Meeting Y for the first time (video)

Our First Meeting

(Click on the words above to get to the video link. In respecting the the privacy of the other children in the video, it was unavoidable to edit out all pictures their faces. We tried to make it blurry and contacted most of the new families of these children and got the thumbs up to post. Enjoy!)

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to you all! May this year bring good health and happiness to all of our friends and family. The year 2013 has obviously been the best year for us as a family yet! I could not help but think back to the several years that Xmas was so bitter sweet. We just could not believe that we still did not have our daughter home with us and we knew that the new year meant serious contemplation if we could continue on to another year of waiting for our adoption. We now have to wait no longer! We have her home! We are complete! Bring it on .... each new year! We will now be walking forward, together as a family of 4, with renewed optimism and joy.

Our first holiday season with Y came and went without a hitch. Our little Y embraced all of the traditions and festivities with a zesty gusto! For many adopted children or children that come from a hard place, the holidays can be a time of increased anxiety, but not for Y. She absorbed all of the crazy in stride! A big guy with a red furry coat that flies in the air on a reindeer at night? Ummm... cool! Putting a big tree in your house and hanging toys on it? Ok.....that is silly but fun! Watching dad crawl on his belly on the roof to hang little lights? Really - not sure you guys can get any stranger, but I will go with it because they sure are pretty!

Even though we were reluctant to even start up the concept of Santa, her brother went for it and eventually succeeded in explaining to her that this guy Santa can bring you anything you want. Guess what she decided she could not live without? Sugar and a dolphin car (I have no idea...).  We went to a party where Santa made a surprise visit. Upon his grand entrance through the front door, Y plowed through that swarm of kids and practically swan dived into his arms declaring, "Santa! Sugar! Dolphin Car! Santa! Sugar! Dolphin car!"

Alas, Santa did come through with the sugar request, and to her delight, she was allowed to have a massive candy cane inserted in her mouth for two straight days. You are welcome to stop by my house to see the evidence of this by the sticky red fingerprints on the walls, bedding, light switches, cat, stuffed animals, and appliances. As for the dolphin car? Not so lucky, but luckily, she was transformed when she saw her stash of sugar in the stocking and I doubt that that odd car ever entered her mind again.

Besides sugar, this was an opportunity to give her some nice toys. She had not had many up until this point as we were still figuring out what her preferences were. She is still a little oblivious to them. She does not seem to (yet) have that creative approach to toys and they just sort of perplex her.  We have tried to provide her with things that closely resemble what brother has (toddler remote car, a little race track, etc) as her main priority now in life now, it seems, it to be treated as an equal. If brother has a car in his hand, then she must have a car in hand. This is typical attachment and 3 year old behavior, but unless brother plays them with her - such as their matching cars - then she loses interest quickly. We have toys that resemble real life (like play food), but unless someone is interacting with her in this play, then they also provide limited interest - or they frustrate her because you can't really eat the wooden orange slice.  Regardless, she has some nice things now and I suspect that her creative side and independent play will come to her with time and these toys will be very much enjoyed!

New Years was an experience! We participated in the annual Gaddis New Year's Extravaganza where our one and only hipster Daddy (tee-hee) was a DJ for a wild-n-crazy kid dance floor. It was a little loud and overwhelming for Y, but she was content just sitting back on the sidelines observing the 40+ kids/adults going bonkers. She does this a lot - observe. It is pretty awesome, really. She waits, watches, learns, then jumps right in! When the clock stuck 10:00pm (New Year Eastern time), she completely dug the idea of finding her family members and giving us all multiple hugs and kisses.

I think Y's very most favorite part of the holidays was staying home with "her family" for two whole weeks! She loves saying this 50+ times a day; MY family. MY Mommy, Daddy, Brother. She sings that Barney song, "I love you, you love me...." as she walks around the house.

We love that she is loving us and we are loving her. Love. Love. Love.

