Our anniversary

Eight years of wedded bliss- our anniversaries began with weekend get-a-aways, Chicago, concerts, etc. This year we spend the day at the zoo. Romantic? Not quite...Do I miss those weekends alone? ABSOLUTELY!!!! But I wouldn't change it for the world!

A DAY IN OUR LIVES

I thought I would try something different than my usual posts. Yes, I realize I will not be offered a reality show any time soon, but this is a basically day at our home.

My day starts with coffee, Ethiopian coffee is my 1st choice. I am SO excited because I discovered a store within 100 miles carries fair trade Ethiopian coffee. YAY!!!! I know you are thinking 100 miles seems a bit extreme. If you only understood my location, the backwoods, you would share my excitement.

Big brother starts his day with," Mom, for breakfast I would like cheerios, raisins, and peanuts in a bowl with juice, please." Every morning this is his request and has been for nearly 18 months now. He eats his trail mix with his daily dose of PBS. I don't know why this surprises me; I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every day for lunch for many years. This strange ritual began in kindergarten and ended sometime during the 3rd grade. That calculates to over 800 pb & j's if I only count school days. YIKES!

Little Sister will stand at the window nearly every morning begging to go outside to play.

Usually we head out around 10 either for a walk or the sand box. I think we finally have a handle on how much sand Little Sister is consuming.

Lunch

Litte Sister was refusing to eat when I would try to feed her, so she is trying it out. Yes, messy, but as you can see she LOVES it!

More time outside - the water table is a hit!

Naptime - my favorite part is when she wakes up, and brother can't wait to play with her. He jumps in her crib and they will play alone together for nearly 20 minutes.

After nap more time is spend playing either at the park, in our backyard, or at the pool.

They day end with supper when Daddy comes home. After supper is playtime, bath time, and bedtime.

Bath time - She is such a little ham!

Our day in a nutshell - goodnight

Summer Time

SUMMER is one of the times that our family is stuck in our little town due to all of the busy farm work my husband must do, so we will have a crop to harvest in the fall. In a town of 1,50o I must say our activities are limited, but thankfully we do have a swimming pool and a family favorite, the drive-in theater.

Our days are full of blowing bubbles, swimming, playing in the sand box, visits to the park, riding bikes, ice cream breaks, popsicles, walks with 2 in the double stroller, library summer reading program, grilling out, gardening, and nights at the drive in.

Big brother has finally accepted that riding his bike is LOADS of FUN!!!! Yes, he still has training wheels and we will not be removing them this summer. It took 2 summers before he decided riding bikes was great. He may have training wheels until he is 10. ;)

Little Sis has learned to crawl and is walking around all of our furniture. It is driving big brother a bit crazy. Little sis is into EVERYTHING and wants to be doing exactly what he is doing. :)

She LOVES to go to the pool! She is saying dada, mama, hi, cat, nana, big brother's name, and uh oh.

Ethiopian Friends and Blogging Mothers

I am "friends" or shall I say have been in contact with some of the other families who have adopted children from Ethiopia. Most of whom adopted from the same agency as us. I have read the blogs of these mothers waiting to bring their children home, we have contacted one another through emailed, or follow one another on fb. Some of these women I have never actually spoken to with the exception of written words. The interesting fact is that I have meet, taken photos of, played with, or even held their Ethiopian child while in country for our court date or to bring our daughter home.

When we arrived in Ethiopia to bring baby E home, there was one other family from our agency who was also going to be taking their little baby home. We introduced ourselves and then the name of our babies as we were on the way to the hotel. The couple said their little boy's name was D.....hmmmm...I was not sure if I knew him or not.......and then J shared his nickname....I immediately knew who their son was. The baby boy with the best smile in the baby house! He was in the same room as our daughter! During our first trip we played with D quite a bit simply because I couldn't resist his smile.

There was another mother, who asked if I would take photos of her little girl, ZW, while we were in country. I was so worried that I would be unable to find her due to the number of babies there, and I was uncertain if I would be able to pronounce her name correctly. This baby was also in my daughters room. ZW slept in the crib right beside my baby E, and they also had the same special mother, Seble. I couldn't believe it! Needless to say, I was able to take many photos of ZW and spend time playing with her also.

Yet another mother comes to mind. When she, J, was in Ethiopia to bring their son, JG, home; she contacted me through fb. The special mothers at HH told her she needed to contact me. It was a running joke at the transition home that our children were to be marriage. The special mothers had introduced me to JG when I was in Ethiopia.

I have loved watching their children, who are all home now, grow via photos on the internet. Any time new photos or videos are posted I show my daughter, E, her Ethiopian friends. She loves watching any of the new videos, but will also light up with a photo. I don't know if she remembers these faces, but they are part of her history. All these babies were in the same facility for at least 5 months of E's life. ZW slept beside her and D in the same 14x 20 room, my daughter would have recognized their cries, coos, and giggles. JG was just down the hall, but baby E and the others would have spent time in the playroom and outside together. All of these babies are connected. They were part of a "family" for a short time at the orphanage.

So please keep updating photos of your precious little ones and I will too. Some day in the future I do hope to meet all of you in person and bring some Ethiopian friends together again.