Did you just call my baby Obama?

The strangest thing happened today when the kids and I were at the grocery store. I was pushing around the ginormous cart. If you are a mother you know the one with the little car attached to the front. Any time we are a store and there is a cart with a car attached to the front, it is a must. We had made it to the cereal aisle when Big Brother hopped out of the driver's seat and is drooling over all of the cereal choices. We stopped in the middle of the aisle.  Little Miss was sitting in the little car pretending to drive when a woman started to approach us. I watched as she looked directly at my little baby. She approached the cart not taking her eyes from my child. I grabbed the cart handle, ready to pull it back if the woman would try to touch my daughter.

Side note - Many times when we are out in public people believe they have the right to come up and touch my child, usually her hair. I don't understand it. I would never walk up to a stranger and touch their child's hair. Weird.

The woman leaned down and said in a very calm manner, " I will not be voting for YOU again this year. I hate what YOU have done to this country. The health care plan is just a big joke. She finished with saying, "Well, I will give you one thing YOU sure do know have to give a good speech!"  Then she stood up turned around and walked away.  I think my mouth was touching the floor.

What was that?! It was so unexpected; I didn't even know how to respond. She was addressing my sweet girl as Obama! WHAT THE HECK????

I kept an eye out for her as we finished our shopping. I had decided if she tried to approach my cart again I would tell her she was not allowed to address me or my children. What was that?

I mean, does this look like Obama to you?

Happy "Gotcha Day!"

One year ago today we landed in Ethiopia to bring our daughter home. We traveled for just over 17 hours. I think I only slept for about 2 hours the entire flight; I couldn't wait to be reunited with my daughter. I knew every moment I was closer and closer to my child.

We landed in Ethiopia around noon. Our agency told us a few days before we left that we wouldn't be reunited with our child until the day after we arrived in Ethiopia. I thought I would be able to rest when at the hotel. I was wrong.

When we arrived at the hotel, we were handed our itinerary. It stated that we would be taken to HH and we would be bring our child back to the hotel with us that day! I was SO EXCITED!!! My baby would be in my arms in a matter of hours! No more nights without my sweet baby girl. Then the panic set in....I hadn't slept for over 24 hours....what if she is frightened and cries all night?

My husband and I checked into our room. He took a nap so at least one of us would be coherent if Little Miss would have a rough night. I prepared everything for our first night with our little girl. Bottles in place, formula unpacked, pacifiers, diapers, blankets, toys, etc. Then I packed the diaper bag. Before we knew it we were on our way to HH, the last time we would make the trip without our little girl, no more goodbyes or "see you soons." I would be able to tell her the waiting is over it is time to go home.

We entered HH and the gates closed behind us. We had been separated by an ocean; now just walls. My body was shaking, my eyes were full of tears, I knew I would not be able to utter a word without turning into a blubbering mess. Within moments she would be in my arms. We entered the baby's playroom. I was scanning the room for my baby girl. I couldn't find her. 15-20 babies were in the room where was my little one? I skipped over the babies with little or no hair, knowing my baby had a head full. Then a nanny signaled me and pointed to my precious little girl. There she was..my beautiful baby girl. Another nanny was sitting in a green chair rocking and giving her a bottle; Little Miss was sleeping. Her hair was pulled into many little pigtails. The nanny handed her to me. Finally in my arms again! The wait was over!

She was sleeping. (A bit anti-climatic) Little Miss woke us within the hour and immediately smiled. It was almost like she remembered us. All smiles. What an amazing day it was!

But, that was just the beginning of this journey we are on. Little Miss has been with us for a year today and has given us so many smiles every day. Words cannot express how blessed I am to have the privilege to raise this beautiful little girl.

Happy "Gotcha Day" to my Little Miss!

(BTW - no reason to worry about no sleep. We all sleep just fine those first few nights in Ethiopia! Mommy, Daddy and baby)

Meetcha Day

A year ago today we boarded a plane to Ethiopia to meet our sweet baby for the first time. I still feel the butterflies when I think about landing in Addis Ababa, knowing I was within miles of my daughter. Then walking through the doors of Hannah's Hope, my whole body was shaking and tears were welling up in my eyes. The moment I had dreamed about had finally arrived. My daughter would be in my arms within minutes. Almaz, the director of HH, told us we first needed to finish a bit of paperwork before meeting our baby. As we entered her office my mind was swimming, I couldn't hear a word she was saying; all I could think about was holding, seeing, kissing, and hugging my daughter for the first time. After what seemed like hours, we were walking to the baby house. I was scanning the room for my baby. I knew she had loads of hair. Then a nanny walked up to me saying," E's mommy? " There she was ....the most beautiful little baby girl that I had ever se

en. My life from that moment was forever changed.

