The Poe Family

2012-01-03T21:58:00.000-05:00

Hey! The Poe Family Blog is going into indefinite hibernation. ZZZZzzzzz. Keep up with us over at my new blog...Cozy Little Nook. It's better!

Love,

2011-08-10T16:46:00.003-04:00

Heellloooo!!

I'm still here! Took a little blogging break for a while. Stay tuned for a Desi-centric blog post about wrapping up our first year home!

I just wanted to show you something that I've been working on! You may remember from this post that I've begun to fancy myself a bit of a furniture-restorer-type. I'm falling in love with reupholstering old treasures and turning them into something new, fresh and wonderful. Well, I'm broadening my horizons! Here's what I took on...

I found this not-so-little treasure at the Goodwill Store by my office...

Awfully pretty as-is wouldn't you say? Look at the original hardware!!! Seriously!

But I wanted more for this piece. It needed a makeover. So I downloaded an ebook from a wonderful blog that I happened upon called Perfectly Imperfect.

(I believe I discovered it through Pinterest...have you heard of it? My new addiction!)

So, with a little bit of elbow grease and a lot of sweat (it's hotter than Hades here in Indiana) I managed to transform this piece into this.....

Drum Roll Please!

I picked the color, Roycroft Pewter, from my favorite paint place, Sherwin Williams...LOVE my SW!

I'm telling you, I feel like a proud mama. I think it really turned out nice. I'm selling it by the way...on Craig's. You might wonder why I wouldn't keep it for myself? It was never my intention. I'll be sad to see her go, but it's meant to be. I have nowhere in my house for her anyway!

So that's it! That's what I've been doing while not-blogging. I do promise to give you a recap of our first year with Desi...soon.

Love,

PS: stay tuned because there's a new blog in my future...less about the Poe Fam and more about design, refurbs, yada, yada, yada. I hope you'll follow it!

One Year Can Make A Big Difference....

2011-04-08T08:14:00.002-04:00

Today marks the 1 year anniversary since we saw this sweet little face.....

Of course, looking at this picture brings up some strange feelings. We knew nothing of her except for the small amount of information that our referral offered. A beautiful tiny little girl, just 14 months old. She weighed less than 17 pounds and was 28" tall. She was a bit older than we were expecting for our referral, but we prayed and talked about it and decided that we accept the referral and make her ours!

For the next 3 months we could only imagine about what she was like. We really knew so little. We only received one update on her the whole time we waited!

So what kind of difference can a year make??? Well, she saw Dr. O. yesterday for her 2yr. Well Baby Check-Up and all I can say is...this girls is definitely getting adequate nutrition!!! She now weighs 30lbs!! That 75th percentile, people! She wasn't even on the chart when we took her in for her first visit in August! She is now 34" tall, which is 25th percentile, so she's a shorty.

So here she is today...a sweet, cheerful and LOVING little girl! And her new birth certificate arrived too with her new official name!

You gotta love the fro!

Oh Joy! We Have New Friends!

2011-02-06T13:42:00.004-05:00

The world has a funny way of getting really small sometimes. And of course, the internet and sites like Facebook [which I love and am obsessed with] keep my world nice and small and I like it that way! But this post is not about social networking...

Another world-shrinker would have to be adoption. I mean, before we adopted I felt like we knew very few people who had done it and now? It's like everyone we know is adopting! We also know a lot of families who are doing Ethiopian and African adoptions which is great since we really want Desi to have friends who she can relate to and share her adoption experience with. And it looks like she's going to have plenty of friends just like that! [not to mention a couple of solid prospects for a future husband!]

I think it's incredibly amazing that Desi's crib-mate at the orphanage in Addis was adopted by our good friends, the Fousts! And now she gets to grow up with this little cutie!

This week we made a new friend...make that, new friends. This new friendship came about after my world started shrinking and shrinking and shrinking! Here's how it went...

After we were about a year into our adoption process I found out that one of my good friends, Ali, from my hometown in Missouri was also adopting from Ethiopia. We were using Bethany Christian Services, they were using Holt. We traveled to get Desi in late July, they traveled to get their little guy in late August. At some point Ali had told me that there was a family from our area that was in her travel group....

Well, not long after I got home I got a message from a work colleague who knew of our adoption. He said that his wife had a friend who had recently returned from picking up her son from Ethiopia and he wanted to pass along my info...I said, sure! All I knew was that her name was Joy and she had my info.

The wheels in my brain started turning and I wondered..."what if this could be the same person that Ali knows?" so I emailed Ali and asked if her travel cohort was named Joy. Wouldn't you know? It was! This had to be the same person. Small world, eh? I still didn't have Joy's info but I was hoping that she would contact me. What a crazy coincidence!

Some time passed and I hadn't yet heard from this Joy. So one day I show up at my dentist appointment and my friend, Shannon, is there. She just stopped by to see her mom who works in the dentist's office. We are chatting for several minutes before the receptionist interrupts us and asks me if I think that I have an appointment. I'm like, "uh, yeah." She checks....I'm a week early!! I'm not suppose to be there. Before I go, Shannon tells me that she has a friend in her Bible study who recently adopted from Ethiopia and that she told her about me. I say, "Is her name Joy?" and she tells me it is! I'm like, "seriously! This girl just keeps dropping on my radar! I have to meet her! I think it's meant to be!"

When I got home I emailed Ali and told her I needed Joy's info because I was going to contact her! I had to! Well, I got in touch with her and found out that she had been having the same situation where people were telling her about this girl named Shannon who adopted a little girl from Ethiopia....isn't it hilarious?!

We finally got to get together last week and it was so fun! Since it was the snow week from hell I had to take all 3 of my kids to her house! [I was a little worried that we might not get invited back! after a whole week stuck in the house together the kids were starting to act like wild animals! They did great, by the way] Turns out that Joy has 3 kids herself and they were each one perfectly matched to my kids so everyone had a playmate for the play date!

[side note: Joy has an awesome play room! My kids were in Heaven!]

Her little guy is so sweet and handsome!

I'm looking forward to lots of fun dates with this crew!

2011-02-02T10:07:00.002-05:00

I think I might be going crazy!

...like thinking about doing something that will surely get me in big trouble with myself!

I got this idea in my head. An idea that I have already promised myself I should not and would not entertain! But here I am...thinking about it and I've already acted on it! I want to say, "stop it!! just don't ever do it again! Let it go!" And yet, I can't.

The idea?? The horrible horrible idea???

[I'd love to know what you THINK it is....]

Well here it is..."hey, I think that I might be able to potty train Desi. I mean, sure, she's only just turned 2 (so we think) and according to adoption professionals she really more like a 6 month old to us...and she can't speak English, and I don't actually know how much English she understands, and there are those other issues [the ones that haven't made it to the blog yet...]. But she's smart and I think that if she would just go on the potty a couple of times she'd really get it! Yes, I think I can and should attempt to potty train Desi..."

Go ahead and say it...."what are you thinking, Shannon?!" Ryan has already tried to convince me that it is a bad idea. I don't actually need convincing that the idea itself is bad. I know this. I need convincing to STOP TRYING TO POTTY TRAIN HER!

So, if you know me, then you know that I am not a potty trainer. I tried to train Jake and it was a disaster. I gave up and waited. He figured it out on his own and he wasn't 5 or anything. [39 months in case you were wondering and I can count on 1 hand how many poop-in-the-underpants moments I've had to endure.] So I'm not really much for the try-it-before-they're-ready method. In fact, I follow more in the school of "I'd rather just change a diaper a few times a day than have to worry about my furniture, carpet, clothes, etc. getting pooped and pee'd on."

I didn't potty train Emily either. She learned it on her own, or maybe big brother inspired her. She was barely more than 2 when she figured it out! So, I've had it pretty good. Maybe that is why I'm being such a fool about this...I don't really know how bad potty trainging can be! Maybe I'm in denial.

I have myself convinced that if I can just get her to poop on the potty a couple of times then she'll just figure it out and start doing it on her own. But in order for her to poop on the potty, I have to get her on there at just the right time. And how on earth do I know when she's about to poop? The best clue I have is that after she poops she grabs her diaper and says, "stinky". But it's too late by then. So what do I do??? I stalk her. For the last 2 days I've been following her around hounding her about not pooping in her diaper and asking her if she needs to "make a stinky??" I've also tried sitting her on the potty in the morning and after nap to hopefully catch her at just the right moment...which really means that the poor kid has to sit on the potty when she doesn't have to go...

Here's the other problem...she's super stealthy about pooping. She makes no faces, no "going off by herself" no grunting, NOTHING. She's just playing and carrying on as usual and then BAM, your nose lets you know that she's done it. This is something I am not used to. Jake and Em made epic drama every time they pooped! Case-In-Point...

Just look at this adorable picture of Emily. Awww....how cute! She's doing a push up! Is she trying to crawl??

No! She is pooping! They would cry and grunt and push for like 30 minutes [and believe me, I'm kicking myself for not buying stock in Miralax when she was born...] I had tons of time to get them to the potty, no problem!

But not with Desi. The other evening I had spent quite some time sitting in the bathroom with her on the potty. We played peek-a-boo and patty cake until I was bored to tears and my bum wa numb from sitting on the side of the tub. Finally I had to make dinner so I got her down. We would try again after dinner. I hadn't even cleared the dishes before Ryan's telling me that at some point during the meal she pooped her diaper! What??? Are you kidding me??? All that time in the bathroom and she poops in her diaper at the dinner table!! NO WAY.

We did a couple of small victories. When I got her up from her nap and her diaper was dry I put her on the potty and after a while [by the way, she doesn't seem to mind being on the potty....I think I could leave her there for hours and she wouldn't fuss...don't worry, that's not the plan.] she pee'd! I clapped and cheered. And a couple of days ago she was on there long enough to get a little poopoo out! [claps and cheers again]....although about an hour or so later she finished that one in the diaper...sigh.

So here I am. I feel like on one shoulder is a little mini-shan saying, "just stop. It's too early. it's not going to work! You are going to get yourself in trouble! NOT WORTH IT!" But on the other shoulder is another mini-me saying "she's smart. she'll get it. just try for a little longer. It will be SO worth it!"

What to do? WHAT. TO. DO?

Hair! Not sure I'm ready for this!

2011-01-30T14:58:00.002-05:00

So, during the months before we left for Ethiopia to get Desi, I spent a lot of time thinking about her hair. ...did a little research, but mostly just felt like I was going to be totally inadequate with her hair! Now, you may not know this, but I am not a fussy mommy. I will ALWAYS choose comfort and ease over frilly and fussy. Emily hates for me to even touch her hair, so even if I wanted to put bows and pretties in it, she wouldn't let me! I suppose I'm the reason she got that way....I digress.

So, back to Desi and wondering what I would do with her hair...well, when we got to Ethiopia the point became moot [or at least delayed] because here's how she looked.....

One one hand..."whoa! they shaved her head! Was that really necessary? How will anyone tell that she's a girl?"

[the answer is, yes, it was necessary...she had ringworm on her scalp. ew.]

On the other hand..."well, at least I don't have to cross that bridge right now!"

So we started from scratch.

6 months later we have a HAIR DO! It's not much, but it's the first time I've gone beyond a hair band!

I know this is just the beginning....pray for me!

[by the way...it's really hard to photograph little afros! these are the best of about 15 shots I took! ]

First Steps...

2011-01-25T21:18:00.006-05:00

....when we went to Ethiopia we didn't know if Desi could walk. It was kind of crazy. Luckily, I got to see her "first steps" in Ethiopia. What a relief![not technically her actual first steps, but the first steps she would take in front of me to prove that she could walk. Sadly, Ryan missed it because she was being a major booger at the time, which was understandable....]

But this post isn't about that kind of first steps. It's about Indiana First Steps. Our state's early childhood intervention program to get little one with developmental delays help. Our pediatrician recommended we have little D evaluated right away, which would have been a huge mistake, but within my adoption community I was encouraged to wait and give her a little time to adjust and get more comfy with her new environment. Since I am a fantastical procrastinator, I chose the latter advice and put off the eval until after the holidays.

On Monday morning a couple of really nice and helpful ladies stopped by the house to do the evaluation. They played and interacted with Des to see how she was doing developmentally. I was kind of worried about how D would do...she tends to go stone cold around strangers. But to my surprise she seemed very at ease with these ladies and did really well! Yay Des!

Really, my only concern about her development has been her language delay. I know I'm not suppose to be comparing her to other kids, but I was starting to get pretty worried that she wasn't picking up more English...I'm still not sure that she's where she could or should be. But my real motivation to have her evaluated was to see if we could get her some low cost speech therapy. After the evaluation I had this gut feeling that they weren't going to qualify her....they seemed a little befuddled by her.

The outcome of the evaluation was that she is really doing very well! They had no major concerns at all! Even though I really wasn't worried, it was very nice to hear them say it! Puts my mind at ease.

Oh! and by Wednesday I got the call that she qualified!!! [hands clapping!] So we are going to get to take advantage fo some sessions with a professional! I think it will be excellent to have a 3rd and impartial party work with her. Takes a lot of pressure off of Ryan and I, I think.

...to completely bring you up-to-date, [since I'm struggling to get 2 blog posts out in 1 month...sorry!] I also filed the paperwork to finalize our adoption here in the states and legally change Desi's name. I'm waiting for the official documents to come back so I can get her a SSN and be DONE DONE DONE with paperwork!

Also, since I'm on a roll with the up-to-date stuff...check this out....
I actually sold her a few weeks ago. It felt good to see her go to a good home! I'm on to a couple of new projects....one is a sweet little Craigs List treasure that I'm very excited about! Maybe I'll show you sometime soon.

Okay! That's it. You are pretty much caught up! Maybe I will try harder to not wait until I have a pile of random thoughts to post...maybe. Let me treat you to a few pics from January 2011. I can't believe that it's almost February! What??? And we are almost to the 6 month anniversary of being home with Desi! This blows my mind. Crazy! Where is the time going?

Here are a couple of shots of Desi reunited with her little ET friend, Amaya. Desi was kind of a dud at the playdate. I think that she is somehow confused by Amaya. I'm sure she'll become more comfortable with time. The second picture really captures her demeanor....

Little flowers....

Bath time fun...bubble beards...this pic of Em cracks me up.

Had to edit this one just a bit to make it more G rated...but seriously the best part of the pic is under the heart.... I feel I must apologize for the lack of Jake pics in this post...I'll try to get more shots of his cuteness to share. He really is so handsome.

2010 Wrap Up!

2011-01-05T16:15:00.006-05:00

Well I'm exhausted!

In fact, I've been working on this blog post for a while and kept getting sidetracked! Latest obstacle...the nasty flu! Blast You, flu germs!!

We certainly ended 2010 with a bang! What a year! It's hard to believe that the excitement started all the way back in April when we received our referral for a sweet little 14 month old girl. We decided to make her ours and by the end of the year we were celebrating her First Christmas and her 2nd birthday!

