Two Has Arrived

This little boy of ours turned 2 last week.  Thursday was his birthday and Saturday was his party.  It was an exhausting day on Saturday cleaning the house and doing party prep, but Gadisa loved every moment of his party.  We had 1/2 of it at a gymnastics center and then everyone headed back to our house for some Ethiopian food and games.  Time is moving so fast.  So, so very fast.  Seems like just a second ago we were waiting for him to come home.  Waiting and wondering.  Today, our days are filled with 2 year old adventures.  I love these days.

  

  

Missing my baby

We are in Boulder, Co this week and while we have been here, Gadisa has been spending time with his Nana. We got this video from her today. I can't wait to see him tomorrow!! That scrunched up, painful look at the end...that's him smiling for us. I love it!

Hey...Get Your Own!

I ran upstairs to put some laundry away and came down to G checking his email. This kid needs his own computer already!

Blossoming

Time for a little Gadisa update. He's growing like a weed. I keep putting clothes on him that fit just a few weeks ago and they are small now. He's also a busy bee, moving from one project to the next. Still babbling, but those words will be coming any day now. He's behind a little on his words, but understands absolutely everything we tell him. He's growing so much with being exposed to new things and people at daycare and it's so awesome to see him becoming more comfortable in new surroundings. He warms up a lot quicker to people that he wasn't so comfortable around before. It's nice for everyone to start seeing the ham this kid really is. He loves to make us laugh and I can't wait to start having conversations with him...well, ones that I can understand at least.

He's a dancing machine! Any music (toys, commercials, singing....) he starts with his dance moves. The best part is he is always coming up with new ones. Here's some new photos of this guy. Can't believe he will be turning 2 this fall!

With his aunt, Rachael, at the Renaissance Festival. I like how his face seems concerned with her touching the llama.

Hope he grows out of this phase before college.

Just a little flirting with the bakery woman is all it takes to get a free cookie.

A year to remember

Dear, Oliver Gadisa Lyric -

One year. I have seen you with my own eyes. In flesh and bone. You make me stop and see...everything. It must have been so scary to change everything you knew. Be brought to a new place where everything was different. Sounds, smells and sights. You welcomed it so gracefully. Like an old soul. Watching and taking everything in so thoughtfully. My favorite part of my day is rocking you to sleep. Music humming in the background, you snuggled into my arms silently staring at photos of your life before us on the wall as you drift to sleep. I wonder what you are thinking. I know you won't remember, but I won't let you forget. Each day with you is an honor. I hope you think we have done a decent job so far. Thank you for everything that you are and for everything that you have taught me to be. I had no idea how to be a mother until you first looked at me and simply smiled and your whole face lit up. I knew then I was put here to be yours and we would figure it out together.

Happy one year anniversary, Oliver Gadisa! We love you dearly.

Worth the Wait

We passed court a year ago today making us "official" parents. I felt like G's mama since we saw his referral photo though. The year has flown by and I just realized we started the whole process 2 years ago this month.

Everyone says it's crazy how the time just flies by.

Everyone is right.

I spent practically every waking moment with Gadisa and I have since we first saw each other. On Wednesdays, when I have a sitter for a few hours during the day, I find myself missing him and anxious to get back to this little guy. Even amid the frustrations and challenges of him (Really, G...you need to try and unplug my computer again? What is your fascination with electrical outlets?!) I am always remembering The Wait. The hours and days of sitting in silence in his room just craving to hold him.

Everyone says it's worth the wait.

Everyone is right.

Car seats and parades

Guess the forward facing car trips are going to be on hold for a bit. Now the American Academy of Pediatrics say it's best to keep them in their seats rear facing until age 2. Hope the ol' flip around will go over well with Gadisa. He loves going on car rides and does amazing in the car.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/03/21/car.seat.guidelines.parenting/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn

We hit the St. Patrick's Day parade last week and were met with amazing weather! G loved it.

We are fully into March Madness around here, which means G gets to stay up and watch KU basketball. He's loving it. Our beloved Jayhawks are headed to the Sweet Sixteen! Rock Chalk!

Questions and worry

photo courtesy of : http://betheanswerforchildren.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/emergency-campaign-for-ethiopia/

The news has been released that Ethiopia is reducing their processing of foreign adoptions by 90%. There has been a growing concern over unethical adoptions and verify whether an child is truly an orphan. This news is frustrating, yet I had a feeling that something was going to happen soon on adoptions here. I do understand the need to regroup, so to speak. The organization that processes adoptions is completely overwhelmed and under staffed. However, slowing down the number of adoptions getting processed will leave children in orphanages for an extended period of time. Health & medical conditions can only worsen if this happens. Not to mention the emotional turmoil a child goes through being in an institution on survival mode vs. being in a loving family.

