Our dossier has been in D.C. for several weeks now being authenticated and registered at various agencies. I understand that going through these paces up front will diminish the hassle in the completion of the adoption and naturalization at the other end of the adoption process.
I don’t know, but I am just ready to get that paperwork overseas and sitting in a pile on someone’s desk who will match us with our new treasure.
BTW, we had a nickname for Ellie before we named her. It was Jelly, but there is a long story behind it that I won’t go into. So, we decided to nickname New Baby while we are waiting to find out its gender and Amharic name and make our final decision. While discussing this, Ellie suggested the nickname to be, “Ellie Grace” or “Rocky Horse”. We settle on Treasure.
We celebrate Ellie’s adoption and birthday in October and Hannah’s birthday in early November. We just had our second birthday celebration this evening–this time with Grandma and Aunt Jo. We are halfway between Ellie’s birthday last week and Hannah’s birthday this Sunday. We will celebrate Hannah’s day with a “friends” party in the afternoon. It is kinda fun to have it this way – spreading out the fun of opening presents a few times and spending time with grandparents (oh yeah, and the cake and ice cream!). My girls are very special little beings and it is fun to celebrate them.
You should have seen the look on Hannah’s face as she went off to bed with the whole set of American Girl “Felicity” books from Grandma and Grandpa. She couldn’t wait to snuggle in and get started.
..times two. My girls are very good at sharing! So far this school year we are on our second round of illness. This time bronchitis times two (maybe three, Mom is in pretty sorry shape, too). Dr. Yingling says it is very popular right now – glad my kids are up on the latest trends.
There is a cycle to this sickness. Slow and groggy to wake up with several fits of coughing and wanting to snuggle with Mom or Dad. Trying to decide what could possible taste good for breakfast. Tummies full makes them up for playing for awhile with one another – usually “Kitty Cat”. Then crash – usually a loud, unreasonable argument over a toy or game and then a quick descent into TV watching snuggled in on the couch or Mom’s bed with all the required “Lovies”. Repeat a couple more times a day.
Ellie is turning 3 tomorrow and Mimi and Papa are coming in today to celebrate. Hopefully, Ellie and Hannah will have had enough antibiotics for it to be a fun day for us all. Luckily, Ellie is still little enough that there is no party to worry about or plans to change. We will just take it as it comes, which is one of my favorite mantras.
BUT we made pumpkin cookies instead! They were way more fun to make than they were to eat.
Happy Fall!
The other night Ellie walked in while I was talking to a waitress in a restaurant placing our drink orders. She interrupted the conversation, loudly, asking for (ahhm, demanding), “Nilk!” After I completed our order, I turned to Ellie and said, “When Mama is talking with someone, please don’t interrupt with shouting. Remember, good manners are no shouting.” Ellie completed the list – she is very familiar with it – “And no whining, and no fussing, and no screaming, and no yelling. Right, Mom?”
Yes, Honey, you are catching on!
Ellie Grace became our daughter two years ago today. She was carried into a hot, stuff room in the Civil Affairs Office in Nanning, China after a 2 and a half hour bus ride along with seven “orphanage-mates”. We were told she was healthy, smart, and a pretty strong-minded baby. I had prayed for her to have God’s strength and grace to persevere during her first year without a family. God answered my prayers.
Her strength was evident even in the first moments of our meeting. She would not cry. I think every other baby cried. She would not look at me – I think she knew that she would crumble if we were to make eye contact. She let me hold her and even when I kissed her she seemed to hold herself away while absorbing the feel of my kiss on her cheek. Oddly enough, though we didn’t recognize it at the time, she made direct eye contact with her daddy in those first moments. She relates totally different to her dad than to me.
It didn’t take her more than a day or so to realize we were her parents. When she began to reach for me, she reached for me and attached to me with all the strength she had. She had a mama and she wasn’t letting go. I wasn’t either.
I don’t think there are words for the moment when you meet your child for the first time. I have had the privilege of feeling unborn life inside me and seeing Hannah the moment she emerged into this world. I have had the privilege of meeting a child in a strange place on the other side of the world after waiting for her for a seemingly endless amount of time. I am thankful for both experiences.
I was just informed by my neighbor that I sent out my daughter’s birthday party invitations WITHOUT the date!!!
FLAKY!
I hope I can get the invitation thing down before we are looking at graduation or, gee, maybe wedding invitations. Now you might say that is a long way off… But, all I can say is that with a blink of an eye she was newly born and peeking up at me with the most beautiful eyes I ever saw…and that was 8 years ago.
The tooth didn’t make it to the morning. Hannah came into my room at 4:00 and said that the tooth had fallen out and she found it on her pillow. She was relieved. She had been afraid that she might swallow it. She is adorable with no front teeth.
Daddy teased her this morning saying that she looked like a bruiser with a swollen/red eye from surgery and no front teeth. She thought that she could look tough for our neighbor boy and impress him. She very much enjoyed trying to say, “Mississippi.” Ellie didn’t understand what a “bruiser” is and said that Daddy was going to take Hannah and bruise her up.
What a morning! But we are now, happily, progressing with schoolwork and our normal Wednesday routine. There was mention that her eye hurt when handed her math book, but Mommy didn’t buy it! She is rather sensitive to light and currently cuddled in a dark corner with one small light reading a biography of Ben Franklin.
Well, we were curious as to how long it would take to wiggle out that front tooth. Here’s the story:
Hannah had a surgery today to correct the muscular alignment of her left eye (long story) at Children’s Hospital in St. Louis. I could take a minute and rave about how wonderful this hospital is and how compassionate the staff is, but I digress. They asked us if she had any loose teeth and upon examination they decided that they would need to have the Tooth Fairy meet them in the operating room before surgery to remove the tooth. She removed the tooth and slipped a ring made out of a one dollar bill onto Hannah’s finger during surgery.
I would like that job. Whisking around leaving little gifts for children, tiptoeing into little one’s rooms while they slumber…
Alas, the other front tooth is very loose and hanging by a thread. It won’t make it to the weekend.
Our immigration petition is on its way to the US Embassy in Addis Ababa. It will be there waiting for us until we arrive with New Baby to be interviewed in order to finalize his/her US citizenship and immigration to the US.
Our dossier is in Washington DC making its rounds to the US Dept. of State and the Ethiopian Embassy. As soon as it had made its way around DC, it will be forwarded on to Ethiopia, translated and registered with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs who will oversee our case in cooperation with Milkiyas, Bethany’s representative in Ethiopia, and God’s operative on earth.
Click, click, click – I think I can actually hear the wheels turning.
