The 7,274 Mile Journey To Our Son

He Can Breathe!

2011-12-16T15:21:00.000-05:00

Jonah has had a runny nose since the day we brought him home. All the kids at the Horizon House had runny noses and a congested chest. We used a nebulizer for the first 6 months. We got sick of being confined to a nebulizer, twice a day mind you, and stopped using it. He never seemed to improve.
He also always had ear infections. Not that he ever showed signs of discomfort but he had drainage coming from his ears. Gross, I know. We finally had to stop using Amoxicillin because he was getting immune to it. So we used ear drops. He failed his hearing test completely and at the time, could not hear. Tubes were put in his ears and the ear infections stopped. (for awhile anyway)His hearing was improving and he qualified for Speech Therapy. About 6 months later, more drainage was coming from the ears. Jonah just smiled through it all. Back to the ENT we went.
The ENT said the tubes were still in and if they are not doing their job maybe it was time to look at the adenoids. If you don't know what they are, like we didn't, they are like tonsils behind your nose that you don't see. They do us no good and you don't need them. I am not sure why we have so many body parts that are useless and cause us trouble! God needs to catch up to the times here and start making us with only necessary parts!
After looking down Jonah's nose, which was so cool by the way, we saw there was blockage from the adenoids. Surgery was suggested. We wanted a child who could breathe through his nose, not have snot coming out of nose 24/7, could close his mouth and stop drooling and be able not only to taste food but to eat food without gaging on it because he couldn't breathe while chewing. So, surgery it was. They were also going to give him new tubes in his ears.
We were told it would take about a week for Jonah to not be in any pain and be himself again. Jonah was of course groggy from the anesthesia but when he woke up from his nap, he was back to his old self. Amazing child, we know!
Jonah had 100% blockage from his adenoids. They were very infected and for those who like the gorey details, when the were removing them, they were so infected that puss and all the other junk was so bad it drained into his trach tube and that had to be cleaned out. Gosh, how I wish I was in that surgery room! The doctor said he should be a whole new man now.
Well, he is! Jonah can breathe through his nose! He has not had a runny nose since the surgery. He can eat without throwing up, has a dry shirt at the end of the day and can drink from a water bottle or anything for that matter. He still keeps his mouth open most of the time. I will go in his room at night and try to close his mouth when he is sleeping but he just wakes up and looks at me and says, "Hi." I tell him he can breathe through his nose now and he doesn't need to keep his mouth open. Then he goes back to sleep, with his mouth open. The doctor said it will take a long time for him to brake that habit.
With therapy his speech is improving. It's a whole new world out there when you can hear and breathe.
Jonah has had two surgeries this year, Kevin and I have both had one each. We are hoping to stay away from hospitals this year and enjoy a year full of health. JT is leading the way! Happy Holidays and Happy New Year.

Getting Ready for the big race.

All the boys are ready to go....

The pilgrim hat brings good luck.

Jonah's first race.

They finished the race. Until next year....

5 Months Gone By

2011-11-03T16:26:00.002-04:00

I guess we are not so good at keeping up to date. Summer has passed us by and we are well into Fall. Here is a brief recap of the last 5 months!
We enjoyed our summer by going to the pool several days a week and of course spending a week at our favorite place, Ocean Isle Beach. This was Jonah's first trip to the beach. Both kids loved the sand, water and playing with all their cousins.

JT practiced his teaching skills to help get Jonah ready to start pre school.

We went back to Cox Farms this year with the Harrison family. Jonah enjoyed being able to go down the slides this year and baby Kaija was a new addition.

In the last two weeks we have been a traveling family. Our first trip was to Florida for a 96B reunion. That was our adoption group number for the families we traveled to Ethiopia with. There were 4 families. One family flew from CA, one from MN, one from FL and us. We all went to Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. That is were one of the families live. Our hotel was on the beach. We went to visit an alligator farm and celebrated a birthday with adults only! The kids had a wonderful time hanging out and getting to know each other. It was so great to see everyone and how all the kids had grown and their siblings that we never got to meet.

Since we were already in FL, our family spent a little more time and went to Sea World and went to visit Mickey Mouse!

Our last trip was this past weekend to visit and celebrate Kevin's parents 50th wedding anniversary. The kids loved seeing their cousins and we stayed up north to celebrate Halloween. Jonah sported the peacock outfit and JT was Shrek. Jonah refused to wear the hood part of the costume so we never got the full effect. But he did love his orange tights!

We hope we can do a better job at keeping this up. Otherwise we will beck in 5 more months.....

Miss Agnes

2011-06-01T22:06:00.001-04:00

We introduce to you Miss Agnes Mia Brauer Heilbronner. We will just be calling her Agnes. Think of an old, wrinkly lady. That is what she will become. She is an English Mastiff who does not drool too much!She comes to us at 9 weeks old, weighing in at about 25 pounds. Her father weighs 210 pounds and her mother weighs 160 pounds. We have high hopes for her hugeness. She is already a lazy, wrinkly beast. That's the way we like them. We waited almost exactly four years to add a third dog to the family after Mia's passing. We always said we wouldn't have three dogs again but here we are.
She is as cute as can be. JT and Jonah love her. Poor Tzeli is totally blind and can not see her but she is fine with Agnes. Then there is Zeus. Zeus only has one dog friend because he is mean to other dogs. But he will soon realize that she is here to stay. If he would play with her, they would have a great time together. I guess he will have to figure that out. In the mean time she just rolls around, sleeps and chews everything. Welcome Agnes to the Heilbronner clan.

Referral-versary

2011-05-15T09:55:00.000-04:00

One year ago we saw this picture in an email from our social worker.

We laugh every time we look at this!

Our little guy in stone washed jeans, pants undone, all with all big smile.

One month ago he took his first steps.

One hour ago he was eating pancakes at the kitchen table.

On May 15, 2010 we got The Call. It was what we had been waiting for, for three years. You can read about that here.
http://kevinerin-ouradoptionjourney.blogspot.com/2010/05/we-got-call.html

All we can say is, "What a difference a year makes."

Our Birthday Boy

2011-05-11T21:41:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday JT. This was a great day for JT. I would say this was the first year he really knew all about his birthday coming up, understood what it meant and was excited about the day. He has been talking about his birthday, his Shrek party coming up and turning 4 for the last few months.

He loved going to school and having all the kids telling him Happy Birthday. He would say, "Thank you, I am 4 today" as each kid said Happy Birthday.
JT is a great kid. He has gotten so much better about not throwing tantrums and just loves all his friends and has been enjoying the great weather. He is the best big brother, loves swimming and soccer and overall we just love this kid. He makes us laugh (and scream) everyday! We love you JT.

Tzeli Monster

2011-03-15T16:11:00.000-04:00

It was Thanksgiving break back in 1999 when I went to go look at dogs for fun. I came home with Tzeli. We all know you can never "just look." Our first night together, she snuggled under my armpit and slept all night long. She came back to ECU with me and lived with Teresa and Laura, my roommates. When I had swim practice at 6am. I would bring her in Teresa's room so she had someone to snuggle with. She met her sister Mia that year even though Mia lived in another household for a few years after that before returning to us . (long story!) She had a lot of "Aunts." She spent my Senior year with me and then got to live with her Aunt Sloaner. Sloaner loved Tzeli and gave her, her very own PP (Princess Pillow). (Just a pillow that Tezli would perch herself on) She enjoyed eating Sloan's underwear, along with many of mine and ate through a tapestry as well. She got a virus that year and had to spend the night at the vet. That was the first time I cried over a pet thinking she would die. She bounced back and saw me graduate in December 2000. We then made the trip back to Virginia.
Tzeli went through everything with me. She saw me through 2 boyfriends (the only 2 I really had), saw me start my career as a teacher and had the honor of staying with her friend Kayleigh during the day so she wouldn't be lonley. She was there when Mia got to come home forever and then she got to meet her Daddy, (Kevin). She then took in her brother Zeus who was 10 times her size, yet still always showed him who was boss. Tzeli had a "reading" at our wedding and then moved to a new house.
Over the years Tzeli has welcomed her two brothers JT and Jonah. She has had to say good bye to her beloved sister Mia. She sat by the rug by the door for 2 weeks after we had to put her to sleep. Jonah who was afraid of dogs when he first came home, spent the day today kissing her over and over again.
For some reason, Tzeli has lost an extreme amount of weight in the last 3 weeks. She is peeing all over the place and licking it up. We know she probably has cancer and Cushings disease but we have already done lots of blood work and don't find it necessary to bring her back to vet. She is dying and there isn't anything we can do about.
We have tried to prepare JT for Tzeli's journey to Doggie Heaven and he understands that Mia is there waiting for Tzeli at the pearly white gates. We haven't made the decision of when that will be and I am just hoping she will pass in her sleep while at home. We both know that probably won't happen but we will try to hold out until we can come to finally say, "It's time."
We have been through this before. I talk about Mia everyday and I wouldn't go with Kevin to put her to sleep. Only because she was a hyper beast and I couldn't bare to take my hyper, crazy dog, who happened to be very sick and put her to sleep.
Tzeli is very ill. She has no energy, yet still eating and she got to live almost 12 great years. She slept in our bed, usually in between our legs every night. She had a great life and the best thing about her was that although she was only 15-20 pounds, she thought she was 150 pounds and acted like she would kill anyone who tried to hurt me. She was a pain on walks and annoying every time someone came over or rang the doorbell, but we love her. She was my first baby. Even though everyone knows Mia was my favorite, I do love my Tzeli Monster and we have a lot of memories and history together.
We love you Tzeli. In the meantime, we hope your last days are comfortable and happy for you.

Helping Mia celebrate her birthday.

Tzeli waiting for JT to come home from the hospital.

