hip. For those that have not spent anytime around Seth, you should know that in general he does not go to strangers. He prefers Mom or Dad and will go to you once he gets to know you. There really has never been an exception until tonight: his first reaction when he met Renida was to go towards her and away from me. They left almost as soon as Renida arrived, so I never really had a chance to see where he was going with this, but it did get me thinking.

He has been around few black people since we have been home (we live in a rural area that has just recently started becoming more diverse), but in hindsight, they have all been men or children. None of them have been girls close to the age of the nanny that he was so attached to in Ethiopia. Was Seth drawn to Renida because she reminded him of his nanny? I suppose it is possible, but that isn't really what is bothering me tonight. I feel guilty.

Whenever asked, I am constantly telling people that Seth has adjusted so well that "it is as if he has always been here." And for us, this is true. In the last few weeks I have given hardly any thought to the people he left behind and how his memories are probably fading. He has attached to us so well that I have never even considered that he still misses his nanny and would like to be near her again. This is painful for me to type because there is a very small selfish part of me wants him to ONLY love me and ONLY miss me when I leave. That is not easy to admit, but it is true. It is so conflicting to selfishly wish your child had only loved you, yet at the same time pray that they never truly lose all the memories of the people that he loved before he met you. I really do wish that he would never lose those memories, but he will. That is sad for me, and it will be for him someday, too.

I debated with myself on whether or not I should post this. It is so tempting to only post the happy stuff when you are home with this beautiful child that you have been waiting and waiting for so long. But you know what? You will be sad sometimes after you are home... That is normal.

If at first you don't succeed, shouldn't you try doing it like your wife told you to do it?

2007-10-11T22:28:00.000-04:00

Okay, so my friend April and I were just talking about the weird keywords that can lead people to your blog. I have had my fair share of interesting ones, but this one takes the cake:

I need to give a shout out to the person from Ontario, Canada who found my blog by searching for "touch his butt" in Google.

If you have no clue how I know this, my Statcounter at the bottom of the page will tell me what keywords (if any) someone searched for that lead them to this blog. It will also give me an idea of their general location and approximately how long they stayed to read my blog. This person stayed less than a second. That is a pretty short time to realize I am not what you're looking for...Why bother even clicking the link?

Anyway, in the interest of drawing more weird people searching for odd words and sayings, I leave you with this: boogers.

Have a good night, everyone!

Why do banks charge a fee on "insufficient funds" when they know there is not enough?

2007-10-11T15:07:00.000-04:00

First, I want to congratulate all the families that have recently received court dates! The next couple weeks will be a whirlwind of congratulations as each court date is completed.

I have nothing of interest to anyone (other than me) to post. So, please feel free to stop reading here...

I hate gloomy weather. My mood firmly depends on sun and warmth, so expect this post to be anything but. However, I realized that I have not posted anything in a few days, so I should write about something.

Seth is doing good. Actually, he said Mom today while looking at me and then firmly presented a Dadda in the direction of his daddy. That was a good feeling.

He is also sleeping through the night, so that is beyond awesome.

That is it. I got nothin' else. Somebody give me a topic, I feel brain dead! I refuse to be one of those people that have nothing to talk about but their kids :)

Photos of Seth...

2007-10-08T15:12:00.000-04:00

They all turned out so beautiful, I am not sure which ones to have printed!

Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are getting weak?

2007-10-06T22:19:00.000-04:00

It is becoming increasingly hard to post these days. Man, I cannot wait until football season is over. Between band events (because the Taylor does color guard and plays the flute in the non-marching season), Varsity football games (because the Taylor does color guard) and Junior Varsity football games (because Taylor cheers), and chasing a fast little crawler around, I have decided that I am much too young to feel this dang old! (that, was a little salute to country music for all you fans out there!)

Our high school band is doing great though. At the last band competition, they took first in their division and brought home all but one award. Not bad for a small town band. Here is Taylor in her color-guard costume:

As of Monday, we will have been home from Ethiopia a whole month, but it feels much longer. We have settled in, for the most part. I am still relearning how to do things with a baby on my hip. I had forgotten that normal activities (like showering) really can become quite the chore...

Seth is definitely saying a few words. We weren't sure at first, but he makes it perfectly clear when he is "ALL DONE." It is so cute! Maybe it won't be when he is two years old and we are trying to get him to eat his broccoli, but for now it cracks us up.

I promised to share some of Seth's outings since he has been home. He loves being out and about, although lately we have noticed that he gets his fill of all the attention fairly quickly. Last night at our football game he turned his head whenever anyone tried to talk to him. Eventually, he started screaming and made it very clear he was sick to death of people being in his face. We brought him home and he was fine. This is kind of a new development, but to be honest I don't blame him... I would get sick of it too! At least he knows that when he is tired, he just needs to let us know and we will give him a much needed break.

Last week we visited a local zoo with Marissa and her kids. I think Seth had a good time, I know we did!

Here he is working out with his daddy:

This week we had a great opportunity to get together with some other moms (all adopting or have adopted from Ethiopia) and chat. I had a really nice time and Seth was reunited with his old buddy, Mikias, from his orphanage.

They did not go running into each other's arms (as I had planned), but it was very nice to see Joanna and Mikias. This was the first of many get-togethers for these two! Soon they will be playing together, rather then in the same vicinity of one another :)

It was also really nice to talk to all the other moms. I can't wait until we can all get together with ALL our children. So many of the moms will be traveling soon to get their little ones, so please pray for them.

Yesterday we went to my friend Amy's studio and had Seth's first photos taken. They turned out BEAUTIFUL! I will share them as soon as I get the go-ahead from the photographer. By the way, she is awesome and you can check out her blog here: Behind the Lens.
She would have a website right now, but her friend had to go get a beautiful little boy from Ethiopia in the middle of designing it... So, in the meantime, check out her blog :)

And just for kicks, check Seth out with his buddy Heath. Aren't they adorable?

I guess if I posted more often I wouldn't have so much to share in one post. I will try to do better about that!

Why don't psychics predict the winning lottery numbers and retire?

2007-10-02T21:58:00.000-04:00

Apparently I have been tagged, which means that I now need to tell you eight things about myself that you do not already know about me. Thank you, Marissa :) Of course, this may be difficult because since I have started writing this blog I have been pretty much 'no holds barred' on randomly talking about myself. I will give it a shot...

1. I am a psychology student. That isn't the part that you don't know about me, however. The truth is, I am interested in psychology because I am just a teensy bit crazy. Okay, some of you may know this.

2. I have an aversion to all things nail (toe and finger) related. Do not show me your injured fingernail, I may pass out. Just finding a loose nail clipping on the floor will gross me out for weeks. I would rather deal with a deep, bleeding wound then a broken nail. Told ya I was a little crazy.

3. I love to try weird food. Anything odd and I will eat it. I have not found anything yet that I will not try. I do prefer that it be cooked, but the only steadfast requirement I have to date is that the item I am about to eat be dead.

4. I finally finished Harry Potter #7 the other day. Phew! That is the longest it has ever taken me to read a Harry Potter book.

5. I do not like to fly. I do fly, but it usually requires some sort of medication so I can either be asleep or distracted. That is an unfortunate fear for a missionary, huh?

6. I have a tattoo of a scorpion on my back. Yup, I am cool like that :)

7. I am going to bounce off of Marissa's post for this one: I HATE SNOW. If it did not snow all winter long I would be happy. It isn't even the cold that bothers me, I just hate that fluffy, wet, white stuff lying all over the place. I know, I know, I am the Grinch.

8. Until recently I had forgotten a few things about parenting a baby: you do not sleep, you cannot be sick, your house is always a mess, and you (in general) look like crap 99.9% of the time. For some of you this may not be true (God Bless ya!), but it certainly is for me. BUT...I am not complaining. I love having the little guy at home, he is a lot of fun. I am just going to have to learn to function with a baby a little better. It will come, right???

***

By the way, I am going to tag some people to do the same thing I just did in their own blog (so you will all FINALLY post something):
April , Jen, Cori, and Amy

Here are some gratuitous cute kid pics:

Seth being Saint-like (Hey, Kidus does mean Saint)

And here is the picture we decided to use for Taylor's school picture. I think it turned out really nice. She is so photogenic.

The next post I will fill you all in on Seth's various outings since he has been home and also how awesome Taylor's band is doing. Until then...

Day eight of our journey to Seth Kidus

2007-09-30T19:36:00.000-04:00

Well, I am finally at day eight, our last day in Ethiopia. It is hard to believe that we have been home for three weeks already!

Day eight was another whirlwind. After receiving requests from a few adoptive parents to get pictures of their newly adopted children, we decided to start the day with a special trip to Enetalem Orphanage. Most of the Hahn family had opted to spend a relaxing day at the hotel, so Gary was the only member that was joining us. And since we were visiting another orphanage, we thought that might be stressful on Seth and opted to leave him with the ladies at the house. This time was extremely hard, however. As we were leaving, Seth had a look on his face that said, "I can't believe you are leaving me." That was the last time we have left him to date.

First stop had to be at the US Embassy to pick up the babies' visas. Gary and James went in to pick them up, while Taylor and I waited in the car. I know it seems like nothing too exciting to report, but this meant that both children were going home!

The next stop was the Enetalem orphanage, where we were sure we would just be in and out. After explaining to the director that what we were there for, she lead us to an area to cover our feet with plastic bags! They did not want us tracking in anything for the babies. This was the cleanest orphanage I have ever visited. To make a point, this is what I wrote to one of the adoptive mothers:

The orphanage is really wonderful. There were always nannies with the babies and the center is clean and neat. The older children are doted on just as much as the babies. The director walks into a room and their eyes light up. . . If they were my children, I can honestly say that I would be perfectly comfortable with their care. It is run better than many American day care centers.

I stand by those words. This is an exceptionally nice orphanage. Of course, there is sadness at every orphanage, but none of this sadness was coming from the children. They are happy; Of course, they would all be happier with forever families. Knowing that is what brings the sadness.

After getting all the pictures we needed, the director invited us to a coffee ceremony. We were short on time, but you can't say no to a coffee ceremony, so off we went. We walked through a group of kids who began singing to us... About 20 minutes of singing. It was a lot of fun. Some songs were in English, some in Amharic.

After that, we went in for our coffee ceremony. We were served by a beautiful Ethiopian woman, whose name, unfortunately, escapes me:

We drank one cup (fairly quickly) and then we were off again. Did I mention that we had not even begun to pack for our flight home that night? Those of you that know me, know that inside I was in complete panic mode. It was about 12:00pm at this point and we were to be at the airport at 6pm. Oi Vey!

On the Norris' list of things still to do: track down two Amharic Bibles, tour the Merkato, and buy more diapers for the flight home.

Gary also had his own list to complete.

