Cuteness overload

"Off with his head!!!"

Did you miss me?

Sorry we haven't gotten updates out lately, mom's been lazy (or busy?)

Uncle Brett, do you know what we've been up to?

Oh finally, mom's going to post about our trip!

Whew.  I really meant to post an update prior to this.  Things have been a little crazy since we got home, and I seem to have acquired the desire to be desperately lazy.  Hmm.  Maybe it was the two weeks without Joe with E&O... not sure.  Or maybe it was the cold that Joe had when we got home on Thursday and now Ezra and I are both enjoying the effects of catching the cold.  Ugh.

Anyhoo, I should start at the beginning.  On August 22 we arrived in Denver at about 11:15 pm.  We'd lucked into extra seats on the flight, so Ezra and Olivia got to enjoy sitting in their OWN seat in their car seats.  Both fell asleep for a little while at the end, but Olivia was awake again the second we landed.  Ezra, thankfully, slept through the landing, getting off the plane, and the whole reunion with my sister in baggage claim.

My sister is all grown up!  Wow.  I obviously knew she would be older and more grown up, but seeing her as an "adult" was still a shocker.  Somewhere deep inside her eyes I still saw a familiarity, but otherwise she was so different!  She's turned into a beautiful young lady that really seems to know what she's after.  Well, sort of.  Anyway, our airport reunion was nice, but brief.  My dad was there to take Joe, myself and the kids home, and my two sisters (one of whom I was reunited with 4 years ago - my sisters are bio sisters) and one of their bio brothers headed off to get reacquainted at S's home.

The next day, S & J drove up to my parent's place and spent the day visiting with us.  We had a great time getting to know each other again, and rounded out the evening with a ridiculously humiliating home video extravaganza.  I was the oldest sister, and definitely dug the leader role.  S & J really had to endure a lot with me, I tell ya.  We were all in dance, and I enjoyed (with a little of their help) coming up with recitals and such at home.  Oh yeah, we were the bomb.  I had one song I wrote about my hampster (that had died) and how I wished it would come back to me... yadada yadada.  We had this Christmas show with a program and everything... there was only, oh, 40 songs on the list... most of which were songs I'd made up.  

Ok, back to the topic.  We watched videos, laughed at ourselves, cried, talked, answered tough questions, etc.  S has been feeling sick for quite some time now and has dramatically dropped weight in the last 6 months.  Scary skinny.  We talked with Joe's mom, a Dr., and asked about some things that concerned us since part of the day S was laid up in bed away from the festivities.  J and I discussed our concerns with each other, but agreed we didn't want to get into talking about it with S yet.  J knew her and S weren't close enough for her to mention it, and I felt I needed to talk to S at the "right" time... which wasn't that day.  :-S  That night, the girls drove back to S's house about 10:00pm.  Apparently, the drive home is where the real DRAMA of the weekend began.  

Drama, you ask? Yes.  Drama.  I am a totally old, mommified bore and was out cold (sleeping) by the time my phone rang at 11:13pm.  S was freaking out and telling me there was a problem with J.  Huh?  The problem was that J wanted a beer and some time to chill out on S's porch by herself and process the crazy amount of things that were happening to her (learning more about her past, seeing her old family members after 15 years, you know... stuff).  S was worried that J was an alcoholic since she'd ALSO had a drink the night before, so she wouldn't take her to the store to buy a beer.  That's when J walked off to be alone.  That was the problem - in brief.  

I spent the next half an hour talking to each one as they handed the phone back and forth.  J had also upset S by confronting her on the sensitive health issues, so S was mad at J, J was mad at S, etc.  Neither one thought they should stay at the same 1 bedroom apartment anymore, so S asked if J could come stay at my parent's house.  I told her I'd ask my parent's since it was THEIR house and that it was late, couldn't we change the housing situation the next day?  Finally, they agreed to leave each other alone and get some sleep.

Early the next morning they arrived, ready to pull me off to the side and get their side of the story in.  We ended up spending the morning on my parent's deck having a "pow-wow."  Mom, S, J, and myself.  Things were smoothed over and both agreed that some overreacting was happening to to the high level of emotions relating to being reunited.  There was a little too much forcing of the "getting to know" EVERYTHING about each other going on.  J was going to stay with us at my parents, and they could give each other space.

Well, soon after, J asked if she could invite her ex-boyfriends' parents up to meet us as she was very close to them.  We agreed and soon they were on their way up.  The visit was brief and J decided she was going to go spend a night with them... which ended up being the rest of the time we were in Colorado.  Gulp.  I hope she does not disappear on us again, but I know it was a lot to take in.  I'm sure once she gets done with basic training and returns to Colorado she'll be ready to visit again.  I hope things go more smoothly next time, but was not altogether surprised that there were some... hiccups.  :-)

While in Berthoud, we greatly enjoyed meeting the infamous Julia and Michael!  It was so neat to see them in person, as I've followed their adoptive journey since the middle of last year, prior to their referral.  Michael was so cute, and incredibly generous to allow Ezra to cling to his mommy so much and use her as a jungle gym.  The three of them got along well, and the play date was a lot of fun.  I look forward to many more fun get togethers in the future!

So, that's THAT visit.  On Wednesday (August 27) my parent's, E&O and I were off to Chicago.  Joe flew home on Sunday since he had to work.  We spent the next 4 days enjoying the company of my aunt (mom's sister), uncle, cousins, and my cousins' 3 month old, Luke.  It was a bittersweet visit, as my aunt has been battling with cancer for seven and a half years.  She's fought an incredible battle and I admire her strength and courage through it all.  She has been a first grade teacher for years, but was unable to return this year, which is such a loss for those students that would have been in her class... she's an amazing woman.  She was so delighted with Ezra and Olivia, and showered them with some cool gifts - my favorite of which was some great books and the stuffed animals that go with them.  