Cake Pop Mania

2011-03-09T19:38:00.000-05:00

The new in "thing" these days are cake pops, for those in the baking world. They have them at Starbucks and bakers are now really getting into them. I am no baker, that's for sure. But, I am anal, detail oriented and love sweets. Back in my college days, I took over our apartment and the refrigerator and started making chocolate molded lollipops. They were delicious, beautiful and very detailed. They also took a long time to make, because of my detail and then I couldn't sell them for anything over $1 because it was really just a chocolate lollipop.
I started making cake pops in the last few weeks. They are divine and beautiful, I might add. I am still working out the kinks, like the dark chocolate and milk chocolate dry so fast, I have a hard time getting the decorations on there. The white chocolate is very easy to work with. Some pops are fancy, some are cute and some are just plain. I have baskets and vases that the pops can be put in for a center piece. You could just put them in a bowl or even get a lollipop stand. Oh, the options!
I am having an Open House for those in the neighborhood and friends. I am not the best sales person but these things are great for birthday parties and any holiday. Hopefully my little business will take off.

Starbucks Pops- plain, simple, small- $1.50

My Pops...... also $1.50 and bigger, I have a small and large size. The large is $2.50.

Ethiopian Cuisine

2011-03-06T07:54:00.001-05:00

We are lucky enough to have two Ethiopian families within our little neighborhood. One of the ladies I am good friends with and is a walking buddy of mine. The other lady I met last year and told her how were would be bringing Jonah home soon. I don't see her often but the other day she caught us as we were taking a walk. She met Jonah and asked me if I make Ethiopian food for him. I didn't want to tell her that I can't stand the food and the smell of the spices makes me nauseous. So, I held back the details and just said, "No, not really." Then she came right out and asked if I liked the food. Well, you know me, I had to come out and just say, "No, I don't really like it." She laughed and said her husband doesn't eat it either but wanted to know if she could make some food for Jonah to eat.
Obviously Jonah ate Ethiopian food for at least the last 4 months he was in Ethiopia and he loved it. She said she would come by and drop off some food for him. She went on to say that she would love to make him food and that her mother, who lives with them, would be in heaven if she could make food for Jonah. I told her to come by whenever she wanted.
The next day, right at lunch time, she appeared at the house with containers full of food. She also had injera (Ethiopian bread, sort of....) She asked if she could stay and feed Jonah. JT and I enjoyed a nice grilled cheese sandwich while Jonah enjoyed his Ethiopian cuisine. JT was offered it by the way. Jonah loved the food, as did the dogs. They waited patiently to get anything that would fall on the floor.
She has now come by again and dropped off another batch of food. The good thing is that it's free food and who doesn't love that! The bad thing is that my child spells of Ethiopian spices and garlic. I am trying to embrace the culture and ignore my sensitive nose.

Keeping Busy

2011-01-17T16:57:00.001-05:00

     JT has been really keeping us on our toes. That is a nice way of saying that he has been driving us nuts. He will still have the occasional meltdown but they have subsided. Instead when he disobeys us, he just acts as sweet as can be and smiles at us. So, we end up laughing and whatever we are trying to covey to him seems to get thrown out the window. JT has been trying to give up his nap. We wouldn't mind if he would act like a normal person from 4pm.-7:30pm. but he doesn't. He is a mess and exhausted. He is also being a pain about staying in his room at night after we have already put him to bed. The other night after he had already come out of his 5 times, I noticed the hallway light on. I walked into his room, he was not there, his bathroom, not there, our bedroom, not there. Our bathroom, the door was locked. I knock. "JT, let me in." I walk into our bathroom. JT is covered with baby powder. The water bowl for the dogs, filled with powder and water. "JT what is going on?" JT says, "I am giving Fiona a bath." I looked at him sternly and told him not to move. He looked scared. I went downstairs, came back up and he hadn't moved. I told him to smile and took his picture. He was very proud of himself for giving Fiona a bath and happy that she was clean. Needless to say, we had a little discussion and he went to bed.
     JT has been shaving with Kevin in the morning but he practiced at first in the bathtub. He has also become a great plumber and fixed our dishwasher. JT is also working on his artistic abilities.
     Jonah needs to start walking soon or I will need back surgery! He is working hard on it. He continues to take swim lessons and loves the water. Jonah can now hear and has a beautiful penis. He had surgery Friday and did great and is recovering nicely. He continues to laugh at everything we do and at himself. He loves JT and they both like to laugh obnoxiously and make loud weird noises. Boys!

The Reality of Rude People

2010-12-06T13:31:00.003-05:00

    A lot of people who are close to us have asked us if people stare at us or ask us questions about Jonah. I had said I didn't notice if people stared at us and no one had really asked us anything about Jonah. Just within the last few weeks though, this has changed. Maybe it wasn't really happening or I just didn't notice but I have in the last few weeks.
    Many people have stopped by while we are out shopping and look at him and say,"Oh, he is so gorgeous." Ok, I know Jonah is cute and all and maybe I am just not a baby person but I never go up to people to tell them how cute their kids are, especially when I don't know them. I know people do that when tiny little babies are in a shopping cart. I may look and say, "Oh my gosh, he/she is so little. How old?" Well, Jonah is not an infant. So, now I assume that people are looking, wondering what the deal is, and wondering what's his story. So they just say, "Oh, he is gorgeous." Now, this does not bother me at all. I know Jonah does stick out just a little bit in our family of four. I see families all the time that are mixed raced and always wonder what the story is. It's human nature to be curious and we do not mind answering questions at all. Everyone knows that we are pretty much an open book.
    But within the last two weeks, two very rude comments have been made. And yes, they bothered us. So here was the first one. I was at Panera ( no surprise there!) with Jonah in a stroller and there was a man in his 40's with his father. I heard his father talk to him and he was definitely from somewhere in Africa and had a very cool accent. They both kept looking at Jonah. The younger man came over and asked where Jonah was from. I told him Ethiopia. His next comment was, "So, did you use and agency?" This may sound strange to most of you but we have learned that there is a bad perception of adoptions happening in Ethiopia due to illegal activity going on and bad agencies not being ethical. It was a little rude more because I felt like he was questioning if we went about the adoption properly and legally but I understood. I told him we used Wide Horizons. WH is one of the biggest and most well known agencies and prides itself on it's ethics. ( I didn't tell him that part of it but I don't think he was looking for that anyway. He just wanted to see if we used an agency.) Again, I was fine with all this but then came the next question. "So, how much did he cost?" Yes, you read that right. At that moment I was shocked and actually didn't know how how to respond. I felt my face get red, like I was embarrassed for him for even asking such a thing! Ok, it's rude enough to ask how much we paid for the adoption, let alone phrase it as if Jonah was a thing we bought at a store. My response was, "The adoption cost a lot." I am not sure what the right answer is. I don't think there is one. Now after talking about it we have come up with other good responses. Some sarcastic of course! So the man said, "You guys did a nice thing." I said, "Thanks" and walked away.
A few things here....
1) It is nobody's business how much we paid for the adoption. Everybody knows adoption costs a lot of money. Then again, many people think it's priceless, the outcome is a child in your life. Does it really matter anyway?
2) If you are interested in adoption, then asking about costs is completely normal (at least for us, we don't care) Just for some education- the costs go towards lots of legal fees that we don't even see or know about because we had an agency do all the leg work for us. Again, that is some of the cost. You need a home study, fingerprints, state seals and then the cost of travel. There is a lot more that goes into it but that's an example.
3) We didn't pay for Jonah. We paid for the process to get him into our lives.
4) We don't look at Jonah as a charity case. We don't want him to ever feel that way either. We saw all the kids in Ethiopia, herding their cattle, with smiles on their faces and loving their life. They don't know any different and are very happy. We both felt sad leaving Ethiopia ( I was glad to get away from all the smells, don't get me wrong!) and taking Jonah away from his birth country. We both know Jonah could have lived just as happy a life there as he will here. I will say that the medical care we can provide for him here will allow him to live a healthy, long life, that he maybe would not have had in Ethiopia.

Kevin was talking to a lady that we know, hadn't seen in a long time, didn't know we were adopting and had just met Jonah. So, she asked a lot of questions about the adoption. (which we don't mind) After the questions, she then went on to say, "Well, there are a lot of kids here that need to be adopted." Maybe to someone else that wouldn't have been so offensive but to us, that is so rude and heartless. Are you telling me that only people in the US, should adopt kids from the US? To us a child is a child. If they need a home, they need a home and who cares where they are from. Kevin told me this on the way home in the car and I was pissed. I told him he should have said, "Well, why did you add one more child to our country when there are already so many that need a home, right here the US! Why don't you adopt a few then!" Instead he said we didn't want to financially support a birth mother while pregnant, to then change her mind after giving birth. The lady then said, "Yea, that happened to a friend of ours." Kevin then said, "Well, then there you go." In the end the lady really believed that we should have adopted from the US and that's fine, I guess.
Ok, a few more things....
1) Everybody has their own beliefs and can obviously say what they want. Just don't say them to us!
2) Kevin and I obviously don't believe that people should not have their own biological children and should adopt. We have JT. We chose adoption for our own reasons and know that adoption is not for everybody.
3) There are many reasons we chose to not adopt domestically, not just the one above. Both domestic and international adoption has their challenges, not one is better than the other.
4) If you are wondering why we chose international adoption or specifically Ethiopia, just ask. Don't tell us though that there are kids here in the US that need homes too. We know this!
5)Just some facts. Over one-third of Americans have talked about adoption or even considered it, but only two percent have actually gone through the process and completed it.
   We knew we would run into this kind of stuff and we don't pretend like it doesn't bothers us. It does, but really just a little. I plan that this will be the only post about this. This was for the some of you who have asked us.
   We love Jonah just like we love JT (and Mia of course!) (and Zeus for Kevin, I know poor Tzeli) We do both find it strange that as soon as we were on the plane with Jonah, we felt like he was ours. Right away we felt this. This feeling sometimes takes months for adoptive parents to feel and that is completely normal. Jonah was just ours. He didn't grow in my stomach for nine months, we didn't get to hear his heartbeat for the first time, we didn't get sonogram pictures of him, but I also didn't get stretch marks, didn't have to through labor and didn't have to gain 35 pounds. See there is a plus side to everything! JT loves Jonah to death. He laughs with him, hugs and kisses him and pushes him and steals his toys as any good brother does! Jonah is ours just as JT is ours. He just came to us in a different but special way!