We are soaking in the lovefest for now because back in late November I started back to work full time and it was a massive transition for us all. Actually, it was more like throwing us all into a blender and then instantaneously needing  us to sort out our normalcy when the blender stopped. Luckily, she likes her daycare worker ("Auntie") and friends there, but does not like that she is no longer Mommy's daily side-kick. I now work at the district office with longer hours, so this means that we get the kids home at dinner time (10 hour days factoring in commute time). Hubs is coaching 2+ evenings a week. I have yet to even begin how to figure out how to manage getting two tired and hungry kids in the door, make a healthy meal, clean up afterward, do homework, and most importantly - squeeze in much needed 1:1 connection time with our little Y. This has been extremely tough on her resulting in regressive behaviors directed toward me (emotional lashing out by withholding affection, eye contact, kind words, etc) and this is tough for us all. The first few days of our break, Y needed me to hold her all of the time. I seriously thought my arms were going to fall off, but it was needed, so I did it.

Much of this holiday has been about just nesting in our house with a lot of down time. We now have our happy girl back and that is really hopeful that we will conquer in the end, but for now, our two weeks is nearing an end and we are all a little panic stricken. We have been talking to Y about starting back to Auntie's and have some interventions in place to hopefully help ease us back in to this transition. Oh, and my sis made us a freezer full of crock-pot meals to take that burden off (best present EVER!). Wish us luck!

And to end this on a happy note - how can I part without mentioning the newest member of our family? Introducing Ishi!

Ishi translates to "It's all good" in Amharic and I probably butchered the spelling. Santa thought that J was such an awesome big brother that he delivered J's  #1 wish! Honestly, this leopard gecko has always been a firm second on J's want list ... next to sister, of course.

Food and the adopted child

I think it impossible to understand what food means to a child who has not had enough. I had read up on it, viewed some webinars, talked to other adopters regarding potential behaviors, but I totally underestimated the challenges associated with it until I became a parent to a child that has been hungry. To a child whose daily mission her first 3 years of life was finding enough food to eat and then probably still went to bed without a satisfied tummy.

I was shocked ... SHOCKED... with how much food our little one could devour when we first took custody. At one time, Hubs and I thought that is was easily more than both of us consumed on an average day. Her poor little body would tremble at the sight of food with the anxiety of Will I actually get to eat this food? Will they take it away before I finish? Will this be the last of such a glorious meal? When she got a hold of it, she would literally open her throat and cram it down. She would wake during the night and ask for bananas and eggs. Before she was totally roused out of sleep in the morning and after nap, she would start rocking back and forth crying for bananas and eggs. She. Was. Obsessed. If we even walked into the kitchen, she would be right there hanging on a pant leg and crying for food. I honestly don't think she understood the concept of preparing food. She was used to having food just handed to her on the streets or in the orphanage, so the concept of taking 15 minutes to prepare something sent her anxieties through the roof. When she got the food, she had no "off" button and would eat until she gagged. When her plate was empty, she would face plant into the plate and lick it clean. If you even dare try to take her plate with even a crumb left, she would swipe at you with her claws. Seriously - I will never forget this. Thinking she was finished, I reached to clear her bowl. I did not see that a remaining spoonful could be scrapped from the side. The way she quick-as-a-flash grabbed on to my wrist and looked at me with such ferocity, well, the only word that I can use to describe it was primal. It froze me in my tracks - and then it added to my compassion for what she must have faced in her life to lead her to such an instinctual reaction.


In the first few months that we had her, our entire day focused around food. When will we feed her next? What will we give her? How can we prepare food without her loosing it? How do we present it without her pouncing on it like a tiger? Was that portion too big? Too small? How do we describe healthy portions and that "seconds" really just mean one more helping?

Intuitively, we let it be like this at first; our days centering around food. We figured that her body just really needed good healthy food, she needed to learn that food would always be available and that she would not go to bed hungry, and that nobody was taking it from her. Most importantly, we knew that it helped comfort her during a traumatic transition.

After those first few months, however, we questioned the direction we were going with food. She was gaining weight too rapidly (turning from a bitty thing to almost tipping over into the overweight level on the charts) and her food behaviors were becoming frightening. In one of her Oh my God! Someone gave me a banana out of the context of our kitchen table, so I better cram it down my throat before it is taken away! she choked on her banana. One of those scary kinds of Heimlich and then hang the kid upside down with several blows to the back for a minute kind of scary chokes.