After leaving the orphanage, we were off to tour the Merkato, but only as a drive-by. We drove up and down each street of the largest open-air market in Africa. There are really no words to describe it other than CRAZY. It was so busy and there was only one lane. Did I mention that traffic went both ways? My heart rate increases just thinking about it :) There was really no good way to get pictures of it, but we got some good video, I believe. I will show it to you when we get around to sorting out all our video.

Once we escaped the craziness, we went to another area of Addis for the Amharic bibles. James wanted to buy one for him and one for Seth (when he gets older.) Apparently, there are no Bibles in print right now, so we had to go find an "alternative dealer" of sorts. Interesting, to say the least, when you are buying a Bible. We did get them, though.

At this point my insides are going into full panic mode because we were not packed yet and only had a few hours left. Since Beth was at the hotel packing for them, Sammy (the driver) dropped us off at the guest house and Gary continued on without us.

Lunch was waiting for us at the guesthouse and then we were on to our packing. It took us a couple hours, but we managed to get everything packed up and ready to go. Since we were planning on being at the airport by 6pm (to be sure we got that all important bassinet seat), we had planned to just get dinner at the airport. Of course, the wonderful ladies at the house made us an early dinner and you guessed it, a coffee ceremony (man, I miss those ladies!)

After all the rushing, all the worrying, all the fussing... it was finally time to leave. Alemu picked us up and took us to the airport. But not before many goodbyes.

At the airport, we learned two things that put us in less than pleasant moods:

We learned that despite being told the contrary, the bank was closed and we would be stuck with well over $1,000.00 worth of Ethiopian Birr.

We also learned that we would not be getting the bassinet seat after all. Although, we really weren't sure why...

Of course, that put us in a mood, but as we were filling out the exit visa cards, I was asked to help two ladies fill out their cards. The challenging part of this task was that neither spoke a word of English and neither could read. So, we fumbled through most the questions and apparently it worked out for them because I saw them on the other side later in the evening. That put things into perspective for me and gave me a chance to relax. God works in weird ways sometimes :)

The plane was delayed by about 45 minutes, but we were never sure why. African time, I guess. And when I say African time, I mean no disrespect what-so-ever. Actually, I am envious of the way that relationships take precedence over time. If we were all like that, the world would be a better place.

Here is the whole gang, getting ready for take-off:

Once we were checking into the flight at the gates, our spirits were considerably better. The gentleman at the gate made our spirits even better: he offered us a bassinet seat. The only catch was that we had to sit one row apart from each other. We weren't complaining, though... We were so happy. Seth enjoyed it as well:

Seth and I had really nice company on the flight, too. We were blessed enough to be seated by a wonderful gentlemen who was also a missionary to Rwanda. James and I had a great time chatting with him as we switched back and forth throughout the flight. He also never complained that due to the bassinet he was blocked from leaving when he wanted to and couldn't use his movie screen. He was a great guy!

I am going to fast forward you a little bit: we had a very uneventful flight (both to Washington DC and on to Detroit) and even arrived a little bit early into Detroit. As we were heading towards the luggage claim area, we heard people yelling our names. Down by the luggage claim area were many of our friends and family there to greet us:

And at home, we had even more people waiting for us. Through it all, Seth was amazing. He is obviously a people person and acted as if he knew he was home from the moment he stepped foot into our house. Here he is meeting his new friends and cousins. He is telling them all about Ethiopia, but of course it is in Amharic, so they can't understand him... They think it is just babble... What? He is really bright! ;-)

No one stayed too long and we all went to bed and slept like babies for a good 10 - 11 hours... Even the baby slept like a baby.

The end result of this amazing trip is our amazing little family. I thank God everyday for bringing us together. Today it feels as if we have always been together.

"You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them."
~Desmond Tutu

Now that the trip recitation is complete, I can use this blog for what God intended: to brag about my kids. :-) Believe me, I have got plenty of that to catch up on!

Day seven of our journey to Seth Kidus

2007-09-24T21:39:00.000-04:00

Day seven was a whirlwind, so even as I begin this post, I know that it is going to take me a day or two to finish it...

Day seven started with a tour of the city. This means that we all piled in the car (all members of both families, even little Leila Hahn was able to join us for this trip). The whole tour took an hour or two and I feel pretty safe in saying that we went entirely through the city. What was most interesting was the highway: it looked like your standard interstate with exits and on ramps. I have never seen a road like that in Africa. Of course, Africa is a big place and comparatively, I have seen very little of it.

It was difficult to get pictures in a moving car, but we managed one or two. Believe it or not, this is the best one:

We did get awesome video that I hope to post on here soon, just not today...sorry!

After the tour of the city, we went back to visit a local zoo that had a big lion exhibit. The zoo was small, but the lion exhibit was awesome. The pictures say it all:

Where in the US can you get that close to a lion? Some sort of government agency would take issue with it. We enjoyed it quite a bit. The funny thing was that the lions were set apart in a different section of the zoo with a fence around them. Well, while we were inside that fence looking at the lions, the locals were outside the fence looking at us. We became the exhibit...That was an interesting feeling to say the least!

While we were at the zoo, we got a call from Gitachu telling us that we needed to be at the US Embassy for the kids' visa appointments within a couple hours. So, we rushed back to the Hilton to drop off the Hahn family, then rushed to the guest house to grab some lunch. When we arrived, we discovered that there was going to be a coffee ceremony in honor of it being the first day of the short month (AKA the 13th month). Every year they have a 13th month that only has five days in it, every four years that month has six days. This year was a six day year, so they were celebrating with a coffee ceremony and bread.

James cut the bread because we were honored guests. While we were getting ready to eat, Gitachu called again and said that Seth Kidus' uncle was in town and ready to meet us at the orphanage. We were to meet him before going to our embassy appointment. We did not have time to go all the way to the orphanage, so he waited for us in Addis. When we met him we asked if he could wait to talk to us after the embassy appointment and he was happy to wait.

We went to the embassy appointment with plenty of time to spare. Visiting a US Embassy is always an interesting experience, but the new liquid issues with security made it even more interesting. The security guard made us taste our water in front of him and at first we thought he wanted us to taste our bug spray as well. Come to find out he only wanted James to put it on his arm. We got off easy. Gary Hahn had to drink formula... What a trooper :) Unfortunately, you are not allowed to have cameras in the embassy, or I would have a great photo.

We met some really nice people while waiting. Proving it is a small world, we met an Ethiopian business owner who attend Western Michigan University (not too far from our house - Go Broncos!) for four years. It is a small world after all!

Of course, if you have been reading this blog regularly, you know that everything went smoothly at the embassy, we dropped the Hahn family off at their hotel and rushed back over to meet with Seth Kidus' uncle. It was an amazing experience that we were able to get all on tape for Seth someday. His uncle went out of his way to take care of Seth Kidus for as long as he could and then he once again went out of his way to keep in touch with him. Seth has many family members that we will be able to go back and meet when he is older. We are really looking forward to be able to do that for him. We learned that the timing of all our paperwork issues made it so that we were ready when Seth Kidus was ready. Seth did not become an eligible orphan until his mother had passed on, and she did not do so until March 16th. If our paperwork had went as smoothly as we prayed, we would not have our sweet little Seth Kidus... Thank God for unanswered prayers! And thank God for a watchful uncle who was looking out for his nephew.

We completed our evening by heading back to the guest house for a relaxing dinner and a nice, restful night sleep (one of the first since we had arrived in Ethiopia and ironically, our last night in Ethiopia).

There. I finished it in one sitting. I am sure there is already so much that I have forgotten, but one thing that will stick with me is the sheer weight of that day. It was the second most emotional day in Ethiopia, the first being the day we were able to hold Seth Kidus. This all seems like it was so long ago. Hard to believe we have only had him with us for 24 days...feels like he has always been here!

Day six of our journey to Seth Kidus

2007-09-22T12:12:00.000-04:00

Day six was our day to tour churches. Ethiopian Orthodox churches are very beautiful and tell amazing stories with their art work. The first church we visited was The Trinity Church:

Behind The Trinity Church was a Hailee Selassie museum. We were unable to take pictures inside the museum, but the items inside were quite interesting.

Off to the side of this picture was a man mowing the lawn with a pair of hedge trimmers. If that does not make you grateful for that old push mower, I don't know what will!

The next church we visited was St. George. This was the church that our driver, Sammy, attended. It was being renovated for the new millennium, but they were close to being done. Normally, you have to remove your shoes when entering all Ethiopian Orthodox churches, but since it was a mess we were able to leave our shoes on. Our guide at this church was amazingly knowledgeable and interesting. He was obviously a scholar and was even able to read and write Ge'ez (our equivalent to Latin.)

Here is our guide standing with a statue of the Ethiopian eunuch that was mentioned in Acts 8:27. The eunuch is credited for introducing Christianity to Ethiopia. Pretty good legacy, if you ask me.

When we were all done visiting churches, we went to a local shop to purchase some of that amazing Ethiopian coffee:

Seth Kidus did wonderful. Of course, those churches echo and babies do love to hear themselves! The guides did not seem to mind, though. The rest of the day was uneventful... We just hung out the house and continued to practice being a family of four :)

Day five of our journey to Seth Kidus

2007-09-19T17:29:00.000-04:00

I need to make sure I get these posts done soon because the memories are already fading! Hopefully I can find someplace to print this blog out and compile it for Seth.

Before I begin this post, I wanted to put a clarification out there for anyone reading this blog who is considering naming their son Seth (a great name, IMHO). The previous anonymous poster who claimed that Seth means "A woman" in Amharic was incorrect. Seth (aka Set) actually means "the appointed one." (http://www.myethiopianame.bravehost.com/ethiopianboysname.html)

Okay, now that I feel good and vindicated, I will began my post about day five :)

Day five also started at the wee hours of the morning with Seth Kidus and a terrible stomach ache. This was the night that he slept on top of me (stomach to stomach) for a good portion of the night. Once again, our plans to take him out with us were changed when he was sound asleep (finally) and not feeling well. So, he stayed with the ladies at the house while we headed out shopping. James gave a pretty good account of our day here.

The shopping was so much fun! I know I am woman and totally feeding that stereotype, but shopping was one of my favorite day trips that we took. If only shopping in the US was like it is in Ethiopia. Let me give you an idea of how pretty much every transaction took place:

Me: "I love it. How much?"
Salesperson: "100 Birr" (Birr is the currency there - approximatly 9 birr = $1.00 USD)
Me: "Hmmm... Will you take 70 Birr?"
Salesperson: "No. 100 Birr."
Me: "70 Birr."
Salesperson: "Okay, 90 Birr."
Me: "70 Birr."
Salesperson: "85 Birr."
Me: "No, that is ok. Thank you anyway." (Start to leave)
Salesperson: "Okay, I will give it to you for 70 Birr."

