This and That

Little Miss Shine is beginning to love books! One of my true loves is reading, so I am so glad she is enjoying it also. Her favorite book is "Hop On Pop" by Dr. Suess. I don't know how many times we have read this book since Christmas. "Hop On Pop," she says as she enters the room with the book. Little Miss also likes Sandra Boynton books. She knows that brother can read now too, so when Mom and Dad are busy, she will find brother. He enjoys reading to her as much as she loves him reading to her. 

As for the hat this is her favorite. She finds this hat everyday and brings it to either me or C and wants it on. Much of her day is spend wearing her owl hat. :)

We are planning a mini vacation, so I pulled out the suitcases to start packing. Little Miss was loving climbing in and out. While we are gone, we are planning to get together with a couple that adopted a baby from Ethiopia also. This little girl slept in the crib right next to Little Miss. It is going to be so fun to get the girls together. Mrs. V and I  have shared many emails and followed one another's blogs for the past few years as we shared our adoption journeys; I am looking forward to meeting.

As for the dresser behind Little Miss, I would like to repaint it. Any color ideas????

Bring In The Reinforcements

I have spent much time thinking about our "Obama" incident and can't help but wonder how can I teach my child how to stand up against racism. Is it possible for a caucasian woman to teach a little African American girl how to do so?  I know I can teach her to be self confident and to stand up for herself, but I cannot teach her to be an African American woman when all I know how to be is a caucasian woman. How could I possibly teach her how to be a strong AA women? I can't. I have read many books about biracial adoption and knew there were going to be issues like this. I was just so surprised how early they surface. I have come to the conclusion that it is so important for Little Miss to have an African American mentor. The unfortunate problem is the demographics in this area; 98% caucasian. This quest will be difficult, but I believe it will be worth the search.

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!