We consulted with a specialist and decided the best approach was to just limit her meals to healthy 3 year old portions. When she requested more food in between, always have healthy choices on hand - like an apple or an orange. And just to clarify - An apple. An orange. Not giving her free reign the entire bag of fruit like before.

Eventually her anxieties eased up. We had a bit of a respite while she was on a 21 day oral med for parasites. It zapped her appetite, so I think it actually helped her to see that we were still having mounds of food offered to her even without her asking or even wanting it. And also, when the parasites were cleared up,  it was to be expected that her body would not need to crave and absorb as much nourishment.

 
As I write this now, we are entering a whole new ball game. One day she woke up and realized that there really were choices in the food world and that she does not have to eat everything that is placed in front of her - so now she was only going to pick foods to eat that are the most yummy! Currently these consist of about 6 things -  the top choice being chicken nuggets (I know, so help me. At least I try and buy the most healthy ones), and of course, any and all sweet things that don't stick to her teeth. Above all, she is a stickler for dental hygiene. Go figure.

At dinner, it is still important to us that she be served what all others have and she needs to try a bite. If she does not eat dinner, then she does not get anything else. No, I don't let her starve and I always have a side she likes.  I also offer a bedtime snack and plenty of foods in the daytime that she will eat. I do feel it important, however, to try and avoid being a short order cook and establish some parameters with food from the beginning.

Is she hording food?  This is a very common question to ask with people that have faced hunger. For her, not entirely. The other day she said that she "needed privacy" and shut her bedroom door. Thinking this was suspicious behavior being that she does not normally like us to have our eyes off of her, I entered the room. She had an innocent look on her face, but I saw the little Hershey kiss stashed up her sleeve in such a crafty manner ... the kiss that we said she could not have until after dinner. This could be related to already established behaviors or a typical 3 year old thing to do, but regardless, hoarding will be something we will have to keep our eye on.

Our main priority is to teach her how to have a healthy relationship with food; making good choices, letting her know it is always there, and not always turning to it when feeling stressed and anxious (and no - I don't always have to sneak a piece of dark chocolate after a really tough day at the office. Geesh!).

I cook with her. I show her that it is a process and talk about the good things that we put into food. One of our favorite preps is morning glory muffins. Yummmmm!!

We provide healthy and (mostly) non processed food. We use words like Super power food! and Happy body food! We have little sugar in the house and no soda. She is not denied sugar, rather it is just something to have occasionally  - like on a Friday night, at a party, or a treat from Santa in the Xmas stocking.

 Are we doing the right thing by her with our approach to food? Who knows. We question all routes we take with her in this uncharted territory and step back frequently to assess our direction and reroute, if needed. I recon this will be a lifelong struggle for her. We will do our best to pave this way for her as smoothly as possible.

This is our girl

In 5 months, we have discovered that she......

                                                     Loves to go fast!

                                                       Makes silly faces with mom

                                                  Rides horses - especially Cocoa

                                               Can be outrageous.... anything for a laugh!

                      Is always up for a dip in the tub with her ladybug cap

                                                        
                                   Is a good mommy to her bear named Honey

                 Is a lover tolerant of snow (she just has to figure out how to walk on it first)

                                 Likes being in the mountains with her brother

                                                  Is in training to be an Olympic gymnast

                                     Can seriously rock the colors pink and yellow

                                              Digs playing in the sand with her crew

 

 Is our Sassy Sissy!

 

A letter to my son

My Dearest J,

I love you with all of my heart. And then some. My love for you has tripled since we added Sister to our family. You do know that we give you the majority of the credit that she is now with us, right?  Your Dad and I had hit our emotional limit several times throughout the years with this adoption. We had a handful of stop dates marked on our calendar, but when we would tell you that we were stopping, your little soul appeared to shatter. You would cry the most genuine tears for hours at a time. You were a boy who needed his sister and was determined to see this through, so we continued on.

Being an only child for 7 years, we predicted struggles you might have with the transition of an instant 3 year old sister, but never could we have dared predict how much of a trooper you would handle it all! I know.... sometimes she is not very nice to you which leaves me to wonder if you did not get (as a sister) what you bargained for, but you tell me that you understand why she is the way she is. You say it is because she has never had a sibling and has always had to fight with other kids for what she has received and that we just need to work hard to teach her.  Even when I go to hug you (after she's kicked you in the shin), you will whisper, "Mom... now go and hug her so she does not feel left out!"