Please keep my Aunt Patti in your thoughts and prayers.  This past Tuesday she went in for her final round of chemo before her next scan to see how effective it's been.  She has a mass in her chest that makes it very hard to breathe, and I pray for her breath to come easier and her pain to be lessened.  I am so proud and thankful to have such incredible cousins that take such amazing care of their mama.  It's hard to be so far away and to be able to do so little.  I am so thankful that her husband, my Uncle Al, is so strong and has been able to hold her up and help her fight through this.  The strength in their family makes me proud.  I love them all endlessly and wish our visit had been under happier circumstances.  Robin (I'm guessing you'll read this), please give Aunt Patti more love, hugs, and kisses from myself, Joe, Ezra and Olivia and tell her she's always in our thoughts and prayers.  It meant the world to me to get to have those precious days in their house enjoying the delicious treats, yummy food, and fun conversations.

While in Chicago we also got to see my Uncle Steve (my mom's brother) and my grandpa (my mom's dad).  It's been a while, and it was such a joy to show off E&O to them all.  My grandpa also has been struggling again with his heart, and apparently the valve that was replaced last year is beginning to leak again.  I wish there was something I could do to help get THAT fixed for him!  I'm sure another heart surgery does NOT sound like something he'd be too interested in at this point. 

Luke was so cute and much smaller than he looked in his more recent photos we'd seen prior to meeting him.  He looks so much like my cousin (his dad) did as a baby.  He also has this adorable, pouty lip thing he does where he sucks in his lower lip and it sort of quivers.  Totally cute.  It's funny to see him... a tiny bit bigger weight wise that Ezra was at homecoming, about a pound and a half bigger than Olivia and imagine them like that again.  They change so quickly, and yet seeing them every day it is hard to realize how much they have grown.  This was E&O's first time around a smaller baby... they've ALWAYS been the smallest in the group.  It was neat, and funny, to see them looking like the gargantuan babies.  Sadly, since Luke isn't old enough for any baby proofing to need to be done at my Aunt's house yet, it also meant 4 days of E&O going NUTS trying to grab everything in sight and not be able to crawl more than 3 feet in any direction without being turned around or picked up.  

Oh, and as for sleep.  Huh.  So much for being able to show off my good sleepers!  Poor Olivia and Ezra had been taken from home, to Colorado, to Chicago, back to Colorado, and then home.  They did sort of OK in Colorado sleeping (a few fairly minor night awakenings), fairly catastrophic in Chicago (they are somewhat light sleepers and were supposed to be sleeping in the room that adjoined the area of main activity - aka LOTS of noise! :-), back to decent in Colorado, and at home... almost PERFECT again.  Phew.  It was pretty much terrifying to watch them spiral into such an awful sleep pattern - I was sure we were doomed to a long time trying to get them back on schedule.  But, turns out, a sleeping pill or two knocks them right out!  KIDDING!  Seriously, no drugs needed, they were so happy to be home!

Overall, I think the kids were troopers.  Their world was flipped upside down, they were forced to sleep in strange places, spent LOTS of time in the PeaPods, and missed their daddy for almost two weeks.  I'm sure we were a bit of a tornado and looked like chaos to all my relatives, but considering the changes they went through, I guess I am impressed with how they did.  The toughest part for me was that for a couple of days in Chicago they began giving me some reasons for attachment concerns.  They'd start crying and crawl to ANYONE but me.  Totally NOT normal for them.  They'd even push me away a bit when I'd try to soothe them... which was an emotional blow on top of all the emotions I was already facing with my aunt's health, grandpa's health, and the drama with the reunion with J.  

I was not the most easy going person by the end of the weekend, I'm sure.  It's hard because I don't want to always "force" information on people, but know that outside of the adoptive realm, very few people know about attachment, bonding, and how important these issues can be with adoption.  Not everyone will have serious issues, but I feel it's about being proactive.  Ezi & Livi came home at a VERY early age.  According to the International Adoption pediatrician we saw that means they really shouldn't have too many issues with attachment and bonding since that tends to be more of an issue for babies/children older than 6 months.  BUT, it's still about being proactive.  Only Joe and I feed the kids (except for an exception here or there), we try to be the ones that always diaper them, lay them down for nap/bed, get them up, etc.  If they need to be soothed, we are the ONLY ones to do so, unless they are being watched by someone else while I shower or something.  This seems to be something that's hard to understand for people, so I spent a lot of effort trying to downplay how HUGE that is in my focus and running around double time to ensure I could handle the care of both of them without it seeming like someone needed to step in and lend a hand.

Does that make any sense?  Hard to explain... but it was exhausting.  I really am no super woman, and was so tired by the time we finally got HOME this past Thursday.  Thankfully, once in our own environment again they seem to be coming to me for comfort again (well... there's no one else around during the day again, I guess ;-) and I think they've fallen quickly back into their rhythm.  I am SOOOO glad we worked so hard and did "sleep training" early on.  I have no idea how I'd remain sane if life was that chaotic and out of whack for more than 2 weeks!  Now, if only Ezra and I didn't have colds.... boohoo!

Saturday was kept exciting by a visit from our neighbor, Stephanie.  She came running over while Joe was home with two napping cuties and I was out getting groceries with my mom.  Our neighbor needed a hero, but Joe couldn't leave the house.  As soon as we got home, Joe grabbed me and started to fill me in as we ran over to Stephanie's house.  They had a rattlesnake hanging out in their backyard, which was a serious threat to their three small dogs (fellow mini dachshund family!).  Stephanie grabbed a big shovel, handed it to Joe, and we began searching for where the snake had gone.  Upon locating it, I egged Joe on since he's a bit of a snake wimp.  Not that I'm not, but I knew he wouldn't go through with it without some assistance.  ;-)  After a little prodding, the shovel went squishing down through the snake's neck, crunching as it went.  Ewwww.  I covered my eyes and ran away; I've seen enough snake gore from living in the country along the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.  Joe chopped off it's head and saved the day!  Poor snake was definitely chillin' in the wrong place, that's for sure.  Sorry dude!