Fall Festivities

2010-11-20T16:39:00.002-05:00

October was a busy month. We went to Cox Farms, went apple picking, roasted marshmallows and celebrated Halloween. JT had a blast and decided this year that going down the slide on his stomach was more fun at Cox Farms. Jonah went on his first hay ride and celebrated his first Halloween. They don't do any of this in Ethiopia. We had to explain to our friend Mulat in Ethiopia what Halloween is and what we do here. I am sure he thought it was strange that Jonah was dressed up as a turtle. JT and Gavin (and Kevin) figured out that climbing trees is fun and a good way to pick apples. JT who was afraid of fire now realizes that it will cook delicious marshmallows.

A little update....

JT- loves school, will start swim lessons, yoga and soccer in January. Loves his brother and listening to Kevin read stories in crazy voices. Is learning to like to ride his bike, although he prefers to run.

Jonah- still visiting doctors, is climbing stairs and just started to pull himself up to stand.

Kevin- selling insurance, started going to the gym. (he wants to be buff!)

Erin- has official become a domestic engineer, aka- stay at home mom. Hard to believe I know but will go back to school in the fall. Has enjoyed her mornings with Jonah and is teaching JT the joys of riding a bike.

Soccer Star

2010-11-10T16:07:00.038-05:00

This September, JT started his first season of soccer. He loved putting on his shin guards, cleats and kicking his blue ball. Kevin made up a nice song about JT being a soccer star and we sang it all the time. I wouldn't say he was a great player but he started out the season doing this.......

picking grass.

And ended the season doing this.......

listening to the coaches and

playing some soccer.

JT received his soccer medal.

Ran through the last tunnel of the season.

The best part was celebrating with a delicious cupcake.

One Hour Is A Breeze

2010-11-05T16:36:00.000-04:00

I am going to try to get caught up on the blog over the next few days. With all the Fall festivities this past October, we have been really busy. At the beginning of October, we took a trip to Rochester. Jonah got to experience his second plane trip, although this time we were only in the air for one hour, not sixteen. So, needless to say the flight was a breeze. JT of course was thrilled and had a great time on the plane.

We spent most our time with Uncle Larry and cousins Madeline, Olivia and Sam. Jonah loved meeting his uncle and cousins. JT always has a blast with his cousins. Sam and JT have a special manly bond. Sam is JT's only male cousin, other than Brian who is much older. Sam and JT are loud and have a lot of energy. Boys! All the kids had a blast playing all the musical instruments. They created a great band. Olivia and Madeline loved taking care of Jonah and loved feeding him. Olivia got very good at giving JT airplane rides. They all had a great time together. We will see them again at the end of December.

Enjoy the pictures. I know that's what everyone wants anyways!

Cousin Sam

The Heilbronner Band

Uncle Larry

One Month

2010-09-22T23:08:00.002-04:00

Jonah has now been home for a month. Sometimes it seems like he just got here and other times it's like he has been with us forever. He has been wonderful. Sleeping and eating great and happy as can be. He is starting to crawl or trying to at least. JT loves him, they laugh at each other and entertain each other.

Jonah has had more doctors appointments in the last few weeks than I think we have had in our whole lifetime. But he has been great through it all. Our house is a little nuts adjusting to having two kids but we are all doing great.

We made a video for Jonah. We knew it would hard to make a scrap book for him, due to lack of time. (second kids gets shafted, we know!) so making the video was something we can give to him that captures our "Journey to Jonah." He will get his yearly photo album on his birthday just as JT has, but there was no way to get everything we have been through in the past three years in an album.

Enjoy the video.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Coming to America

2010-08-28T13:59:00.004-04:00

An overview- we will go back and be a little more specific about our trip but for now here is an overview of how things are going...

We are home! We love the USA. We were in Addis Ababa for most of our visit and went down to Awassa (the south) to meet Jonah's mom. Awassa is what you would think of when you think of Africa. Hut houses, herds of animals, African villages and naked people! We loved it there. There was fresh air and Erin had her head out the window like a dog the whole time. Addis is the city. It smells of diesel fuel and fire burning from all the cooking that is taking place outdoors. Erin was nauseous the whole time.

We spent time at the Horizon house and spent time with the other families as all the families came and went on their birth family visit. The plane ride home was made fun with the two other couples we traveled home with. We took up the whole front row of the plane and had bassinets for the babies. The kids all did awesome on the way home. Jonah slept, ate and laughed until we reached Dulles. As soon as we landed Jonah was officially a US citizen. We couldn't have been more happy to be home. Unless you have been to a 3rd world country and to Ethiopia you have no idea how great the US is. Even the poorest person in US is so lucky. Ethiopia is in the top ten of poorest countries in the world. That includes all of Africa. There was a couple on the trip with us who had been to several places in Africa and she still couldn't believe how poor Ethiopia was. The people are wonderful but the surroundings are not.

Estelle, Al, JT, Meredith, Kiara, Taliya, Roney and Alani all met us at the airport. JT was happy to see us and looked at Jonah in confusion. He knew him on paper but there he was in the flesh. He was real. JT stared at him and when we got home we all just hung out. Erin took JT to Panera to enjoy some fresh food and we all enjoyed drinking water and having drinks with ice.

JT has been awesome. We didn't really expect that. I guess we don't give him enough credit! He loves to help out and loves giving Jonah his bottle and taking baths with him. Other times he just ignores him, which is fine too.

Jonah has been adjusting well. Other than the lack of sleep we are all doing great. Jonah went to the doctor. He is using a nebulizer and otherwise in in perfect health. He is wonderful. He is eating well but we know he is missing his injera and Ethiopian spices! He loves to laugh and wants to be held a lot.

We have enjoyed having visitors and we are not being too crazy about who holds him and other stuff. Some say to lay low and not to leave the house but that is not possible for us. Jonah and Erin enjoyed their first outing to the doctor and to Panera on Monday. We decided that the only thing we will be anal about is that we will be the only ones to feed him. We need him to know that we are his parents and even though it seems like he is easy going and we know he will go to anybody that is not good for kids who are being adopted. They need to know who their parents are and realize they are stuck with us forever!

Enjoy the pictures.......

Jonah enjoying his first plane ride.

JT meets Jonah and says hello to Daddy.

Our Journey To Jonah at OneTrueMedia.com

2010-08-04T20:33:00.001-04:00

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Ocean Isle/Trip #2

2010-08-01T23:57:00.003-04:00

We just got back from our annual trip to Ocean Isle Beach, NC. JT was great in the car both to and from NC. We had a chance to stop in Raleigh and visit with Cindy, Ben and Carter. Teresa and Emily joined in for a pizza dinner. It was nice to see everyone.

The beach was great as usual. The first day there as we were unpacking, Taliya informed us that "JT was doing something bad." As JT came out of the room he sported his new hairdo. He got a hold of Kevin's clippers that he left sitting in the bed. JT took it upon himself to shave his head. JT said his hair looked pretty and seemed happy with his work.We went crabbing and our skills were never lost. We caught 27 crabs in less than 2 hours and Jason cooked them as always and we all indulged in eating the crabs. JT improved on his swimming skills and after a few days decided it was fun to jump over the waves. He loved collecting shells as well. Hopefully next year he will enjoy the beach a little more. Kevin and I also had fun, although tired from having JT sleeping in a room with us and a tap on the shoulder each evening around 4am. He has not done that since we have been back home. We look forward to next summer and having Jonah join us.

Kevin and I head back to Ethiopia on August 14th. Our Embassy apt. is August 16th. At some point during the week we will visit Jonah's birth mother and family. We will be back on August 21st.

JT has been wanting to "see" Jonah on a regular basis. (looking at his pictures) He kisses him. He will talk to us and say that we are going on a plane to Africa and Jonah will come home and sleep in the baby's crib. Kevin and I try to talk about Jonah a lot and JT helped me put some clothes in Jonah's dresser. As much as we do these things we both know JT doesn't really "get it." I don't have a big belly and we left him for a week and will be leaving him again. He did great with Estelle and Al but it was hard for him. He won't be visiting in a hospital to see a baby and we will step out of a plane with a 1 year old in our arms. Again, after leaving him for a week. He has had a hard time with Kevin and I leaving him now. That was never an issue for him. So we hope that this will all pass and once we get home and settled in, we can return to somewhat a normal life and JT will adjust as do all siblings. I do think leaving for a long time makes things very difficult. I have read many blogs and they seem to say the same thing and their older child adjusted after a few weeks.

We will be staying at the Horizon House for this trip and will not have Internet access. We will be in touch after we get home with Jonah!

Ethiopia- Days 5 and 6

2010-07-20T09:30:00.013-04:00

The last two days were spent just hanging out at the HH. On Wednesdsay we had to check out of the hotel, so we spent the day at the HH and went out for lunch. At lunch Kevin and our new friend Victor, took a picture of our vaccine banner. The place where we got all of our shots is trying to get pictures of their banner all over the world. So it came to Ethiopia with us. We now get free vaccines for a year. When we got to the HH on Wednesday a lot of the kids, including Jonah, had been taken to get their vaccines. So when we pulled in we saw all the babies outside laying on the floor. Yonas stayed and hung for a awhile. Everyone at the HH loves the kids.

You can see in the picture there is one really sick child. He is 1 1/2 years old. He looks like a 2 month old. He has heart failure. If he were adopted when he first came to the HH, he would have been fine. He needed surgery and now it may be too late. A US doctor was going to be coming in the next few weeks and was going to see if they could get him back to the US to do surgery. At this point, he may be too weak to go through surgery. They take such good care of him and love on him just like all the other kids. Ethiopia does not have good hospitals and no one can afford the surgery. Hopefully they can get him some help.