The funny thing was that they always laughed whenever I started to haggle with them. Every time I haggled and turned to leave I got the price I asked for. One thing we were careful about is that we always paid what we thought the item was worth. We were not there to scam anyone and we knew that even these salespeople could use the money, so we got some good deals, but never paid less than it was worth. Once I even paid the price that was asked. Only once though... They really do EXPECT you to haggle. And it really is a lot of fun. Later, Taylor used this same technique at the Washington DC airport and actually talked a vendor down $10.00 off a sweatshirt. I guess you never know unless you ask.

The shopping areas were obviously tourist attractions because we ran into other adoptive parents there as well. We were able to get some very nice items for Seth when he gets older and to decorate our house now. It is important for us that he feels a sense of Ethiopia in our home.

These children decided to use James for their game of Dare. James and I were standing beside the car, waiting to leave, when James felt someone touch his butt. We turned around and the little boy was running away while all the other children were laughing. I am sure that if we spoke Amharic we would have heard "No, you go touch the white guy." "No, you do it, I dare you!"

It was cute, though!

After shopping, we went home to spend time with Seth Kidus and prepare for a dinner out at a traditional restaurant...

(By the way, this is still his favorite outfit) :)

Due to African Time (which I mentioned in a previous post), Alemu arrived fairly late to take us to the restaurant. Since Seth Kidus was tired and I didn't want to leave him again, I stayed at the house. As James and Taylor were leaving, it started hailing very bad. Within 5 minutes of their departure, all the power went out. At that point, I was so happy that I had a flashlight. Once Seth had his dinner and went to bed, it was like I was back in Michigan, reading Harry Potter by candlelight.

Side Note: A week before we left for Ethiopia, the power went out at our house for three days. The first two night I spent reading book number six of the Harry Potter series to prepare me for book number seven which I was going to read on the plane. I have yet to finish it (I slept a lot on the plane and now I have Seth), so please do not tell me anything about it...yet.

While I was busy ruining my eyesight, James, Taylor, Alemu and the Hahn family had a really nice time at the restaurant. It was a buffet with traditional dance and music. From what I hear, Taylor and a few others even got up to dance on the stage. I am sorry to have missed it, but it was the start of some great bonding with Seth, so it was well worth it.

Here are some pictures from their adventure:

And here is the raw meat that James was going to try, but Alemu told him that he should not:

Aw well, would've made a good story!

The power returned about a half an hour before James and Taylor did. I felt perfectly safe during the entire outage, but I was a little worried for my family. I did not know if the power was out everywhere or just our neighborhood, so I really did not know what was going on outside the compound walls. I prayed often. Come to find out, our neighborhood was the only area out, so they were just having a good time, but I was relieved when they returned home!

Day four of our journey to Seth Kidus

2007-09-16T11:28:00.000-04:00

Day four started in the wee hours of the morning (maybe even the night before). This was the night that Seth had a bad cough. No one got a lot of sleep, so when we were getting ready to leave and he was sound asleep, we decided to leave him with the ladies. I really did not want to go, but I did since he was sleeping and it was just a morning trip.

Our first stop was The National Museum, home of Lucy. As I mentioned in a previous post, Lucy was on holiday in the States, so we only got to see her replica. To be honest, if they hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known. It was a nice museum with a lot of interesting info. One of the funny things was that we were there surrounded by other adoptive parents. I think I even saw one or two that I recognized from their blogs. Small world :)

The next stop was a university science museum. This one was a little more fun for me because there were a lot of animals. Of course, James found some friends:

And here he is getting to know them a little better:

We finished both museums in record time because we were all looking forward to getting back to the babies. Seth was in good spirits when we returned, but that changed shortly after dinner. I am still not sure if it was some of the table food we gave him or the fact that we had to switch formulas, but he had horrible gas and a very bad stomach ache. I did bring infant gas relief, so that helped a little, but for the most part we were up all night with him. As difficult as it was, I think that this night really facilitated the bonding process a little more.

Here he is before the stomach ache... I love these pictures of him and his daddy:

Taylor spent a good part of the afternoon visiting with the ladies and learning a little Amharic:

It really is amazing the amount that Geezaish and Hewitt work. Sun up to sun down, they are cooking and cleaning. Here is Geezaish sorting through Barley to pick out the bad ones, then grinding the good ones for homemade beer:

Being in Ethiopia makes you truly grateful for all the conveniences we have in America - and how much we complain!

To the anonymous commentor...

2007-09-16T11:09:00.000-04:00

I guess we kind of open ourselves up to all kinds when we put a blog out there. Either way, I would like to address my anonymous commenter who left a comment on the last post:

Seth means "set apart" in Hebrew. In the Bible, Seth was the third son of Adam and Eve. My son has two names, Seth and Kidus. Seth is the name we gave him and will call him by that until he is old enough to decide for himself if he would like to be referred to as Seth or Kidus. Kidus means "blessed one" in Amharic. You, anonymous poster, need to keep in mind that our son is an Ethiopian American now. That means that he is just as much one as he is the other. He will be raised to celebrate his Christian heritage, his Ethiopian culture, his American culture, and all other things that encompass him. God has blessed us with him and we believe God has "set him apart" for great things.

So, rather than delete your negative comment, I have chosen to educate you instead. I pray that you were able to learn how to be a little more open minded and a little less quick to judge.

Day three of our journey to Seth Kidus

2007-09-14T15:29:00.000-04:00

(You can click on each picture for a closer look)

Day three was a Sunday morning in Ethiopia. We foolishly set our alarm, though we were awakened long before it was to go off. Today was the long day trip into the mountains. After a wonderful breakfast (cooked by Hewitt), we headed off. Our first stop was a little deli to pick up lunch (the best club sandwiches I have ever had), then we stopped for a bunch of bananas (Amharic: Moosh). This was the point where I was reminded that African time is in no way similar to American time: Alemu, James, Taylor, and I were scheduled to pick up the Hahn family at 9am, so we left the house at 9am. Then we stopped for coffee and had two cups. I think we finally got to the hotel at about 9:45am, where of course, the Hahn family was waiting out front.

Our babies were not with us for this trip. James and I decided to leave Seth with Geezashe and Hewitt because it was going to be such a long day, and Layla Hahn was still not feeling well. Personally, this was a very difficult decision, but later we realized this was such an non-family-friendly trip, that it was the best decision.

Ethiopian country side is beautiful this time of year. In terms of green, I think it rivals Ireland. We were headed north and up into some of the mountains that surround Addis Ababa. Along the way, we stopped often for pictures of the countryside.
Alemu said that all that is now green because of the rainy season turns brown in a few short months.

These carvings were carved into the side of the mountains. If I only had this much talent in my little pinky!

We even had the chance to stop at a small village market along the way. Of course, we were the entertainment there. That is one thing you should know before going to Africa: usually the white people draw a lot of attention. It isn't in a negative way, however. It is in a friendly, curious way. While we were in Ethiopia, we were continuously stared at and talked to, but I never once felt unsafe or uncomfortable because of the attention. If you can look at it for what it is, curiosity, than you can have the right attitude about it. Personally, I was a little disappointed that people weren't pointing, staring, and staying "ferengi" (white) when we got home. :)

Our final destination was an Ethiopian Orthodox church and monastery. We were given a tour of the church by a very soft spoken, very knowledgeable, monk. The whole feeling of the church was amazing. Although the churches are beautiful, the interesting thing I found is that they feel different the churches back home. There was more reverence. It felt holy. That is the only way I can describe it. Being in this church, feeling the presence of God... this is where my culture shock began. It lasted a couple days, but I know that I felt it the instant I left that church.

A few years ago, when we were in Kenya and Tanzania, I felt the culture shock upon return to the States, it was backwards this time. I was so sad and depressed for the first couple days that I was unsure if I would be able to pull myself out of it and enjoy my time there. I think there were many contributing factors to my mood, but the primary reason was the sheer magnitude of the begging. You could not stop at any stoplight, yield sign, or anything else without being asked for money. Now, there was a difference in the type of people that begged. Some desperately needed it and you could tell. Others would ask for money and when you said "no" (or eye-duh-lem in Amharic) they would give you a look as if to say "Well, I gave it my best shot." Either way, it was difficult because you really can't give to any of them. Because of the number of beggars, you will be mobbed if you try to help one or two. So, we choose not to hand money to the beggars. That was another difficult decision.

Anyway, I digressed. After leaving the monastery, we were headed south, towards home (but there were still many stops along the way).

First stop: Lunch at a local home (we brown bagged, they watched), then a very poor orphanage that also helped the elderly and the handicapped.

Next stop: Local resort that was near a bridge that was built in the fourth century (without any cement). The resort was definitely on its way to being a pretty nice place and had a fantastic view of the countryside.

Next stop: Local farmer and his family. This place was very muddy (since it was the rainy season) and a few of us had difficulty staying upright (I won't name names). The family was very nice!

Next stop: Dinner at a place called "Honeymoon Park." I know that this food does not look all that appetizing, but it was really very delicious. What wasn't very good was the drink they call "yellow drink." Apparently, in the past it was only available to the royal family, but now is available to everyone. It is a VERY strong drink and personally, I did not care for it. At least we can say we gave it a shot, right? Great place to eat. If you are ever in the mountains of Ethiopia, I highly recommend the Honeymoon Park.

After dinner, we were finally headed home after a long day. We were happy to see that Seth was still awake when we returned home, which gave us some time to play with him.

By the way, I have a side note. Many of you have noticed that our son has had a transition of names, so I thought I would explain. While in Ethiopia, we referred to him only as Kidus. Therefore, our posts reflected that. Once we were home, we began adding Seth to the beginning and calling him Seth Kidus, thus allowing him to learn his name with minimal adjustment difficulties. He is now answering to Seth, so we have started to call him only by Seth on the occasion. I am sure that with each post you will see a little bit more of this change. His final, legal name will be Seth Kidus Norris. He is doing great, by the way. We could not ask for a more happy, easy-going baby. He has even started sleeping through the night - but I am being my realistic self about this and not taking it for granted. :)

Day two of our journey to Seth Kidus

2007-09-12T19:52:00.000-04:00

After a good night's sleep in Washington D.C., we were off to Dulles airport first thing in the morning for our Ethiopian Air flight. As soon as we got in line we saw the Hahn family (the family who would be spending the week with us) a few rows ahead. This was the first time we had all met, but soon we would be spending a lot of time together.

Getting through the gate and security was a breeze for us. Being the pessimistic person that I am, I began to wonder what was going to go wrong since everything seemed to be going right. I know - lack of faith - I am working on it :)

The flight to Addis Ababa was a very smooth flight and the food was about as good as you can expect on an airline. It wasn't bad, but I am pretty sure that Rachel Ray is not in the back whippin' up a 30 minute meal. Anyway, I slept most the way because I was hoping to avoid severe jet lag.

We had a short stop in Rome where we did not de-board, but waited for the crew to change and the cleaning crew to cleanup. One thing I noticed about this flight that I had never seen on other flights: there was a lot of socializing going on. Since the majority of the plane was Ethiopian, many of the Ethiopian people were standing in the aisles chatting with one another. This was my first experience with how friendly and outgoing the people of Ethiopia could be.