Oh, and one last bit of info.  Chloe (my super cool mini dachshund that has enough attitude to fill the entire state of California) had a checkup with her neurologist, Dr. Berry today.  I loaded her and the kids up and headed in to see the super cool, South African neurologist that saved Chloe's life early last November.  We have been able to reduce her Cyclosporine levels quite a bit over the last two months - a slow weaning process to see if her body can handle it without her brain swelling again and herniating BACK into her spinal canal.  She's done GREAT and over the next 2 months we'll reduce her medication levels further.  We go see Dr. Berry in two months and if she's done well with the continued reduction, she'll be taken OFF Cyclosporine!  A huge feat for Chloe, that wasn't expected to live through all this.  She's had quite a year - Menigoencephalitis, bladder stones, a cystotomy (to remove the stones), ear infections, and nasty side effects from the Prednisone.  Her Cyclosporine cost $200/bottle and we were going through a bottle every 4-5 weeks.  Yikes.  Plus, finding arrangements for the dogs when we leave town was so challenging because of her medication and how crucial it was for it to be given to her at the right time, two times a day.  Thank you Claudia for always taking care of our fur babies when we leave town!

So, that's the last two weeks, in a VERY big nutshell.  

Whatcha lookin' at?  This post is OVER!

We're BACK!

Whew.  What an exhausting couple of weeks!  Sorry I haven't been able to post, things have just been so stinkin' busy!

We just got home about an hour ago - so details to follow soon... just wanted everyone to know we're ALIVE!  It was so fabulous to see so many people that I care so much about.  I definitely wish I was able to do more visiting with all of them!

Off to start unpacking, figuring out what groceries we need (the fridge is EMPTY!), and getting the bambinos back on a schedule!

Busy days of incredibly exciting stuff ahead!

Well, this will be my last post before we head to Colorado!  The events that have taken place this week have been truly incredible.  J, my long lost sister, has been so great to talk to and continues to impress and amaze me.  I'm so proud of her.  It was sounding like it'd be awhile before we'd be able to see each other in person, though... so I was bummed.  However, in the last two days I was able to find a shuttle to get her to the airport (she doesn't have a car), a plane ticket, and convince her I was treating MYSELF by doing all this for her... so she's coming to Colorado TOO!

We arrive tonight about 11:15 pm - ugh.  The kids will be beat, but hopefully it'll mean they'll fall asleep on the flight since they slept on this flight out last time.  When we get to DIA, J will have already arrived - barring any delays on her flights.  She's hoping to meet us at our gate, and if not there then at baggage claim.  It's going to be one of those very public reunions, for sure!  My dad will be there to take us back to my parent's place, and our other sister, S, will be there to take J back to her place for the first night of slumber party central.  ;-)

I can hardly believe that in about 11 hours I'll be officially reunited with J!  I'm so stoked... this still feels pretty surreal.  It's only been... oh, about 15 years now!  

While in Colorado I'm also hoping to get some time in with other friends we've missed.  Elsa - you up for driving down?? ;-)  We know we'll be having some fun with Michael and Julia, which is incredibly exciting, as we've followed their journey for ages!  

Then, after a few days of fun in Colorado, we're off to Chicago to visit my relatives on my mom's side and meet the infamous Luke!  I'm so excited to meet him, and I hope Livi and Ezi pick up on the fact that they will finally be the bigger and stronger babies in the bunch (they've ALWAYS been the youngest!) so maybe they won't try and crawl all over him!  It'll probably end up looking a bit like a cattle roping contest, with me trying to keep them off the poor little guy!

And THEN, after a few days in Chicago, we're headed BACK to Colorado for a few more days of fun before finally returning home.  Whew.  It's going to be a whirlwind 2 weeks for the kids and I!  Joe isn't coming for most of it - he's just helping fly us to Colorado and then coming home after a day there.  Poor Joe... his a total work-a-holic in his new job and doesn't think he's got things squared away ENOUGH to really take any time off.  We'll miss him like crazy... and be doing lots of web conferencing I'm sure so he can see E&O!

So, that's what we'll be up to!  I'll try and update as I can and possibly even post pictures of the big reunion with my sisters!  I'm getting so nervous about it I feel a bit sick to my stomach!  I know I shouldn't be... but I can't help it!  I really thought this day may never come!  Wish us luck on the big adventures about to begin!

Bear crawl

Ezra's newest trick to avoid putting his knees onto hard surfaces... this kid cracks me up.  I remember having to do this as a workout in gym class and it was TIRING!  

Happy 8 months!!!

Wow, what an incredible day this is for us today.  Ezra and Olivia are now 8 (EIGHT!) months old!  It's incredible to think that we've been together as a family longer than they were without us.  We met Ezi & Livi when they were 3.5 months old and came home on April 18th when they were ALMOST four months old.  As I think about all these things, I wonder if they still have any remaining memories of their time in Ethiopia.  Do they remember Toukoul?  Would it feel familiar to them if they were to see the care center again?  Would Ethiopia still have anything "familiar" about it to them?

The changes in Ezi have been truly astounding.  When we met our little man, he was used to laying in his back and soothing himself in the cutest way.  He would hold his right arm up over his head, turn his head to the right, and grab his clothes with his left hand over his heart.  So cute and touching, but so heart wrenching.  This little man had learned to soothe himself at a young age - too young.  His right sided soothing leads me to believe that he was turning into the room at the care center.  We saw their cribs, and this hypothesis is right on I believe.  Little Ezi must have spent a lot of time watching the door and waiting for snuggles and kisses.  

When we first held Ezra, his tiny body was so floppy.  He was so young, but so weak for his age.  Tummy time was like torture and it took a long time to help him build up his upper body strength.  Look at him now!

He talks (still in his own, screeching language), he sits, he crawls, he enjoys making people laugh - currently by shaking his head no over and over again (he doesn't know what it means yet), and he also pulls up to his knees.  He's truly amazing.  He loves to cuddle with his mama and is becoming a bit of a flirt with me.  He stares dreamily into my eyes when I have him strapped into on of our new Ergos (if he's on my front) and smiles whenever I look down at him.  Such a ham!

Olivia is such a strong little girl.  She has flown through physical milestones and is starting to cruise.  She's had a few cruising steps, but isn't doing it very consistently yet.  She loves to grunt LOUDLY as one form of talking and has a love affair with blowing raspberries.  When eating, when crawling around, when climbing on things... spit's always flying!  She's still a peanut, but is definitely so, sooooo much bigger than the day we met her.  She's puttin' on the pounds and it's looking like it's mostly muscle.  Both Livi and Ezi look pretty lean compared to many other babies around their age... but I swear we feed them LOADS of yummy stuff.  They still consume formula like it's going out of style, and have been enjoying more and more foods with more texture.  