Mulat came at 7:30pm to get us to the airport. We had a 10:30pm flight home. We said good bye to Jonah and left. The plane ride home was long and uneventful. We got back here at 8:30am. Estelle picked us up from the airport. We came home, got JT from school and went to Ruby Tuesdays for a much needed salad. We were not allowed any fruit or salad on the trip. JT seemed surprised to see us. We told him all about Jonah. He even tried on his new Ethiopian clothing.

We had a great trip. We just got a call yesterday from Wide Horizons saying we should expect to be back in the middle of August.

Jonah turned one on July 19th. We had pizza and cake in his honor. We can't wait to get him home!

Ethiopia- Day 4/ Court Day

2010-07-19T22:51:00.007-04:00

Day 4 was Court Day. You don't always pass court. We were told that the birth parents had all been to court a few weeks earlier. We knew Jonah's mother had shown up and relinquished her rights to us. But, if one little piece of paper is missing or not signed, you don't pass and then you wait again.

Mulat picked us all up. We were not allowed to have cameras so we have no pictures. We were told we could be in court all day. There were 10 families that had to go through. We saw a few couples from another agency sitting in the waiting room. They told us some of the questions the judge asked. When the first family was called in, they came out 3 minutes later. That was it. 3-5 questions and they were done. So then they called Yonas Ararso and in we went. She asked us the questions and that was it. We were officially his parents. The questions.... Why did you want to adopt from Ethiopia? How will you deal with a mixed raced family? Have you met Yonas? Do you understand that this is irreversible? That was it, we were parents of two little boys.

It took 45 minutes for all of the families to get through. We were amazed. Mulat took us all back to the hotel. A group us wanted to do some more shopping. Mulat came with us and took us to a "mall" and then we went for lunch. Then back to the HH for the evening. We spent time with Jonah and Kevin enjoyed playing some soccer with the guard.

Ethiopia- Day 3

2010-07-16T21:52:00.016-04:00

Mulat picked us all up in the morning to do some shopping. He took us to one street and we had 1 hour to shop. We had to bargain for everything, which I wasn't very good at. The prices are so cheap I didn't really mind paying the first price they told me. But we did get the price down from where they started so we did well. We also got our shoes shined by two little boys. Our tennis shoes mind you. They kept saying, "No problem" when Kevin tried to explain that you don't shine tennis shoes. But we got the shoes shined and had some wet socks to prove it! They wanted to charge us 10 birr each, which is less than 1 dollar. (13 birr= $1) After he shined the shoes he wanted 20 birr each. So Kevin just handed him 6 US dollars and the kid looked like he just went to heaven.

Our shoe shiners.

After we went shopping Mulat drove us through the Merkato, the big market. He said we can't shop there because it's too crowded and there is a lot of pickpocketing that goes on there. We went on a Sunday which was a "slow" day and it was packed. They sold everything there. I really liked the chickens. People would buy them and carry them by the feet while they were still alive.

We then headed to a coffee shop. I only bought one bag but I did buy a toothbrush from a boy in front of the store. It is made of wood and I guess once you start to chew on it, bristles form and then you brush/pick your teeth with it.

After shopping we headed back to the hotel for lunch.

Notice the goats walking head on into the traffic.

Then we went to the HH for the evening.

One of the guards at the HH. He also make scarves.

Ethiopia- Day 2

2010-07-16T10:49:00.018-04:00

We didn't do much on day 2. We went to HH in the morning up until nap time. We headed back to the hotel and ate lunch with 2 others couples and did some shopping there. We headed back to HH around 4 pm and stayed until the kids went to bed. Kevin taught a boy how to juggle. He was being adopted from a family that was there in the group before us. Here are some pictures......

Outside the HH. These kids were doing something with corn.

Ethiopia-Day 1

2010-07-10T15:51:00.021-04:00

We survived the 15 hour flight over. We didn't sleep much at all and arrived in Addis at 8 in the morning. We got the hotel (which is very nice and just like any other American four/five star hotel) at about 9:30am. As we walked into our room the phone was ringing. I answered it and it was Mulat who is the Horizon House driver, he said he was

in the lobby. I told Kevin that I guess he just wanted to introduce himself to us. So, we dropped our luggage and headed downstairs. We were greeted by Katie and Reed who are from Florida and met Mulat. Then he said, "Ok, let's go." Kevin and I looked at Katie and asked what as going on. We soon found out that he was there to take us to the orphanage. After not sleeping 24 hours and just stepping foot into the hotel room, Kevin and I just looked at each other and laughed. So we got into a van filled with some other families. Some from Chicago, California and Minnesota. Off to Horizon House we went. (There are 10 families on the trip with us)

Driving- I can not even describe the driving. It is just best to close your eyes and not look. I have seen 1 stop light in the last 2 days we've been here and one time it wasn't even working. People are walking in the street along with the goats, donkeys, dogs and we saw one cow. The drivers just weave in and out and surprisingly we have not hit one living thing. It's just nuts.

Horizon House- Driving down an alley and 2 honks later, a gate is opened by a guard and there we were. There are two rooms. One for the younger babies and the other for the 1-2 year olds. We went in and I looked around at 6 cribs. Couldn't seem to find Jonah. Then the nanny pointed him out. I didn't even recognize him. He just came to Horizon House five days ago and they had cut off all his curls before he got there. So, we see a huge brown eyed child staring at us ,just smiling. Just like in his picture. He just sat and smiled and we picked him up. We spent about 2 hours there, just hanging out with Jonah and all the other babies. We fed him lunch, which he devoured, and then they all went down for nap. They are on a tight schedule. I love it!

We went back to the hotel to take a nap and then headed back to the HH (Horizon House) for the evening. They had just gotten a bath and Jonah smelled delicious. He has a runny nose and a few other minor issues that will be taken care of now that he is at HH. As the head nurse told us, "He's with us now, don't worry. We take good care of him." The nurse and nannies love Jonah and all the babies for that matter. The babies seem so happy and are smiling and love the nannies as well. The place is very clean and well cared for. After dinner, which he again devoured they all get ready for bed. Love the schedule! We said goodnight and put him to bed.

Restaurant- We went to an Ethiopian restaurant with 2 other couples. Everyone is great but we seem to be hanging out a lot with Katie and Reed from Florida and Robyn and Don from Minnesota. Again, down an alley way and the doors open to a really nice open restaurant. We ate, or should I say ordered ( I ate nothing!) Ethiopian food. I didn't like it all but. But they had singers and traditional dancing for 2 hours and it was great. We then headed back to the hotel for some much needed sleep.

Ethiopia- Lets just say that whatever you think it looks like, it is probably 100 times worse. Everything is run down and everything seems like it could collapse in about 2 seconds. We are not allowed to walk around without either of our 2 drivers, Yonas and Mulat or with the guard from HH. There is a bad perception here from Americans coming to adopt "their " children and slave trading and selling babies. Obviously that is not happening with most of us but it does happen and for our safety they want us with someone who can speak the language. Every single person we have met has been very nice. Yonas our driver is the best and has been taking us back and forth everywhere.

That's all for day 1. More to come.....

Ethiopia Bound

2010-07-01T13:42:00.005-04:00

Ethiopia, here we come......

We found out a few days ago that our court date could be July 12 but to not make any arrangements because some paper work was missing and we would not know for sure until the end of the week. That leaves us with less than 1 week to plan. So we found out today that we are confirmed and ready to go. We will leave next Thursday the 8th and return the following Thursday. Well, we will leave Ethiopia on Wednesday and be back home Thursday. Because of such short notice there are no tickets on Ethiopian Airlines. They have a direct flight that stops in Rome to refuel. Good and bad. You don't get to get off the plane but you get to Ethiopia faster. So kevin has until 4:00pm today to make arrangements with a travel agency to get us to Germany then to Ethiopia. Needless to say, this is not enough time to really get ready but we have no choice. We have all of our paperwork ready to go and need to get one thing notarized. We are pros at that!

I told JT today that we are going to see Jonah and that he will be staying with Bubbe Stell and Grandpa Al. He didn't have much to say. But he will love being with them and will have a great time. We will give him a present to open each night when we are gone. Just some little things I have been saving up for him.

We will get to see Jonah next Saturday. We will be able to hang out with him and take photos. By Monday the 12th, if all goes well, he will be officially ours and a US citizen and pictures can be posted.

More to come.......

Happy Belated Birthday/Poked and Prodded

2010-06-07T21:21:00.015-04:00

We are bad parents! We got so caught up with this adoption, we forgot to blog about JT's third birthday. His birthday was May 11th. We had his party on May 8th. I had planned on putting pools in the yard, as we have done the last 2 years and just having the kids play in them all day. Well, it was so windy that day, I couldn't even decorate the tables. It was sort of warm but so so windy. Of course the kids didn't care. I had found a turtle about an hour before the party, so he joined in the fun. I gave little "reptile show" and taught the kids about reptiles and turtles, then we let him go in the woods. We played Pin The Tail On The Donkey, which they really liked. Overall, they really enjoyed just kicking the balls in the yard.

We always celebrate with a Carvel cake. It has been a tradition in my family for over 25 years. JT loves them as well. We sang Happy Birthday and JT ended the song with a lot of clapping and saying he wanted us to sing more. So we did, about 10 times more! And that continued for several days after party as well. He would get out the candles, tell us to light them and wanted us to sing to him.

JT had a great time with his family and friends. He thanks them all for coming.

On the adoption front....