We landed in Addis Ababa about 8:30am in the morning, and were immediately ushered to the line for a visa ($20.00, and very easy questions). Once through that hurtle, we went to claim our luggage. That was crazy, to say the least. We stood there and waited, and waited, and waited... I was convinced that we were only going to have two out of the six suitcases we brought. Finally, the luggage came through. The interesting part of the Addis Ababa airport is that you send your luggage through screening and x-ray machines as you are leaving the airport. In case you leave with too many bags of peanuts, I guess.

The Addis Ababa airport is pretty nice. The entire front is glass so as you enter into the main area (where everyone is waiting), you get a beautiful view of the mountains.

We found Alemu (our contact and host while in Ethiopia) fairly quickly. Once all the formalities were behind us, we told him that we would like to pick up Seth Kidus immediately. At this point, it felt as if we could not wait another second to get him in our arms. The Hahn family joined us in our little huddle and we learned that we would drop them off at their daughter's orphanage on the way to ours, but first we all needed to get settled in.

Alemu's house is less than five minutes from the airport, so we were there and unloaded before we could even catch our breath. There was a coffee (Amharic: Boona) ceremony put together by Geezaish (I am not sure if this is the proper spelling, but it is phonetic). First, she roasted the beans in front of us, then ground them, put them in the coffee pot and let it cook for about 15 minutes. The whole process takes about 45 minutes and the result is the best espresso you have ever had. The ceremony is usually accompanied by popcorn and colo (barley) to snack on.

Once the ceremony was complete, we rushed around to get ready to go to the orphanage. What does one wear to pick up your son? I think I may have had a little melt down in my mind while preparing to leave. I wanted to go get him so badly, but part of me was scared - of what, I don't know.

On the way to the orphanage, we picked up the Hahn family at their hotel, then dropped them off at the Enetalem Orphanage. Kidus' orphanage (Adera) was a little but more of a drive.

We arrived at the orphanage and met the wonderful director there. After talking to him for a few minutes, Taylor says "Ooohhh, I see him." His nanny brought him through the door, he took one look at us and tried to go right back out the door. He was scared and you could tell. I walked over and rubbed his arm, trying to calm him, but it was just making him more upset. The director finally said, "You need to just take him." So I did. I ripped him out of the arms of his nanny and walked back across the little room to his father. We oohed and aaahed over him, but all the while we were mourning his loss with him. His nanny obviously took good care of him. He clearly loved her and we are so grateful he had that in his life.

The rest of the day was a blur, so I will skip the details. We went back to the Enetalem orphanage to pick up the Hahn family and dropped them off at their hotel. Upon returning to the guest house, we had dinner with a departing family. They were adopting three little girls who had lived in the same orphanage as Kidus. All four children were very excited to see one another.

After that, we called it a very early night. Seth Kidus did wake up one or two times, but this time was very important for us. It was during those late night "meetings" that James, Seth Kidus, and I truly began interacting. He was really starting to warm up to us. Of course, Taylor was able to sleep through this because he already loved her. As I was just reminded tonight, she was the first one to make him laugh. He loves his big sister and has from the beginning :)

I will post day three soon. Seth Kidus is waiting for mommy to come play... Who can keep this face waiting?

Day one of our journey to Seth Kidus

2007-09-12T19:31:00.000-04:00

The night before leaving on our big trip, I slept about two hours. I was awake that night thinking of all the things I may have forgotten to pack, things I packed but didn't need, how our flight was going to go, etc., etc., etc. By the time we left that morning (around 3am) I was running on pure adrenaline. James was his usual calm, cool, and collected self. I have a love-hate relationship with his ability to do that :-)

We made it through security and to our flight in Detroit very easy. Once we arrived in D.C., we were able to check into our hotel early, grab a bit to eat, then head out on the town for some sight seeing. We hit most the major attractions and made it back to our hotel in time for a swim and a good night's sleep.

I realize most people read this blog for info on our trip to Ethiopia, but this was an important part of the trip: it gave us a chance to kick back for 24 hours before our big adventure. Plus, it was our last major outing as a family of three.

Here we are!

2007-09-09T17:35:00.001-04:00

We are home and somewhat settled in... We are also exhausted. Jet lag can really take its toll on you! Kidus is doing so well. He was pretty tired today, but has settled into what is turning out to be the longest nap I have ever seen him take. He is such a laid back, fun little guy! I know that in Amharic his name means "blessed one" but I have to tell you, we are the blessed ones!

I don't even know where to begin with the photos. I would like to go day by day and tell about our experiences and post the appropriate pictures for that day. That is my plan, but it may take me a couple days to get out of the jet lag fog. In the mean time, we wanted to thank everyone for their prayers and well wishes. There was more than one time that I was brought to tears reading all the wonderful comments from friends and family.

Here are some firsts I can share with you now:

First time meeting his cousins (this one is Adrian, who is 4 months old. Norris' have notoriously BIG babies!)...

First bath at home...

First time in his highchair...

First time in his bed...

Isn't he the sweetest thing?

Until next time!

Day #... I have no idea. Lost track of time...

2007-09-06T12:15:00.001-04:00

I am going to do my best today to just give you the run down of what we
did and leave the emotion out of it. I know that the emotional stuff makes
for better reading, but honestly, I am still processing much of it myself.
By the way, you've got Deanna again :)

Today started with a tour of the city and took video most of the time we
were driving. This is a video that you prospective moms and dads out there
will not want to miss! Driving in Ethiopia is not like anywhere else in
the world. I am sure of it.

After our tour around the city, we ("we" meaning our family and the Hahn
family) went to a lion zoo. That was awesome! The lions were so close you
could touch them. Literally. Not even exagerating. Gary Hahn and his son
both touched the mane of a lion. They got yelled at, but still, it was
cool. Kidus loved the lions. One of them roared at us (because the guide
poked him with a stick) and Kidus jumped just like the rest of us. So much
fun! Kidus also got his first taste of ice cream (Neopolitan) and of
course, he loved it (he is a Norris afterall).

Next stop was the Embassy appointment. While we were at lunch we got a
call that Kidus' uncle had taken the train into Addis Ababa from Debre
Zeit (about an hour, I believe, by car. Who knows how long it took on a
train). We went and met with him for a moment and asked that he wait for
us until we were done at the Embassy. Time was really starting to slip
away from us, and he graciously said he would wait.

Skip ahead to the Embassy appointment... Got there, everything went
perfect, and Gitachu will be picking up Kidus' passport and visa tomorrow
morning. We also met alot of other adoptive parents - all with itty bitty
babies. That was nice. I have attached a picture of Kidus after the
appointment. We tried to get him to hold the flags, but he kept wanting to
poke his eyes out. We like his eyes, so we opted for this instead. That
orange he is holding is his new favorite toy. I know, I am a bad mom for
letting him chew on an orange, but hey, I am in Africa and it makes him
happy. He can't bite it yet, but every once and awhile I get the
refreshing scent of orange zest. Kind of nice.

After the Embassy appointment, we dropped off the Hahns and went to meet
Kidus' biological uncle. We were able to sit with him in a little cafe and
hear all about Kidus' other family, his mother, his life, and his
background. We got it all on tape. Kidus' uncle was a caring, generous man
who we hope to see again when Kidus is older. There. Kept the emotion
right out of it. At some point, maybe I will be able to put into words
what that meeting meant to us, but I just can't yet.

By the way, Kidus is doing great. He has definitly started to bond with us
and is just a joy to be around. He also draws alot of attention since he
so cute... I am not going to lie. He LOVES the attention. I think he will
do wonderful in the U.S. :)

Okay, so this is our last post from Addis. Tomorrow we are going to try
and get to the Enetalem Orphanage (which means "mother of the world" for
those of you that have an interest.) Beth got lots of pictures and video
last time she was there and is pretty sure that she got all your kids on
tape. However, we would like to go back and get specific children to be
sure that we have the right ones and plenty of photos and videos. We know
how much those can mean !

Tomorrow we fly out at 3pm Eastern Standard Time (10pm here). And it looks
like both our families have bassinet seats. Pray that sticks! Also, the
flight is not supposed to be that full, so we are praying for a few extra
seats to stretch out.

Cori: James is freaking out about the bathtub comment. Could you please
give him some peace of mind? He is worried there is yet another thing for
him to fix.

See you all soon!

2 little monkeys sleeping in their beds...

2007-09-05T10:49:00.001-04:00

Disclaimer: The following blog was written by the new proud papa.

Tuesday, September 4 (Happy 10 month birthday Kidus!)
We originally were informed that his birthday was November 1, 2006, but
yesterday we received his NEW BIRTH CERTIFICATE with us as his parents and
the birthdate was November 4, 2006. Hakuna Matata (Lion King - Look it
up!)
The day started out with little to no sleep for all of us. Thanks to
my son, we were up quite a bit during the night. Poor little guy had a
bad stomach ache and had trouble sleeping in his crib, but thankfully
Kidus found a much better spot for sleeping...on Mommy's tummy for a good
2-3 hours. I find that I have changed in ways that I never
thought I would. I noticed this the first night with Kidus. When I lay
down to sleep, I focus on his breathing and listen for it every time I
wake up, which is a lot as I am a light sleeper. I love when he reaches
for me and snuggles up to me. God has given us so much and we give him
all the glory for uniting us with Kidus.
After getting around in the morning and eating breakfast, I went to the
local supermarket to purchase some baby formula (Nan 2), and was very
impressed with the store. I went in by myself and spoke some Amharic and
found the formula. It was an adventure. My wife is sitting next to me
thinking that I suck at blogging because I'm taking so long, however she
just informed me that she appreciates my writing style. So there.
After it stopped raining, we went shopping with the Hahn's. Our family
purchased "traditional" outfits to hopefully wear at Kidus' dedication.
Our driver, Sammy, is very nice and helpful, but he doesn't say much.
He knows a little english and a lot of hand signals and head nods. Thank
goodness Deanna was there as she was a baracuda when it came to haggeling.
She was hanging in there with the best of them! Once she began to walk
out and take her business elsewhere, the price we wanted showed up. She
is amazing! Anyway, after a few hours of shopping, we came back to the
house and had a late lunch that included zucchini lasagna.

Writing on Wednesday Now.
Well, Tuesday night Alemu took us to the cultural restaruant with
dancing and singing. Deanna stayed home with Kidus because he was tired
(and so was she) and because it was going to be a late night. When we
left, it began to rain hard and then hail. The restaruant was very cool.
It was a buffet style with traditional dances and songs
throughout the night. There were also times when the dancers involved the
crowd in the dances. I myself was part of a dance. I took videos of all
the dances and took lots of pictures so Deanna could still be a part of
it. And speaking of Deanna, after we left, the house lost power so she
was reading by candle light for a couple of hours and of course couldn't
finish the blog.
Today, we visited two churches, Trinity Church and St.George (or Kidus
George). They were both very beautiful and had lots of interesting
historical items. This was Kidus' first time out and about with us and he
did great. He enjoyed seeing all the new faces and was very popular with
the locals. It was our intention to have him with us for all "safe"
outings, but he wasn't feeling very well so we decided to leave in the
care of the ladies of the house.