Olivia is starting to work on her pincher grasp, and it's coming along.  She now gets Cheerios and puffs into her mouth with relatively frequent success... her only problem is getting it OUT of her hand once she gets it to her mouth!  ;-)  Ezra's doing pretty well with that too, but seems to still be quite content with grunting and squealing at me to request another bite of something be put into his mouth.  Back to Olivia....

She is definitely a mama's girl when she's uncertain about things.  She's getting better at snuggling into me when in a carrier (now the Ergo!) and letting herself sleep/nap this way.  JUST like me, she tends to prefer her own space when sleeping... but recently she's getting better about being flexible about that when we're out and about.  She loves to crawl and climb all over Joe or myself when we're down on the floor playing with them, and has a serious jealousy thing when Ezra's getting cuddled and she's not.  This girl has an attitude and will show it if necessary!

A trait these two keepers of my heart share - CURIOUSITY.  I realize by nature, all babies are pretty curious.  But from DAY 1 with Livi and Ezi, we knew we had some seriously curious kiddos.  People have never believed how young they are because of the level of alertness and curiousness they display.  They're interested in everything, but in recent weeks have really begun to have a real awareness of what the OTHER one has and then MUST have it for themselves.  Olivia is definitely worse than Ezra about this.  She follows him around stealing whatever toy he has, and insists on climbing over or onto Ezra to get it.  She has also discovered the velcro on the back of his diaper and occasionally spends an entire play session chasing him around, climbing on his booty and trying to undo the velcro.  Yikes...

Check this out:

So that's it, in a nutshell.  We have been blessed beyond words with two amazing, miracle babies.  I can hardly believe I get to be their mommy!

Happy 8 month birthday Olivia and Ezra!!!!!!

Photo catch up

A few photos from the last few weeks to catch everyone up on the E&O cuteness around here!

Reconnected to my past...

I can hardly believe I'm typing this.  It's taken me nearly 24 hours to get this post written from the time that the following events conspired.  This is NOT related to our Ethiopian adoption, but to the "failed" adoption of my sisters.

Let me explain - in BRIEF.  :-)  My parents wanted to expand our family through adoption when I was about 9 years old.  When I was 10, we had two incredible sisters join our family through the county's social services' system.  They had endured a life story up to that point that was beyond conceivable (they were 3 & 5 years old then).  We loved these girls unconditionally, but the US foster-adopt system can be... well, I won't type what I think.  Let's just say that social services in that county did some terrible things, and my beautiful sisters were separated and re-homed individually.  They been in our family for over two years when this happened.  After some initial contact with us, their new families felt their attachment to us prevented them from bonding to them, so we were no longer allowed to visit.  (The re-homing had nothing to do with something that happened in our family - it was external factors).  

A miracle happened a few years back - the older sister sent us her high school graduation announcement and invited us to her graduation party.  It was unreal.  Seriously like living in a foggy dream.  What do you say to your "long lost sister" after so many years?  Well, long story short, things have gone very well and we're all very close now.  Our love never left and we now get to enjoy a friendship I thought would never be possible.  I had one of my sisters back - it was a different sisterhood, but it was something.

This was also a constant reminder of our other sister for me.  It nagged at me and made my heart ache more than ever before.  Our younger sister had also lost contact with her bio sister (getting confused?) as well as our family.  Only small second/third hand details were passed along to S (the older of the two) on what had become of J.  We both talked of how we'd love to find her, but from what we heard, she wanted nothing to do with any of us.  So, we reluctantly didn't begin the large-scale search for her in order to respect what we thought were her wishes.

Last week, S decided it was time to find J.  Don't know why she thought NOW was the time, I guess it was because she thought they had a way to track her down.  Anyway, J has been located!  Not only has she been located (after a few false leads!), but I have SPOKEN to her!  I wept and wept yesterday when sister, S, called to tell me she'd spoken with J and J WANTED to talk to myself and my family!  Apparently we'd been told wrong and she'd always wanted to reunite with us!  

J and I spoke for TWO hours yesterday afternoon.  Half the time I was hardly able to form sentences - had our little J really grown up?!  She sounds sooooo different.  Of course she would, but when you haven't spoken to someone since they were 7 years old.... at ALMOST 22 years old now they sound pretty different!  She's truly blowing me away.  I couldn't be more amazed at what she's endured, overcome, and risen above.  There isn't an ounce of weakness in her, I think.  She sounds so mature and couldn't be more sweet and polite.  Wow.  I've fallen in love all over again with my baby sister.  :-D  She's back - and hopefully for good this time!  We're halfway across the country from each other right now, but we're hoping to meet face-to-face soon.  I haven't seen a picture of her yet... so I have no idea what she looks like.  It's weird when I talk to her because I have this vision of her tiny (she was TINY for her age) little self with white-blond hair and her cherubic face with adorable chubby cheeks.  She tells me her hair darkened and she's NEARLY my height!  (She's 5'6", I'm 5'7").  She was so little we all figured she'd be lucky to hit 5'0"!

Ok, enough rambling.  I spoke with her again today for about 45 minutes... this is unbelievably surreal.  I am in total awe.  Thanks for listening to me ramble - I just had to share my joy!  She's doing so well with this "blast from the past."  She spent most of the day yesterday on the phone - talking to S, talking to my parents, talking to me.  It's crazy.  I hope we don't overwhelm her - at this point she tells us she's realizing how much she missed us... but I'm sure that'll wear off soon when she remembers how goofy we all are!  ;-)

Are you racist? LINK FIXED! :-)

There was a link to an interesting study posted on one of the Yahoo Ethiopian Adoptive groups I'm a part of.  It's quite interesting.  Many people have been surprised by their results.  I was relieved to get a response stating "You show little to no preference between European Americans and African Americans."  I really didn't think I would, as I don't consider myself racist, but the study was formed (I believe) to test for underlying racism.

Take the test for yourself and see where you are in the racism spectrum.

Tag - I'm it!