I went today and got 4 shots for our upcoming travels. My arms are both a little sore. Kevin goes tomorrow and we both go next Monday for Yellow Fever. Kevin went to the Ethiopian Embassy today to apply for our Visa's. He picks them up tomorrow. Kevin spoke to the social worker and she said to most likely plan on a July travel date but it could possibly be June! When I heard that I said, "But it's June now!" We were told we will get 2-3 weeks notice. So we just continue to wait for that phone call. We have gotten really good at this waiting thing! That's all for now.

We Got "The Call"

2010-05-15T08:17:00.003-04:00

It only took 2 years, 3 months and a few days!

Thursday night was a night we never want to relive. We are suppose to be in Rochester, NY right now, but with some mishaps due to United workers who can't do their job, we never made it. Yesterday (Friday) I was exhausted. Our neighbor Lisa was home from work and we went out to do some some shopping. On our way home, as Kevin and JT were sleeping, my cell phone rang. It only rang once and I missed the call. I decided to call back for some reason. I don't usually do that. It was Wide Horizons! Erin (our social worker answered and I didn't even let her talk. I just said, "So, did we get our referral?" She said, "Congratulations, you have a boy!" So she told me that we have a 10 month old son whose birthday is July 19. She gave us his family background (of what information she had, which is not much) And she told me about what paper work she was going to send us. Meanwhile Lisa is trying to figure out what is going on. I called Nicole and told her to meet us for dinner. (I was very nonchalant)

When Lisa and I got home we went right to the computer, pulled up the pictures and printed out all the papers. Kevin who just woke up came tumbling down the stairs and all I said was, "We got our kid!" He looked surprised and took the pictures. He said he couldn't believe how healthy he looked. He had the perception that he would look like those emaciated kids you see on TV asking for donations. There were no tears in usually Erin fashion.

I called my cousin Andrea. I tried to call my sister but she wouldn't answer. We met Nicole and her family for dinner and showed them the packet we received. Later that night my sister and both our parents got to see pictures. We can email pictures but they can not be on the Internet.

We have a doctors appointment on Monday to look over all the medical reports and information. If everything looks good, we send in our acceptance letter, a big check and then we wait for a court date. We should be traveling sometime in July for the first trip. If we can get there in July for our court date, then we can go get him in August/September. If we can not get a court date in July, the courts close for 2 months for the rainy season and then we would have to wait until October. Well, I refuse to let that happen! Last year anyone who got a referral before June, traveled before the courts closed.

We told JT he had a brother. He said, "No." We told him the baby will sleep in the baby's room. He said, "NO." Needless to say we were off to a great start! Before bed we showed him the picture again and he said, "Brother." I told him again he would sleep in the baby's room and JT got out of his bed, took the picture and put it in the crib!

Once we accept the referral, will give you his name! That's all for now!

A Helping Hand

2010-05-05T22:18:00.004-04:00

Many people who adopt get financial help through their church or ask for donations. We would never ask for donations to help pay for our adoption. After reading numerous blogs and seeing what others have done, we decided we could provide our child's orphanage with a monetary gift. That is really what they need.

It's customary for adopting parents to provide the orphanage with a gift. When we go on our two trips, we will be bringing with us many items that the orphanage is in high need of. We would also love to provide them with a monetary donation.

$5 to us is nothing. But to someone living in Ethiopia this means a new life. People there live off of less than $1 a day. It only costs $17 to vaccinate a single child against six major diseases: polio, diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, tuberculosis and measles. $5 would buy a child a new pair of shoes, a uniform for school, grain for a whole family or medicine for a child. The best schools cost ($50) per month. To go to a normal school instead costs about ($5) per month. 89% of Ethiopia does not have clean drinking water. There is fresh water underground in most of the villages. They need money to help build wells. $75 provides safe water, sanitation, and hygiene education for one child in Ethiopia for life.

So, as you can see $5 can go a long way in Ethiopia. We would like for all of our friends and family to help out our child's (to be) country.

If you would like to join in, we have created a donation button at the top of the page. Please donate as little or as much as you can. Please click on the button at the top of the page to complete the transaction. You're welcome to use your own PayPal account for funding or a credit card.

Thanks for your support!

Still Waiting- "Yes, We Still Want A Boy"

2010-04-29T20:47:00.004-04:00

We have been very frustrated with how long we have been waiting. The time frame given to us was 12-18 months. We are now going on 19 months. After reading so many other blogs from other people who are with other agencies, we have been seeing people get referrals who have been waiting much less time than us. Below is a letter from us to our social worker (whose name is also Erin) from our agency. It answered a lot of questions for us. We are still annoyed but at least we understand how everything works. So here are the answers to not just some of our questions but to those who keep asking us what is going on. Our letter is in black and she responded to each section which is in blue.

Erin,

We listened to the recorded message tonight and hope you can answer a question for us regarding the wait time for a referral.

This is similar to a question Erin posed in an email recently but I need to get a better understanding. We have friends who have adopted from other countries, so we know how some countries government's handle referrals. According to them, in China, for example, no matter what agency you are with they know the "log in" date of the dossier and whomever is next in line gets the referral. It doesn't matter who they used as an agency.

When we have a log in date that was almost one year before someone else and they already have a referral (for the same request) can we then assume Ethiopia doesn't do it this way? Yes, Ethiopia doesn't work this way at all. Adoption agencies generally work with several orphanages in Ethiopia. Orphanages in turn partner with many U.S. agencies as well as European agencies. Each adoption agency has their own process, wait list, etc. In countries like China everything is very regulated- Ethiopia works in a very different way.

Wide Horizons is a big agency and has a large Ethiopian program. Because of that, is that why we are waiting so much longer than other agencies who don't have a as many people waiting? Yes, that is probably part of the reason. Our wait times fluctuate throughout families process a bit- I know that right now you are waiting on the extreme long end of our time-frame. If there are more families on our wait list for a specific request- that time frame is the longest-because simply there are just more families waiting.

Is it safe to say that if you choose an agency who is smaller and have less people waiting you will get a faster referral? (Of course, that doesn't make a whole lot of sense.) It may. If another agency has only a handful of people requesting an infant boy- than it does mean you are likely to wait less time on their list than ours. Each agency has different wait times. Some may be smaller agencies (meaning have a smaller program with less families waiting) and some may be new to working with Ethiopia- and after 6/7 years of experience (like WHFC) their programs are likely to grow.

If that is the case, why is the government choosing their agency to give the referral to and not Wide Horizons? We had our dossier completed almost a year before some other people we're following on blogs. These other agencies are also well known and well accredited, so that is not an issue. But the fact is they are receiving referrals after 9-10 months and yet we are going on 19 months and still no word. The government is not choosing to give the referral to the other agency- the referrals come from the orphanages. We are currently working with 3 orphanages and Dr. Tsegaye is always working to find other orphanages for WHFC to partner with. Of course ethical concerns and agreements of how we work and what we expect as far as care of children, communication, etc. have to be addressed before we partner with an orphanage.

We are alright with waiting if that is how long it takes for everyone but obviously that is not the case if we have been waiting almost double the time than others who have received referrals. We know how great the agency is, but again we would like to know what the process is for the government when they are giving referrals to agencies and why some are chosen over others. Again, I understand your frustration but the referrals are not being given by the government. I am sure as you researched agencies to work with you found that some had different wait times projected for how long you are likely to wait until referral based on your request. Agencies don't have control over how long the wait may get for families, and the wait times tend to fluctuate during a family's process. For instance, another large, reputable agency is no longer accepting applications for infants because their wait exceeded 2 years for a referral.

I know this has been a very long process for your family, and that you have waited a very long time for a referral! I am sorry that you are one of the first families to experience waiting longer than 18 mos. You are very close to getting a referral! Do you want to consider opening up your request to either gender? I only say this because if the next few infants that are matched with WHFC are infant girls- you will be skipped over on the list- because your request is for a boy 0-12 mos. Of course you may feel very strongly that you would like a boy- and that's ok too! Please let me know if you would like to talk about this further.

Best,

Erin

Thank you for your time.

Kevin and Erin

We did respond to her and told her that yes, we still want our boy! So, we continue to wait. We should be getting some good news very soon. ( We feel like we have been saying that for a long time) Hopefully the next time we write we will be telling everyone we have a referral!

The Circus- Again

2010-03-30T22:27:00.013-04:00

We headed to Ringling Brothers again this year, not once but twice. Since Kevin seems to know all the right people, we got free tickets to the Verizon Center and the Patriot Center. We took Gavin with us to the Verizon Center. This was JT's first time of "inviting" a friend to an event. It was also Gavin's first time going without his parents or with a family member to an event. He did great and loved the circus. JT cried at the beginning when they shot fireworks. He is having an issue with fire lately. We brought him to a Japanese restaurant (where they cook in front of you) and he talked about the fire place the whole time and said he didn't like fire. Strange, since Kevin and I are and were both pyromaniacs. After the first cry which didn't last long, he loved the elephants and tigers. We had a lovely, clean, lunch on the floor of the Verizon Center. On the way home Gavin and JT discussed what they liked best about the circus.
The next week headed to the Patriot Center. Same circus. The Harrison family joined as well. Jack enjoyed the circus this year and didn't need his ears filled with napkins like last year. The elephants were as cute as ever. My favorite. JT is still talking about the elephants and keeps saying Zing Zang Zoom. That was this years theme song. We look forward to going to the circus next year.

A Bump In The Road- Changes.....

2010-03-16T20:37:00.004-04:00

The new news is this: as of last week, we now have to make the trek to Ethiopia 2 times! We will actually have to go appear before the court to state that we want to adopt our son and then leave him at the orphanage and return home. Then we can go back when we have an embassy date to actually bring him home.
The bad news is well, there goes another couple thousand dollars for travel and we have to leave our son in the orphanage after meeting him. The good news is we will get to meet our son sooner than we thought. We will be able to bring home lots of pictures and videos to show JT, which will make this whole process a little more real for him. We have not said anything to him about having a brother. The other good part is that our son will officially be an American Citizen when we bring him home and we will not have to re-adopt him after being back in the U.S.
We talked to our social worker the other day and she mentioned we should be getting our referral soon, whatever that means! We will keep you posted!