Thursday, we have the Embassy appointment and we hope to get back to
the Enetalem orphanage to get pictures of more children. (That is code.)

The pictures are of Taylor and Kidus performing their favorite
activity.

Ben: Thanks for the help. We tried everything and still no luck. We
will share more pics when we get home.

Thank you everyone for all your prayers and comments on the blog. We are
able to read them as they are emailed to us. We will try to blog more
before we leave on Friday evening, but no promises.

The Norris Clan

Just another day in Ethiopia

2007-09-03T10:30:00.000-04:00

Well, we have spent another day in the very rainy, very beautiful country
of Ethiopia. Yesterday I mentioned that we went on a long trip to the
north. The countryside was so beautiful it is hard to even described. The
beauty contrasted with the poverty is startling. This a country of people
who are happy in spite of their poverty, but as an American (even as an
American who has been to Africa) it is hard to swallow. James and I found
ourselves looking at the children and thinking of our own son. If it had
not been for a wonderful biological family, Kidus could have very well
been one of those begging children.

James as primarily been in charge of the camera and he has been taking
some great pictures. I know, I am being a tease because I cannot share any
with you, but nonetheless, you will see them soon.

Today we visited two museums: The National Museum and a university Museum.
They were great... Unfortunatly we were only able to see a replica of
Lucy, because the real Lucy is in Chicago. Ah well, she probably didn't
even miss us.

Kidus had a cough last night. I gave him some Tylenol with cough, which
worked, but he still did not sleep as well as he did the night before. He
zonked out right as we were leaving, so we did decide to leave him with
the ladies here since we knew we would be back by lunch. We returned and
he was happy to see us. That was nice. James and I spent the afternoon
playing with Kidus, Taylor spent it in the Kitchen with the ladies who
work here talking music and learning some Amharic. It was a really nice
day. Tomorrow we will be going to Merkato, the largest open air market in
Africa then a traditional meal and dance tomorrow night.

We still have not resolved the memory card issue, but took this picture
for the blog of our fun afternoon.

Thanks for all your warm comments. Hope this keeps the wolves from
circling for another day :) We also pray that all is well with everyone at
home!

Well, we're here (and have been for two days!)

2007-09-02T14:45:00.001-04:00

I know that so many of you have been checking this blog religiously and
have found nothing. Sorry! This has been a whirlwind few days. So, we have
good news and bad news: Good news... We have Kidus and he is wonderful
(more about him in a second). Bad news... I have not been able to figure
out how to get pictures on here (Ben and Joanna: If you are reading this,
please help. Alemu's computer will not recognize our memory card, only the
memory on the camera. And we have little of that. Did you have this
problem?)

As soon as I finished typing this, I thought of a way to get one picture
on here. I can use the computer's memory for one picture and hopefully Ben
and Joanna will have a solution for us so we can show you some more
pictures later. No pressure Ben and Joanna :)

So, as I sit here, this is what I am looking at... Isn't it a beautiful
thing?
(Cori - I am forwarding this to you, too. If it doesn't post, could you
add it into the blog for me?)

Where to begin? Like I mentioned, it has been a whirlwind. Once we got
into the Addis Ababa airport and out to meet Alemu (our contact in
Ethiopia) it was already 10am. We were told that if we wanted to get Kidus
that day, we would go get him at 2:30pm. In between that time we had a
coffee ceremony (More on that at another time) and lunch with another
adopting family who was departing that night. We rushed around and finally
made it to the orphanage where we met the very nice director. After a few
minutes of chit-chat they brought Kidus in to us. He is even more
beautiful than the picture. And so BIG!! I think he must weigh more than
19lbs, but we will see when we get home. The next part was expected by
us, but I don't think that we truly grasped the impact that it would have:
Kidus was brought into the room by his caregiver and as soon as he saw us,
it was obvious that he was frightened by us (probably the white faces). We
talk to him for a moment before holding him, but he clung to his caregiver
with all his might. We finally took him and it was heart wrenching. Such
mixed emotions. We were so happy to have him, yet so heart broken for him.
His bottom lip stuck out and he had such sadness in his eyes. We knew this
was the best for him, but like any parent knows, what is best is not
always easy. It was easy for us of course, we loved him already. But we
were strangers. Scary strangers.

Once we left the orphanage, he began to cling to me. I think that since I
was a female, I was a maybe a little less scary, but I don't know... I am
going to jump ahead a few hours. He ate and finally fell asleep after a
large dinner (this boy likes to eat!). We passed out from exhaustion
shortly after. This was 8am and he slept all the way through until 2am.
When he woke us, I don't even think he cried. James and I made him a
bottle, changed his diaper (twice) and then cuddled with him. He finally
smiled and started to really warm up to us. It was obvious this was a
turning point. He fell asleep and slept until 7am. Waking up to him
smiling and ready to be held by us was such a wonderful feeling. Of
course, his first laugh was aimed at his big sister, but I am sure he will
find us amusing after a while. For now, we really like being his go-to
people... Hunger, diaper, toy, cuddle. You name it, we got it :) And he is
such an easy-going baby. A "gentleman", as Alemu calls him.

Today we decided to leave him with the two women that stay at the guest
house because we would be traveling about four hours in the car with many
(at least twenty) stops along the way. One of these stops was a hike up a
mountain. This was tough to do, but in hindsight, it was definitely a good
idea. I was really worried that he would have forgotten all about us and
be scared when we returned. He wasn't. He seemed happy to see us! Yay! I
will tell more about our experiences later, but for now, I will tell you
that Ethiopia is an amazing country with so much to see and learn. The
rest of the week we are looking forward to experiencing Ethiopia with
Kidus. Tomorrow, we will be seeing two museums and learning so much more
about the Ethiopian culture.

The flight was wonderful (well, as wonderful as a 15 hour non-stop flight
can be), our hosts are wonderful, everyone (for the most part) we have met
has been wonderful, and the family we are traveling with is wonderful (The
Hahn family). This trip is a blessing. We cannot wait to have Kidus home
to meet you all and vice versa.

Okay, I have poured my heart out for now. I hope to post more later (with
pictures, I hope!)

If you're born again do you have two belly buttons?

2007-08-29T16:29:00.000-04:00

Well, this day has arrived: I am finally posting my last post before travel.

The bags are packed.
The house is cleaned.
Kidus' room is ready.
And we are calm, cool, and collected... Well, for the most part, anyway :)

Thank you everyone for all the well-wishes and prayers that we have been receiving this last week. We are truly blessed by wonderful friends and family.

Beth: If you are reading this, I hope you are packed by now! We will be in the same city as our children in just two days and eight hours! Woo Hoo :)

Well, I might post from Washington DC, but if not, the next post you will see will be straight from Ethiopia!

Why does unscented hairspray smell?

2007-08-27T09:08:00.000-04:00

Wow! Can you believe that there are only three more days before we leave? Not only that, but we don't even get a partial day on Thursday, our flight leaves Detroit at 6:10am! I have a continuous nervous/excited stomach. It is difficult to sit down and type, but I felt that I should at least get one more good update in before we leave.

I had some forced down time recently - as I am sure many of you in my area did as well. The day I brought Taylor home from her final Driver's Training (YIKES! She passed!) we walked into to our house to find that we had lost power. From Thursday to Saturday evening there is pretty much nothing to do but read. I know it sounds like fun, but when you have laundry to do and no end in sight on the power outage, it was kind of stressful.

Saturday we drove over to see the McKinney family and their new addition, Mikias. Ben and Joanna went to pick up their son from Ethiopia in June. They also met Kidus while in Ethiopia because he was in the same orphanage. They got us the great videos and pictures of Kidus. It was so exciting to see them again and know that the next time we get together with them our sons will be reunited.
As you can see, their son Mikias is adorable. He is such a good natured little guy!

They made us a great lunch and filled us in on all the little tips they could to make our trip more comfortable. It was so much fun and I feel so much more informed! For instance, Ben and Joanna filled us in on the fact that Kidus is actually in Addis Ababa (the town we are staying). We thought he was still in Debre Zeit (about an hour south of Addis). We are so excited about this because it means that we may be able to meet him on Saturday since we get into Addis early in the morning.

The fact that Kidus was moved after he was referred to us also makes me a little said for him. This means that he spent six months at one orphanage, bonding with them. Then he spent the last four months at the new orphanage, bonding with them. I truly started to mourn for his losses these last few days. These people that have been taking care of him are so important to him right now... I know that he will be bonded with us in no time, but that doesn't change the fact that he is not even a year old and will have experienced two major losses already. Adoption is certainly a bitter-sweet endeavor.

Well, time is a-wasting while I sit here typing. Here is our flight schedule, for those interested:

Thursday, August 30, 6:10am - Leave Detroit Metro
Thursday, August 30, 7:38am - Arrive in Washington-Dulles
Friday, August 31, 9:45am - Leave Washington-Dulles
Saturday, September 1, 8:15am - Arrive Addis Ababa
****
Friday, September 7, 10:15pm - Leave Addis Ababa
Saturday, September 8, 8:10am - Arrive Washington-Dulles
Saturday, September 8, 12:10pm - Leave Washington-Dulles
Saturday, September 8, 1:55pm - Arrive Detroit Metro

I will try and post one more time before we leave. Thank you everyone for your prayers! We have certainly been feeling them!

How come Superman can stop bullets with his chest but he always ducks when someone throws a gun at him?

2007-08-21T09:32:00.000-04:00

Well, I wanted to update even though I really do not have anything to share. We are busy, busy, busy... Packing, cleaning, canning, panicking, etc.

Only 9 days left!! We are down to the single digits! I have to go back to panicking now...

Why do they call it quicksand when it sucks you down slowly?

2007-08-18T09:38:00.000-04:00

Well, I hate going for too long without updating, so I am here...updating. I really do no t have a lot to share. Still suffering from AIP with PPA. My anxiety increases with each passing day, but I am still able to appear calm on the outside. For now, anyway.

Yesterday, James and I had the pleasure of looking through some of his Grandma's things who passed away a little over a year ago. She had eight children, so they went through everything first, then the grandkids were able to come pick some things out. Grandma was a pack-rat, so there was quite a bit to look through. My favorite thing I found was a prayer tucked inside an old bible. I am convinced she cut it out for me (not really, LOL) because it fits me to a tee! :) Maybe someone else out there can relate:

Lord, keep me from the habit of thinking I must say something on every subject and on every occasion.

Release me from craving to straighten out everybody's affairs.

Keep my mind free from the recital of endless details--give me wings to get to the point.