Holy cow!  Katie, you've got me!  I've been tagged for a SAHMBOSS award!  The first time being tagged for me, so hang for some seriously exciting stuff!

So what is the SAHMBOSS award, you ask?  In Porter's words, it's "some kind of annoying prestigious hybrid meme/award thing, which now - thanks to Michele's way with words - will officially be known forever s The Super Awesome Hot Mama Blogger or some shit (SAHMBOSS) meme/award."

Here's how it works:

First, I have to answer a little questionnaire thing all about ME!

Then I have to choose 7 bloggers who I feel are super awesome hot mama bloggers or some shit (see list below) and I "give" them the SAHMBOSS "award."  They will post their own answers to the questionnaire on their own blog and they will choose 7 more recipients.  And so it goes!

Here is the questionnaire:

A.  Attached or single?  Ummm... attached for sure.  To my DH Joey and my kids - the hairy and not so hairy ones!

B. Best friend?  Are we in high school here?  Do we have to pick the BEST one?  Ok, I don't have one.  My mom I guess, followed up by the lovely Claudia.  Yep, that'll have to be it.

C. Cake or pie?  CAKE!  Though, I have come to love pie over the last decade (hated it before due to the texture).

D. Day of choice?  Saturday.  Most definitely.  No work, family's together, love it!

E. Essential item?  LAPTOP!  I can't be without the stupid thing for long or I feel so disconnected from the world! 

F. Favorite color?  PINK, so cool, I know!

G. Gummy bears or worms?  Worms.  I hate worms soooo much, so maybe that gives me a rush when I eat a gummy worm.  Honestly though, I don't really LOVE either.  I pretty much never have them.

H. Hometown?  Not sure - where I live NOW or where I'm originally from?  And if it's where I'm "originally" from, is that where I lived the longest growing up, or where I lived as a child.  Right now, I'll go with Berthoud, CO - home prior to being a married woman.

I. Indulgence?  TV and crappy food.  I am a couch potato whenever I can be and I love ice cream and other not-so-healthy food.  NOT a good combo!

J. January or July?  July - love the summer!

K. Kids?  Two amazing babies - our twins Ezra and Olivia, two miniature dachshunds, and one malamute.  Yep, it's a full house!

L. Life isn't complete without? My family!

M. Marriage date?  June 18, 2005 (our 5 year dating anniversary!)

N. Number of brothers and sisters?  One brother and two girls that will always be my sisters in my heart.

O. Oranges or apples?  Either, can't decide.

P. Phobias?  Worms.  I kid you not when I say I HATE worms. I'll cry if I touch one or when it rains and they cover the sidewalks.  It makes it HARD to garden... which I love to do!  :-(

Q. Quotes? "Live, Laugh, Love"

R. Reasons to smile? My family, friends, and most definitely my fur kids!

S. Season of choice?  Summer or fall - I love the summer but also enjoying the changing leaves and cooling weather of the fall.

T. Tag seven peeps! (see below)

U. Unknown fact about me?  I'm a bit OCD.  I hate to have things put away in the "wrong" place and will actually put off cleaning tasks when they mount up because when I DO clean it has to be PERFECT.  Quite exhausting, actually.  I hide this little trait of mine as best I can!

V. Vegetable?  I love most all veggies!!

W. Worst habits?  I'm with Katie on this - stress eating!

X. X-ray or ultrasound?  Ultrasound - they can actually be relaxing.  I had to have physical therapy for my knee in middle school and 3 times a week they did ultrasound on it before therapy... definitely soothing!

Y. Your favorite food?  Tough question!  I love beef and noodles, steak and a baked potato, spaghetti, the list really goes on and on (and this is NOT including DESSERT foods!).

Z. Zodiac sign?  Libra

I'm tagging: 

1. Julia

2. Kerith

3. Tara

4. Leslie

5. Jodi

6. Holly

7. Laurie

NEW LAPTOP!!!

Yep, that's right.  I'm back in business!  I received my new laptop in the mail yesterday and have been incredibly busy transferring all the ridiculous amount of *stuff* I have from my old machine to my new one.  In the meantime, I have to apologize for a lack of photos.  As soon as I get everything transferred and my software installed, I'll be back in full force!  Oh, and once I get all happy and settled into my new laptop, I'll share what I got for all those interested.  :-D

More Blog Union photos

Ok, so here are the photos WE took at the BU...

Hooray for matching shirts!

Did you hear that we're going to the beach?

Gee mom, that's SHOCKING news! Where's my sunblock?!

A late evening and they're still looking cute after a big day!

Excuse me, where's my chai latte?

Halt! Who goes there?!

This camping out stuff is fun!

Isa B looking coy

The lovely ladies, Livi & Isa

Look at our big girl!

Oh my gosh. She's doing it. My very own miracle baby. :-D Olivia now pulls to a stand all by herself! She first did it when I ran upstairs to change Ezra's diaper and lay him down for a nap. I heard her downstairs grunting. Not a noise she ever really makes. I thought "Is she pooping?" Normally she is a SILENT pooper, but what else would it be?! I finished Ezra quickly and peeked down the stairs. My baby girl was standing up and looking into the kitchen area where the dogs were!! I squealed, laid Ezra in his crib and ran down to her. Thankfully I got her to repeat her performance again, this time no grunting and like a pro. You'd think she's been pulling to a stand all her life. My own miracle baby.

Also, as of today Ezra is really crawling SOOO much better! He's really starting to move around and get the hang of it. These two - our wonder duo - amaze me more and more every day. You can clearly hear in the video of Olivia how ridiculously excited I get for them as they learn a new skill. Lucky them... doomed to have the mom that wears giant button pins around at their school track meets and such. I can just hear myself now cheering on my babies as they score a goal, perform in their first play, or whatever. Heck yeah, I'm going to be sooooo embarrassing! Trust me, not because I WANT to be embarrassing, just because I'm so darn proud!

Without further ado... here is our girl!