Des has really grown and changed so much since we stepped off the plane in early August. She's put on a ton of weight [maybe setting some sort of record.] and grown a head full of hair! [One of my new years resolutions should have something to do with learning how to style her fro! ] Plus she's really letting her personality blossom as well! The only thing we wish we were gaining more ground on is speech. But we're getting her evaluated for Indiana First Steps and hoping she'll qualify for some speech therapy.

I hadn't written about it before, but in October we ended up hiring a friend of ours, Emily, to nanny for us for 2 half days per week when I went back to work. We thought it would be best for Desi to be at home when I'm at work and we kept Emily home with her. It's been so good and the girls adore Miss Emily! She is a huge blessing!

Des got home just in time for a whirlwind of holidays including Emily's 3rd Birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and her own birthday! She's probably thinking that all we do is celebrate and party around here!

December ended up being quite the month! I did a lot of baking, which is one of my favorite parts of Christmas! As usual, the Christmas shopping got me really stressed out. I swear that every year the shopping is "this close" to ruining my Christmas! There must be a better way! I also loved having Jake home on Christmas break. I've missed having him around during the day this year. Big 1st grader. One positive of him being at school is that it's given me, Em, and Des some girl time! I think that only having each other to play with has been good for both Emily and Desi.

Here are some pics of our Christmas Celebrations and Desi's birthday! If you're my facebook friend you can check out more pics over there on my page!

The kids all dressed up before the Christmas Eve worship gathering....

Emily in her new leotard and tutus... Jake's favorite...wii games.

Desi did great with all the presents!

On the 26th we loaded up the van and drove to Missouri to spend time with my family. The kids had a great time with their MO cousins!

[and by great I mean LOUD.]

Em and Desi with Papaw Whitten

Hanging out in the TV room. Des and Hay were like peas and carrots all week!

Opening presents...

Em and Papaw Vinny.

That's a pretty crazy look that Des is shootin' at Cody!

Desi getting snuggles from Papaw Vinny.
We also got to go visit some good friends who also adopted from Ethiopia this year! The world really can be rather smallish. This is Ade. If long distance relationships work, this might be the beginning of something beautiful!

And this is the face that I refer to as the "stinky face". It makes frequent appearances..especially when cameras are involved. While you can't see it in photos....the right eye actually twitches during "stinky face"....nice.
Desi's birthday is December 31st. We spent it in the van...oops. We did have a pre-birthday celebration in MO with my family and a post-birthday celebration back home with our Indiana people.

I made the cake...kind of ghetto, no? It's not that I didn't try...

Desi with Papaw Sonny.

Another highlight of the year was when our good friends, The Fousts, brought their little girl home from Ethiopia. [I told you the world gets small-ish sometimes.] I'm sure in previous posts I mentioned that their daughter, Amaya, was Desi's bedmate at the orphanage in Ethiopia? Yes, super cool, I know! I can't wait for our first playdate! [which would have been TODAY had it not been for the blasted flu!!]

So that's the wrap up on 2010! On to 2011!

Trash to Treasure!!! She's Done!

2010-12-10T13:22:00.005-05:00

Something came over me....

...something crafty.

Like the spirit of Martha Stewart possessed me.

I found this on Craig's List....

And I thought, "what if?"

What if I can take this trash and turn it into a treasure?

[okay, maybe it's not "trash" but I did find that it had been allocated to a large dog to lounge on. Luckily, said dog had a blanket and my soon-to-be treasure wasn't all doggy smelling.]

So I got to work...this first part was hard! And after a while...it became this... I found a really fun fabric for a great price and got to work figuring things out. Thank goodness, Grandma Joyce got me on the right track. She is a retired professional in this line of work. So before I knew it I had accomplished this....Yada Yada Yada...and then finally....

[Drum Roll.....]

Ta Da! I think she's purdy!

Not too shabby, eh? And I had fun. And I learned how to do something totally new. It's WIN-WIN-WIN.! And it will be really nice when I turn this baby back around and sell it on Craig's.

Should I send these pics to the poor schmoe's who let this little treasure go for a mere $25?

2010-12-07T09:33:00.009-05:00

Wow! It has been quite a while since we had a new blog post! Why? I'm not sure. I guess it's because life just started feeling a lot more normal. Which is good. I was ready for some not-so-blog-worthy days, you know!

But, for anyone who wants to know...November was a good month for the Poe Family. The weather around here was pretty much perfect all month long, which I LOVED because I HATE cold weather. We've had a little snow in the last week, but it's okay because it was the pretty/fun kind and not the yucky-afraid-to-drive-to-the-grocery-store kind.

So what were we up to?

Most of November was pretty ho-hum. I dove into a new hobby...reupholstering. I happen to have a bonafide professional in my corner here. Nannie Joyce had her own very successful upholstery business back in the day. So she's been showing me the ropes. I may have picked a pretty (and by pretty I don't mean beautiful) challenging first project...a love seat that I found on Craig's for $25.00. I'll show you the before....

Here's a sneak peak of the finished product....

The "after" is soon to come because I'm almost done! I've got some ideas in the wings about future projects that will seem like a breeze compared to this! My plan? Not to fill my house with my "trash-to-treasures" but to turn back around and sell them on Craig's.

We had a great Thanksgiving too. I had started training about 3 weeks early to run a local 4.5 race called the Drumstick Dash which benefits Wheeler Mission. I was so excited, until the forecast said that there was basically 100% chance of rain on Thanksgiving! So bummed. I woke up that morning and realized that while it was raining, it was also unseasonable warm. So I decided to go for it and ended up running the race in a drizzle of rain. I was SO glad that I did it! It felt really good to set a goal, train for it, and accomplish it! And for a nice bonus...I felt totally justified in pigging out for the rest of the day!

Desi loved her first family holiday! (I don't really consider Halloween a holiday even though we do celebrate with the costumes and the candy...) She ate like a champ and we had a great afternoon with the family! I love Thanksgiving! It may be my favorite holiday.

I spent the next couple of days Decking-The-Halls, and most every other surface in our house. I love to decorate for Christmas!!! I find it hard to stop!

This past weekend we had our baby/child dedication service at Trinity. We dedicated our sweet Des to Jesus. The whole family attended the sweet little ceremony and then we partied hard at MCL afterwards! Thanks to Sonny and Joyce to treating us to a nice lunch and to Jenni for making an adorable and DELICIOUS cake to mark the occasion!

Jake happened to be the reader of the Advent prayer that morning at the worship gathering too. He did such a great job! Everyone was telling him he did great! I was proud!

We had our first real snow of the season. The kids were chomping at the bit to get out in it and play! We got them bundled up and were excited to see Desi's reaction....one word...anticlimactic. I think we were hoping for something in the "giddy/wonder" category. She was like, "why did you bring me out here?" After standing like a statue with a dead pan look on her face we just brought her in. Oh well.

Now we are looking forward to Christmas! I actually have presents under my tree, which is so crazy because I am a procrastinator! The kids are excited! This year we are observing Advent in our home. So each Sunday night we light a new candle and teach the kids about what it means and then the rest of the week at dinner we relight the candles and talk more. It's never to early to talk about what Christmas is really all about!

So that's pretty much it! You are officially caught up on the Poe's! We hope you have a wonderful December and a Merry Christmas! We'll button up 2010 with a much-anticipated-by-me trip home to Missouri and celebrating Desi's birthday on the 31st! I'm sure there will be lots to blog about in January!

Love,

Shannon and the gang!

2010-11-06T08:54:00.002-04:00

Who is this kid?

So we got J's 1st grade pictures back and my reaction was, "Wow! Great picture buddy! Good smile!" I mean, I did pay about $16 for a 3x5 and 2 wallets, so I was relieved that they came out good! [don't get me started on the rip off that is "school pictures"!] But it wasn't until Ryan brought home his kindergarten school picture that it hit us! He's growing up! Just look for yourself....

[The big pic is just 1 year ago. My baby boy...off to school!]

This year he's sporting a much more "mature" spiked hair style now, but the shape of his face has totally changed too! From day to day I just couldn't see the changes. But when a side-by-side comparison like this smacks you square in the face....it's kind of sad, no? I guess this one of the harder parts of parenthood....sigh.

* * * * * * *

On a brighter note....Ryan and I got to go out on a DATE last night! A real, bona fide date! We hadn't been out on a date since before we went to Ethiopia to get Des about 3 months ago! It was great...except for the first snow of the season! [Not a flurry...full fledged SNOW! Pretty? yes. Welcomed? NO!]

We had a gift card to Canal Bistro in Broad Ripple so we had a deliciously free dinner [with coffee and dessert...baklava..Mmmmm!] Then we attended a house concert for an awesome/folksy/indie/sounds-so-good artist/friend, Bob Stamper...you can check him out yourself [here]. We also ran into our good friends, Amos and Crystal, which was a bonus because the only thing better than a date with your husband would be a double date with these two!

A special thanks to Gam and Papaw for coming to our place to watch the kids so we could remember what it is like to eat a grown up dinner!

[The only picture from my magical evening is this one of Crystal and I, but I'm posting it because A. she's pretty and totally blog-worthy. AND B. can you see that beautiful baby boy in her arms??? He is 1 of 2 and so precious!! ]

I think that we may host a house concert for Bob...it would be SO fun and I think it would boost our cool factor, don't you? Will you come?

..Just Treats!

2010-11-01T10:07:00.004-04:00

Yesterday was Desi's first real experience with an American "holiday". When we celebrate Halloween around here it's just fun costumes, pumpkins and family....not all that scary stuff. [No skeletons, corpses or haunted houses.]

We took the kids over to Aunt Jenni and Uncle Andy's neighborhood to trick-or-treat with their cutie cousins and then went over to Gam and Papaw's for a family dinner. I really enjoyed it this year! I loved having the family together! Especially since the kids had some much fun with their cousins!

Our little African Lioness got to do a little trick-or-treating and was very good at saying "thank you" when she got a piece of candy.

Super Mario and the Princess were old pros!

This isn't necessarily my favorite holiday to celebrate [I'm pretty sure it's in the top 2 for the kids!], but it was a lot of fun and I'm pretty sure Desi never experienced anything quite like it in Ethiopia!

Celebrating!!

2010-10-27T15:28:00.008-04:00

Today is a day to celebrate!

Our very good friends [and cohorts in this adoption journey] are in Ethiopia right now and today they passed court and became [officially] mommy and daddy to a precious little Ethiopian princess!

Congratulations, Amaya, you are a FOUST!

One of the most amazing things about our parallel journey with these friends is that Desi and Amaya were companions and crib mates at the orphanage in Ethiopia. Now, in just a few weeks these girls will be reunited and be able to continue their lives as friends/sisters!

Isn't God's work just amazing!!

[yes, it's a silly picture, but that is Amaya under the blanket! I confirmed it with the nanny.]

Super Mom...for a morning.

2010-10-22T12:00:00.007-04:00

Today [well actually it was Thursday] I decided to try to be THAT mom. You know, the one who does all these fantastic activities with her kids like trips to fun places and crafts. And she only feeds her children homemade organic healthy snacks and her kids never watch TV? Ya, THAT mom. I think that may have sounded a bit sarcastic and cynical....not my intent. I actually would love to actually be THAT mom, but alas, I am not. She seems like a lot of work, no? I don't think I have the energy. But I envy her with her endless creativity and energy, wanting to squeeze the most fun and education out of every day with her little ones. You, go girl!

Anyway, Thursday was a beautiful day and I told Em that we could go to the library to try to find the book Little Red Riding Hood because she's got a pair of jammies with Lil' Red on them and she wants to know the story, but I don't know if I could tell it in it's entirety. [doesn't Red's grandma get eaten by the wolf? I honestly can't remember how the story ends...] Since I knew we were going to be getting out of our jammies and into real clothes and in the car...these things being somewhat uncommon on my days with my girls....I figured that I'd try to make a little more out of the trip. So I told Em that we could go to the park too.

So we went to the library to look for books and we happened to catch Ms. Bobbie's sing-a-long, which was really fun. Then we took a walk on the Monon from BR McD's down to the park and played. Then back up to McD's for cheeseburgers. [I was pleased to find out that the there-and-back added up to 2.5 miles so I counted it as my workout...after all I was pushing a combined 50-60lbs in a double wide umbrella stroller...not easy, I broke a sweat.]

Back home in time for naps and I felt like I needed one too! Quite a morning! Maybe it would have been wiser to ease my way into Super Mom.

But really, it's so much easier to just stay at home. I am the ultimate home body, by the way. But on these last beautiful warm days of the year I know I need to get out and let the kids enjoy the beauty of fall. I'll admit I was feeling pretty good about myself for getting out, like I chose something good for my girls over something good for me. And I enjoyed it as much as they did. I vow to do it more often for as long as the weather allows.

I'm pretty sure I'm not ever going to be THAT mom, but she still inspires me.

I heart Family Visits!

2010-10-19T08:10:00.008-04:00

We had another great family visit this past weekend. This time my big sister, Erin, brought her family [Steve, Cody, Ethan] out for a weekend visit. I can't even begin to express how much I LOVE when my family comes out to visit....I won't even try.

The kids just played and played. Jake and Ethan had a ball together...as usual. Emily did a pretty good job of keeping up with the boys too!

At the Children's Museum...

Ethan giving Em a lift....

Speedway Museum....

The weather was awesome for playing outside....

Desi with her Auntie Erin...

Em and Desi reading a story with Uncle Steve...

Desi was obsessed with Cody...she mauled him all weekend. He was a good sport...he even asked if we would consider trading Desi for Ethan! Ha.There is no doubt that I would rather be able to call up my sisters and hang out any time we want... and I would LOVE it if the kids could see Papaw Vinny and Grandma way more often....but, living this far away and only getting to see them a few times a year sure does make me appreciate the time we have together. It is like a precious treasure. I want to make sure every minute of it counts! Like anything we treasure, we wish we had more, right?

Getting Along.

2010-10-08T13:02:00.003-04:00

Nothing wears a mom down quite like your kids not getting along...constantly fighting, at each other's throats, bossing, and tormenting one another... And then there's the whining, the crying, and the yelling...[I admit that the whining, crying and yelling isn't always just from the kids...] I mean, I can deal with a lot of things and keep my cool...[vomit, snot, poop in the bathtub...] But when the kids start at each other and won't stop...I lose it! I'm not always proud of the way I react...much of the time it's counterproductive. You know, angrily screaming at your kids to stop...uhm...angrily screaming at each other. You see my point? In fact, I often hope that they didn't learn their reactions to anger and frustration from mom and dad... Everyone knows parenting takes a great deal of self control!

The point of this post isn't to vent about "losing it" with my kids....it's really to say that for as much frustration that comes when your kids aren't getting along, there is so much JOY that comes when they do!

Jake and Em have always had their good and bad moments...Jake being the older brother likes to be "in charge" [aka.. bossy]. He also likes to play the role of "teacher" which dovetails with "bossy". But Em is a strong-willed little girl and doesn't take being bossed lightly. So they have their tense moments. But they play really well together too.