I ask for grace enough to listen to the tales of others' pains. Help me to endure them with patience. But seal my lips on my own aches and pains--they are increasing and my love of rehearsing them is becoming sweeter as the years go by.

Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally it is possible that I may be mistaken.

Keep me reasonably sweet; I do not want to be a saint--some of them are so hard to live with--but a sour old person is one of the crowning works of the devil.

Give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places, and talents in unexpected people. And, give me, O Lord, the grace to tell them so.

Make me thoughtful, but not moody; helpful, but not bossy. With my vast store of wisdom, it seems a pity not to use it all--but Thou knowest, Lord, that I want a few friends in the end.

-Author unknown (but it very well could have been me!)

Only 12 more days!! Ahhhh!! :)

Just before someone gets nervous do they experience cocoons in their stomachs?

2007-08-13T22:38:00.000-04:00

Wow, so I am officially starting to flip out. The first word I could think of to describe my brain right now was "tweaking." However, I looked that word up and probably not the best term to use in relation to "pre-travel jitters relating to meeting your son for the first time." Instead, I thought it was appropriate to create my own term, or better yet, I will define my newly discovered mental illness. (Newly discovered by me, but experienced by adopting parents everywhere for years past and many years to come). So, let me introduce you to my mental disorder (this particular one, not the other ones that we do not mention on this blog):

Anticipation Induced Psychosis with Pre-Parental Anxiety:
-Also referred to as AIP with PPA.
Defined as any anxiety that is specifically induced by the shortening of time span before an adoptive parent meets his or her child. This disorder becomes progressively worse as the days go on, often clearing up without intervention after the all-important "gotcha day."
Symptoms include, but are not limited to:

1. Lack of sleep. Nights are usually spent staring at the ceiling wondering if the child will like his or her new parents, whether all the items that need to be brought will fit into a suitcase, whether there is enough time to clean the house before the house sitter arrives, etc. If sleep is attained, dreams will usually surround the very same questions that were being pondered before falling asleep, but may also include dreams of: leaving baby places, plane crashes, plane delays, laundry, weird clowns, etc.

2. Quickening of the heart beat when thinking about luggage and packing.

3. Scrubbing the floors with a brush, on your knees, at 3am.

4. Rewashing, re-drying, refolding, all the clothes in baby's new nursery.

5. Obsessively counting the days and hours until take-off.

6. Approaching parents with children and starting the conversation with, "He looks like he might weight around 19 lbs..." Then taking that child and "taking him for trial run."

7. Making list, after list, after list, after list.

8. Going to a baby shower and picturing every baby outfit that is opened on your child.

9. Not finishing sentences because your mind is .............................

So, as you can see, I suffer from AIP with PPA.

I do have a pretty cool video to share with you. We had a local parade this weekend and I do not want to brag or anything, but I personally think one of the color guard girls in the local band are pretty awesome (front one, closest to the camera). Sorry about the quality, it was recorded on my digital camera.

By the way, I think I am just going to pretend it is midnight (it is around 11:25pm) and tell you that WE ONLY HAVE 16 MORE DAYS!!!!!

What do you plant to grow a seedless watermelon?

2007-08-10T14:50:00.001-04:00

Boy, the blogging world has been a little quiet lately...

Some decisions have been made around our house: One, we have decided to stay at the Adoption Associates' guest house. It will be a lot more convenient for us and our guide since we will not be the only family there. And apparently, the guest house we were hoping to stay at had construction going on around it and is difficult to get to by car. Accessing it by car is an important feature for us. We are picky like that...

The second decision is one I personally made: I am not going back to school until January. This was hard for me to decide because I love school. I have really missed it this summer. However, I am sure that after I am home for a week or two with Kidus I will not miss it at all. I was planning on taking only two online classes, but both started while we were in Ethiopia so I would start out the gate a week behind everyone else. Add in jet-lag, post-adoption transisitioning, teenager with a new lease on life (i.e learner's permit) and you got me, crazy as an old wet hen! This is the best decision for everyone, it was just a hard one to make. I am sure Kidus and I can find mind stimulationg things to do during the day :)

And finally, we also received updated measurements for Kidus. He has gained 5.5 lbs bringing him to 19.8lbs. He has also grown 3.5 inches, making him 28 inches long. Pretty healthy gain since April, I think! I checked him out on the CDC growth charts and he is in the 25th percentile. This means that the clothes and diapers we have for him will fit. Praise the Lord!

Only 20 more days!!!

Why are movie theatres always so cold?

2007-08-09T19:08:00.000-04:00

My daughter started Driver's Training today!

(Translation: I feel officially old, and now I am guaranteed to age decades for every second she is on the road!)

Why do they report power outages on TV?

2007-08-09T14:10:00.000-04:00

So, I have been getting between 20 - 25 emails a day telling me that I have won some sort of out of country lottery, inherited money from a widow in Nigeria, or some sort of similar scam for weeks now. At first, I thought it was because of some emails I had sent to out-of-country business, but I am starting to change my idea...

According to my stat counter, I have had almost a continuous presence from Nigeria over the past few weeks. Coincidence?

I am wondering if any other bloggers out there have been experiencing similar issues?

Where do swear words come from?

2007-08-08T17:12:00.000-04:00

Yes, I know, the title of my post ends with a preposition. It's a blog, not a college paper, I can do that. :-)

Well, it has been 150 degrees with 110% humidity around the Great Lakes. So, have I decided to spend it lounging around the pool? No... I am in the kitchen, canning, freezing, and storing our harvest. It is a Martha Stewart kind of day. I don't have air conditioning... Do you feel sorry for me? Don't. I am always saying that I hate air conditioning, so I deserve to be this hot. As a matter of fact, I feel like this right now:

This weekend was fun. We went to James' company picnic. Most of the activities were geared towards little ones, but we still had a nice time. I finally got a decent picture of the three of us (decent meaning my husbands tongue is not hanging out).

I just found out today that another family from our agency will be traveling the same time as us. As a matter of fact, they will even be on the same flight to Ethiopia. The cool thing is that they have two teenage sons about the same age as Taylor. Wait, maybe that isn't cool :) No, it will be nice that they will have someone to talk to other than their boring old parents. We still have not sorted out the accommodation issue, but hopefully we will not be sleeping in a car!

My emotions are still on a roller coaster. A good roller coaster, but none-the-less... My heart swells whenever I think about how grateful I am that Kidus' family unselfishly gave him a better life. That could not have been easy for them. I am praying that we will be able to meet some of his relatives, and I hope that we will be able to keep in touch with them. I am also so grateful to the country of Ethiopia. So many countries refuse to adopt their children out due to pride. I know it must be difficult to see such a large portion of your children leaving your country. How wonderful is it that countries like Ethiopia have stepped up to make sure these children get homes, without even getting anything in return? That is truly refreshing that a government agency is capable of working for the people. A rarity, in my oh-so-cynical opinion.

Here is that photo I was talking about. I think I will switch my profile picture now.

Only 22 days!

Have you ever imagined a world with no hypothetical situations?

2007-08-07T01:23:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I was reading my online news today and I came across this article: Packaging May Have Big Effect on Kids' Food Choices, Study Says - ABC News.

And really, I only have this to say about it: Duh! Did we really need research to tell us this? Isn't this something that junk food pushers have know all along? I swear, the news is dumming me down. I lost 23 IQ points just reading that article. (Believe me, I do not have that many to spare!)

On an entirely unrelated subject, Stacy at My Little Man from Vietnam introduced her readers (I am one of them) to a very cool type of diaper: gDiapers. You can compost them! How cool is that?

On the adoption front: Only 23 days :-)

Why do people who know the least know it the loudest?

2007-08-03T18:56:00.000-04:00

Well, our tickets are booked: we fly out of Detroit in the wee hours on Thursday, August 30th. We are praying that this month FLIES by quickly, because the suspense is killing us :)

Family Photo

2007-08-01T17:31:00.000-04:00

Our travel dates present a problem with our new church directory. The photographers will be at the church August 7th - 11th getting family photos for the directory, and of course, all of our family won't be there. So, since it is important that all FOUR members of our family be in the family photo, I was thinking maybe we should just give them this one to publish. :-)

Oh, and I thought maybe I would share a quick video of Kidus trying to crawl back in June. I am sure he is probably zipping all over the place now!

It is Official!

2007-08-01T08:35:00.001-04:00

We just got THE CALL! Everything went through today and we officially have a new member in our family!!! Thank all so much for your prayers and support these last few days. They meant so much to us. Now, I would like to introduce you to Kidus:

At 6 months (referral pictures):

Taken by Ben and Joanna when they went over in June:

And taken by our caseworker at Adoption Associates, also in June. They woke him up for this picture, and he is not happy. Just like his mommy! :-)

Update

2007-07-31T18:12:00.001-04:00

Well, we have good news and mediocre news...

The good news is that they were able to get that piece of paper that we needed to complete the court process.

The mediocre news is that they have located a relative of Kidus' (that we did not know exsisted until today) and that person needs to appear before the judge. I say it's mediocre for two reasons: One, we are happy that we will be able to have a connection with Kidus' biological family who will be able to give us some family history to pass along. Two, we are not happy that this may delay the finalization of the adoption a few more days. Therefore, the news is mediocore.

We did get our travel date today. If all goes well, we will be traveling August 30th - September 8th. A little later than we had hoped, but better late then never, right?

Thanks for all your prayers. I probably don't even need to ask, but could you continue to pray that the last piece in this puzzle is quickly put into place?

And as a friend pointed out to me yesterday:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

-James 1:2-6 (New International Version)

Court Date Today

2007-07-30T15:55:00.000-04:00

Well, it did not go through.

A letter from one of the entities that needed to be there was not there. On the bright side, the judge did not reschedule the hearing for after the court closure. Instead, he pended his decision until he receives that letter. I am told that our guy in Ethiopia is doing his best to get that letter and get it to the judge, so hopefully in the next couple of days we will have good news. Until then., please pray. Thanks everybody.

2007-07-27T18:43:00.000-04:00

Ok, this is the best presentation of a referral I have ever seen. Go check it out: What Do You Think?

Part of the reason it is so funny (and please chime in if you have had this experience) is that so many people tell us that Kidus looks like my husband James. I think that people like to find a resemblance... So, that makes this blog even more funny :-)

On the adoption front: According to Ethiopian time, we are down to TWO MORE DAYS :)

If 7-11 is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, why are there locks on the doors?

2007-07-26T16:59:00.000-04:00

Well, the family and I have just been kind of holing up this week... Just thought I would drop a note to let everyone know that I am still alive and well. We are so looking forward to the upcoming court date!

We have been doing a lot of research into local accommodations in Addis Ababa and have found MANY very nice choices at very reasonable prices. The only concern we have is that they will be available, with the upcoming Millennium celebration and all. So, I guess I will ask that you add that to your prayer list. It is little scary to think about finding your own way as far as sleeping and travel arrangements, but in the long run it will probably save us a considerable amount of money.