Blog Union 2008 - Hermosa Beach

It's probably high time I post about our exciting weekend now that we're all back in the swing of the day to day again. This past weekend the four of us spent a couple of nights in Hermosa Beach for the first annual Blog Union! The blog union was for Ethiopian Adoptive families that have blogs and have come to know one another virtually through them. A face-to-face meeting for friends that have become like extended family through our blogs. It was an INCREDIBLE weekend, all made possible by Drew and Carey. Thank you so much to both of them, as the weekend could not have been any more perfect.

Ok, it COULD have been more perfect is Ezra and Olivia would nap anywhere, anytime so there would've been zero crankiness on their parts, but I think we got off pretty easy despite some of that. :-D They both did great at the hotel, and slept like rocks in their PeaPods. They did later nights than their used to, but also slept in later than normal in the mornings so that made up for it. Our BOB stroller was as wonderful as ever, carting the kids up and down the hill to/from the strand and our hotel. Not only did it carry Ezra and Olivia, but it also did great with all the extra gear we piled on it, crammed under it, etc. LOVE the BOB!

There were a few people, in particular, we really enjoyed meeting. I've come to know and love them over the last year. I had the great pleasure of picking up Katie and Isa from the O.C. airport and spending much of the weekend with them. These two are some seriously FABULOUS gals. Can't wait to see them again. Isa is such a doll! I think Katie and I share a very similar parenting style, so it was great to see it working so well for her too. :-D Tara and Malak - it was a PLEASURE. Wish we'd had more time to chat... but I love ya both and all your greenie-ness. The G diapers with homemade cloth inserts are working so well for us now too... thanks for all the tips! Porter, Elsa is a cutie patootie. I can't believe how big she's getting and how great she's doing! I wish we could've enjoyed more time with you and actually had a chance to chat a bit. Something about having two babies constantly wanting to move around and have all my focus seems to have kept me from talking with EVERYONE as much as I'd have liked! Those that we did have a chance to talk to we loved meeting you!

Oh, and to all those of you calling me Super Mom Friday evening... let's just say I was paying for my super-heroness the next day. ;-) To those wondering what in the world I'm talking about, Joe was REALLY late getting to the dinner on Friday evening. So late that we were at the restaurant almost 2 hours before he arrived. This led to me having Ezra strapped to my chest in our Lascal carrier and holding Olivia on my hip. Thank goodness she's still pretty small. :-D Thank you to the wonderful people that helped me out and loved on the her a bit for me... the break was wonderful for my arms. I wish I could've accepted more help, but she was being pretty clingy and not letting me share her too much! :-S Good sign of attachment, no doubt, but exhausting!

To those with upcoming travel, court dates, or still awaiting referrals - good luck and enjoy every minute of it. Time FLIES once they're home. I can't believe we've had Ezi & Livi home for almost 4 months now... that's crazy to think about. I can't imagine life without them and am excited to cheer them through each milestone, but have begun to grieve the passage of time and their infancy. They'll be walking and talking tomorrow at this rate and I just can't believe it. My little babies have gotten sooooo big!

I definitely did a TERRIBLE job of taking pictures this weekend, which is a bummer. however, I allowed myself some laziness since Drew and Carey had actual photographers running around taking photos all weekend long. It was so cool! I'll share a few of those photos with you for now, since the few I took are still on the camera! :-O

All you Ethiopian adoptive bloggers... be at BU09!!!

Thank you to Drew, Carey and their wonderful photographers for the pictures below:

Olivia's adorable crawling - the early days of mobility

We're still here (just a little more shaken...)

Where does the time go?! Days seem to fly by and I hardly know where they've gone! On Friday I need to have the kids, Joe and myself packed up for the first annual Blog Union in Hermosa Beach and I still feel as though we just returned from Colorado. Whew... packing and unpacking is tiring. Mix into that some showings on the house (and racing around picking up toys, tidying and cleaning before each), some wonderful visitors, a trip to Burbank for the kids big TV debut filming, sewing cloth diaper inserts every "free" moment I get and some other randomness and I guess that's why I feel like life's a constant whirlwind now. :-D In a good way though.

I really enjoy moments when one of the babies is still sleeping and the other is awake for me to dote on. This happens sometimes if I get into the nursery quickly enough to swoop up the talkative, freshly awoken baby before their play sounds wake the other up. Today, it was Olivia that I got to enjoy for about a half an hour before Ezra awoke. She had just finished enjoying her lunch of homemade green beans and butternut squash and a bottle when the real excitement of the day began. I was talking away with Livi and walking back towards her (in her high chair) after rinsing off a rag when it began. Slowly at first... like a low, rumbling semi-truck approaching the house... and then into a full on rolling, shaking, quaking everything. Yep, that's right. It was an earthquake. Not our first since moving to California, but the biggest! It was a 5.4 magnitude... not too shabby! The chandelier was rocking, the dogs began barking and howling, and mommy began to PANIC!

I have enjoyed previous earthquakes... they were small and just enough to be "exciting." This time was different though. As I stood frozen in place watching my sweet Olivia I was TORN. Do I run upstairs to Ezra (who was presumably sleeping) to be sure he was okay, or do I stay with Olivia? The quake lasted about 30 seconds or so, but long enough for me to bolt up the stairs (after ensuring nothing around Olivia could fall and hit her) and hover over my sleeping boy (STILL SLEEPING?!??! Dogs barking, house shaking and creaking... wow) and observe his surroundings to be sure nothing would fall on him. We'd been sure that things hanging over his bed were "earthquake" safe, but having the safety tested whilst he slept below them was another story for me. Thankfully nothing fell and the earthquake ended without Ezra or Olivia getting scared. It's forced me to consider what I WILL do though if one happens again... especially if they're in separate parts of the house. Any suggestions from earthquake savvy people?? Stay inside, go outside, what to do, what to do? I've heard so many things, but most seem to conflict.

After I finish this post I'm going to upload a video I took of Olivia on July 21... her 7 month birthday. She began crawling 3 days before the video... and has come a long way SINCE the video was taken. She's beginning to pull up on things, but can only get to her knees and is working on getting her foot under her to stand up. I know cruising isn't far off... she can stand so well with very little assistance already! Ezra isn't too far behind. He's spending more and more time on all fours and is now rocking forward and backward. He's even lifted up a hand a couple of times and set it down farther forward and a few times and skooched his knees forward under him. He has also pushed himself backward into a partial sitting position. I think he'll be joining the ranks of mobile babies in no time at all (2-3 weeks or less maybe???).