Bringing Desi into the mix really shook things up for Emily. I've blogged about their "developing" relationship before. The thing is, when Ryan and I decided to adopt we didn't discard how it would affect Jake and Em, but we knew that even though it would be an adjustment for them, it's what God wanted for our family. [at the time we were also not planning on bringing home a child only 15 months younger than Em. We were thinking it would be an infant...totally different situation.] As much as we tried to prepare Emily that another little sister was coming to our family, and as much as she tried to understand and be okay with it, she just didn't know how this was going to rock her world!

The last couple of months have been a struggle for Em. Desi is also a strong willed little girl. I'm pretty sure that they both fancy themselves as the Queen Bee. [what they don't know is that mamma is the only Queen Bee in this hive!] So there's been a lot of competition for attention...especially my attention. But in the last several days, I think I'm noticing that things are really starting to change a little bit. For one, Desi never wanted to give or receive bedtime hugs and kisses from Emily [can't really blame her...Em had made her feelings about Desi crystal clear!] But now, she loves to kiss and hug on her big sister! I'm also catching them playing together more. It makes my heart so happy!

I never wanted to rock Emily's world. She is my joy! I love her like crazy! It's been hard to see her struggle. I want her to spend her days happy! That compounds the joy and relief that I feel to see her open her heart to her new sister and start to welcome her into her family!

We still have plenty of those tense moments that wear me down. But I need to learn to build my strength back up in the moments when the 3 of them are outside playing together or when I can hear them giggling and laughing together. Moments like these....

And here's something else that brings me a lot of joy...

Love, S

Growing!

2010-10-06T16:39:00.003-04:00

So today I took Des to the pediatrician for her second round of immunizations. It's been about 8 weeks since our initial visit with Dr. O. Everyone in the office goes crazy over her! They all think she's gorgeous! ...she is. [I feel totally okay with saying that because since I didn't actually make her and she looks nothing like me, I don't feel vain in saying that she is gorgeous. Unlike Jake and Em who are obviously my clones...it feels a little bit weird heralding their beauty as if to say, "look at my beautiful children who look just like me....so I, vis-a-vis, must be beautiful too, no?" It feels like vainly paying myself a compliment. I do humbly accept that Jake and Em are beautiful children...the very best parts of Ryan and I and God did all the work.

But I digress...]

Where was I? Oh, yes....the pediatrician. Now, I've been hanging out with this child for a couple of months now and I realize that she looks different. For one, she HAS HAIR NOW! [which, by the way has glitter stuck in it and I can not get it out! my first afro dilemma!] But Dr. O was totally taken aback by how different she looks! She went on and on and on about it! All good, mind you. She's growing well and seems so much more adjusted...Dr. O even noticed how "lovey" she is with her mommy. [having total strangers poke you with sharp things would make anyone cling a bit, don't you think?] But the truth is that she is a very affectionate child, which I am so grateful for.

So, today's trip to see Dr. O. got us 3 shots [ouchie], lots of tears, a diagnosis of another ear infection [boo!] , a lot of oohs and aahhs from the office staff, and we found out that she has gained almost 5lbs. in the past 2 months, bringing her up to a smidge over 24 lbs! Yay!!! Since it wasn't an official "well baby" check up I don't have her charted on the growth curve, but no doubt she is making progress! And the bonus was that I didn't have to pay the $30 co-pay because technically it was a "nurse visit" for shots but Dr. O. was with us most of the time! Nice!

To celebrate Desi's accomplishments I gave her a sucker in the car....as far as I know she's never had one. [we are THOSE parents who try to keep our kids from having pure sugar or at least limit it...so what?!] She loved it!

Snazz-y!

It's about time...

2010-09-29T09:08:00.009-04:00

...for an update, no?

Well, there hasn't been a whole lot to report on around the Poe household lately. I guess that's good, right? Does that mean that our lives are starting to feel more "normal"? ...Maybe.

Desi is doing great. She seems to be adjusting really well and seems totally at ease here with us. It's really amazing to look back at the past couple of months since we picked up this scared little baby from the orphanage and see how she has changed into a happy toddler!

I think she looks totally different! In the pictures of her the day we met her she seemed really small, she had NO HAIR and she had this stinky little scowl on her face. To compare that to the pictures of her now, smiling and happy with her little fro coming in...

...night and day, people, Night-And-Day!

Then...

Now...

She's still doing really well with the sleep too...takes a really good nap during the day and then at night she's going to bed willingly with little or no fussing and pretty much sleeping through the night...[most nights I do have to get up 1 or 2x when she fusses and lay her back down, but it only takes about a minute and then I am back to bed!]

Right now I think our biggest hurdle is communication. I think that her understanding of English is really coming along. When you talk to her or ask her to do something she really seems to understand. And although we haven't been teaching her a lot of sign language, I think that she understands the concept of signing to communicate. She's got "please" and "more" down pat. I'm also asking her to repeat my words back a lot. At first she was so stubborn....it drove me crazy! But now I am finding that she is making the effort...it doesn't usually sound anything like the English words, but I can really appreciate her effort to "speak" when mommy asks her to repeat or say something...its a step in the right direction!

Words that I'm pretty sure she saying...

Jakey
Cheese [as in "say cheese!" because I take so many pictures]
Mama
Dada [once in a while...]
More [it sounds more like "muh" and sometimes look like she's kissing the air...but I'll take it!]

Some cute things that she's learned to do....

wave goodbye
blow kisses
give kisses
dance and sing to music [she's got this arm pump thing that she does when she hears music...very cute!]
clean up [she's really good about cleaning up a mess that she makes or putting toys away at the end of the day...very different than Jake and Em, so I think it's cute!]

I might be willing to say that there is a little bit of progress in the girls' relationship...Em's baby stepping to getting along with her sister. There have been moments...glimmers of hope...where I thought things were looking up....these are usually short lived and followed up with some catty behavior on both sides. This relationship is definitely a work-in-progress...so I'll let you know as we make more progress!

We did have one big event...Em's 3rd Birthday! I can't believe that she's 3! This September has been unusually hot....exactly the way it was in 2007 when I was about to pop! We had a great celebration with the family [also celebrating the 4th birthday of Em's twin cousins, Lo and Jilli.] I channeled my inner Martha Stewart and crafted some fun and cute decorations and favors for the party...I hadn't been crafty in a really long time. It was fun! I might try to keep it going. Em got some really fun toys and adorable clothes for fall! I love dressing her up! Having little girls is so much fun!

Jake is really thriving and doing well in the 1st grade. I can't believe how well he reads! And his penmanship has improved by leaps and bounds! He seems to love it and is doing so great! I'm always so proud of him...such a smart boy! I must admit though, that by 2:45pm, I can hardly wait for the bus to pull up! I miss having him home during the day!

As for me and the hubs, we are good too. I'm back at work a few hours each week...easing back in. It's a nice break for me! Ryan's working from home during those times so he can stay with Desi...we're not far from being able to leave her at Sandy's house. She does really great over there and her bonding with Gam is going fantastically! Ryan's also getting started on his classwork to get his Masters of Social Work, so he's pretty busy.

I am so excited that it's fall! I love this season so so much! Can't wait to hit the pumpkin patches with the kids! I also love watching the Colts play!! The only thing I am not looking forward to about fall...raking the leaves! Last year was our first fall in a house with mature trees! The raking is crazy! Will you come and help? I would pay you in baked goods? Any takers???

This is one of my favorite pics from last fall's leaf raking...Em looks very helpful here!

Happy Fall my friends!

The Moment.....

2010-09-12T07:18:00.002-04:00

....I've been waiting for!

Last night I slept....IN MY BED!!!!!!

IN MY ROOM!

NEXT TO MY HUSBAND!

It was a risky move. Was it too soon???

[not for me! 6 1/2 weeks without a good night of sleep...need I say more?]

I took the plunge....

...and slept!!! Ahhh, glorious!

[The girls did wake up at 4:30 and I had to go in and tell them to go back to sleep...it only took a minute or two. They were up for good a 6:30...too early, but worth a night in my own personal paradise....my bed! ]

Lifebook

2010-09-11T11:09:00.003-04:00

Our adoption agency Bethany Christian Services has recently started offering an amazing service to adopting families....it's called a Lifebook. It's a set of 2 dvd that provides our family with valuable information about Desalee's past and chronicles our time in Ethiopia. We received this treasure while we were still in country, but hadn't really gotten around to viewing it until just yesterday.

I can only think of one word..WOW!

It was like opening a huge surprise gift that you had no idea you were getting! The first of the DVD's is really the kind of thing that you would share with your family and friends. It starts with some interesting information about Ethiopia and the culture. Then it gives more specific information about the area that Desi came from, followed by photos and footage of her in the orphanage. The videographer was there to document our first meeting [which is in reality kind of boring to watch because she was kind of catatonic!] and the farewell ceremony the day we took her from the orphanage. It will be great to show this to the important people in our lives and with Desi some day.

But the real treat was the 2nd DVD--her birth history. I blogged about our meeting the Desi's birth father [ here ]. We thought that we got all the info that this man was willing to give that day. It's really not that I felt like he was holding back, but in "the moment" it's hard to remember to ask all the questions. I spent the next couple of days thinking of things that I wished that I had asked and feeling disappointed that it was too late to ask if her mothers hair was soft or course? curly or straight? What was her birth like? Why did you give her that name?

This video stunned us with all that it held! And so many questions were answered! Thank God! We had no idea that we would have this to give her! I won't share the specifics because this treasure belongs to Desi and we will wait for the right moment to share it with her and allow her to decide who she will share it with.

I am so grateful that we were offered this service and resource.

I was skeptical at first as to whether it was worth the cost....
TOTALLY WORTH IT!!

A Change of Seasons...

2010-09-07T13:33:00.007-04:00

We have been home with Desalee for almost 5 weeks now! It's pretty hard for me to believe it! But the calendar doesn't lie. Summer is fading into fall and a new season is on the horizon. Something about the change from summer to autumn really inspires and invigorates me. I love how everything changes and kind of starts over, the world changes color, temperatures cool off, breezes start blowing. I love putting away all the summer clothes that I am so sick of wearing and getting out the snuggly warm stuff. Fall is my favorite season! I'm ready to cook chili and vegetable soup! Ready to watch football games with friends on Sunday afternoons! I want pumpkins in my yard and earthy, spicy candles burning on my mantle!

This summer was hurried by anticipation and it flew by for our family, it's really almost feels like it didn't happen! But that's okay with me. It's good to have it behind us. I always look forward to fall!

I'm starting to feel the seasons change in my life too. this "summer" has been uncomfortable...[you catch my drift?] I'm ready to be done with it. I'm starting to feel the next season moving in and I'm ready! I feel like I've been out of town for a really long time and am finally home! And home is definitely where my heart is! It's a good feeling to feel like yourself again.

I can tell you why it's getting easier and I'm feeling so much better....SLEEP! And I'm getting a lot more of it now! In the last week we've really turned a corner around here when it comes to sleeping! Desi's doing much better at night and we moved Emily back in to her bed. [that puts me on the trundle mattress on the floor in the girls' room.] We have our little slumber party every night...girls only! Hopefully as the girls get used to sleeping in the room with each other, it will provide me with the opportunity to get out of there and back to my bed!

Our nap time routine has improved as well. I am no longer rocking! I'm now able to put Desi down fully awake and wait for her to fall asleep. In fact, today, I stood in the hallway wit the door open a crack so that she could see me. She didn't cry. I was really proud of her!

It's really interesting for me to look back on the last few weeks...on one hand it feels like we're still right in the thick of the transition...we still have our share of daily challenges. But when I think of where we started, I can see how far we've come and it's pretty amazing. Honestly, I didn't know if I was going to make it there for a while! It seemed impossible! But now I realize that we did make it through what I think is the hardest part. [Thank goodness for the prayers of our friends and family!] She is such a different child than the one we met in an orphanage not so long ago...she's even a different child than the one we brought home to Indy.

Up next? Words. This kid needs to learn some ENGLISH! So, that's what we are going to work on. Sometimes I think working on something with measurable progress keeps me sane. So, here's hoping I'm blogging about all the words she's picking up very soon!

[hey if you like this hat, you can get one HERE. Proceeds support a family's Ethiopian adoption.]

Sometimes a girl...

2010-09-02T20:45:00.006-04:00

...just needs her momma! (and her daddy too!)

This past weekend/week I was so happy to have my mom and dad come for a visit. Some people reading this blog may not know that I am the only one in my family to permanently break away from the pack and move long distance [my sister, Kelly, ventured out for a few years but was drawn back in to the allure? of St. Jo Mo.] I will say that my family is alluring and each time we have a visit I do have that pang of homesickness. [but please don't tell my mom and dad this because their ultimate dream would be for us to move back and it's just not happening.]

So anyway, mom and dad drove out to visit us and meet Desalee for the very first time. I wasn't sure how Des would do....would she be freaked out by new faces or by my dad's wheelchair? [a wheelchair can be a very intimidating thing for a kid...and it also begs the obvious question of "why don't you walk, papaw?" to which his standard answer is "because I'm lazy." The humor is surely lost on a child, but we all think he's funny.]

As it turns out, Des warmed up faster than either Jake or Emily did at her age! She especially liked my dad and we joked that it was because he was brown and she might be thinking he looked familiar.... :)
[I know it's because he gave her a Famous Amos chocolate chip cookie!]

The first night of our visit was the first chance that I really had to sit face to face with my mom and talk about how hard this adoption transition has been for us. I'm not a big phone talker, so we really hadn't had a good conversation about it. It was so good to be able to pour out my heart and hear my mother's wisdom! Like I said, "sometimes a girl just needs her momma."

I think that this visit is just what I needed...it felt a little bit like a vacation, a break. The kids were more interested in getting the attention of Grandma and Papaw Vinny than mommy. We relaxed outside under the shade trees in the front yard while the kids played, made homemade salsa, ate, talked, skyped with my sister, etc. etc. It just felt so good! It felt so good, in fact, that it felt really hard to say goodbye this time. Harder than usual. I can't believe that I have to wait until Christmas to see them again... :(

While mom and dad were here Desi started a trend [I hope I don't jinx it by calling it a trend...it might be too early for that.] :she's really started to do better with sleep. I can almost always put her down in a drowsy, half-asleep state and get her to fall asleep. And in the night when she starts to wake up if I "ssshhh" at her from across the room she'll go back to sleep. This is great for me! A huge stride in the right direction. My presence in the room is apparently a very big deal to her because the times I've tried to leave while she's awake makes her go hysterical. Our next step will be to bring Emily back in and eventually I'll go back to sleeping in my bed....oh, that will be one glorious night!