I was rereading one of my favorite magazines the other day, Plain Truth Ministries, when I came across a great little article/editorial ( Intentionally Inclusive, by Wayne Warner ) . The author was discussing what it means to be "intentionally inclusive" when it comes to other races. Being intentionally inclusive was something I had never even considered before we started the adoption process to adopt a black child. Since we started that process, I have tried to place myself in the shoes of those that are a true minority. My favorite part of the article is when the author says, "... after five decades in ministry, I still see undesirable pockets of racial resistance, most notably among fellow believers who simply do not see any problem with the status quo!Years ago, I learned how easy it is to simply look through a person and not see them. We don’t dislike anyone; we just do not see a problem. We view life through our lenses of assumed prerogatives and thoughtlessly acquired equality, and take it for granted because it is the law of the land" (Warner, 2007). Why was I so intrigued by those lines? Because I see it everyday. So many of the majority don't understand why the minority "is so sensitive" about what name they are called... Why does it matter what other people think? It does matter. Sometimes the only thing you have to cling to in a situation is your perceived place in society. For instance, the quickest way for a man to make me angry is by treating me as if I am dumb or beneath him in someway. Why is that? Probably because I know that some men believe that to be true.

Case and point: For Father's Day, my husband wanted a chainsaw sharpening kit. So, Taylor and I went to the Tractor Supply Company and went straight back to the chain saw area. Well, the type of kit you buy depends on the type/length of the chain on your chainsaw. I did not have this information with me (didn't know I needed it), but I had bought his chainsaw at that same store two years ago and the model was still in stock. So, I looked that chainsaw up down and sideways and could not find the type of chain it had on it anywhere. Finally, I went and asked an older gentleman for help. As we were walking back toward the chainsaw area I said to him "I am trying to find the chain type on this chainsaw, so I can buy my husband a chainsaw sharpening kit." He chuckled, tapped the man we were passing on the shoulder and said to him (in his best ISN'T THAT CUTE voice) "She wants to buy a chainsaw sharpening THING." (he thought I said that and thought he would share it with the other man in the department ) I quickly corrected him and pointed out that I had said "kit, not thing." So, then he started to help me. Long story short, he had no idea, I ended finding the information I wanted and then I showed him where to find it, but I was TICKED OFF. I have to admit, I still am a little bit. The point of the long story is that I do not think that a man could have been made to feel inferior as quickly as I did because the white male has never truly been under anyone's thumb (not that it is impossible, just doesn't happen as quickly or as often). And even though I am not currently under anyone's thumb, it wasn't that long ago that I could have been. I know this isn't exactly what it feels like to be black, but I think it is as close as I will ever come since I am a white, middle class female.

Anyway, that is my two cents. If you get a chance read the article it is really thought provoking.

On the adoption front: As of 5:00pm Eastern Time, it was 12:00am in Ethiopia. Of course, this means ONLY 3 MORE DAYS!!! :-)

How much deeper would the ocean be if sponges didn't grow in it?

2007-07-24T01:20:00.000-04:00

An article I just recently read stated that the sex ratio for adopted children is "56 boys for every hundred girls" (Gravois, 2004). This blew me away. I knew the numbers of adoptive parents requesting/adopting girls were higher, but I had no idea they were that much higher. This is a pretty good article, stating the author's opinion about why the preference exists, if anyone is interested:

Bringing Up Babes: Why do Adoptive Parents Prefer Girls?

On the adoption front: ONLY SIX MORE DAYS!! :-)

If a stealth bomber crashes in a forest, will it make a sound?

2007-07-19T21:00:00.000-04:00

Wow! I looked at the ticker at the top of my page today and can't believe my eyes! Only one week and four days until Kidus is legally our son (and we can quit sweating the court closure!). That is only 11 days!!! Woo Hoo :-)

edit: LOL. Ok, so I posted this and then went back and read what I wrote - guess I have officially let my guard down.

What are preparations A-G?

2007-07-16T11:32:00.001-04:00

Well, it has been an emotional weekend, to say the least. James and I came to the conclusion that it is difficult to feel excitement for the upcoming court date with the emotional roller coaster we have been riding on. Don't get me wrong though, we are EXTREMELY happy - just hesitant. Some of you are aware of the outside influences that were delaying our court date. Awareness of these things have put us on the defensive. More to the point, we are scared to let our guard down. However, we were able to put that aside and celebrate a little bit. on Friday. We went to a different Ethiopian restaurant (than our usual) and than we went to purchase Kidus' baby book(s). It was actually a very nice time.

Now, onto my other kid :) She has returned from her mission trip and had a great time. I want to show you what raising a kid in the country can do to your little princess:

Was the only reason God gave us a shin is to find things in the dark?

2007-07-12T16:37:00.000-04:00

I actually have an adoption update!

Our caseworker called this morning and our court date has been scheduled for July 30th! This means that if all goes well, we could travel somewhere mid to end of August. Praise the Lord!!

Thank you everyone for your prayers. Please continue praying that everything goes well on that day because a rescheduling could put us smack dab in the middle of the court closure (August 5th - October 1).

Godspeed, Kidus. Mom, Dad, and your big sister are coming :-)

If air travel is so safe, why do they call it a "terminal"?

2007-07-10T19:27:00.001-04:00

Many of you know that I have been having an especially difficult week, but today I was blessed by two very good friends. My friends (who will NOT remain nameless), April and Deena, insisted on getting me out of the house today to get my mind off of all the adoption stress. They completely rearranged their lives for the day just to make my day a little brighter. James and I are so blessed by caring, supportive, and praying friends. The day really helped me, too. I was able to kick back and enjoy the flea market shopping, people watching, and of course, the eating. If you guys are reading this (at least I know April is...Ahem, Deena): Thank you. You rock! ;-)

Side note, I have fallen in love with a new song. It is beautiful:

On the adoption front: No news.

Godspeed, Kidus.

Why can't we make newspapers that don't smudge?

2007-07-09T22:03:00.000-04:00

The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised. - George F. Will

If all the world is a stage, where is the audience sitting?

2007-07-09T12:05:00.001-04:00

Many of you check this blog as a way to gage my mental health through this very emotionally trying process of waiting for a court date. Well, I have to warn you, as of this morning it is not so good.

As of this morning... we have been waiting on a court date 76 days .

As of this morning... our son is 8 months, 1 week, and 1 day old.

As of this morning... our son has spent 8 months, 1 week, and 1 day not knowing that there are three people who love him enough to lay down their lives for him.

As of this morning... I had my 15th dream in which I had my son in my arms, only to be awoken and have him ripped right back out of my arms.*

As of this morning... I have been asked by 1, 763 people if there is any news.*

As of this morning... I have had to answer no to that question 1,762 times.*

As of this morning... I am raw, moody, and emotional with a very good chance of anger in the forecast.

As of this morning... I have given up on optimism.

*these numbers are estimates, obviously.

Why does X stand for kiss and O stand for hugs?

2007-07-07T21:57:00.000-04:00

Thanks to everyone for there supportive comments lately. I am really finding myself in a funk, but all the love and support is seeing me through it.

Of course, I spent another day with my children on the brain. Taylor left for a mission trip this morning, so I am now officially missing both my children. To help distract me, I spent a good 1.5 - 2 hours cooking. I tried 3 new Ethiopian dishes and a makeshift injera. I think that part of my success in the flavor came from the African music I listened to while cooking. Here is the finished product:
Yellow: Ethiopian Lentils
Red: Yetakelt We't
Brownish-Green: Alicha

All had great flavor and since there was no one here actually from Ethiopia, James and I agree that they taste truly authentic :)

On the adoption front: Zip. Zilch. Nada. NOTHING.

Why doesn't Tarzan have a beard?

2007-07-05T16:11:00.000-04:00

I can start to feel myself slipping back into the "pre-adoption depression" (if this is not a disorder in the DSM-IV, it should be). For a while I was pleasantly distracted, but of course, Kidus is never really out of my mind. Now I am back to full fledged thinking about him 150% of the time, and being sad... maybe even a little sorry for myself. In my mind, we should have been back home with him by July 4th. Each little significant date makes it harder: our anniversary, first day of summer, our church's Vacation Bible School, Independence Day... I am not sure how many more of these dates I can handle without pulling my hair out. I am honestly trying to stay busy, but I really don't even want to leave the house.

Ben and Joanna sent us a wonderful video of Kidus trying to crawl. It was so awesome! When I am not watching it, I am replaying it over and over in my mind. Our caseworker also sent us two more picture of Kidus, taken towards the end of June. They woke him up for the photos, so it was our first time seeing him with a grumpy face. Adorable!

Anyway, he does look happy at the orphanage (and very well taken care). He is so chubby that James and I decided that he must be stealing the other children's food :-)

Alright, I try not to post too many of these "poor me" posts, but I think that I needed to get it out. There really aren't enough blogs out there with people whining about the wait in adoption. That leads me to two conclusions: 1. People keep it to themselves for fear of sounding like whiners --or-- 2. I am a bigger whiner than anybody else in the English speaking part of the world. Either way, I am willing to put myself out there and say: I AM SICK OF WAITING!!!

Thanks for listening. Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

My second post of the day...

2007-07-03T21:24:00.000-04:00

Wow. I found this on another blog and wanted to share it. This couple shows amazing strength and faith in an unimaginably difficult time. I know I could certainly learn a thing or two from them.

Isn't Disneyland a people trap operated by a mouse?

2007-07-03T20:00:00.000-04:00

This is for Marissa (and I guess I could certainly use it myself!):

Have a happy 4th of July everyone!

Why do croutons come in airtight packages? It's just stale bread.

2007-06-30T10:15:00.000-04:00

Well, Thursday my friends and family threw Kidus a wonderful baby shower at our church. Of course, Taylor and I accepted all the gifts and hugs on his behalf, but I am sure he would have loved it there. I hope to have more pictures soon (ahem, April?).

One gift that I cannot help but dream about Kidus wearing is his dedication suit (the suit he will wear when he is dedicated at our church). My mother-in-law purchased it for him and it is absolutely beautiful. I think the reason it stands out so much to me is because it will be worn when he is safe at home.

Of course, we received so many wonderful gifts and cards, that I could not even begin to discuss them all. Some of the friends who helped throw the shower were also busy all week long working on Vacation Bible School at our church - Talk about exhausted times two! I am so touched by the outpouring of support from our friends and family. We are truly blessed.

On the adoption front: I actually have some news! Our caseworker has informed us that the court proceedings have been initiated, but they do not have an exact date yet. I am not sure EXACTLY what this means, but I do know that this means we are no longer at a standstill. We are officially closer to bringing our baby boy home!

How much money, in pennies, is lying on the streets of the world?

2007-06-26T19:57:00.000-04:00

Well, the garden is doing wonderful! I was down there today, weeding, and learned that it is just a matter of time that I will be canning my little-pea-picking-heart out. Of course, to even venture out my front door I need to apply 100% Deet. The deer flies have taken me hostage!