Whenever it is possible, I wish to see children stay with their birth families. I strongly support this. It is heartbreaking that a beautiful country has so many children that leave it. As happy as I was to have our son in our arms, I left that country sitting in my plane seat crying because of the loss between my son and his country. However, there are so many kids that have no option of staying with their families in Ethiopia. So very many. What is going to happen to them? Who is going to fight for them?

I suppose right now all I want is information. Information on what Ethiopia plans to do with all these children currently in orphanages waiting for their forever families. I want to know the game plan. I want to know how they are going to support these children. I don't want to disrespect their decision, I just want to...well, help. Make this situation make sense.

I have the utmost respect for my son's birth country. I just have a whole lot of worry and questions today on what this means for the children of Ethiopia.

If you are interested in signing a petition to ask the Ethiopian government to reconsider this move and to consider other options you can sign it here: http://betheanswerforchildren.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/emergency-campaign-for-ethiopia/

Happy 1st Referral Day

One year ago today, the day started like any other. Me, anxious and full of anticipation. Waiting and waiting. Wondering. Trying to push through everything like life was normal, as if we weren't waiting for our future with every second that ticked by. I had decided to work from home that day when THE CALL came.

It's hard to believe we've known about Gadisa for 1 year now. It's gone by so quickly. My life is completely different than what it used to be one year ago. I no longer am just a "me" when sharing my day's stories with my husband. I am a "we." "We" are an "us". The two of us, my son and I. My little sidekick and adventure buddy.

When I saw the first photo of him I couldn't breathe. He was surreal. A dream long in the making. We had a face to focus on. That face had a name now.

Oliver Gadisa Lyric has been in my heart from the moment he was referred to us. Every motherly sense about me came out instinctively and I hung tightly to my heart to keep him safe. I thought about him every second of the day and starred at his few photos that we had until every image was engraved in my mind.

These days, I live what I wondered about. I love just watching him. Playing, laughing, touching things & then looking at me to see when I will say "No!" Then I think...there was actually a time when we didn't know each other?? How could that be?! Gadisa is one of those people that pull you in. His charm, that sneaky smile, the way he wants to make you laugh and his seriousness all bundled into one soul is beyond beautiful. Being his mother is such an honor.

Happy Referral Day, G! We love you so much and are so very proud of you!

Leaving the bottle behind

I wanted to put it off. I wanted to keep babying him. Our doctor told us at 15 months, get him off. Josh agreed. To me this is more symbolic than just taking him off the bottle. To me, it's a loss of his infancy. It's a loss of an aspect of mothering. Those slow, afternoon moments of rocking him to sleep while feeding him a bottle remind me of summer. Remind me of when he came to us. Now, our little guy is a toddler. Now, he's a sippy cup taker. Now, he's a walker. It's happening so fast. Everyone says it does. I just want to scoop him up and push pause. It's so hard to watch them grow up before your eyes, yet so sooo beautiful.

I informed Josh the other day that if Gadisa chooses to go to college in another city (gulp!) we would in fact be moving to whatever city that was. I mean, come on...who else is going to cut up his food into itty-bitty pieces so he doesn't choke?

Baby Derby

G's new favorite home activity has swept the household. Baby Derby! Oliver and his dad came up with this one the other day when all of a sudden around the corner in a screeching turn came our little guy barreling across the living room floor in his Derby cart. He squeals and screams the faster they go.

Our son is going to be a daredevil. I can tell already. He loves to swing around, fall, be thrown up in the air...you name it. Anything that could result in him getting hurt and me doing the infamous quick inhale of air while clutching my chest he is into. I'm already terrified for him. I do admit however, I'm a big fan of Baby Derby.

A little High Five action before starting.

Ahhh...man. I hate it when that happens.

Looks like we need a pit stop repair.

Highchair Tears

Check out this angry, sad little face.

This sight is becoming a daily occurrence. We get this reaction lately when we are wrapping up meal time. Food has been a soothing factor for Gadisa since we met him, but really isn't it for any child this age?? On the other hand, I've read about adoptive children having issues with food. Gadisa just over eats. And then eats and eats some more. He's at a healthy weight now, but we are trying to come up with how to handle his angry cries for more food. When he screams, it's more like he's yelling at us for more food. We don't necessarily want to give him things when he's got this tone of crying/screaming with us and we know he's not hungry, he's just stocking up. It could be a reaction from his time in the orphanage and the association of hunger with food and the frequency or lack of when it was given. Or, it could be the toddler in him coming out to get what he wants when he wants it. Whatever the reason, this little man is pretty angry at his mama when he sees me going to wipe off his hands and face. Hopefully, this phase will wrap up soon. For now, we just calmly take him out of the high chair and walk around to calm him down and distract him with another activity. If you've got other suggestions, I'd love to hear them!