Yes, your former undivided attention has now been divided, but you never seem to care. Luckily, I have taken time off of work to spend all of my energies on you and Y.  I know you appreciate that I still try to give you equal 1:1 time still - if not more than before. It is during these cherished alone times that I share my concerns. How are you? Did you feel sad that she pushed you 3x today? Are you getting enough time on your own? I had to attend to her needs after dinner and could not hear out the story of your latest adventure, so did that hurt your feelings? He will always answer as "No". He will always say he understands all of it and that he is more happy that we have Sister (even though that means less attention comes to him) than being just alone. You have never complained.

I have seen you mature before my very eyes these last three months. Sometime I will almost reach my breaking point (after having a little one hang on my pant leg for 10 hours straight) and sensing this, you'll swoop in without asking to divert her away to an activity alone with you. You did not blink when we almost entirely cut out electronics because you said that this will just motivate you to play with Y more. As part of your maturity, you have had the tendency to want to smother and care-take her a little too much. You possess a wise-beyond-years empathy for others, but you are learning and understanding when enough is enough. I have heard you now ask for hugs and then say, "Oh, I can see that you don't want a hug right now, so I will wait." For anyone that knows your big huggy heart, this is huge for you to be able to step back and understand this!

It warms my heart each day when you tell me how much you love her and how happy you are that Y is your sister. Not a day goes by that when after you barge through our front door after school and call out for Y so that you can get right to playing, I don't think how fortunate I am to have you. To have her. That you both have each other. We are complete now - which is something you verbalize often.


Last but not least, how can I not shed light on your silly, rascally antics and how you have strengthened you and your sister's bond by tapping into her silly and rascally side, too. You have taught her her how to make zany faces, tooting on command, Lego men launches, ballet with attitude, snorkeling in the hot tub, couch trampoline, and how to promote dad's immaturity (just to name a few examples). Bellow is a glimpse into a now typical chaotic dinner prep with an "(I want an) Avocado! Avocado!"

Even though Y does not always know how to show it yet, I can tell that she is crazy about you. You are her totally awesome big brother! How can she not be nuts about you? You are the best big brother that was even born in January, 2006. And, in general, you are just the best boy EVER. To my little music maker, dancing maniac, wildly creative, clever as a whip, dramatic king, and silliest bug.... you make me proud in more ways than I can list. I love you!

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO - Mom

Feeling charitable this holiday season?

Oh my, the holiday season is rapidly approaching! This is a time that you might be brainstorming on a nice gift to give to others or even hope that you receive! For our family and what we have recently experienced through adoption, we are entering this holiday season from a different prospective. First, we have spent time in a country of beautiful people who experience extreme hardships on a daily basis. A place where little monetary value for us could go a long, long way for them. Second, due to the hardships that one mother, our daughter's birth mother, has had to face in her life resulting in her need to give up her little girl to adoption, we feel a combination of great remorse, gratitude, and motivation to make a difference. Whereas we cannot change the situation that has happened in Y's  mother's situation, we hope that we can make a little difference in preventing similar situations happening to other families.

So, instead of giving a nice new sweater to someone, think about possibly putting that money toward
sponsoring a child in school for a month or making a donation that will buy 10 new books for  library? I am betting that the spirit of giving will shine brighter for both the giver and receiver with such a gift. :)

The charitable opportunities in Ethiopia are endless, but I am highlighting a few that I feel to be top-notch. I am pretty tuned in to the adoptive community and in contact with women who feel strongly about giving aid to Ethiopia. These non-profit organizations (many grass roots) have very little or zero overhead costs and seem to come up frequently as ethical organizations that do a lot of good. I will continue to add to this list as my research continues, but here is a good start. I encourage you to click on each link and see if one stirs you!