As I think back to that day I am so thankful to be w

here we are a year later. Don't get me wrong. I LOVED Ethiopia! We meet so many amazing people and the entire experience was fantastic. But having to say goodbye to my baby and fly back to home, to the other side of the world, was terrible. I would say that was one of the most difficult things I have ever had to do.

So today we celebrate meeting our daughter and are so thankful she is home with us. It is going to be such a special Christmas season.

Happy Halloween from Mr. Potter & our little Bumble Bee

We had a great time treat or treating. My son was a bit confused about the meaning of the it all. He told me on the way to our neighbor's home that if she didn't have any treats, she may do a magic trick for us.

Little Miss would tell everyone she was a "bum bAH!"

What a fun night! Last year we knew we had a little girl across the world waiting for us to come and bring her home. It is just so fun to have her home with us this year to celebrate all of our holidays together as a family. Thank you God, for both of my little ones!!!!!!!

I'm back!

The fall is always a crazy few months for us. The Farmer becomes very busy with harvest; he is gone from 6:30 am to 10pm. These few months are always difficult, but I am shocked how much more with another child in the mix.

I am a high school one-act play coach 4 months in the fall; this year I am hosting the conference competition. My mornings begin at 5:45am, waking up two little ones, getting one ready for school, then off to practice, which begins at 7AM. After practice we drop brother off at preschool, and return home to complete choreographing our play or to work on the conference tournament with Little Miss in tow. Thank goodness for her morning nap!

Have I ever mentioned that the Little Miss is ALWAYS on the go? Here are her daily objectives:

Her #1 mission for each and every day is to pullout the electrical plug covers!!!!

Our Plan of Attack= Cover them with the baby outlet covers with used with our son. Mission FAILED! Tape over the outlets. Mission FAILED!!! Buy the covers that are labeled "very difficult to remove." FAILED horribly, she pulls these out in record time.

The Result = Chase her around the house at all times until she decided this game isn't fun anymore. Apparently, this is one of her favorite pass times, she shows no interest in giving up this sport.

Mission #2 = Trying to get any remote, computer, ipod, phone into her hands at all costs.

Our Plan of Attack = Place the electronic in a high place out of sight.

Result = Little Miss will climb onto the table, open drawers to climb onto the counters. Thank goodness we have heavy chairs. We think she may be in training to be the special forces.

Mission #3 = Enter brother's room and climb to the top bunk.

Our Plan of Attack = Keep brother's bedroom door closed.

Result - This works most of the time, until a little boy forgets to close it. I swear she walks down the hall to just check to see if the door is open.

We only have a few more weeks until my husband will be finished with harvest and we will settle back into a more normal routine for the winter. It is crazy how easy it is to take for granted a good father and husband when they are always there. We definitely miss C when he is gone. Hats off to all of the single parents out there!

U.S. Adoption

Today was our U.S. court adoption. Our adoption agency requires this to be done within the 1st year of returning home with your child. Just to clarify she was 100% legally ours when we landed in Washington D.C. in January. This process is done so that a U.S. birth certificate and ss number can be issued. lWhen a family leaves Ethiopia the child has been given a first name and the middle name is the first name of her adoptive father. We decided to have E's name changed today also. Her first name remained the same, but we took out my husband's name and added Hannah Jimma for her middle names. Hannah after my grandmother and the place she resided while in Ethiopia, Hannah's Hope. Jimma was also attached to her name because she is from Jimma, Ethiopia. Little Miss Shine's name is no longer EC, but E Hannah Jimma.

We celebrated with ice cream today. But, later this month I plan to cook a traditional Ethiopian meal to celebrate with family.

A year ago today I was praying for this little girl across the ocean that I only knew from a few photos. My heart ached to hold her. Now I am able to hug, kiss, play and laugh with this precious little girl every day. Thank you, God, for this sweet baby girl. She is truly a blessing to our family.

1 year later

Our baby 1 year after her referral.

A year ago today we received our referral. The phone call came around 11:30 am and with in minutes we saw our little girl for the first time! She was 6 weeks old and weighed a healthy 7.5 pounds. We couldn't wait to meet her. I didn't know how I was going to handle waiting to hold my precious baby, who was over 7,000 miles away.

We made it through the wait and my how our lives have changed. E has been such a great addition to our family!