The "Little News"

2010-01-17T18:50:00.003-05:00

After my last post we have a little bit news to share......
1) we should be getting our referral in the next month or two (the BIG NEWS)
2)with the referral comes medical and family history and 2 photos (the photos can not be posted over the Internet until we pass court because he is still in the custody of the Ethiopian government) so those who don't live near us will only get to see some fingers and toes.
3)we take the info to a doctor and we then send an acceptance to the referral. (that should only be a week or two turn around)
4)then comes another waiting game....the court date (they don't tell us when that is!)
5)the average waiting time to pass court is 4-5 months (that now puts us at July/August)
6)they will call us with the news that we passed court and we will then leave in 2-3weeks after that. (that will be a crazy time since you don't get much notice)
7)when you pass court he is officially OURS! (then we can post photos)

So, there is the news. Not the BIG NEWS but at least some little news. We have been waiting for some news for 2 years now. Yes, it has been two years since we have started this journey! Anyone wanting to adopt don't think it will ever happen fast. By the time we get our kid we will have been waiting 2 1/2 years!

Hopefully in the next month or so our BIG NEWS will come!

The New Year and Getting Annoyed

2010-01-05T20:56:00.011-05:00

Happy 2010. I am not sure anyone is even reading this at this point. We have not been very good about updating. We had Thanksgiving and did the traditional family dinner and had our annual Thanksgiving Brunch. JT loved playing with his all his cousins and enjoyed the company.

JT enjoyed Hanukkah this year and actually enjoyed lighting the candles and opening his gifts. Every night I would ask if he wanted to open presents and he would say, "Light candles." One of his gifts arrived after Hanukkah ended and I gave him his present and he went in the cabinets looking for the menorah and said, "Light candles?" I told him we were not lighting anymore candles and he could could just open the gift. At least he isn't all about the gifts, yet!

We got 2 feet of snow at the end of December and we all loved our time playing in the snow, sledding and most importantly the time off of school! JT experienced his first time at making a gingerbread house.We spent a week in Rochester visiting Kevin's parents and Larry, Laura and the kids. JT had the best time playing with his cousins. I'm not sure Joyce loved all the noise as they ran circles around the house but the kids had a blast. We went sledding one day. Kevin managed to ride down a hill with JT in tow and run into the plastic fencing. Larry has some great video and the best is hearing JT screaming for dear life and Kevin in the mean time is laughing. we went to the Children's Museum. They have a Sesame Street section and that is of course where we spent most of our time. JT got to "talk" to the count and his favorite Elmo. He loves Elmo. He also got to practice passing out hot dogs and ice cream at the vendors with his Grandpa Warren. JT did a great job in the car both there and back. The dogs missed us and welcomed us home.

It is now back to the real world of working and being tired all the time. It has also been 15 months since we have been put on the waiting list for our child. The average "wait time" was 14-15 months. Now it is 15-16 months. So, needless to say we are still waiting but at this point we are getting really annoyed. Looking at the trends, it seems as though they have been getting less referrals than last year. We do not know why. Up until this point we were not really restless at all. JT keeps us busy and for so long, the "wait" seemed so far away. It seems as though the closer we get, the more annoyed we are getting about waiting. Just give us our kid!

Hopefully in the next month or so we will have some good news to share. Of course there are a lot of pictures from the last 3 months. Enjoy.

Happy Halloween

2009-11-01T14:07:00.012-05:00

Halloween is one of our favorite holidays. We always decorate our house and love when the kids tell us that our house always is the scariest and looks the best! Kevin had his first Wizards game of the season so he missed out. I took JT out trick or treating with Justin, our neighbor, in tow. We didn't let the rain stop us. JT had the best time. He always said, "Trick or Treat" and waited patiently for his candy. He kept talking about how he was getting candy for his pumpkin. He doesn't really know what candy is but he knows what lollipops are! Luckily it wasn't towards the end that he saw a lollipop and asked me to open it. Seeing that is was Halloween, I let him have it. He actually sucked on it a few times and said he was, "All done." He wasn't afraid of any of the decoration and actually would go up to the skeletons in our yard and gave them hugs. I thought that was very nice of him! We got back home and we both handed out candy. He enjoyed helping. I put him to bed and after about 8:00pm we didn't have any other visitors. I think the rain kept people away. We had a great time.

Last week, we made a trip back to Cox Farms. We went with the Harrison family. JT and Gavin spent about an hour running up and going down the slide. They had a blast. JT saw his goat friends and when one was sleeping, JT very nicely told people to, "Shhh." We picked out pumpkins and carved one of the bigger ones. JT really didn't like carving the pumpkin, so I did it myself. Kevin reminded me that he never liked carving pumpkins either. I guess that job will left to me then.

JT has moved into his new "Big Boy" room and is sleeping on an air mattress. It is an animal safari room, filled with elephants, zebras and giraffes. He loves sit!

No new to report on the adoption process. Still waiting.......

Apple Picking

2009-10-10T17:21:00.013-04:00

We continued our annual tradition of going apple picking with the Harrison family. It was a little rainy that day but that did not stop us from picking apples and eating the divine bread. JT and Gavin loved the bread as well. Gavin was very helpful as he would pull the branches down while he told JT to pick the apples. They were a great team. Jack joined along and practiced his walking skills that he has now mastered.
We threw apples at the pigs and luckily I came home with all ten fingers. I wanted to try to pet the pigs but there was a big mean one who wanted to take my hand off. Nicole begged for me to pet him and when I would try the pig would snort and try to attack. I was unsuccessful but maybe next year. Another fun day with the family!

Adoption Update: We are going on Thursday to redo our fingerprints. That's about it. Hopefully in the next few months we will have some exciting news to share.

The Summer's End (warning...lots of pictures)

2009-09-12T23:00:00.019-04:00

I said all summer long that I would update this Blog and it just never happened. We had a lot of fun and kept busy. We started off with a trip to Rochester to visit Aunt Laura, Uncle Larry and cousins, Madeline, Sam and Olivia. Of course we saw Kevin's parents as well. We took a plane. This was not JT's first plane ride (we went to Rochester when he was 4 months old) but this would be the first one where he knew what was going on. He loved it. He kept busy by coloring and listening to music. I am sure the person in front of him didn't appreciate the fact that JT kept playing with the tray table, but at least JT wasn't crying or bothering anyone else!

For Father's Day we headed to The Reston Zoo. JT loved feeding the goats, riding the horse and watching the monkeys. We hope to make this an annual tradition.

At the end of June we headed to our annual beach trip at Ocean Isle. JT loved the beach and the sand. He spent most of his time sitting buried in the sand and throwing it in the air. He pretended to juggle it. ( Kevin showed JT how to juggle) He also enjoyed going in the water with Taliya and he liked wearing her pink goggles. My cousin Andrea I made the best discovery at Ocean Isle. It is called Sun Set Slush. We made a visit everyday and indulged in our slushies. They were divine. My cousins Mike and Patty and Meredith and I relived memories of when we were ten and made a trip to the water slides. It was as great as I remembered. We can't wait to go back next year.

Larry and Laura came back down to VA in July. The kids had a great time playing and blowing bubbles. The cousins love getting together. We went to the zoo in D.C. and I knew I should have never taken JT. He didn't have a nap that day but I really wanted to bring him. We took the Metro down and I can not even describe the fit he threw out of exhaustion. He fell asleep on the Metro and stayed asleep in his stroller for about an hour. When he woke up while at the zoo he was in a terrible mood. We didn't get home until 9:30pm. I learned my lesson to never do that again! We will try the zoo one morning before nap time!

Every Monday JT and I met Gavin and Nicole for our weekly yoga class. JT never did much but he liked the songs and enjoyed going to playground afterwards and having a picnic with his pals Gavin and Jack. We took a day to go raspberry picking but we spent most of our summer at the pool. JT started off being fearless and attempted drownings on many occasions. He did learn the pool "rules" and by the end of the summer he was jumping in, going under the water (which never bothered him) and could swim to the stairs or ladder from a few feet back. JT loved taking a shower at the pool. He would take a shower for 15-20 minutes after being in the pool. I think he liked the shower more than the pool!We will continue with lessons this winter and be back at again next summer.

JT's favorite babysitter Stephanie has headed off to college. We have found another great babysitter named Zalikah who lives in the neighborhood and she will be watching JT this year. JT will be heading to preschool next week. He will be there from 8:45am-11:45am and then Zalikah will picked him and bring home for lunch and for his nap. I am now working full time and teaching second grade. I have a great class but really do not enjoy working full time!

On the adoption front....We just resubmitted to get our fingerprints redone. (for some reason they think they have changed!) We are still hoping for a December referral (that is when we get a picture of our son and what ever information they have.) We take that information to a doctor who specializes in international adoption. After we accept the referral we should travel in 2-3 months. We are hoping to be on way to Ethiopia next Spring!

Enjoy the pictures.

Ode to JT. He turned 2 today!

2009-05-11T22:39:00.010-04:00

Two years ago today, our little boy was under the warmer like a batch of french fries, as Kevin likes to say. JT was born after 23 hours of labor (I only felt about the first 10 hours), having pooped inside of me (which is bad for the baby), the cord around his neck, some breathing and some temperature issues. He was in and out of NICU his first day but was just fine. I had watched many hours of emergency births on the Discovery Channel, so while Estelle was being nervous, I figured he was just fine and he was. After seeing all those shows (babies born at 26 weeks, multiple births and emergency C-sections) a little poop and some slight breathing issues were nothing.

JT was greeted by his dogs Mia, Zeus and Tzeli. They loved him right away. He loves them too! We had to put Miss Mia to sleep when he was 6 weeks old. But to this day, he walks around with her picture and will kiss her memorial stone every time he heads to the back yard. I will never let him forget her!