1. Lola Children's Fund  www.lolachildrensfund.org
 I put this as #1 on my list as this is the one we will be contributing to. This organization is located in our daughter's birth area of Mekele. This organization gives orphaned children who are affected by HIV a chance to receive residential care, medical care, and schooling. They also support families who are at-risk due to HIV. We will be doing the $35/mo child sponsorship program. They also have just one time donation opportunities.

2. Ethiopia Reads  ethiopiareads.org
Many adoptive families are dedicated to this cause and even make personal trips to see the benefits that this organization provides. Check out their informative website to see all that they do. Their primary focus is to build schools and libraries (including mobile libraries via motor or donkey) as well as in-service and trainings for locals that will be involved with these projects.

3. Roots Ethiopia rootsethiopia.org
This organization's main focus is providing kick start grants (to primarily women) so that they can start their own income generating businesses. Love this! In addition, they also have a school sponsorship program. It is possible to make a one time donation to a general fund or a monthly school sponsorship donation. The founder, Meghan Walsh, said that I can share my email with you all if you have specific questions meghan@rootsethiopia.org. I hear nothing but good things about this one and when we get more $$ in our pockets again, we will also be contributing to this organization.

4. FAYYE Foundation www.fayyefoundation.org
This organization was founded by a fellow WACAP adopter, Jamie Lynn Grumet. I think she is a powerhouse and I put my trust in her compassion and cause. This foundation focuses on micro loans, maternal mortality, and clean water projects.  

5. AHOPE  www.ahopeforchildren.org 
This is a school/family sponsorship program for children living with HIV. This is a long standing foundation that has a stellar reputation.

6. TESFA  www.tesfa.org 

For all my athletic friends out there, you might like this one! This foundation focuses on school construction, education, and sport development programs. They have a housing and training program for teen girl runners. You might also want to click on this movie clip: townofrunners.com  to check out of some of the good they contribute to.

7. WEEMA www.WEEMA.org
They just do a lot. Check them out!

The following are Christian school sponsorship programs that carry good reputations.

8. Embracing Hope International www.embracinghopeethiopia.com

9. Bring Love In  www.bringlove.in

10. World's Greatest Beans worldsgreatestbeans.com  These folks partner with Bring Love In and 20% of proceeds go to their foundation. Buy some beans! Support a cause!

 

The Flight

 Any travel that lasts 48 hours (25 hours in the air) is bound to contribute to an interesting story, but sprinkle in a terrorist threat, stomach flu, hysterical kid, and rude flight attendants, well, it is the makings for a novel! (Don't worry - I will just make it a cliff notes version).

As if we did not have enough to worry about flying with our scared little girl the day before our departure from Addis, we opened our email to a flood of warnings from US security that the VERY DAY we were to be flying over and staying in the middle east, there was a serious threat of a terrorist attack. All US embassy's were to be shut down the morning we were flying out. We decided to ditch our overnight hotel plans in Dubai and instead get a hotel inside the Dubai airport. We figured not traveling outside of security and into public transport would ease the stress, just a bit. 

On the morning of our departure, we knew it was going to be a struggle. Now that I know Y's personality, she was sensing that there was going to be a big happening coming up that she did not trust or understand, so she was going put herself into 100% fight or flight mode. For her, that is displayed by means of stubbornness and defiance. I get this. I really do. She was scared and confused. No doubt, any and all people might act similar in the same traumatic situation. Again, I have compassion for her experience as I share how we all struggled in this situation.

Despite prepping her for days about the concept of a seat belt, she was not going to have it in the cab ride to the airport. This was our first glimpse that we were about to enter the gates of hell.  Getting out of the cab, she went into 100% survival mode, so this meant that every single item we had that she perceived as hers (which was pretty much everything), she was not going to part with. Of course she  had to be this way... as she desperately had to hold on to all that she understood and had control over. She was going to carry/drag/push almost every piece of luggage that we had with her through the airport. Of course, she could not, so this created quite the scene for all Ethiopians in the airport to witness. If this photo above could talk, you would hear her screaming at me "NO! Y!" as I was 5 steps ahead with the rest of the loot. There are understandably mixed emotions from Ethiopians regarding Westerners coming and adopting out their children, so to be making such a huge spectacle of ourselves in such a public place was uncomfortable, to say the least.