She has now also mastered the sign for "more" and does it quite willingly. I dare say that I thought I even heard her say "more" today, but I'm not sure enough to declare it her first audible word. [I'm trying not to push to hard for her to speak english words yet...a session of trying to get her to say "mommy" left this mommy in a huff of frustration and her in a melt- down of tears the other day...choose your battles, Shannon, choose more wisely!] We are now working on the sign for "please" which should come more easily since I think she gets that when we're sitting in front of her pantomiming like fools that she's suppose to copy us!

Today I took Emily to the meet and greet/orientation at her new preschool...which just happens to be at Papaw's church and where Jakey went to preschool for 4 years. When we got there we met Aunt Jenni and the cousins walking in. It was so cute when Jilli and Lo each took Em's hands and they walked in together! I can't believe I missed that photo op! She did great meeting her teachers and new friends and I am excited for her to start next week. [I think it will give her something to focus on besides how much she dislikes her new sister. ;) We're still working on their relationship and looking forward to it becoming more of a friendship.]

So that's what we've been up to this past week....a wonderful time with my family and more progress in our journey back to a new normal. We are looking forward to the long weekend!

Happy Labor Day, friends!

The Last Few Days

2010-08-29T18:34:00.004-04:00

We're still at the stage where I feel like every day is blog-worthy. Every day brings some kind of progress or surprise and no 2 days look alike around here, even though we are finding a rhythm and seeing our daily schedule take shape...at least for now while I am at home with the kids.

I am very fortunate to have a job that is very flexible...very! In fact, I'm able to stay in contact and serve my clients from home even during this transition which basically boils down to 2 glorious words....PAID LEAVE! I really thank God for my job and being able to have this time off. After a visit to the office last week though, I have to admit that I miss my coworkers a lot and am looking forward to getting back there...eventually.

I feel like this week has been all about the sleep patterns...it is, of course, our biggest struggle. We are finding Desi to be doing really well during the day. She is less clingy and throws a lot fewer fits these days. [yeah!] I'm even being able to sneak some veggies in at meal time! So days are good. we are making progress every day. Nights are still a work in progress...

Every night is also a little different and we have yet to see any emerging patterns, so you never know what to expect. Here are the signs of nighttime progress that we have experienced these last few days....

She has on 2 occasions only woken up 1x the whole night!

I've been able to sooth her to sleep a couple of times without picking her up...rubbing her bare back did the trick...I hope we can see a repeat of this tonight!

On a couple of occasions I have observed her awake in her bed, playing around with her pillows and blankies...no crying! yes!

A couple of days ago, I rocked her at nap time and then put her down awake. I stayed in the room for over an hour as she fussed on and off before finally falling asleep. I've suspended this until after my mom and dad leave, but am looking forward to using nap time as a time to start working towards putting her in her bed awake and letting her fall asleep on her own. [this is sure to be frustrating, but hopefully fruitful!]

To go along with falling asleep on her own...one night a very full bladder forced me to put her down in her bed awake...I expected her to start screaming but to my surprise she was quite still...even after I came back to the room she just laid there awake before finally just falling asleep...it was strange! But I was very encouraged.

She has also, for the most part, been sleeping later in the morning.

She can [reluctantly] be rocked to sleep by Ryan now! Yay!

These may seem like small steps and technically they are, but anything that gives us hope that we'll sleep again is big stuff to us!

On another front, I think that we have finally mastered the sign language for "more". She was being so stubborn about doing it, even thought we knew she knew how. She wants to just point and grunt, a technique that must have served her well until now. Just today, we got her to really start signing it without having to make a huge deal about it. This little thing just means a lot when you have a language barrier. We just want to be able to communicate with her and for her to be able to communicate with us, so we are so happy that she's starting to get it! We can't wait for words, but signing is good for now. I think that the next sign we'll work on is "please".

I am also super excited to have my mom and dad in town for a visit! We were a little worried about how a visit would go this soon after returning...we originally thought we would have a couple more weeks before the visit, but we ended up having to wait to travel. But Desi is doing great! She loves my mom and dad and having them here actually gives Ryan and I a little bit of a break! Jake and Em are loving playing with them too. Mom and I took the kids to Toys R Us today and she got them whatever they wanted! [That's not something that happens too often!] I really love having my mom around to talk to about all this adoption stuff, there really is nothing like talking to your mom! I wish they could visit more often! I'll just enjoy it and relish it while they are here!

Here are a few pics of our visit so far....

Dad finally gets a kiss off of Em...

...and Jake

mom and Desi...

Dad and Desi....

Dad and Desi reading books...

I might get in trouble for posting this one, but it cracked me up! Dad falling asleep under a tree in our front yard! We've got a pretty peaceful place here... :)

Unexpected

2010-08-25T09:20:00.003-04:00

Yesterday a friend from our church brought us a wonderful dinner. It was truly a blessing, as have been all the meals we've been receiving. But it was the phone call to let me know that she was coming that brought the biggest blessing...

Mind you, this is a friend that I have not gotten to know well enough...yet. But she told me on the phone that for about 3 weeks she had been feeling like she was suppose to be praying for me in a very specific way. It was because of her own experiences that she felt like she should be praying for me in this way. Even when she told me what it was, there was doubt in her mind as to whether this was God or not. Did I even need this kind of prayer??

The answer was and still is, YES! I was overwhelmed and amazed that God could impress on someone that I wouldn't expect to pray for me, ME! But He knew that she knew exactly how to pray for me. So he used her to help me, and I didn't even know it! Isn't is crazy how this brother and sisterhood works?!

The other great part of this story is that she also told me that sometime she struggles to know if she really hears God's voice and His prompting in her life. Because she had followed, even not knowing if it was really God, and was able to share it with me, we were able to confirm together that she had heard, LOUD AND CLEAR!

I promise that at some point I will post more about this another time down the road, but I felt like I had to share this little part of the story today because maybe there is something I am suppose to be praying for, or you are suppose to be praying for. And maybe it seems random or off the wall, but you never know when it's really God wanting to use you!

Small Victories...Part II

2010-08-21T14:29:00.003-04:00

We have just passed the 2 week mark being home with Desi. And every day we are still seeing the progress as she continues to bond with our family and become more comfortable in her new world. Here are a few more "small victories" to celebrate:

Desi's blood work results came back and everything was negative! Well, except that she's got a little stomach bug called Giardia...which translate to "the-nastiest-poopy-diapers-you could-ever-imagine!" A few days on a prescription should get that cleared up.

As you know from previous posts, nighttime hasn't been going very well. Desi's sleeping more like a newborn than a 20 month old. And for now, it's all on me to deal with the night because she still isn't letting daddy rock her to sleep. I've resumed sleeping in her room with her in hopes that my presence will help her to feel less anxious and scared and allow her to sleep better. This actually means less sleep for me since every time she moves I wake up and start "shh, shh, shh-ing" from across the room. But, last night, well actually this morning, around 5:30am when she woke I did the normal thing of picking her up and rocking, shh-ing, rocking, shh-ing, etc. When I laid her back down she woke up....aarrgh. HOWEVER she didn't cry, just whined and fussed a bit. Hmm....maybe she was drowsy enough that she would go back to sleep so I patted her back and she did go back to sleep! This was the first time that she was awake in her bed without wailing! I was encouraged as I tiptoed back over to my bed (aka Emily's fru-fru big-girl bed). But the good news doesn't stop there! A couple of hours later when she woke again, she didn't scream and cry as usual. She just peeked up over the crib rail at me. I shh-ed her a bit, expecting her to start the wailing. but she didn't. She just kind of hung out in her bed for a while, rolling around and playing with her blankie. Again, I was so encouraged that she was in her bed, awake, and not screaming. Hopefully these are signs that she's becoming more comfortable with her new surroundings and that there could be a glimmer of hope that I can return to my bed (which is one of my most favorite places to be) and to getting a full night of sleep (one of my most favorite things to do!)

Finally....yesterday I cleaned the bathroom! It is the most normal thing that I feel like I've done since returning home from Ethiopia 2 weeks ago. Normally I wouldn't consider cleaning a dirty toilet a "victory" but this time it feels that way. So, I'll chalk it up as a victory this once.

This morning we had a little fun with a wagon...

Praying for our friends

2010-08-20T13:17:00.002-04:00

This week I have been thinking of and praying for our friends, Joe and Ali, a lot. They are in Ethiopia picking up their son, Ade. Ali has a special place in my heart. She was my best friend for an important season of my life.

Our friendship blossomed after high school when we were both active in the college group at church. For some reason we exercised a lot together...walking on Ashland Avenue and lots and lots of Tae Bo. I was in better shape then! :) We had great times together. We sang together on the church worship team, got engaged within months of one another, and even got married and were in each others weddings within a month of one another. It was hard when Ryan and I moved away to Indy several months after our wedding. And now it's been over 10 years. I would have loved to have had pregnancies and play dates with Ali through these years, but God brought us here and we love Indy and our friends here too.

And now it's crazy to think that within 2 weeks of each other we're picking up our babies from Ethiopia! Sometimes it kind of feels like parallel universes! I am so happy for Joe and Ali, knowing that they are finally getting to hold their little guy and prepare to bring him home. I'm praying that God will help Ade feel safe and secure and allow his little heart to open up to his new mommy and daddy.

Ethiopia is still very fresh in my mind. I can vividly remember the sense of awe and wonder as we took in the culture that is so very different from our own. Cows in the street alongside cars, taxis and busses! The crazy driving! People everywhere! The different smells in the air (mostly tailpipe exhaust...cough.) I also remember the strange mixture of feeling relieved to be taking our daughter away from there but also sad because that was her home and her culture and she probably wouldn't have seen it in the bleak way I did if she had the chance to grow up there. There is so much to take in during a week in this strange and very different place. You want to absorb as much as you can so you can give it back to your child some day. I hope that Joe and Ali are having a great time and taking it all in.

I also remember how homesick I started to feel, missing the kids so terribly. I especially will be praying for that as I know they'll be missing their 3 kids at home.

I'm really struck at how amazing it is that God put us on this path, to complete our family with a child from Ethiopia and then to find that we are sharing this same journey with friends. Before the year is over 2 more families who we are friends with will bring their babies home from Ethiopia too. We are definitely not on this road alone! Thank God for that!

Small Victories

2010-08-16T09:25:00.003-04:00

Every day we are seeing progress, small victories that that tell us that we're moving in the right direction. It's hard some days to really celebrate these victories, like being able to sit down with Desi without her throwing a fit and hearing her utter words like mamama, and dadada (hoping that she's saying mama and dada).

Yesterday, though, I really took notice of a series of small victories that may not be so small...

I was sitting on the living room floor with a rather cranky Desi (getting up at 5:30 in the morning would make anyone crabby). Desi was throwing a fit and crying. Out of nowhere Emily shows up with Desi's sippy cup and puts it in Desi's mouth. She was trying to comfort Des with her baba. She kept on trying even as Desi resisted. I was so proud of Em at that moment. I praised her for being a good big sister. My heart was happy.

Later in the day, Emily was having some Gold Fish crackers. Desi strolled up and with her signature "mouth open and grunting" signal that she wanted a snack too. We asked Em to share her snack and she did. She gave Desi crackers to eat as she ate too. Again, we praised her for being a good big sister to Desi. Again, I was so proud of her!

Finally, at the end of the day, we were getting into the van and Em wanted to help Desi get buckled in. She took great care to get Desi fastened in to her car seat. And again, we praised her for being a good big sister and taking care of little Desi.

It made me so happy to see Emily starting to accept that Desi's here to stay and part of our family. I believe we still have a long road ahead. The girls continue to compete for my lap and attention. But seeing Em take on the "big sister" role a little bit gives me a lot of hope that they will soon be sweet friends.

One week down...

2010-08-14T11:09:00.007-04:00

We've been home for just over a week now. I have to be honest, it's been a really hard week. Much harder than I expected.

*****

We are extremely fortunate to have a friend who is an expert in what we are experiencing right now. On Monday she came to the house to talk to us about how we can best integrate Des into our family dynamic. The things that she told us were very helpful and we are heeding every word of her advice, but it was also a little disheartening. To sum it up: a lot of hard work for an indefinite amount of time...ugh. It could take the full first year that she's home before we start to feel like we are functioning normally again. That scares me a lot! We are advised to stay very low key for the next month or so...that means limited visitors and social functions and not letting other people hold Desi. This should help her see us as her primary care takers. Right now she could see anyone who is willing to meet her needs as another caretaker, and we have to overcome that and get her to rely on us as her mommy and daddy.

*****

We are finding that bringing home a child of Desi's age is pretty complex and probably the hardest age. She's old enough to know that big changes are happening to her and around her but not old enough to really grasp it or communicate her feelings. And she can't really understand us and the efforts we are making on her behalf. Even though she is nearly 2 years old, we have to treat her more like a newborn. Basically, we are starting from scratch with her. I had no idea how incredible hard it would be to do that for her. When she is throwing a tantrum, every parental bone in my body wants to teach her that tantrums are not appropriate. But I can't do that yet. She wouldn't accept it. So, we are having to rework our parenting style to suite her needs and it's no easy task.

*****

And then there is the night...oh my goodness. She may still be suffering from jet lag because she's waking up around midnight every night...that's 7am in Ethiopia. While we were in Ethiopia Desi slept through the night....not here. Des requires me to rock her to sleep in my arms and then I have to very very delicately put her down without waking her. When she wakes and realizes that I am not holding her, she cries. So around midnight she wakes, cries and I have to go rock her. This cycle continues throughout the night...like a new born baby. I'm a person who needs my sleep. My world is off balance when I don't get sleep. I'm a crab when I'm tired. Not a fun mommy! God, grant me patience and strength to get through the nights!

*****

And finally, there's Em. Poor thing. She is having a rough time. She, too, is in that complicated stage of life where she can perceive the change and she knows that she is uncomfortable with it, but lacks the communication skills to articulate how she feels. My heart breaks for her. To think that she is confused and hurt tears me up. She's very clingy and only wants me. Her emotions are on a hair trigger too. (It's obvious where she gets that.) She's jealous. She and Desi are competing for me and I do not like it. I've been laying down to sleep with her and telling her how much I love her. I hope she feels that. Please, God, don't let her feel rejected. Thankfully, Gam is going to spend some special time with her each week so that she can have some one-on-one attention. I'm so grateful for that!

*****

Okay, so that was a bit of a rant. I feel that I need balance the negativity of this post with some good solid positives! So here's where things are going the right direction:

Des had her first visit to our pediatrician and she's pretty much healthy. Besides an ear infection and a case of ringworm on her scalp (gross!) she's doing good. At almost 20lbs., she's in the 3% for weight and 25% for height, so she's on the charts!
I know that her bonds with Ryan and I are growing and she is becoming more comfortable. She's having fewer tantrums and most of the time I can sit down with her without her getting mad!
A good sign that she's bonding is that she "checks in" with Ryan and I frequently. She's an affectionate girl and likes to be snuggled, so she often cruises over to one or the other of us for a few moments of love and then is back off to explore and play.
She's letting Ryan do most of the "need meeting" now, besides the sleeping thing. He can feed her, change her diaper and soothe her when she's upset! Praise God!