A highlight of our weekend was seeing my uncle and my cousin! My cousin recently moved to Santa Monica from Chicago, and I hadn't seen him in a couple of years. It was great catching up and hearing about his new job out here. Ezra initiated him from the get-go with a nice big spit up all down the front of his shirt (missed the burp cloth COMPLETELY... go figure). Sorry about that Kyle! The weirdest thing was that after Ezra covered Kyle in spew, he lost it. Joe set him on the ground to help Kyle clean up and Ezra began screaming. He carried on and on. He was a baby possessed. I still have no clue what that was about. Joe tried consoling him, and when that didn't work I gave it a shot. I got him somewhat calmed down, but still not happy and fuss-free. I gave him Hylands Teething tablets (just in case it was a sudden onset of teething pain), snuggled him, danced with him, everything we'd normally do to get him happy. It was bizarre. He hadn't napped well that morning... so I'm hoping that was all it was. Poor guy.

Now... for their big moment of TV stardom. Tune your TVs to ABC on October 22 (the fourth episode of the season) to watch Pushing Daisies. I can't tell the plot or what will be happening, but let's just say both Ezra and Olivia will have brief but up close and personal moments on camera. Come to think of it.... I had to get up close and personal with the camera by draping my body over it while trying to get Livi to smile and look at the camera for her big shot. I'd had no clue that they'd want ME on set. ;-) The filming took place at Warner Brothers Studio and I was required to have one adult over 18 per child. So, luckily for me the kids wonderful Tia Claudia was able to come. Claudia and I had a blast wandering around the studios. We got to go on a bunch of sets (Two and a Half Men was gearing up to begin filming again in the next week, Terminator - Sara Connor Chronicles, etc). Heck, we even got to see the stage where Friends was filmed! It was really neat. Oh, and the kids got a trailer! Yep, true stars already with their OWN dressing trailer. Never mind that the thing wreaked of smoke... it was still just for them, whereas most of the actors has to share dressing trailers and only the leads had their own!!!

The neatest part was how nice everyone was. From the director, AD, cameramen, crew, actors/actresses... they were all so nice. The kids were treated like stars and had so many people ogling over them. I hope it'll be a fun thing for them to be able to look back on when they're older.

Better get back to sewing diapers. I hope to have enough completed to begin using them tomorrow! That's a post in itself... I'll try and get photos of them uploaded as well as our cloth diapering "plan." I'm so excited to get started! Thanks again for the encouragement and diaper insert instructions!

To those of you attending the B.U. (blog union) this weekend... can't wait to see you/meet you there!!!! :-D

Laptop "confiscation"

My lovely laptop is being taken away from me because I am now officially on an unpaid leave of absence. Up until this past Friday I was using vacation time, a company paid 2 week bonding leave, and then the California Paid Leave (which is 6 weeks of pay at 55% pay). Now that the "gravy train" is over, apparently they want me lifeline back! ;-) This policy had changed recently (at least for a coworker of mine in another group within my company), and while he was on leave they sent his laptop back to him. Well... it seems my group is not interested in being able to continue contact with me while on leave, so they want my aged laptop back. Pooey to them! :-P I'll send it back... fine. But now I don't know how they expect to reach me with updates on my return from leave since the contact info they have for me is all work numbers/email which I will no longer have.

Such a bummer. Never fear though, I will stay connected to the wonderful world of blogging! I'll be getting my hands on a replacement somehow... and hopefully before the dreaded moment when I must encase my laptop in it's new, foamy home and send it on it's way to be stored in a warehouse somewhere. Awesome.

7 months old

Yesterday was Olivia and Ezra's 7 month birthday. Wow... hard to imagine. I still remember the utter shock at seeing the email with their referral at a mere 5 weeks old. Where does the time go once you get them in your arms?!

Here's a little update on where each of them are at in their miraculous little lives:

Olivia

• Weighs 15 lbs 4 oz and is 25.5 inches tall
• Starter crawling 5 days ago and is really starting to get the hang of it
• Can stand incredibly well with a little help balancing (or all on her own if she's got the edge of her crib to hang on to!)
• Can keep herself entertained for relatively long bits of time (at least compared to Ezi!)
• Melts our hearts with her incredible smile and giggly, grunty laugh
• Sleeps through the night (and has 100% consistently since about 5 months old!)
• TOTALLY has her daddy wrapped around her itty bitty finger
• Is completely and utterly obsessed with my hair and plays with it (often jerking on it VERY hard) and twists it around her tiny fingers every chance she gets.
• Finds our dogs to be hilarious. If you want a nearly foul-proof way to get her laughing, allow Chloe (who is STILL obsessed with Livi) to pant and circle my feet while holding her and she'll giggle over and over again.

Ezra

• Weighs 17 lbs 2 oz and is 17.25 inches tall
• Can get up on all fours but just doesn't seem to care about staying up there or moving forward yet
• A total attention hog... and doesn't like to play on his own
• Has the BEST laugh and is super ticklish... yes, I exploit this characteristic to hear that boy grunt and giggle!
• Has an incredible gummy smile that is now being graced with the beginnings of his FIRST tooth! (The bottom, left, front tooth)
• LOVES to jump... constantly. I don't think this boy cares about standing or walking one bit. He'll just hop and jump from one place to the other. Yep, he's our little kangaroo.
• ALSO sleep through the night and has since about 5 months old too... sleep training and a rigid schedule DEFINITELY worked for all four of us!
• Screams better than ANYONE I know
• Has JUST developed the CHEESIEST, biggest, and cutest grin ever... don't know where it came from, but he just started doing it on their birthday yesterday!

I have no idea how we had the incredible fortune of being blessed with such amazing, fun and loving cutie-pies, but we are so thankful for every day we have them. There are some trying times (read here: the flight home from Colorado) and more incredible moments than I could ever have imagined. Ezra Tewodros and Olivia Yodit - you have filled our lives with more love, fun, excitement and hope than we could ever have imagined. Thank you for allowing us the incredible honor of being your parents. We love you!