I do need to do some research on a few plants that I have never grown before: Tomatillos -When to harvest? Carrots - When to thin out? Otherwise, I am sure that all 63 plants of tomatoes will be ready to harvest about the time that we go to get Kidus. Is that pessimism or what? :-) On that note...

On the adoption front: No news.

Are there seeing eye humans for blind dogs?

2007-06-25T16:03:00.000-04:00

Whew! It is at least 152 degrees today. My house is built into the side of a hill, so it is pretty cool. Translation: Nothing better to do than get online and blog my little heart away.

We had a garage sale this weekend. All the money raised is going to purchase medicine, books, etc. for the Adera and Oromia Orphanages in Ethiopia. We only had it two days (Friday & Saturday), and relied on signs alone as our advertising medium, but we were able to raise almost $300.00. My husband works at a Pharmaceutical company so we will be able to turn that money into a large amount of children's acetaminophen, cough medicine, etc. God is awesome!

We also had a friend stop by to help and bring us lunch on Saturday. You may recognize her from The Voke's Adoption Journey blog ... maybe you won't since we went incognito most the day :-)

We saw an awesome rainbow as a reminder of how faithful God is (you can read more about it on the Voke's blog). Hopefully you can see it in this photo, but of course pictures do not usually do rainbows the justice they deserve.

We had a great time, but it was a lot of work!

Speaking of work... Our church has Vacation Bible School this week, so I will be away from home not checking my email every second (waiting for news about the adoption). However, it will still be on my mind every second, so have no fear. That reminds me...

On the adoption front: No News.

If you have an open mind is there a chance your brain might fall out?

2007-06-18T22:03:00.001-04:00

Okay, two things:

1. I am so grateful for friends, old and new, that help ease this difficult time of waiting. You all know who you are!

2. I have large houseplants that sit on the floor. Should I sell them in my garage sale? Are they unsafe or impractical with a toddler around? I need advice from experienced moms!

On the adoption front: No news (sigh)

If you try to fail and succeed which have you done?

2007-06-18T08:20:00.000-04:00

When I was pregnant for my daughter I had dreams that I had bought all girl items (because I had an ultrasound that showed she was a girl) and she was born a boy. I had that dream at least once a week for the last month of my pregnancy.

Last night I had a dream that we had our baby shower and then the adoption had fallen through. I had also opened everything so I couldn't return anything.

I guess it is official: I am expecting. This includes all the stress dreams. This goes to show it is stress, not hormones, that causes all those weird dreams.

Now if I could just go find a pickle and a gallon of ice cream...

On the adoption front: No News.

Why is it when you get from here to there, you're still here and not there?

2007-06-16T21:13:00.000-04:00

Well, it has been a busy weekend, but probably not a whole lot worth blogging.

James and I went and registered for baby items on Friday. That was a lot of fun. Although, it was kind of difficult at times trying to decide what stage/size Kidus would be when he finally makes it home.

Shopping for Kidus was also a time of mourning some losses for me: the loss of the early stages, the loss of the ability to breastfeed, the loss of the itty bitty clothing, the loss of pictures each month for the first 12 months of his life, etc. I can honestly say I did not dwell on those things, but they were fleeting thoughts as we purused the aisles of every baby item you could ever need (It has been 15 years since I have had a baby and they have even more cool stuff then they did back then!). I was able to look forward to some things: his first set of swimming trunks and a dip in Grandma's pool, the books we will read together, bath time, camping... The list is truly longer than the list of things I will be missing.

We also faced a new dilemma that had not crossed my mind when thinking of a boy. We were in the bathing section trying to decide on baby products like soap, shampoo, lotion,etc., when it dawned on us that we were not sure if regular baby shampoo would be okay for his curly black hair (okay, maybe this was more my dilemma than James'). You may be thinking "Duh, Deanna! Of course it will." but I really wasn't sure. Around the time that I was mulling this over, this very nice black woman and her little girl passed us. I suggested to James that he should stay put because I was about to go have a heart to heart with this woman (honestly, what goes through my head sometimes?). I found her in an aisle and asked her for help. I explained my situation and inquired as to what shampoo she used on her daughter's hair. She humored me and I learned that baby shampoo was okay, detangler works if needed, and that I should wash his hair often or cradle cap may develop. Really, very nice woman.

I was also able to go shopping with some friends for Vacation Bible School supplies this past week. I know that may not sound like fun, but it really was... I guess I needed to get out of the house and quit checking my email for an afternoon because I felt better for it.

Oh yeah, we also decided to have a garage sale next weekend. Whatever we raise will go towards purchasing items to bring to Kidus' orphanage. Prayer for good weather and that we don't go insane. I hate having garage sales, but since the money will be going for a good cause, I think that will make it much more enjoyable.

Have a great Father's Day, everyone!

How do fish know that worms will taste good? Are there random worms swimming in lakes and rivers?

2007-06-12T20:01:00.000-04:00

And on the topic of fish and worms, is that not the best example of "if it looks to good to be true, it probably is"? Is there ever a case that a fish is just swimming along, sees a floating worm bouncing around in front of his or her face and is able to eat it with no strings (pardon the pun) attached? Now, what about the fish that grabs on, gets off somehow and then grabs back on? Is that optimism in its purest form? Case and point that pessimism is the best way to go if you don't want to get snagged.

As of Friday, James and I have been married for five years! It seem like it has been so much longer. And I know that many of you read that and think "ouch" that was rude, but I mean it in a good way. James and I have a great marriage. So great, in fact, it feels like we have been together since the beginning of time. Okay, enough of the mushy stuff; I will share some photos.

James and I love fishing, so that is where we spent Sunday afternoon for our anniversary. We caught a few pan-fish and that was about it, but it was a very nice, relaxing way to spend an afternoon with my husband.

Yesterday, the whole family took a trip to Grand Rapids for a plethora of shots and travel information. We left the doctor's office with sore arms and a deflated checkbook, but a good feeling. It is nice to feel prepared and that is how we feel right now. (disclaimer: someone please remind me I said this before I get on a plane to Ethiopia!)

On the Adoption Front: Still no news, but yesterday was the day that we received some fantastic photos of Kidus from Ben and Joanna, who are in Ethiopia right now. In the last few hours I have scoured our contract with Adoption Associates, trying to decide if we could share his photo online. I came to the conclusion that we could. However, I just now inserted it into my blog, felt funny about it, and immediately deleted it again. I am not sure why, but I cannot bring myself to post his picture on here yet. If you would like to see the pictures, please feel free to email me privately and I will be happy to share them with you. He is gorgeous, after all. ;)

Ben and Joanna went above and beyond the call of duty by video taping Kidus attempting to crawl. I cannot wait to watch this video. I know I will bawl like a baby, but when you are at this part of the process, you hang onto every little shred of hope you can.

Speaking of hope, some dear friends of mine have decided it is time I have a baby shower; Apparently they are tired of walking on egg shells around me and need to see me smile or something. Just kidding (kind of)... Actually, my friend April is a pretty smart lady and she knows that I need my spirit uplifted and that this shower is just what the doctor ordered. I am so excited! I was fifteen years old when I had my first (and only) baby shower. I truly did not appreciate it the way that you do when you are 30 years old.

And onto the the part about uplifting your spirit... I went to the Gull Lake Bible Conference today for their annual Ladies Day. There was a phenomenal speaker there by the name of Priscilla Shirer. She was very motivating and really convicted me that lately my prayer life has not been what it should.

Here is a picture of me, my mother-in-law and great grandma-in-law (94 years old!) at the conference.

I have a somewhat related question out there to my reader: is pessimism realism at its best or faith at its worst? Just a thought I am pondering... Still don't know how Blogger makes their money, though.

Well, back to the real world.

(By the way, the title of this post is courtesy of my husband, James)

Why did kamikaze pilots wear helmets?

2007-06-07T23:30:00.000-04:00

Deep in thought tonight.

A very nice couple we met just a few weeks ago is in Ethiopia right now, preparing to meet their baby boy in a few short hours. I imagine they are having difficulty sleeping and I can almost feel their excitement from the other side of the world. When they posted on their blog that they had made it to the guest house, I felt my heart jump. The internet is an amazing invention because it allows you to feel or be close to someone that you have only met once or in some cases, not at all. This couple also has a very special gift for Kidus, from us, because he is in the same orphanage as their son. It does my heart good to think that Kidus will have someone he spent the first few months of his life with right in the mitt of Michigan with him.

So, Ben and Joanna, Godspeed. May your meeting with your son be as wonderful as you have imagined it. Enjoy each second looking over his toes and fingers and running your hands through his rich, dark hair.

On our adoption front: Nothing, but Kidus will be seeing pictures of us very shortly. Pray he still wants to come home with us!! :)

Why is yawning contagious?

2007-06-05T21:47:00.000-04:00

Ok, I have a question I won't to pose to my reader:

According to blog etiquette, does one respond to comments on your own blog or on the blog of the person who left the comment? For instance, Marissa asked what kind of chocolate I like. If I wanted to answer her, would I post it here or on the Voke family blog? (By the way, I like ALL kinds of chocolate or anything on, in or around chocolate). Also, Karen commented that she needs one of those I-am-adopting-so-I-am-becoming-clinically-insane-t shirts. Would I commiserate with her here on my blog or on the Our Family Expansion blog? Inquiring minds want to know...

Why do you often see a shoe lying on the side of the street?

2007-06-04T20:23:00.000-04:00

Ok, I found an awesome t-shirt today. You can check it out at this link:

"adoption" Design on Products : CafePress.com

But this photo of the design sums it all up:
(you can click on the photo to see it close up)

How do they get deer to cross at the yellow sign?

2007-06-04T17:43:00.001-04:00

So, I really have no news whatsoever about my life to share. Considering how mind-numbingly boring life can be, I will spare you the details of laundry, gardening, and other everyday things that I do. I have been thinking a lot about orphanages lately (hmm...wonder why?) and that specifically made me think of my visit to an orphanage in Tanzania in 2005. I met some beautiful children there and thought maybe I could share some of the pictures.

This sweet little girl's name is Tumani (Too-Mine-EE) which mean Hope in Swahili:

Tumani had a really big impact on me. Of course, there were lots more children, all very sweet and equally hard to leave:

On the adoption front: No news.

People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one. ~Leo J. Burke

2007-06-01T01:47:00.000-04:00

And people who do not sleep like babies are usually waiting for one to come home from Ethiopia. Man, I am sick of not sleeping. If this continues, there may be another 3 or 4 very thoughtful posts by me based on the thoughtful comments of others. Someone may need to intervene if my thoughts become too thoughtful. :-)

Would a fly without wings be called a walk?

2007-05-31T19:07:00.001-04:00

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?

2007-05-29T23:54:00.000-04:00

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

2007-05-27T22:24:00.000-04:00

“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.