*****

I also just have to say what an amazing blessing Ryan is to me. From the day we met Des and she wasn't very nice to him, he's been at my side supporting me. And now that she's comfortable with him, he gives me as much time as he can by playing and caring for her. He's doing most of the housework too! I haven't been myself for a few days and he has been very patient. The last few nights he's gotten up with me and Desi because he knows how hard the nights are for me. I love him and thank God for him....he's being a rock. I know I wouldn't get through this without him.

A Long Journey Home

2010-08-10T12:31:00.004-04:00

ok. So where was I? Oh yes, giddy! I was so excited to be getting ready to travel home! Even the thought of Jake and Em brought me to tears...yes, I was a total mess all day Thursday. But I was ready and more than willing to tackle what Ryan and I had agreed for 18 months was the most terrifying step in this journey....the plane ride home!

Our guide had assured us that arriving at the airport 2 1/2 hours early would be ample time to get through with minimal stress...WRONG! I guess there was bad weather in Washington DC that affected the delicate balance of the Addis Ababa Airport. When we pulled away from the guest house that evening it was raining...hard. I had no umbrella or rain coat. Luckily the baby wrap completely covered Desi. The airport was packed! The line for ticketing was long and slow! By the time we made it to the ticket counter we were nervous. The agent kept talking to other people the whole time he was helping us and then when he was done he looked us in the face and told us we were on STAND BY! Oh, my friend, you did not just say STAND BY! There was no way we were going to be on stand by! He assured us that we would get on this plane, but we would have to wait until we got to the gate to get our seating assignments. Deep Breaths!

So, if you were standing there with us and you looked to the left, you would have seen a line that could easily have been a mile long. And that was the line for immigration, which was just where we needed to go. By this time we only had an hour until our flight would start boarding and this line was not moving. Somehow, by the grace of God, we were ushered to a very short line along with the 2 other couples we were traveling with. Maybe 6 frantic looking Americans with Ethiopian babies tipped someone off that we needed help? After making it through immigration and finally to the gate the agent there asked us to sit and wait while she could "see what I can do..." My heart was racing and I don't even want to describe what Ryan was like! When there was not a single person left in the gate area because they all had boarded the plane, the agent finally handed us a couple of boarding passes for, get this, BUSINESS CLASS. Really? Well at least all the panic and fear landed us in the first row! We arrived at our seats as the flight attendant was offering champagne. As much as I probably needed a drink, I passed.

Since it was almost 10:30 at night, Desi fell asleep after take off and I thought we were off to a good start for the 17 hour flight back to Washington DC. About an hour into the flight I made the mistake of letting the flight attendant talk me into trying to put Desi down in the bassinet that was available for our seats. Now awake, she wouldn't let me put her down, nor would she let me sit down. So I stood in the first row of first class swaying...and yes, crying. I could feel the eyes on me and I felt so silly. I didn't want everyone thinking I was having a nervous break down or didn't know what I was doing, even though I would say that both scenarios were true.

Out of nowhere, another mom from our travel group was at my side. She was experiencing a lot of what I had been going through with her new son. God must have told her to find me because I needed someone to look at me at the moment and say that they understood and that I was going to make it. I knew I would make it home, I knew God would help me get this girl home, even if I had to stand and sway for 12 more hours in first class.

We flew on Ethiopian Airlines, which was a blessing since the flight attendants are Ethiopian. A very nice woman offered to hold Desi for me and I quickly agreed. She was able to get her to sleep in the bassinet. Praise God! I fully reclined my extra spacious seat, kicked out the foot rest and cried myself to sleep under my blue velour eye mask. The rest of the flight was still hell-in- the-sky for me, but she did take another nap in the bassinet and by the end she was pretty stir crazy so she got off my lap a little and walked around some...the first time she was willing to do this in the presence of Ryan...so that was a little breakthrough right there. I don't think that we terrorized anyone who had actually paid for their first class tickets, so by the time we landed in DC I was feeling okay that it didn't go worse...she could have screamed for 17 hours, I guess. And...we were stateside! Finally! Back in the USA! Now we just had to get on one more flight and get home to our life and our American babies!

Getting through customs in DC was like everything else...slow. But we didn't have any trouble and so we were off to say goodbye to our travel com padres, find our gate, and have some familiar tasting food. After a big fat juicy cheeseburger that tasted like Heaven, we arrived at our gate. There was no one working at the gate, so Ryan went to buy some Dramamine. While he was gone I was hearing an announcement that was stating that our flight had fully checked in an to watch for your name to appear on stand by list....yeah, you read that right...STAND BY! United Airlines overbooked our flight! It's actually worse, because one of us was on stand by and the other was going to be the lucky recipient of a $400 travel voucher and a seat on the next flight to Indy in about 5 hours. The minute an agent appeared we were pleading for our seats on this fight. No travel voucher was going to make this okay. Of course, the waterworks started flowing. It was not my intention to be manipulative, I really couldn't hold it back. It must have hit a soft spot because a few moments later, both our names appeared on the confirmed passenger list. We profusely, and very secretively thanked that agent as we boarded the plane. He was an angel, albeit a rather rude one. But he came through for us! We could feel the prayers being said on our behalf. There was not way we would have made it through these obstacles without the prayers of our friends and family. It felt like God was personally guiding us home.

All this time, Desi is doing fine, by the way. She's awake in the baby wrap and she's starting to show more and more of her personality. Lots of smiles and playfulness...but she was killing my back and neck!

On the United flight I sat next to a really wonderful older lady from Kenya who had been on our Ethiopian flight as well. She's an English professor at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana and she played with Desi a lot. It was really nice to talk to her. She had adopted a child herself a long time ago and understood the journey that still lay ahead of us. (I also sat 2 rows behind Senator Evan Bayh...seems noteworthy. )

As we stepped off the plane into the Indianapolis airport I was giddy again. We could not walk fast enough to get to the area where I knew Sandy and the kids would be watching for us. I would have sprinted if I didn’t have a baby strapped on! It was the longest walk ever! But when I saw those 2 little faces….ahhh, words cannot describe it. Kneeling down and hugging Jake and Em made it all worth it. Of course I was bawling and Em said in her sweet voice, “don’t cry, mommy!” They were meeting Desi for the first time. Emily called her an “it” which was funny, but they each gave her a kiss and we were finally complete. Together. Our, now, family of 5. The end of one crazy journey leading right into the beginning of another. Hopefully this journey to come won't be so crazy!

I’m happy to report that Desi didn’t scream the whole way home from the airport in her car seat! Yay! And the last few days, while very trying and hard, have also brought some great breakthroughs and progress, especially where Ryan is concerned. On her second full day home she walked over to him and he pulled her onto his lap and they played. She threw her arms around him and hugged him. Every day since then has been better. Today she even let him change her diaper! (This is a personal victory for me as well!) Seeing her look at him with smiles, and knowing that she is bonding with him makes the work easier…not easy…but easier.

We know that we have a long hard road ahead of us...probably harder than we thought. But God called us to this, so I keep praying for His strength, patience, and wisdom as we help Desi become one of us!

More of our Ethiopia Adventure....

2010-08-08T08:42:00.005-04:00

So, we have been home for a couple of days now. Still very tired and pretty much drained in every way! I have no appetite so, I'm sure not eating enough it contributing to the exhaustion! But it seem that I am recovering pretty well from the jet lag which felt like slamming into a brick wall at about 3:30 pm on Friday!

Once we took custody of Desi on Monday, I didn't have much time or energy for anything that I wanted to do, let alone update the blog! I've had a chance to read all the comments and appreciate all the wonderful words of encouragement and congratulations! They truly do uplift my spirits, which are up and down.

I'm noticing how much bringing home an adopted child feels a lot like giving birth! The wait and anticipation is like a pregnancy, the labor of traveling and then the exhaustion of new parenthood once you're home with this tiny stranger. It's very reminiscent of when Jake was born...in fact, the hardship of that time over 6 years ago has proved to me once again that you never know what God will do with the experiences of your life, good and bad, down the road.

My last post left off on the night before we took custody of Desi. On Monday we started the day with much anticipation! We were finally going to bring her home...we were pretty fearful of how she would react. We had, as you know, only spent about 3 hours with her and it wasn't perfect...especially the part where she wouldn't let me feed her. But we knew that we would manage.

Our first stop of the day was at the Bethany offices to speak with her social worker and a nurse who knew her case. We were also given a presentation of the programs that Bethany Christian Services are working on in Ethiopia to promote healthy families. The most noteworthy is there new Foster Care/Kinship Care program that they are launching. I found it amazing that there was an effort and an interest in this. BCS is about to launch their foster care program with, I believe, 25-30 families from churches in ET! They are also working on a mentoring program with adoptive families. I was also intrigued to know that our experience of taking non-biological children and also children from another race into our homes could translate and help an Ethiopian family fostering a child who is not their own or from another tribal background. So, I hope that we hear more of the opportunities to be involved in this program. We were also encouraged to see that World Vision, Samaritan's Purse and other organizations are present in ET.

Our conversation with Desi's social worker, Blen, revealed what we expected, that she was going to need time...maybe a lot of time to get used to us and especially Ryan. According to Blen, Desi was very weak and wasn't walking or even really standing much. So we were expecting a long road ahead.

After the BCS office we stopped for lunch at a Tex Mex restaurant! I had a burrito, Ryan had a big fat juicy cheeseburger! He was pretty happy!

Then it was off the the orphanage for the farewell ceremony. I was actually more emotional at this ceremony than when we met her for the first time. A small choir of kids awaiting the finalization of their adoptions sang to us and they were fantastic! When each child was brought into the room to join their new parents the children chanted their name, it was so sweet! Desi was dressed in a traditional Ethiopian dress with a scarf around her head...she was so beautiful. There was also an enormous cake that they had baked and each family cut a slice and fed it to their child. Perhaps she was in shock, but she let Ryan feed her the cake! We were very encouraged by that. She didn't cry at all, so our hopes were high. We gave her nannies a thank you gift and got pictures and hugs! Her main nanny was so sweet and I could tell that she loved Desi and had taken great care of her. I look forward to showing Des the photos of her some day and assuring her that even during her most traumatic times, there were people who loved and cared for her.

Des was pretty quiet for the next couple of days. She ate well and slept well. She was pretty uncomfortable with Ryan, so she spent most of her time strapped onto me in a baby wrap or on my lap. There were times that she would sit on our bed and I played her Praise Baby and Baby Einstein videos on my laptop.

One day, I was pretty tired, I wanted to put her down and just watch TV. Ryan was reading an adoption book, so he left the room. I had noticed that Desi relaxed a lot when he wasn't there. I got a lot of smiles and playfulness from her in those moments where it was just the 2 of us. It was bittersweet to see her open up, but know that it was because Ryan was not there. I prayed a lot that she would see him as a safe person...we even tried hugging in front of her, which brought her to tears! She did the most remarkable thing that day...she shimmied down off the bed and started walking! I was stunned! I grabbed the video camera and taped her joyfully cruising around the room. Later we showed the video to her social worker, Blen, and she was stunned! I was so excited and also so sad that Ryan had missed her first steps with us! At this point, I really started to feel the weight of the knowing that I was going to bear a lot of the responsibility of caring for her.

As the days went on I was so ready to come home! We had Embassy on Tuesday, which was just a short exit interview and a lot of waiting! It was a great time to be with all of the 8 other families that were traveling in our group. We celebrated and clapped as each family reentered the waiting room...the final step in this process complete! It would take until Thursday morning to get our visa and be cleared to leave the country. I started to become an emotional wreck. I was weary of carrying a child around on me all the time! I was so homesick for Jake and Emily. At one point we called home and I could hear them as Ryan spoke to each of them on the phone. Em's tiny sweet voice range over the phone "hi daddy" and I burst into tears! I wanted to hug them so badly! I wanted them in my arms! I just wanted to go home. I cried a lot on Wednesday and Thursday! There are only so many goats and sheep and funny billboards to keep you entertained in a foreign country...there is nothing like your house and your BED!! I was giddy to pack our bags and prepare to head to the airport on Thursday night...giddy!

...To Be Continued....

(Our trip home is worthy of it's own post for sure! )

Update

2010-08-01T13:53:00.001-04:00

So, the internet here is pretty slow, so I don’t think I’ll be able to post any picture! :( Sorry! I’ll post them soon after we get home, I promise!

Yesterday we got to meet Desalee’s biological father. It was such an emotional visit. I’m not going to go into detail, but we know that giving her up was a hard and painful decision for him and that he is so thankful that God had allowed us to be her family. Our hearts are full and we are so grateful to have had this opportunity! It will mean so much to be able to share this with Desalee one day.

We went to the town where the meeting took place by van….it took about 3 hours to drive there. Once we got out of the city and into the rural areas we found Ethiopia to be breathtakingly beautiful! I’ve never loved 3 hour van ride so much! Addis is in the mountains, so the scenery is like a post card! The driving is crazy! My mom would have passed out! The people use the streets for walking and herding livestock, so there were many obstacles (goats, cows, sheep, chickens, people…) and I don’t think the brake pedal got much use! Once we noticed that the driver was going 105 Km/hr and the speed limit was 30km! (that’s about 65 miles per hour on mountainous “highway”!) But we never really felt unsafe…it was more like an adventure! And we made it there and back safe…thank God! And no animals were harmed, although we thought one chicken was sure to get it! They honk their horns all the time as a signal to people to get out of the way, which is pretty different from how we use it in the states.

Today we attended the International Evangelical Ethiopian Church. It was an energetic service and we got to worship with people from all around the world! I really enjoyed it. We sang a few familiar worship songs…in fact, one of my favorites, Wonderful Merciful Savior, kind of made it feel like home. I was a little emotional this morning from a little bit of home sickness. I really miss the kids! The familiarity of the worship kind of pushed me over the edge!
We had a really nice lunch at a golf Country Club…they are treating us great! The food is excellent, although we haven’t had a lot of authentic Ethiopian cuisine. Most of the restaurants serve dishes from all over the world, so it’s not too hard to find a familiar favorite. We’re especially thankful that we haven’t gotten sick, although Ryan is developing a cold/sinus infection. (Prayers!)
After lunch we went for Machiatto’s at Kaldi’s Coffee. It was the best coffee I’ve ever had! Kaldi’s is totally knocking off Starbucks with their logo and the atmosphere of the café. But you know, as soon as you drive by you think “Starbucks?” and think it must be a coffee shop! Smart!

Tomorrow we go to a farewell celebration at the orphanage and then take Desi into our care. We’ll have her with us at the guest house until we bring her home on Thursday night! We are pretty scared! I don’t think she’s really that comfortable with us, and she’s only seen us for a few hours on Friday. We know she’s probably going to be terrified! It’s bittersweet to be finally getting her to ourselves and yet knowing that taking her from the orphanage is going to be really hard on her. We would love your prayers for us and her tomorrow. That God would help her feel safe and secure and that we would be attuned and sensitive to her needs. Everyone in our travel group is feeling the same way, so we do have a pretty good network of support here…and the staff at the guest house is so gracious, I know they will help us however they can too!
So, that’s it for now! I hope to be able to update again…we’ll see how the week goes!