Changes abound!

I barely know where to begin. I think I'm still trying to catch my breath from the craziness of the last week. I've definitely become one of THOSE parents that is unbelievably proud and thrilled at my babies' milestones.

We headed out last Thursday evening for our trip to Colorado. Events in the two days leading up to our departure had me already exhausted... and there's nothing like a "vacation" with Ezi & Livi to help you catch up on much needed rest! (Please note the sarcasm here) On Wednesday I found myself zooming around running last minute errands, taking E&O to the pediatrician for their well-baby exams, and then rushing to the Labor Office for work permits. Work permits, you ask?? Yes, work permits for Ezra and Olivia! Long story short... they've been asked to be in a major TV show and how could I possibly refuse them this fun little moment of fame?! I'm definitely NOT into the idea of one's childhood becoming consumed with this sort of thing, but do think they'd have a blast getting the attention of so many for the day and having the experience to look back on when they're older. So, on this Thursday we head up to Hollywood for the big shoot! Once I have more info I'll pass along details on the show and when it will air. From what I understand it's a little background type role... but still really cool to me anyway. My little stars! ;-)

After a grueling hour+ in the dim, gray, and window-free hallway on the 8th floor of the state building, I had their work permits in hand. Nothing like feeding the babies whilst stooped over the stroller and then spending a solid 45 minutes tickling and tossing into the air your growing boy. Poor Ezra gets so fed up with sitting still and not being held, so it was a trying experience. Of course, this was also following a shot for each of them at the pediatrician's office, so they did so well considering. As for the shots... it's ALL about distraction. They did great. A VERY brief protest and bit of tears from both, which was quickly ended by silly ole' mommy being her silly ole' self. Thank GOODNESS I have no pride and am willing to act so ridiculously in front of the nurse! ;-)

Thursday was a whirlwind as I tried to get the four of us packed and pull the house together for our departure. Our wonderful Tia Claudia was coming for the weekend to take care of our furry babies and I didn't want to leave the place a total wreck. The kids did remarkably well with mommy running around the place like a madman and even seemed to get a giggle out of it here and there. Little did I know that while I was in the midst of this craziness, a cute little tooth was making it's final push to come into view in Ezra's gummy grin. This said tooth was finally noticed while we were waiting to board our flight, and boy did I get excited. Seriously, how lame must I have looked?! I was shouting to Joe as he walked up carrying our bags of McDonald's nastiness, "Hurry, run! Come HERE! FASTER!!!! Joe, RUN!" As Joe rushes to my side, I pull back Ezra's lip and point out the source of all this excitement. I think half the airport was looking our way for the big moment as they were sure there was some sort of emergency. I am such a dork. Who cares though... cause my baby boy is about to be the proud new owner of his first chomper!

The flight went quite well, despite screwing up the rather rigid sleep schedule Livi & Ezi keep. No meltdowns on the plane... just a little, brief fussing, some sleeping, and lots of lap jumping for Livi. Oh yeah.

Here's the REALLY big news...

Olivia is CRAWLING now!!!!!! She began crawling the next morning at her Grandma and Grandpa's house. She's been so close for so long and she finally started SLOWLY moving those adorable little arms and legs forward. She still has a very slow and hesitated crawl... but she's doing it! And with more and more confidence each time! Soooooooo cool! I can't believe what a little stud she is! She also does the downward dog (yoga move) incredibly well and can stand on her own with a little help balancing. This little button of our's will be cruising in no time! I know I don't REALLY want them mobile as life will REALLY get interesting... but I can't help but be so excited for her! Ezra's getting close too... spending more time on all fours each day! It's hard to believe how far they've come in the last three months home! And, just because I think it's cool, I'll point out that on Friday (the day Livi started crawling), we'd be home exactly 3 months as a family!

Saturday we went to a dear friends' wedding and the kids amazed us yet again. The ceremony was outside and the temperature was a mere 99 degrees. It was just a tad bit toasty. BUT, not one fuss from either of them! Another baby there started wailing pretty early on... and I admit that I am petty enough that I did the "Yesssss!!!!" thing with the downward arm motion and all. Soooo happy someone else's baby lost it first JUST in case ours had a meltdown too. :-S After the ceremony we fought our way into the A/C for the reception and were blown away by Ezi & Livi's patience. They allowed us to stay until about 8:00pm by having a bottle and then catching a nap in our laps. No crying. Good stuff.

The whole weekend I enjoyed that Olivia showed quite a bit of nervousness about the change in scenery and clung to me for security. She's normally much more independent than Ezra and doesn't particularly like to be cuddled to sleep. But, that's the ONLY way I could get her to sleep was to snuggle her close for a while first. She was such a snuggle bug! LOVED that!

We also got to briefly enjoy the company of my brother. Not surprisingly he's spending his leave time ridiculously busy.... first a week in Mexico getting open water certified for scuba diving, and now spending this week climbing in Colorado and hiking 14ers. Oy. I was bummed I couldn't spend a longer time in Colorado and see more of him and my parents, but we couldn't work out who would help me home with the kids, and due to carry on bags, their car seat strollers, etc. there was just no reasonable way for me to travel with the two of them alone. And let me tell you how THRILLED I am about deciding that! The flight home was much closer to a nightmare. One of those flights you wish you could erase from memory. One of those flights in which everyone around you was wishing you were NOT on their flight. Let's just say that Ezi & Livi were NOT in the best of moods. Both of them were fed up with sleeping in our arms I think, because they fought the crowded conditions quite a bit. Bleck.

Oh, and today I learned my laptop is being confiscated. I nearly cried. What WILL I do?! ;-) My laptop is my lifeline... I'm an online junky. I check email and blogs all the stinkin' time! I can't even begin to tell you the withdrawals I had just from leaving the laptop home for this past weekend... let alone for good! Joe thinks I'd better get myself a new computer... and FAST! I also need it for some freelance type work I may start doing... so maybe that helps justify it. Maybe. But seriously, I'm an IT professional. I NEED this stupid thing. :-D That's all for now. Off to pout... or maybe order myself a laptop. ;-) That is ONE perk of working for a major IT company... discounts! :-D