JT has spent the last two years learning how to swim, walk, talk, play soccer, going to the Little Gym, taking Yoga and most importantly making friends. His favorites so far are Gavin and Jack. He also spends a lot of time with Parker and Darden. He enjoys Lauren, Christopher, Evelyn, Grant, AnnMarie and Thomas in the neighborhood. He also loves our neighbors Lisa and Justin.

JT had his birthday party this past Saturday. He enjoyed his friends and while we were suppose to be getting ready to do the cake, all the kids decided it was pool time. So we took the cake outdoors. We sang quickly, he pretended to blow out the candle and then they were all back in the pool. He opened his gifts and then took a three hour nap. Whether or not he realized everyone was there for him, he had a great time.

We celebrated tonight with Nicole, Mike, Gavin and Jack with some pizza and Cold Stone ice cream. Gavin led us in a song of Happy Birthday, while JT stared at him and ate his ice cream!

JT has been a very good boy. We love being greeted each morning with a "Hi" as we enter his room each day. He dances and sings for us, kisses the dogs on command, he will even kiss them on the lips. It doesn't get any better than that!

Hopefully next year at this time, JT can celebrate his 3rd birthday with his new brother!

A Day With Thomas and Bubbe Joyce Comes to Visit

2009-05-02T22:53:00.012-04:00

We spent the day today with Thomas the Train in Baltimore. We met Nicole, Mike, Heather, Bobby and of course their kids up there. We all had a good time. The kids enjoyed themselves and we ended the day with a real train ride. The kids also got to ride on a little train by themselves. I guess this could be considered JT's first amusement ride and he did it all by himself. He enjoyed looking back at Gavin and eating his snack. I think JT's favorite thing was getting a stamp on his hand. He looked at it all day and kept saying, "Thomas." He was a good boy in the car and came home and had a nice nap.

Last week Joyce came in for a visit. She got to spend some quality time with JT and Zeus. She joined us for a Yoga class that I have been taking with JT. If you are wondering.....No, JT never does the Yoga. He walks around or runs and stares at people. But it gives me something to do with him and Nicole and Gavin are there as well. Joyce also got to see first hand what a great dad JT will be. JT's friend Lauren gave him her baby doll and he loves it. He carries it around all the time. He will even share his waffles with her. Joyce and Zeus really bonded on this trip. She even kissed him on the lips before she left! We are so proud of her. We will be back to see Joyce at the end of May when we fly up to Rochester. It will be JT's second plane ride but the first he will actually be able to enjoy. We will see how he does!

No news with the adoption. We actually had to get another form sent in with a state seal on it. We did it and it's in. So.....we keep on waiting!

Ladies and Gentlemen

2009-04-19T22:37:00.007-04:00

Today we went to the circus. I think I had only been to the circus once and that was well over 20 years ago, make that 30 years for Kevin! We weren't too sure how JT would do. It's dark, loud and you have to sit still for 2 hours and 20 minutes. JT did have his own seat and starting off sitting on Kevin's lap. He loved the music at the beginning and then everything got very loud. JT started crying. He was really scared. He wanted to sit with me, cried for a few minutes and then was mesmerized by the whole thing. Nicole and Gavin joined us while Mike and Jack parked the car. When Mike came in, Jack started crying. Kevin, Mike and Jack left and Kevin had a great idea to help Jack with the loud noise. (see picture below)

The boys did great. They loved the circus and sat still the whole time while on our laps. (except for the 10 seconds that I took a picture)We had a picnic dinner on the lobby floor, while we enjoyed our funnel fries. That would be like funnel cake, but made into fries. Great idea! They are much easier to eat that way. We saw the tigers, the motorcycles in the ball (which I think is so neat and dangerous!) men on stilts and the best part was the elephants. By this point, I couldn't find the camera so I have no pictures to show. We will get those next year. We couldn't believe how well JT did. He usually can't sit still for more than 5 minutes. Now we know it is possible. I guess we just need some elephants and tigers laying around.

The Monkey Man

2009-03-22T20:24:00.010-04:00

A few years ago, well more like 8 years ago, I purchased 2 Anoles (little lizards) at the Super Pet Expo. This is held every year at the Dulles Expo Center. Meredith actually purchased 2 ferrets at the same time but ended up returning them after realizing nothing compares to her Scoutty Momma. I mentioned to Kevin that we should go this year. They have dog rescue groups and people can bring their dogs and I knew JT would love it.

This morning when I got up, I thought I would just check out the event online and see what was going to be there. When I saw that "The Monkey Man" would be out and at 11am, I had flash backs of my younger years at Myrtle Beach. Oh, the memories. It would be night time in Myrtle Beach at the Pavilion. The smell of funnel cake and cotton candy and the sounds of my cousin Michael yelling, while going round and round on the swings. I never went on the "scary" rides, so I waited at the gates where people would exit after riding the rides. Then I would see "The Monkey Man." I would give the monkey a dollar bill and the monkey would grab it. He would shake my hand. Then I got a Polaroid of the monkey. I still have one in my photo album. Being the great mom I am, I would only want the same experience for my son! I yelled for Kevin to get dressed and we were off to the Pet Expo!

When we got there, JT was overwhelmed with all the dogs. We stopped at the Great Dane rescue. JT thought the black and white spotted ones were cows. He gave a few of the dogs a kiss and we moved on towards the back where "The Monkey Man" was suppose to be. I saw a man who had on a top hat, funny colored looking shoes and he looked half clown, half magician. On his shoulder was the monkey. She was a cute little thing, with a diaper on and a clown suit. I had JT and he loved when the man pulled out his ukulele. He sang a song and as soon as he finished JT said, "More, More." Well, the "Monkey Man" doesn't sing on command like we do at home! When I explained to JT that he was going to do some magic tricks, JT threw a fit. Kevin removed himself with JT and walked around. I stayed and enjoyed the magic and could hear the screaming, of an almost 2 year old, in the background. I too removed myself to help Kevin. We sat in the corner while I restrained my child for about 20 minutes. And no, I didn't accidentally type in an extra "0", that was 20 minutes! It really didn't bother me too much. It was very noisy and there were lots of barking dogs, so I really don't think many people even noticed. I did break out into a little bit of sweat but the stress level wasn't as high as I thought it would be!

After JT's tantrum, we made it back to "The Monkey Man." I gave the monkey my dollar bill. She gave me a hand shake and kissed my nose! I then got my picture with her from Kevin's cell phone. Then JT got to do it. It didn't phase him at all that it was a monkey. For all we know, he probably thought it was small dog. Then he and Kevin got their picture. I was so happy for JT, even though he didn't really care. He will in years to come. It made my day! (BTW the monkey's names was Janga)

JT in Concert

2009-03-05T22:46:00.008-05:00

Take a few minutes out of your day to enjoy some tambourine playing at it's best. Here is one of JT's favorite songs. He has become quite the tambourine player in his day. We were getting ready for bed and that is why he has no diaper on. He said, "On" which means he would like to listen to "his" song. He got out his tambourine and went to work. He seemed really into it so we grabbed the video camera. We didn't want to distract him and put pants on, so he played in the flesh. Please excuse the brief nudity.

He played right on beat (shown wonderfully at about 6 minutes through the video), threw his hands up at the appropriate times and even kissed his audience when Phil did (about 5 minutes and 45 seconds through he video). Watch closely. This is about 8 minutes long but we think you will enjoy it.

You will need to go to the bottom of the page and turn off the music. This way you will be able to hear the music in the video.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Why?

2009-02-28T00:17:00.003-05:00

Why Adopt? And why from Ethiopia?
Many people have asked us these questions. It's simple:

-One in ten children die before their first birthday.
-One in six children die before their fifth birthday.
-44% of the population of Ethiopia is under 15 years old
-Half the children in Ethiopia will never attend school.
-88% will never attend secondary school.
-Ethiopia’s doctor to children ratio is 1 to 24,000.
-Ethiopia has approx. 4.3 million orphans and the country is twice the size of Texas.
-Per capita, Ethiopia receives less aid than any country in Africa..

Finally Some Snow-Our Little Man Is "Cooking"

2009-02-07T20:40:00.008-05:00

Last year we never got any snow. We got some ice but JT never got to have a "real" snow day to go and play and put on a snow suit. I guess his snow suit from last year will be for our next little man. So, it finally snowed. It only took us 45 minutes to get JT ready to head outside! I was sweating to death. JT was consumed with playing with his chainsaw that Gavin gave him.

We put JT on the flying saucer and pulled him with a tow rope. He loved it. All the neighborhood kids were at the top of the hill sliding down. I really wish JT could have gone out there with all the big kids. I have the best memories of playing in the snow with Jenny and Francesca in Cinnamon Creek. We had a hill that we called "Kill Hill." Jenny's dog Duke would chase after us and try to take our hats off. We always had to stop short before hitting the trees at the bottom. Estelle told me not go on that hill several times because she thought it was too dangerous but I would lie about not going and go anyway. The good news is that I am still alive and well and hitting a few trees never did much harm. I hope JT and our other little man have such great memories when they get older.

As for the adoption....Everyone always asks us how the adoption is going. We don't mind at all but the fact is that there is never any news and we probably won't have any for a long time. It's annoying but we knew this was long process when we started. I do wish we went with another agency that seems to be getting referrals more quickly but we can't change now without losing a lot of money. So hopefully by this time next year we will at least have a scheduled court date and a picture of our little man.

It's weird to think he isn't born yet and his birth mother is probably only a few months pregnant with him. I do wonder if she already knows she will be giving him up for adoption or if that decision will come later. I have no idea what kind of medical treatment they get during a pregnancy but right now as we speak our little guy is "cooking" away in his birth mother's belly. I hope she is taking good care of herself.