Love, S

Finally in Ethiopia!

2010-07-30T14:20:00.001-04:00

So, we’re finally here! We arrived last night safe and sound in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia! The flight was LONG!! But we did have a few movies (one was a Miley Cyrus movie…lame). The food was good and the flight accommodations were adequate, so I’m not complaining. We got to see Italy from the sky as we touched down to refuel in Rome! Looks beautiful from up there!

We arrived pretty late and TIRED at our guest house. The staff is wonderful and the room is very nice. It’s the winter/rainy season here so it’s pretty chilly…not what we expected for Africa! Our room is very cold and the only other minor complaint is that our bed is a stone slab, but we’ve been so tired that it doesn’t even matter! We slept well the first night and plan to do the same tonight.
Today we met our baby girl, Desalee! I was very anxious as we drove over to the orphanage. Each family had to wait to be invited inside to meet their child individually. We were second. When we went in a videographer taped our first meeting. I didn’t really know how I would react…would I break down and cry, overcome with emotion? As it turns out…No. We had huge smiles on our face as we entered the room where she was sitting with a nanny.
She’s shy and we knew that she didn’t take too kindly to strangers. When the nanny handed her to me she cried…and I admit that it kind of broke my heart and kindled the flame of terror that was secretly burning in my gut…”what if she doesn’t like us?” In a few seconds I was able to calm her down, so I tried to hand her to Ryan. Uhhmm….not good. She wasn’t happy about that, so I kept her with me. It was sad that Ryan didn’t get to hold her today, but we know that it’s all about her and making her comfortable. She was okay with his close proximity and by the end of our visit had given us a couple of beautiful smiles.

While at the orphanage we were able to meet the daughter of our good friends, Ryan and Kim Foust. We delivered a package of goodies to her and had our picture taken with her. She was so sweet and cute and healthy and smiley! I was so happy to be meeting her! The videographer got footage of us with her for our lifebook. Desalee and this little girl have been through a lot together in Ethiopia and they will grow up close to one another with a special bond. I look forward to the day that we show these girls that they were together practically from the start! It warms my heart! By the time we left it was naptime, and Desalee was sharing a little bed with this little friend! I just love it!
Here’s a funny thing…before nap, the nannies put about 10 toddlers on little potties for a “group potty time” Most of these kids didn’t look like they were two and they sat on the potty for probably 10 minutes! I found it to be remarkable! Maybe Desalee will be easy to potty train like her big brother and sister were!
After our visit with Desalee we had some lunch and did a little shopping…the shopping was hard. I didn’t enjoy it. We found some nice stuff, but it was really hard because white Americans attract a lot of attention, especially from street vendors and beggars. We are told not to give in to the desire to “help” them. In fact, one member of our group gave a small boy a package of crackers and that opened up Pandora ’s Box! There were tons of people coming over for crackers! It’s just very sad. You want to help, but don’t know what to do! Uncomfortable is the understatement of the century!
Tomorrow promises to be a long day…we travel by bus for about 4 ½ hours to a town called Hoseanna where we will meet Desalee’s birth family. I don’t know yet who exactly we will be meeting. We will have the chance to ask questions and also to tell them that we plan to take good care of their girl, give her the best life we can and love her with all our hearts. I think it will be a hard meeting emotionally. Prayers are welcome!
Now it’s off to bed!
Love, S

more pics to come, I promise!

God's Perfect Timing

2010-07-22T10:19:00.005-04:00

I am so full of emotions right now! You might say my emotional cup runneth over! or "overwhelmed" might be a good way to put it!

In my previous post...Packing....I was thinking of God's timing and how sometimes you get it right away, sometimes you wait, and then there are times when you just have to trust without ever knowing. Today I am overwhelmed with awe by His timing. We thought we would be in Ethiopia right now, hugging and kissing on our sweet Desalee. Ready to bring her home! But that didn't happen. It was disappointing, at best. We did make a trip, however,to Texas to be with our family there and spend precious time with Grandpa Jack. It was a wonderful trip and exactly the right thing to do! Although Jack was weak and a bit "in-and-out" of it, when he was "in" he was the same Jack who was a practical joker and a truly loving person! I was thrilled! He was joking and playing with the kids....he even tried to get me with his "dog jaw" joke, but I caught him! We left with precious memories and a real chance to tell him we love him and say goodbye.

We drove home knowing that God's timing was better than our own. But not realizing how perfect it was. We almost waited an extra week to go to Texas, but at the last minute decided to go ahead and go. We got back to Indy on Sunday night and over the next few days received word that Jack's condition was worsening. And then last night we were pretty surprised to find out that he had already gone to be with Jesus. It's sooner than we expected. But it is a relief to know that when we died he was in the comfort of his home with Delores and that now we know for sure that there is no more pain, no more cancer, just relief and joy in the presence of our Saviour!

My Granda Whitten died suddenly 9 years ago and I didn't have the chance to say goodbye. I don't know what my last words to her were...I hope it was a "love you!" on a casual phone call...I don't know. I am so grateful to know that my last moment with Jack was a big hug and an "I love you!" He told me that the next time he saw us we'd have Desalee with us. I know he will watch down from Heaven as we take her in our arms for the first time. He can be there with us for that!

Today our social worker called to tell us that we have been invited to travel to Addis next week to get our baby girl. We are so excited! It's a roller coaster of emotion over here....grieving one moment, celebration and anticipation the next! We leave on Wednesday the 28th and return home on Friday, August 6th. Finally united with our little girl!

I'll never stop wondering at God's timing...the events of the past couple weeks remind me that all I need to do is trust that His timing is absolutely perfect....impeccable, really!

Goodbye, Grandpa Jack. I love you like you were my own grandpa. I'll always remember your jokes and the loving person you were. Ill also never play progressive rummy without pile driving a wild 2 and thinking of you! Love you! Miss you! See you on the other side!

Packing.

2010-07-11T08:03:00.004-04:00

I'm packing today, but not for the trip we were hoping to be packing for...

We were hoping and praying that we would be boarding a plane this Wednesday bound for Ethiopia and our little girl. Everything seemed to point to this date being our date to go. As the days and weeks passed since our successful court appointment (June 9th) we heard no word that we could travel. I held out hope until the very end... When we got word Friday from our social worker that we should let go of our hope to travel this week, I was so disappointed. Why, the wait, God? So now we are hoping and praying to be able to leave the states on July 29th to go get our sweet Desalee. Feel free to pray along with us!

So why am I packing? If you know me very well, you would know that I would not be packing now for a trip that is nearly 3 weeks away....yes, I am a procrastinator!

As it turns out, God's timing is better than my timing...go figure! We found out a few days ago that Ryan's grandpa Jack, who lives in Texas, isn't doing very well. His battle with cancer has taken a turn for the worse. As we thought about it, we realized that we needed to make this trip to Texas to see Jack. He is an amazing man! We want to be with him, pray for him, laugh with him. He's hilarious! (when I first met Jack, he would jokingly call me by all these different names like Sharon, Susan, etc.) We don't know how soon we would be able to make this kind of trip once Desalee is home. I was worried that Thanksgiving would be too soon for her. So, it appears to be for the best that we wait a bit longer to go get Desi.

So I'm packing for our family road trip (in the new minivan--again--good timing) to Texas to be with our family and spend some very precious time with Jack. God's timing doesn't always reveal itself so quickly, I know. But in this case, it's obvious to me. We need to make this trip. Some times we wait and wait and don't understand why things play out the way they do. Hopefully we can get to that place and look back and see how it all makes sense. Sometimes we don't get to see it. We just have to trust God to lead the way.

If you will, please pray for Jack and for our family. Thanks!

Birth Certificate!

2010-06-30T12:48:00.002-04:00

Another small hurdle cleared: Desi has a birth certificate! With this, our agency can work on getting her a passport and then we can be assigned an Embassy date (still praying for July 20th) and get our official invitation to travel! Yeah!

The next couple of weeks could be really stressful and hectic! Booking airfare and a room at one of the guest houses in Addis, packing, and preparing to be gone for a week! Keep us in your prayers!

Baby Shower!

2010-06-28T15:29:00.005-04:00

Last weekend, Sandy, Jenni, and Joyce threw me a wonderful baby shower! It was such a blessing and so much fun to celebrate Desi before she arrives.

Here I am in the kitchen before the shower...that's Jenni behind the huge container of sangria....which I happily partook of at my own baby shower...never did that before!

The tables were beautiful and we ate off Grandma Poe's Havelin china....fancy!

One of my favorite gifts was this lovey (aka 'B') with Desi's name embroidered on it...from our beloved babysitter, Nicole, and her mom, Debbie.We received a lot of nice things for Des, but also got some wonderful donations to take to the orphanage where she's at now. Hmmm...what could be in this big box???

Oh, yeah! A cutie pink car seat! She's going to look tiny in it! Thanks, Sandy and Joyce!

This will look great in the new-to-us minivan that we're working on getting for our expanding family!

We're still waiting for a travel call to let us know when we can go get her....

Update....finally!

2010-06-17T13:34:00.003-04:00

Yay! We finally received our long-awaited update on Desi! We've been asking and waiting for quite a while! It turns out that her social worker in Ethiopia got married and went on vacation!

So we have some new info on her....she's growing! She has gained a little over 2lbs in the 3+ months that she's been in the orphanage in Addis! Praise God! The report also indicates that she is thriving and healthy and doing great! ....Just needs her mommy and daddy to come and get her!

There were some wonderful pictures in the update too! (I'm not sure if I'm really suppose to post pics on here, so I'll hold off until I know for sure it's okay....sorry! You are really missing out because she is B-E-A-utiful!) The sweetest thing is that one of the pictures has her surrounded by the stuff we sent her in her care package! And one pic shows her in the lap of one of the nannies looking at a picture of Jakie from the photo album we sent her! My eyes welled up when I saw that she was looking at pictures of her new family! (Eyes welling up again....) The report said that she loves looking at the photos!

We are still hoping to travel in mid-July...keep praying that we get our Embassy date on the 20th!

Other Notables:

We got round 1 of our travel vaccines....ouch! We both had a very sore arm for about 4 days! Round 2 this Friday!
Sandy, Jenni, and Nannie (Joyce) are so graciously throwing me a baby shower on Saturday, so I am so excited for that!

So, I'm as happy as a clam today! Took J and Em to the pool this morning which is so much fun! The kids are doing awesome in the water this year! Loving summer! Yipee!

Court-PASSED!!

2010-06-09T18:58:00.003-04:00

Praise God! We passed court! Desalee is really really ours now! Officially!

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us! We are so relieved and excited!

The next step is to get her a Birth Certificate, then after that a Passport. With those documents we can be assigned an appointment at the Embassy in Addis Ababa. Hopefully that appointment will be on July 20th, which will put us traveling from about the 14th of July until the 22nd.

Now to start thinking about travelling to get our baby girl and bring her home!

I'm gonna sleep much better tonight!

This is it!

2010-06-08T19:49:00.002-04:00

This is it! The time is here! Tonight as we sleep, the Ethiopian courts will be in session and our case will hopefully be heard and approved!

We may have to wait a couple of days before we hear the news....I'll definitely post as soon as we get word.

PRAY! PRAY! PRAY!

Love, S

PS: check out my cool new Ethiopian time and weather widget on the sidebar! Now we know exactly what time it is and what the weather is like where our little girl is.

2010-06-07T17:10:00.003-04:00

As Wednesday and our court appointment near, I am feeling so anxious. This was a big court week for our agency....11 families will have court before the week is out! Praise God today, 4 out of 4 families that had court passed on the first try! This is wonderful news, especially for those precious children who are now officially adopted into loving families. As I watched the discussion forums online, there was so much joy and encouragement...I hope that this will be the same way on Wednesday, when myself and 5 other BCS families will have our cases heard.

And yet, a close friend who is also on this journey learned today that her family will have to wait longer....they now await their 5th court date. I can't understand it. I am praying for their family because I know that their hearts are hurting. It's so hard to wait.

I won't lie...MY HOPES ARE UP! WAY UP! I know that it would not be unusual to hear on Wednesday that our court appointment has been rescheduled...I will come crashing down! But I know that whether it's pure joy or anguish this week, that God is there for me, along with a lot of other people who love us and are praying us through this!

I really don't think that it's about God's favor for us at this point....to believe that would be to insinuate that those who don't pass somehow are not in His favor? I know that's not right. So I just believe that it is His timing...which I don't always understand, but still, He knows what He's doing.

Last year for Mother's Day I got a beautiful hand-made bracelet, with charms of the initials J and E...my little treasures.

I knew, last year that it was missing a charm, I just didn't know who that charm would represent. So a couple of weeks ago, I sent the bracelet back and had Desalee's charm added. Now it's complete. And it's a reminder to pray for her and for J and E whenever I wear it. It also reminds me to be grateful for the blessing of my kids. I love them so!Thank you to everyone who's been praying...keep it up for Wednesday! Ethiopia is 8 hours ahead of us...so start early!!

Less than 1 week until Court!

2010-06-03T12:04:00.002-04:00

We are less than one week out from our first scheduled court date! I am so anxious, I can't wait for it to get here! I've been surfing around on some online forums for our adoption agency...browsing the conversations about various adoption and travel related topics. It may be hurting more than helping. Aside from being more obsessed with the discussion boards than I am with Facebook (if that's even possible) I'm getting some good info, but at the same time, it gets me balled up in a bundle of nerves!

I did figure out through the forums that if we pass court on the 9th, then our Embassy date will likely/hopefully be July 20th. It looks like most families travel the Thursday before and come home the Thursday after. It's good to have an idea of when we'll be travelling. Another source of stress? The immense cost of airfare to Ethiopia this time of year! YOWZA!!! I think I need to sell a few more kitchens!

It also looks like there are about 10-11 other families with court dates on our within a day or so of the 9th, so these will be the families that we travel with (if we pass court). I hope that the forums are a way to get to know these people a little better....we are going to be sharing one of the most amazing experiences of our lives with them, afterall!

an Aha! moment...kind of.

2010-05-23T18:27:00.002-04:00

As I unpacked the groceries it hit me..."I forgot to buy hot dog buns! arrgh!" I had used a coupon to buy some "new" natural hot dogs and here I was with no buns! I hate buying hot dog buns anyway, because they always get wasted and I hate how they fall apart while the kids are trying eat them, which usually means a stain or mess for me. So maybe I subconsciously meant to neglect putting the buns in my cart. Who knows?

So that leads to dinner tonight...hot dogs but no buns...hmmm. Then it hit me, aha! I'm sure I didn't actually invent this, but I like to think I did at least for my house....the Grilled Cheese Dog. See picture.....