We finally boarded the Emerits plane with our kicking and screaming child. This photo captures the brief 15 minutes that she was happy before take-off. The sweet flight attendants (on this flight) showered her with gifts to calm her down, so she had a moment of distraction. I remember mustering this smile both out of relief thinking that she might be manageable on the flight and that we were finally on the plane to bring our daughter home. About 5 seconds after this photo was taken (as you can tell, I was actually going in to snap that blasted seat belt), the following 5 hours in air to Dubai was seriously the worst 5 hours of my (our) life. She kicked and screamed in protest of her seat belt the entire time. She hated that anything had to hold her down - that a stupid rope thing had so much control over her! She fought so hard that her little body would wiggle right out of her belt. There were times that I physically had to lay my body on hers to keep her from harming herself. Beads of sweat poured off of all of us. Our neighboring passengers (in first class, nonetheless) glared at us. To make it even more unbearable, she had learned that indicating she needed to go to the bathroom meant she could get out of the belt. Stupid us did not pack pull ups, and since she was having he runs, we had to honor her requests - only to find that most of the time she would just sit on the toilet and laugh or actually go and then make sure to punish us by managing to get her feces on her hand and then on to us. Again, her need for control in her world that lacked understanding.

Alas, we landed in Dubai and learned that there was a sweet mercy in that our hotel room was literally above our gate.  Hubs deposited us in our room and left immediately to go and plead ask the airport pharmacist if there was any sleeping medication we could give our child. I can just imagine what went down. "Please Mister, don't you have anything that you can give me to put a child in a coma-like-sleep for 48 hours? Anything at all? Sleeping pills? An anesthesia drip? A pint of vodka?" (Ok, those specific requests might be exaggerated a wee bit, but we were almost feeling that desperate). Much to our demise, the answer was no. Much to our gratefulness, Hubs was not dragged away in straight jacket due to his bizarre request and his looney demeanor.

As Hubs was on this mission, I was mustering the strength to cuddle in our bed with Y to look at our photo book and explain to her best that I could that if she wanted to go to her new home tomorrow - to her bedroom, new bike, and her brother - then she was going to have to wear that seat belt. She screamed and cried some more at this information, but then we slept (for a minute) and morning came.

This photo was taken as we were just about to board our flight in Dubai and we were already realizing that things were going MUCH better. First of all, there was the realization that we were not bombed that night. That was a good thing. Next, she was chipper and laughing and then.....

she plopped her little bottom down in that airplane seat and said, "Mommy! Belt!"

That sweet little stinker insisted that belt go on and and stay on! From then on out, things were a million times better. Not perfect - as there was still the the challenge of keeping a 3 year old occupied for several hours of air travel, but much, MUCH better. I truly think she turned a corner that night and accepted that she can't fight it any longer, so just to trust and go with it. That is how she seems about life now, in general. She is such an awesome kid. :)

This is also a very good thing because about 4 hours into the flight was when my first wave of nausea hit. There was a suspected tummy bug going around our guest house and it appears that little bugger followed me home. It did not help that we had a bunch of rude flight attendants that seemed to have a personal mission statement that said we must keep the dinner trays in front of the passengers until their next meal is served so that we can be most efficient. When I asked if they could please take the stinking tray of curried lamb away after 2 hours, they rolled their eyes at my inconveniencing request as they snatched it away. After 4 hours of puking, I went back and interrupted the attendants' social hour and asked if they had any anti-nausea pills on board. When I told them I thought I had a virus, I got an "Oh great, now we are all going to get this for our return flight." They had the pill, but said I did not meet the requirement to take one, so instead shoved a glass of flat Coke in my hand and shooed me away. Husband sat next to Y and entertained her the remaining hours that I ached and shivered from fever in my seat.  So lucky that our sweet girl sensed I was not well and stepped it up even more on her good behavior. And she also got a good 4 hour nap in.

Fast forward now to rerouting flights in the US (flew from DC to San Fran to Phoenix to Salt Lake) and We FINALLY MADE IT!

By this time, Husband and I had maybe slept 2 hours of 48 and were practically hallucinating, but the joy we felt seeing our son again and experiencing him meeting his sister for the first time made it all worth it!!!