The are so many reasons why people give up their babies for adoption. For people in Ethiopia it is mostly because of poverty. Sometimes the family has to decide what children or child to keep while they give one up because they know they can't afford to take care of them all. We will not know why until we get the paperwork and we may not ever find out. I guess it really doesn't matter. We are hoping that we do get to meet the birth parents or mother or at least family members. It is their decision. We want to be able tell out little guy about his family and have pictures to show him. We do plan to go back when he and JT are older and show him where he is from. We do want him to now that his birth mom had a very difficult decision to make and she loved him so much that she gave him to us. That is whole conversation within it's own! As for now..... we wait.

Enjoy the pictures. We are still working on the Genesis video.

Happy New Year

2009-01-11T10:46:00.009-05:00

It's been awhile since we posted. We had Thanksgiving at our house this year. JT hung out with his cousins Taliya and his new cousin Alani. Towards the end of the night, JT was cranky so I turned on a Genesis concert we have taped on TV. As he watched, he was anticipating all of Phil Collins' moves. My cousin Mike was very freaked out by the whole thing. Stay tuned for a video of his dancing and hand movements. We will post that soon. He watches this concert everyday at lunch. He has the whole thing memorized and we think he may be a musical genius! Just so you know, this is the only TV he gets to watch.

We then celebrated Christmahanukwanza for the 5th time this year. We got together with Nicole and Mike, had brunch and exchanged gifts. JT loves the chainsaw Gavin got for him!

As we head into the New Year, JT is in many activities. He continues to go to the Little Gym on Wednesday nights. He will move up to the next age group and rejoin his friends Gavin and Parker for the 6:15pm class. He has soccer practice from 9-10am and swim lessons from 11:30-12:00pm on Saturday mornings. Yesterday was his first Saturday of this and he had a well deserved 3 1/2 hour nap when we came home.

I have a new job. I am now a Pampered Chef consultant. Funny, since I don't cook. I paid $150 and got $500 worth of supplies and figured if I can make some extra cash and hang out at parties, it will be worth it. I have my first party with school friends at the end of the month that I am hosting. If you want to host, let me know. You get lots of free stuff and it doesn't cost you a thing.

As for adoption stuff... we sit and wait and will continue to do so for a long. We hope by this time next year we will have a referral.

Stay tuned for the dancing video. Enjoy the pictures. Lately, JT is a little obsessed with his work goggles and enjoys sitting in boxes and sharing his snacks with Zues and Tzeli.

Happy Halloween

2008-11-02T00:26:00.002-04:00

We got a little jump start to Halloween this year when JT and Gavin headed to their first Halloween party held at The Little Gym, where they both take a gym class. They had fun dressing up and looked at each other like they were nuts. Neither one of them really liked wearing the hoods to their costumes but were pretty good about putting them on when we told them too. They enjoyed some games and some cookies.

JT enoyed his 2nd Halloween. He did go last year as a turtle and seemed to enjoy himself. This year he loved Trick-Or-Treating, running around to the houses, he waited patiently for his candy and had fun going with our neighbor Justin. Justin goes out with JT early, then joins his friends for the real fun! Estelle and Al joined us as well and Al did a good job with the video camera.

JT liked his costume but wasn't too fond of the hood. He looked wonderful in his Peacock outfit and showed off his sexy legs in his orange tights. These pictures will be good blackmail for later on in life! Enjoy.

It has arrived and we are officially "waiting"!!!

2008-10-15T08:10:00.004-04:00

So I guess when they something will take 9 weeks to arrive, they mean 9 weeks! Yesterday our fingerprints from immigration finally came. Kevin faxed them over to our agency in Mass. They can now send everything over to Ethiopia and all the paperwork gets translated to Amharic.

Our official application date to Ethiopia was October 7, 2008. The estimated wait time is 14-22 months. We got a nice letter welcoming us to the program.

So, why the long wait? There are 4-6 million children in Ethiopia in need of homes. Only a small percentage are legally freed and available for adoption. Many are older children and sibling groups. There are over 70 worldwide agencies. 25% of those are in the US. 120-160 families apply to Wide Horizons (our agency) for the Ethiopian program a week! With that all being said, we will be waiting for a long time!

We are glad our part is done with. We will have to re-do our fingerprints next summer but that is all. We are excited!

Good Buys, Apple Picking and Cox Farms

2008-10-07T14:11:00.032-04:00

Saturday morning started early when I went with my neighbor Lisa to the yard sales in Kirkpatrick Farms. I bought a piano where JT can practice his Elton John interpretation. I bought a wagon for $5 and the best buy was the moon bounce that sells for $200 and I snatched it for $40. It's as good as new!(Those are our neighbors jumping while JT was sleeping.)

We then headed off to Stribling Orchard. For the last many years, we have been apple picking with Nicole and Mike. Jenn and Tommy had joined us several times in the past and this time we were joined by Heather, Bobby and their two kids, Darden and Parker. This was also JT and Gavin's first time. We never made it last year. Kevin and I continued the tradition of never even buying apples and just eating as we went along! We did enjoy the fresh white bread they make and had that for lunch. Kevin did his yearly entertainment of juggling, while munching on an apple at the same time. The pigs were still there, rolling around in mud and eating the apples we threw at them. We will be back again next Fall.

On Monday we went to Cox Farms.JT learned how to milk a cow. JT and Kevin went down a big slide. We ate apples and had apple cider, which JT didn't like. JT made friends with a baby cow and stuck straw up his nose. And the best thing of all, is that JT made a new friend. JT found the lonely gray goat at the bottom of the hill and found a corn cob. He was nice enough to share and they hit it off. After a nice morning, JT came home and took a nice long nap.

As for adoption stuff, still no word! I am pretty annoyed that we still haven't gotten our fingerprint papers back but I am emailing them today to see what the deal is. Hopefully they will be here soon.

Another Summer Gone By

2008-09-10T09:09:00.001-04:00

We have decided that we will try once a month to write a post with updates, not just about the adoption but with the family as well. This way, our "child to be" will know what his family was doing while we were WAITING. We did get a phone call saying all of our paperwork was done correctly and nothing had to be redone. The paperwork for the fingerprints has not come to us yet and until that is done our paperwork sits on a desk in Mass. When we get the fingerprint approval, then the dossier gets sent to Ethiopia. Then we will officially get put on the wait list. So for now, we wait. We will be doing a lot of that, so I guess it's good practice.

Another summer has come and gone. We did some home improvements and spent most of the time relaxing. Well, at least JT and I did! JT learned how to sweep the floors and enjoyed playing in the sprinkler and alligator pool.( He makes a great plumber!) We headed back to Ocean Isle for about the 30th year. This was JT's 2nd beach trip. Of course on the way down we stopped at McDonald's. He met Ronald and ate his first grilled chicken sandwich. He had a great time at the beach with his cousin Taliya. She kept him very busy. They enjoyed the sand and the water. JT ran around like a mad man. We are hoping next year, he will want to sit for a few minutes and build a sand castle and we can relax a little.

I have started school. I am working in the mornings, Tuesday-Friday. Kevin continues to sell people insurance and won a trip to NJ for selling so much life insurance. Thanks to all my friends that had babies! JT spends the mornings with his babysitter Stephanie. He loves her and she loves to play with him all day, so they make a good match.

That's all for now. When we get our fingerprints back, we will be sure to let you know.

Hopefully an A+

2008-08-05T22:01:00.001-04:00

Today we went to get our fingerprints taken for the US. We did this already for the state and for some reason they can't just send them over. Everything has to be so difficult. The prints are good for 15 months and so we have a feeling we will be taking them again next year.

The good news is we have finished the Dossier. The Dossier consisted of...

1. Power of Attorney Documents- State Seal Required
(This says we allow Dr. Tsegaye to act as our lawyer in Ethiopia)
2. A Statement of Reason for Adopting an Ethiopian Child
3. Photo Pages
4. Employment Verification Letters
5. Financial Statement
6. Original Birth Certificates
7. Original Marriage Certificates
8. Health Forms
9. Police Clearance Letters
10. 2 Letters of Reference
(Thanks to Lisa and Tracy!)
11. Obligation of Post-Placement
12. US Approval of Petition for an Orphan
13. Home Study Approval

We got the form sent to us today with the state seal on it. We got an approved Home Study two weeks ago. Kevin headed to Kinko's and made the 4 copies of all the papers needed and we will send it all in tomorrow. Hopefully they will call and tell us that there are no mistakes. So far, we have gotten 2 calls saying we have done great with all the other paper work. We need just one more! We think after everything is approved, we fill out an application specifically for Ethiopia. Then we get put on the waiting list. Right now we just want a phone call saying we got an A+ on our Dossier. We think we were good students and followed all the directions. We will keep everyone updated.

Welcome

2008-06-26T23:28:00.001-04:00

Hi Everyone,
We are starting a blog, really for us to keep track of our "adoption journey." Some of you are well aware of what we have been up to and many have asked questions. We figured this was a good way for us to keep track and keep family and friends informed. Everyone who knows Erin was not surprised when we told them we were starting the adoption process. Erin always wanted to adopt and for some reason always wanted a child from Africa. Maybe it was from her love of safari animals? So there wasn't really any decision making that had to be made when picking a country to adopt from. Ethiopia it is.
We started our paperwork back in February. Our Home Study has been completed and we are currently working on our Dossier. (The important paperwork.) We will have this all completed by September. Then comes the waiting game. As of now the estimated wait time is 14-18 months. By then JT will be over two and ready for a sibling. Tzeli will be 10 and Zeus will almost be 6. Kevin will be 42 and Erin a young 31 year-old! We will all be ready. We are not going to be crazy "bloggers." We will update this as information arrives and when there is news to share. We already need to thank our friends Jen and Tommy, Mike and Kate, Julie and Brian and Nicole and Mike. They had to fill out a many-paged referral on our behalf. Nicole even met with the social worker and put in a good word for us. Thanks everyone for helping. Thanks for reading.

- Kevin, Erin, JT and the Dogs