I've never seen a recipe or suggestion for this kid-friendly treat, so I was feeling pretty proud of myself for coming up with it. The kids actually liked it! They cleaned their plates...no uneaten half-a-bun on the plate to guilt-ily throw away. yay!!

it seems kind of silly to post a "recipe" but here it is:

1 slice bread-light buttered on one side (I use Olivio Light Spread)
1 hot dog cut lengthwise (the hot dogs I had were kind of long, so used 1 dog for both kids)
1 slice cheese
place bread butter side down on a griddle or skillet set at medium heat
Layer cheese, dog, cheese and fold in half
Grill each side until brown--I also grill the folded end

VOILA! LOL.

Nesting

2010-05-19T19:56:00.005-04:00

I guess I'm going through what all expectant mother's go through...nesting. It's really all I can do, since we are just waiting. Waiting for our court date to arrive (June 9th, please pray we pass!), waiting for any new information: an update, a new photo....we are, in fact, still waiting for all of the above. It's hard to wait.

But I have had a bit of fun in the mean time....working on the bedroom that Em and Des will share. That's where the majority of the nesting comes in. Em had been sleeping in the child's daybed stage of the convertible crib, so we knew she would have to transition out of that. Des will have to sleep in the crib. We felt like sooner would be better so that she didn't feel that this new baby took her bed. So we found some good deals on a twin bed and mattresses. She transitioned seamlessly into her new bed and is totally "on board"with giving her old one to Des. Thank you, God!

I've also been getting the room more personalized for the sisters. I love this part of it, and it really helps me feel like I am getting ready to have Des here with us. I found some letters to spell her name that are in the exact same font as the ones we've had for Em since she was born.

So, nesting is really all I can do at this point. So I'll just keep nesting...and waiting. It's really so close now, I can hardly believe it. I just noticed that I'm blogging about nesting and the theme of the girls' room is owls...how appropriate!

Blogging Again.

2010-05-17T09:34:00.005-04:00

So, the blog has been dormant for a quite a while. But I am ready to get started again, particularly because now that we are in the home stretch of our adoption, I want to have a place where we can keep people updated on what's going on....

Here's a recap of the last 1 1/2 years:

December 2008--submit an official application with Bethany Christian Services for Ethiopian adoption.

January 2009-August 2009--PAPERWORK!! That pretty much sums it up! Lots of paperwork and lots of READING!

August 2009--all paperwork is complete--Dossier sent to Ethiopia.

August 2009-April 2010--WAITING, WAITING, WAITING. We had originally been told that we would wait 1 year to 18 months for a referral, so we were really surprised when we receive a referral in April 2010.

March 2010--We receive word that Ethiopia is changing it's procedures (effective April 9th) to require families to be present at court--which means 2 trips to Ethiopia...not in our original plans! There's not a lot of information so it's mostly just questions! Will we have to travel 2x?

April 7, 2010--We received a call and email from our specialist notifying us that we were matched with a 16 month old baby girl named Desalech.

Over the next few days we prayed and talked to some friends and decided to accept the referral!

Receive word that the deadline for 2 trips is moved to May 9th....we may be able to get in under the wire and only have to travel 1x! Praying we don't have to travel 2x. We don't want to meet our baby and leave her there!

We decided to modify Desalech's name to Desalee Rae Demessie Poe (Demessie is her given last name)

April 2010-May 7, 2010--more waiting...for a court date. This time it's a much harder wait, now that we know who our daughter is. Also continuing to wonder if we'll beat the deadline and only travel 1x. May 9th is rapidly approaching!

May 7th--With no court date scheduled, we are pretty much resolved to the fact that we need to prepare to travel 2x to Ethiopia. BUT...we receive a call from our worker that our paperwork is submitted and that all paperwork submitted before the deadline will be grandfathered in under the 1 trip rule! Yay!! We now know for sure that we will only have to travel 1x to get Desi and BRING HER HOME!!!

May 2010--we moved Emily into her big girl bed to prepare her to give the crib to Desi...she did great! Hopefully she'll do as good at sharing her room with her new little sister!

May 17, 2010--Received word that we have a court date scheduled for June 9, 2010.

Now we are just praying that we will pass court on the first try....a lot of court cases do not pass on the first try (30-40% are rescheduled!) This is our main prayer request...passing court! Of course that Desi would be healthy and safe too!

I'm going to do my best to keep the blog updated as we receive updates on Desi and our process. I also plan to use the blog as a place to post pictures when we are traveling.

2010-01-26T08:53:00.002-05:00

I'm sorry that I never update this blog....soon....maybe. (Just being honest!)

Just call me Forrest...

2009-11-26T20:10:00.003-05:00

I'm not necessarily calling myself a runner, but today was a first for me....I ran 4.5 miles in a local race called the Drumstick Dash. With very little training, it may have been a little ambitious, but I'm feeling very proud of myself for hanging in there for the whole 4.5 miles (thanks to my last minute running partner, and sis-in-law, Jenni. I even kept a respectable pace (10 min. mile the whole way). What a great way to start this Thanksgiving Day! I might even do it again next year.

Fall fun!

2009-11-01T21:32:00.005-05:00

Why do kids love fallen leaves so much?.....

Happy kids make for a happy fall!

Halloween

2009-11-01T21:18:00.004-05:00

So Halloween 2009 was a little bit of a bust...Em wasn't feeling so good, so she missed out on all the fun. And that means that one or the other of us parental-types had to miss out too. But we managed to squeeze in a little bit of fun....

First of all....I stared noticing something strange happening to my pumpkins...something was snacking on them....

I took this shot today....some squirrel is sitting pretty fat and satisfied! I'll probably have a pumpkin patch in my front yard next fall....

J wanted to go as Darth Vader this year. On Halloween, he and daddy watched the first 2 episodes to get him into character....

J and I went to a Halloween party while daddy and Em stayed home. J sure showed off his mad dance skills.....

So, I made Em a kitty cat costume, which she didn't get to wear on Halloween because she's got a cold...but Gam and Papaw came trick or treating the next night...so I got her all dressed...pretty cute.

Diving into her trick or treat goody bag...yummy stuff in there.

Lot's of fun things in J's bag too....

J did get to go out trick or treating with daddy on Halloween, but it seems he's the first trick or treater this neighborhood has seen in years....next year we'll probably have to scope out a nearby, more trick or treat friendly neighborhood....oh well.

Leaves, leaves, leaves....it's Fall...literally!

2009-11-01T08:39:00.003-05:00

So, now that we've got mature trees, (which everyone always says they want) we are realizing again why we call it "Fall"...

At least the kids are still at an age when it's fun to help dad with the leaves.

Fill the bag....

Smash it down....Em's gonna use her booty.

Happy Fall!

Make up artist?

2009-11-01T08:36:00.002-05:00

That's okay, sis. I always find it hard to get the eye liner just right....

2009-10-06T08:54:00.004-04:00

Again, my apologies for not blogging....We've been super busy this late summer/fall. But we're happy to say that we are now mostly settled in our new home and loving it. We've got a great big yard, which the kids love, and a cozy little ranch. I've posted a couple of pictures. We are so happy to be here, closer to Trinity and many of our new friends that we've met at Trinity.

We celebrated Em's 2nd birthday in September. She's getting so big. It's crazy to look at pictures of her from 1 year ago compared to now....

Here she is at her 1st birthday party.....

And now that she's 2.....it's the hair.
J lost his first tooth in September! He was pretty excited and handled it like a champ. The Tooth Fairy gave him $1.
Showing off his gap....it's the one on the bottom. The gap on the top is just the way God made him. :)

Em being cute at her birthday party.....

We got to stay with Gam and Papaw for about 3 weeks after we sold our house and waited for our new house to be available.....we were doing the exact same thing 2 years ago at this time! Maybe it's a new tradition? No. But we had a great time there. Thanks for the hospitality!

Bath time....

Girls getting ready....

Since moving into "the city" we've had a chance to make some great friends too. We went to a birthday party in a cute park last week for a new friend....

I love Em in her Peyton Manning jersey...which used to be J's. Gotta love a gender-neutral hand-me-down!

I LOVED these shots of J in the tree....

Playing together, in black and white, on the teeter-totter.

More Em cuteness....

I'll be trying to be better about blogging, but you can always look at my Facebook page (if you're my friend) and see pictures posted.

2009-07-13T14:51:00.004-04:00

Sorry for the lack of blogging lately, folks. We've had a kind of busy summer, but here are a few posts to let you know what we've been up to....enjoy.

Splash Park Fun

2009-07-13T14:46:00.002-04:00

We went to one of J's pre-school friend's birthday party at a local splash park. Our previous experiences with splash parks has not been great, but this time J really enjoyed it. He even make a little friend. They never exchanged names, just ran around calling each other Buddy. It was pretty cute and amusing to watch.

Birthday party at Chuck E Cheese

2009-07-13T14:42:00.002-04:00

Went to a birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese....it was pretty fun....there were a lot of kids there and I must say that a few hours after we got home my tummy wasn't feeling too hot...

Oh well, the kids had fun anyway.

Family Visits

2009-07-13T14:09:00.009-04:00

I was so lucky to get back to back visits from my family this June. It was awesome. We ended up getting to see everyone! We had a great time....take a look!

The first week we spent some time with Mom, Kel and the girls.
J, Em and Cousin Soph

It was really hot the first week while Kel and the girls were here so we spent a lot of time at the pool!

The next week Dad, Erin, and the boys came.

Papaw Vinny getting a nip of baby girl neck...his favorite!

Buds..reunited.

We took the boys down the the Indy Car museum at the Motor Speedway.

Then we headed over to the zoo.....

Penguins!

Em and C chilling out on the patio.
The boys got some matching Lightning McQueen crocs and race cars, so they're showing them off.
I love having family in town to visit!

Recent Pics

2009-06-07T21:09:00.000-04:00

The Poe family hasn't been up to too much this summer. We're enjoying our neighborhood pool as much as the weather allows. Here are a few pics from the last few weeks.

These first two are from Easter. A friend of ours took them and recently emailed them to me. They're pretty cute a.k.a. "blog-worthy".

Over Memorial Day weekend we got together for a fun afternoon with family.....

This is one of J's best friends. She had to move to Michigan. We really miss her!

Of course, we are taking full advantage of our neighborhood pool. Em's little pigtails are so cute!

Got to hang out with the little Keller gals....

One Friday while I was working in the office, Ryan took the kids to the Children's Museum (by himself...superdad.) Looks like they all had fun.

Well that's about it.

Happy Etsy Mother's Day to me!

2009-05-30T13:08:00.004-04:00

I just got my Mother's Day present delivered. Yay!!! I really wanted something that would remind me of my kids. I also wanted to make a socially responsible purchase that I felt really good about. Plus I've been searching for a while for a silver bangle bracelet.

I found exactly what I was looking for over at one of my favorite websites-Etsy.com ! This site is dedicated to providing a place for crafty people to sell their hand made treasures! I fell in love with a bracelet at one of the online stores...Silver Cloud Studios. Originally this bracelet had an XO, but I just emailed the seller and asked if I could personalize it with an E and J. She said no problem! A week later I have a hand made bracelet (great price by-the-way) that will remind me of my two little treasures every time I wear it (which will be all the time!).

Thank you to Ryan and my babies for the sweetest Mother's Day present. And thanks to Maggie at Silver Cloud Studios for my bracelet. I love it!

10th Anniversary Cruise

2009-05-23T11:45:00.013-04:00

We just got back from celebrating our 10th anniversary with a Royal Caribbean 5 night cruise. We had the best time! The food was awesome, the weather was perfect (HOT!), great entertainment, yada yada yada. We'll definitely cruise again, we loved it!

This is the port in Fort Lauderdale.

Exploring the ship while waiting for the departure.There was an acrylic platform that jutted out over the water. It was kind of freaky to stand on. Our first night at dinner.

The ship was so pretty. This is the main atrium.
Formal night was so fun! I loved getting all dressed up.

We didn't really spend any time in the casino but I did want to play the slots. I only put in $5, it's a good thing because it doesn't look like I'm very lucky. Our dinner companions, however, won the bingo jackpot and some diamond jewelry....I guess they were the lucky ones!

In the evenings at dinner the dining room staff would sing for us. It was really fun and we had a great waiter and assistant waiter all week.

This is the bay at Grand Cayman. There is a pirate ship docked there.

Our ship-The Enchantment of the Seas anchored in Grand Cayman.

I said hello to this parrot and he said hello back. Then when I tried to get a picture with it, it bit my hat and hair. Naughty bird.

On the beautiful beach in Grand Cayman.

Jamaica

We took a cruise out to snorkel in the coral reefs off the coast of Jamaica. We enjoyed the snorkeling

The Montego Bay airport is right on the coast of Jamaica, so planes were landing right over our heads. It was pretty cool.

The dining room on the ship was called My Fair Lady. There was a huge bronze statue of Eliza Doolittle, so naturally I had to have a picture with it.

We loved eating in the informal dining room right at the front of the ship. This was our view one morning at breakfast.

The ship had a rock climbing wall so we decided to give it a try. I got panicky and only went about 2/3 of the way up. I wish I would have made it to the top.

Ryan scurried right up the bell...didn't seem like too much of a challenge for him.

Our final evening to get dressed up.

Bonus....our stateroom attendant would make us towel friends each night before we returned to our room...quite talented!

Elephant

This one had us puzzled but Ryan guessed it right....

Alien from Men In Black

Couldn't figure this one out either....

found out it was a polar bear?

A baby chick....this one was so cute I almost put it in my suitcase.

Good bye Fort Lauderdale! Beautiful view from the airplane.

We had such a great time! But we were so happy to get home and see the kids. We missed them so much! Many thanks to Ryan's mom and dad for taking great care of them while we were gone.

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T21:56:00.003-04:00

We had a wonderful Mother's Day! It started with 2 dozen beautiful white and pink roses..... Plus we had Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast! Yummy. And my babies made me cards!

Then we headed to Trinity for the worship gathering. While we waited for daddy to be ready to go, J played this box drum. Of course, he wanted his picture playing the drum....

We played around with the camera a little bit. Got a good shot of mommy with the kids thanks to the self timer on the camera.

I thought it was cute when Em had to sit on the stairs just like her brother.

The reason I get to celebrate this wonderful day.....

After the gathering we headed over to Aunt J and Uncle A's for a great lunch. It was delicious and Jen made a cake that I'm going to dream about tonight! It was great to hang out and celebrate with family and good friends.

Happy Mother's Day to all our mommy friends and family!

Bunny Haven.

2009-05-04T18:42:00.002-04:00

We have some visitors in our yard....adorable baby bunnies. We also have a long patch of grass that we've agreed not to mow...the bunny haven.

Thank God we don't have a dog anymore.

Random

2009-05-04T18:40:00.003-04:00

Just pics....kids growing.

I got nothin'.

2009-04-30T18:55:00.003-04:00

Sorry folk, but I have nothing new to put on the blog.

Except our header pic which is actually the lilacs that Ryan and the kids got me last year for Mother's Day. I love lilacs, and now about a year later I get to enjoy their blooms and so can you!

Stay tuned. Maybe something interesting will happen. If not, I'll just start taking pics of everyday stuff, I promise.

Easter

2009-04-17T17:31:00.007-04:00

Easter Baskets

2009-04-09T21:41:00.002-04:00

Thanks, Mom and Grandpa, for the kids' Easter baskets.

Just some pictures...

2009-04-07T09:03:00.002-04:00

Mom and Grandpa came out for a visit. The kids are having a ball! (So is mommy!)

I think that this outfit is an accurate reflection on Em's personality.

She managed to put on J's socks all by herself and wore them all afternoon with her crazy tights.

This picture breaks my heart, it's when she was really sick with the flu. She stayed in this chair all day and at times she'd just curl up and fall asleep. Poor thing. I'm so glad to have her back to health and her normal crazy self.

I feel pretty....

2009-03-25T14:00:00.003-04:00

Her first pony tail! I love being the mommy of a little girl. I don't know if Em going to be much of a girly girl though, she might end up being a tomboy. She's pretty tough.

(by the way, she hated the pony tail....go figure.)

More Birthday Celebration

2009-03-22T13:15:00.005-04:00

J and I celebrated our birthday with the fam. We had one of my fav foods (and what is turning out to be my birthday tradition) O'Malia's Fried Chicken! Yum!

J's awesome Cars birthday Cake.

The beloved bike and helmet.

Em got to sport around in the big wheels jeep.

J's "friends" birthday party at the swingset store.

I think all his guests needed naps when they got home. It was lots of fun.

Aunt Jenni made the cute cupcakes.

Birthday fun stuff.

2009-03-21T16:54:00.003-04:00

This first video is Em playing with my birthday baloons...cute.

This second video is J's birthday party at Gam and Papaw's house where he got his new bike. The weather was so beautiful that we were able to go right outside and play!

Birthday Present Thank You

2009-03-21T16:11:00.003-04:00

This is for my mom and dad (Grandma Laura and Papaw Vinny)

He loves his personalized Thomas The Tank Engine plate!

Thank you!

(The little monster rolling around on the floor back there is just a little bonus.)

Happy Birthday, Jakey!

2009-03-14T11:22:00.007-04:00

J's birthday celebrating started yesterday when Papaw came and took him on his first visit ever to Chuck-E-Cheese! He had a great time....thanks Papaw!
This morning, J woke up to balloons and a special birthday crown. Plus he got to have his favorite, chocolate donuts for breakfast.

Of course, Em loved the balloons too.

Here's 5 years of Jakey....I can't believe it. I would have put every picture of him that we have in this slide show, but it would probably take hours. I loved looking back through all the pictures, though....it's been a wonderful 5 years!

Way Back When

2009-03-14T11:14:00.002-04:00

2009-03-13T08:55:00.003-04:00

Spaghetti Night and Bath Night go together like peas and carrots.

Em was being particularly cute with her spaghetti sauce face, so I had to grab the camera. This pic would be frame worthy, if it weren't for the sauce.

I wish I had these lashes....they go on for days.

She was a bit surprised when she lifted that cup to her face and water poured out all over her....it took care of the sauce though!

It's J and Mommy Eve...tomorrow's the big day!!!

Bowling.

2009-02-28T15:48:00.004-05:00

J's preschool class went on a field trip to the bowling alley. It was really fun. It was his first time bowling (if you don't count Wii bowling with Blake). We had a great time. I haven't bowled in ages. I learned that this would be a fun family activity! So here's how it went...he's got a pretty cute little system...

First, he pick his ball. J liked this green one.

Then he gave it all he's got and chucked it down the lane holding this pose as he watched it roll....

Sometimes it did take a while to get all the way down to the pins.While he waited for his ball to return, he figured out that there's a little fan there. I guess it's to dry your fingers??? He thought it was very important.
2nd roll....still holding this pose.

Celebrate!! He did really good. His final score was 89 and he got a strike.
(I only got 102, with those little kiddie bumpers)
One of J's very best friends, Blake, is in another class at the school and was a few lanes down from us. We wished we could have bowled together...maybe next time.

Later that day, J and Em sat and ate a quesadilla together.
Ahh, good times!

Valentine's Day

2009-02-17T15:56:00.004-05:00

With the help of a sweet little babysitting swap, we were able to go out and celebrate Valentine's Day this year. Friday we watched "the girls" and then on Saturday we got to go out while they watched our kids. Pretty sweet deal that saved us enough babysitting money to justify a nice little Valentine's Day Margarita at dinner! Nice!

Ryan and the kids got me flowers. My favorite...tulips. These look exactly like the tulips in my bridal bouquet nearly 1o years ago.

This a sort of confused Em giving C her blanket, which looks very much like Em's own "B" (as we call it around our house) She could tell the difference though, particularly when she smelled it and realized something wasn't right.

I love it that the girls are big enough now that J can really play with them and not just sort of lead them around. It makes it a lot more fun for him. This was a nice action shot of Jbean, and you've gotta love JP back there is hamming it up with a thumbs up!

Em loved sitting in these miniature chairs. I'm sure it made her feel like big stuff.
That was all Friday. On Saturday we went to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, On The Border, and pigged out!! Who wouldn't pig out after waiting for 45 minutes! And I already mentioned the nice little Valentine's Day margarita...yum. We figured out that this was our 14th Valentine's Day together...how the time flies!

Dancing Queen

2009-02-08T13:59:00.001-05:00

Em loves to dance to the music. Here she is getting down with her guitar.

Little sister managed to get brother's shoes on her feet....quite an accomplishment. She certainly was proud of herself.

We are currently enjoying a pocket of unseasonably warm weather, but I'm sure we'll get more snow. This is J with the huge snowball he made in the back yard. All that snow is gone for now.

2009-02-02T20:43:00.002-05:00

She used to just shut her eyes when she saw the camera pointed at her...now she puts her hands up like this and says, "cheese!" Precious.

J loves to go out with daddy while he shovels the snow.

Snow!

2009-01-28T09:28:00.002-05:00

Not a good day to be a dog! Ha.

2009-01-24T12:57:00.006-05:00

We got to go to a birthday party for a princess friend of ours...at a fire station. J had a lot of fun looking at the big fire truck. It was also very educational for me to hear some tips on fire safety at home. What a great idea for a kids birthday party!

J with the fireman's gear.

J and Em on the front of the truck.

J and one of his best friends, E.

Sitting in the cab of the big fire truck.

All the kids got fireman hats.

Fireman Pat put on all his gear to help the kids see what he wears when he fights a fire. Also, he helped them see that they don't have to be afraid if they ever need a fireman's help.

Fireman Pat crawled around and gave everyone a high five...Even Em gave him five!

Climbing on the fire engine with his cousins.

Back at the Princess' house we had cake and ice cream. Em played with the ball and fed Dan some Teddy Grahams.

**********************

A little bonus....Em giving J a kiss...so sweet.

If It's going to snow...let's at least play in it!

2009-01-15T15:33:00.002-05:00

When J saw that it was snowing, really snowing, he got really excited! I got him some new Light-Up Spider Man snow boots at Once Upon A Child (love that store!) and he's been anxious to try them out. So last night after dinner we let him go out while Ryan did a little shoveling....

Here he is at dinner already geared up to play in the snow....and yes, he spent the whole day in his pjs...he did wear more clothes to go outside.

I love how my camera captured the falling snow in this one. And J's face says it all...

I thought this bird was crazy...why are you here bird?? Fly South! Anyway, it seemed content to sit on our patio chair, so I took a picture.

Still counting down the days until Spring. Winter just isn't my time of year!

Trains Trains Trains!

2009-01-15T15:19:00.004-05:00

Anyone who knows J knows how much he loves trains! Earlier this month, Ryan took him to the fair grounds where they were having a huge model train exhibit. They had a great time!

Of Course, they had tons of Thomas the Tank Engine stuff, so J got to have some hands on fun playing with the engines.

There was also a train ride for the kids.

Looks like they had some fun father-son time!
(I'm a little jealous.)

Post Holiday

2008-12-30T21:37:00.004-05:00

Now that the holidays have come and gone it's time to get back to normal. The tree came down and the the living room just looks like a normal, not-at-all-festive living room again. Now to get on with getting through winter...Why can't spring start on January 1st?

A few post holiday pics....

J and E were best buds in St. Joe. Here they are on the couch. E's playing his DS and J is just content to watch.

The plane ride home, which by-the-way was much better than the plane ride there.

Em got a kitchen for Christmas and she's enjoying it in her special Em way.

Christmas!

2008-12-27T22:24:00.006-05:00

We made it through the whirlwind that was Christmas!

Got our family picture taken at Northview after the Christmas Eve service.

Em loves to touch the ornaments on the trees.

On Christmas morning J woke us up and we let him open his presents from Santa.

Part two happened when Em woke up and opened her presents.

She spent the day all dressed up in her beautiful Christmas dress. She looked so pretty!

After we ate a big Christmas breakfast we went a spent some time with a senior citizen in our community who didn't have any family in town. She was such a great lady and we hope to continue to visit and help her.

Em's cousins got this cute inflatable table and chairs and Em really loved sitting on it. She's ready for tea parties!

The next day we headed back to our hometown to visit with my family. We got to meet my sister's new puppy, Bella. Em was enamoured with this puppy. She threw a fit the first time it left the room! Maybe she liked that it was a baby like her.

All the cousins (sans cousin E). J has a ball when he gets to go back to St. Jo and play with this group of cousins.

J wanted this piece to add to his Thomas the Tank Engine collection and it was the last thing he got! He was so excited and played with it the rest of the night.

Em got an adorable new outfit so we had to try it on and take some pictures.

It was a great Christmas 2008!

Happy New Year, everyone!

A Birthday Party for Jesus.

2008-12-21T22:42:00.003-05:00

The Well had our second annual Birthday Party for Jesus and we kicked it off with some Christmas carols.

Next the kids enacted the Christmas Story. In case it's not evident, J is Joseph, E is Mary and baby S is the angel (she also appeared as a star later in the story.) So here's where Mary and Joseph find out their having a baby.

Here's Mary looking rather great with child.Mary had to take the long journey to Bethlehem on a rather silly donkey. She giggled the whole way.

After the kids had enacted the story they presented the baby Jesus (in the bright blue manger) with gifts that they chose to give to boys and girls in need.
It was a fun night....

Obviously.

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

2008-12-21T22:39:00.003-05:00

Just a cute pic of Em all bundled up for a ride in the car.

Cookies!

2008-12-21T21:50:00.006-05:00

We had our annual cookie baking day with Sandy and Jenni and this year the kiddos got involved. It was really fun to have them join in on the holiday fun.

We started the day off with another tradition, albeit a new one...Gam and Papaw's Christmas pic with the grandkids. All the kids wore matching outfits...cute.

After the group pic I thought I might be able to get a pic of my two in their matching duds...Not really. This is the best we could do...
It was on to the baking marathon. The twins and J loved being a part of the cookie decorating.

Here's a live clip of the fun...

As if that wasn't enough baking, the next evening I did it again to make treats for my coworkers as a way to say "thanks! I appreciate you!" I thought that these cookies turned out really cute, but they were so much work!

I really do love baking, especially when it's for someone I love, but these two days wore me out! I'll be happy to not bake for a long time!

Merry Christmas!! (4 days to go!)

J's Christmas Program video...as promised

2008-12-21T21:29:00.003-05:00

Here is a short video of J in his Christmas program. He did so great, we are proud of him. He seems to be right at home in front of an audience!

Sorry that the video is kind of small, I had to take it on my digital camera because we forgot to charge to big camera...oops.

Holiday Cheer!

2008-12-16T14:51:00.004-05:00

Here's a glimps at the holiday cheer we've been experiencing lately...

This is the first year that J and I made a gingerbread house. Here it is assembled but not decorated...Ta Da!

J had is school Christmas program (a video to follow soon I hope.) He played the donkey although he looked a little more like a dog.

The kids did songs with sign language and J was so good at the signing and singing...he was right by the microphone so I could hear his sweet voice.

Daddy and Em with her new signature picture face.

Mommy and J.
A handsome boy indeed!

Happy Holidays, everyone!

2008-12-11T21:17:00.001-05:00

This is what happens lately when you tell her to "say cheese!"Too cute.

O Christmas Tree!

2008-11-29T09:13:00.002-05:00

I love, love, love having a Christmas tree up in my living room...if it were up to me it would be lit up 24/7, and we'd go broke from our electric bill. I never feel like it has enough lights though....

Our tree leans toward the whimsical side...a favorite with the kids. I have vivid memories of our family tree growing up and especially my grandma Whitten's tree (the most glorious Christmas tree a child could imagine. 2 words: Bubble Lights!) I have ornaments on my tree that were on her tree and our family tree. I cherish them! I hope my kids grow up loving our tree and remember it always!

Pokeno!

2008-11-29T09:04:00.003-05:00

Courtney and I hosted our first, monthly girls' Pokeno night! We had a blast with the fun and easy game...add in some yummy hors' devours and a peach bellini and, well, you get the picture! I'm looking forward to our January Pokeno night!

The Poe Family

One Year Can Make A Big Difference....

Oh Joy! We Have New Friends!

Hair! Not sure I'm ready for this!

First Steps...

2010 Wrap Up!

Trash to Treasure!!! She's Done!

..Just Treats!

Celebrating!!

Super Mom...for a morning.

I *heart* Family Visits!

Getting Along.

Growing!

It's about time...

The Moment.....

Lifebook

A Change of Seasons...

Sometimes a girl...

The Last Few Days

Unexpected

Small Victories...Part II

Praying for our friends

Small Victories

One week down...

A Long Journey Home

More of our Ethiopia Adventure....

Update

Finally in Ethiopia!

God's Perfect Timing

Packing.

Birth Certificate!

Baby Shower!

Update....finally!

Court-PASSED!!

This is it!

Less than 1 week until Court!

an Aha! moment...kind of.

Nesting

Blogging Again.

Just call me Forrest...

Fall fun!

Halloween

Leaves, leaves, leaves....it's Fall...literally!

Make up artist?

Splash Park Fun

Birthday party at Chuck E Cheese

Family Visits

Recent Pics

Happy Etsy Mother's Day to me!

10th Anniversary Cruise

Happy Mother's Day!

Bunny Haven.

Random

I got nothin'.

Easter

Easter Baskets

Just some pictures...

I feel pretty....

More Birthday Celebration

Birthday fun stuff.

Birthday Present Thank You

Happy Birthday, Jakey!

Way Back When

Bowling.

Valentine's Day

Dancing Queen

Snow!

If It's going to snow...let's at least play in it!

Trains Trains Trains!

Post Holiday

Christmas!

A Birthday Party for Jesus.

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

Cookies!

J's Christmas Program video...as promised

Holiday Cheer!

O Christmas Tree!

Pokeno!

I heart Family Visits!