A few of my favorite (Ethiopian) things....

My #1 favorite Ethiopian thing is of course our little Ethiopian princess, Lilly (shown here doing some gymnastics with her big sister and her bunny):

But, I have a few other favorite Ethiopian things that I thought I'd share:

(1) Favorite Ethiopian Children's Song:

All of you Ethiopia-lovers out there will definitely enjoy this great Ethiopian kid's song on the Putumayo CD "African Playground." It has kid's songs from all over Africa, but amazingly, the Ethiopian song (Hoya Hoya) is honestly the best one on the CD. (Okay, maybe I am biased, but I really think that it is the best one on the CD). Over the past few months, it has become one of Reese's favorite songs. She always asks for me to play it for her! I ran it by Eyerus this summer and she knew all of the words, so it must be legit---a true Ethiopian kid's song! You can hear it by playing it on this little music player:

(2) Favorite Ethiopian Runner:

Yes, there are many Ethiopian marathoners, but undoubtedly the currently most well-known is Haile Gebrselassie. He is arguably the best long distance runner ever and he set a new world record in September at the Berlin Marathon. That's amazing. Then, his time is INCREDIBLE: It was 2hrs, 4mins and 26 seconds. That' s 26.2 consecutive miles at under 5 minutes (4:44 to be exact) per mile! That's a ridiculous, full out sprint for the entire time! A lot very decent runners couldn't run 1 mile that fast, let alone 26 of them. That's seriously crazy. But, what is most amazing to me is his personality and attitude about it. Reportedly, after setting the new world record he immediately called Paul Tergat, the Kenyan who previously held the record, to apologize for setting the new world record. Haile says that they are friends and that he felt bad for taking the title from him. I think that this just kind of illustrates the personality that we have seen in so many Ethiopians -- very humble, kind and sweet.

(3) Favorite Ethiopian Driver-Tafesse!! Who else? (We actually like one of the other Gladney Drivers, Anbes, very much too.) But, why we are so amazed by Tafesse is that not only was he SO sweet to us while we were in Addis, but he recently sent us Christmas gifts via Nick and Sarah Marie when they returned to Addis Ababa to pick up Eyerus. He sent a T-Shirt for each of our daughters, a beautiful scarf for me, and a cool key chain for Mike! How amazing! (Special thanks, of course, to SM and Nick for taking these back from Ethiopian for us).

Basically, I love a lot of Ethiopian things...

World's Worst Blogger

Okay, it’s official. I am the worst blogger. I cannot believe that it has been since August when I last posted. I started posts many times and never finished. I have a million excuses (no time being the biggest issue-with 2 kids, full time job, family, friends, etc…I can never find any free time at all)…but, everyone is busy, right? It’s not a good excuse, I know. I am going to commit to posting blogs more frequently in 2008; no excuses. Quite honestly, I got a bit overwhelmed with the blog world for a while and felt like I could not possibly keep up with all of the amazing posts, reading other’s sites, etc… and it started to stress me out. Pathetic, I know. Then, it isn’t my main means of keeping in touch with family and friends from out of town and so I ended up having to choose between posting blog updates or sending pictures and updates to others out of town who don’t/won't read blogs regularly. But, this will become a place where I post pix and direct family and friends, even if it means learning something new for them. Some good old peer pressure from my Oklahoma bud, Amy, got me back on track! :) Thanks, Amy...I needed it. Here are a few pictures from Christmas of our lilttle ladies:

And one from around the house with Lilly. In this one, she is excited that she is about to be fed. This girl LOVES TO EAT! So, some important milestones that occurred this Fall/Winter:

• September: Got Lilly's ears pierced! I was stressed about it, but it turned out to be a non-event. She is so tough. We LOVE her having earrings. When she got it done, even Reese said, "Oh, Lilly...you look so CUTE!"
• October 1st: Lilly began walking! This was 1 week shy of her 14 month b day. *This is a month a head of when Reese starting walking. From this day forward, Lilly began to RUN around, she never went back to crawling again.
• November 30th: Re-adoption/Adoption Finalization Court Date!!! Yeah! We had the nicest judge in the world. He kept going on and on about how he loves overseeing adoptions. He said that in doing Family court rotations it can be so overwhelming to always see families being torn apart, having to intervene in custody battles, etc… Adoption is the one thing that brings some light to his job. He was GREAT! He let Reese sit in the judge’s chair and push some buttons that make “white-noise” in the jury’s box. That made her day. FYI- We did this part without a lawyer. It really wasn’t so bad. More paperwork, of course, but not too bad at all.
• December 31st: Received Lilly’s new U.S. birth certificate! Very exciting. There was one small mistake on the birth cert, and that is that it has me as being 21 at the time of her birth! I was actually 31…but, I think that I just might go ahead and leave that mistake on there!
• December 31st: Spent the day on New Years Eve in the Social Security Administration office applying for Lilly’s social security card. I HIGHLY recommend going to gov’t offices on days like this because they are SLOW and the lines are SHORT. Since most people don’t have this day off from work and only take off to do fun stuff with family, no one wants to sit in the SS administration office. So, we took advantage of that and were in and out in about 45 minutes!
• January 7th: Received Lilly’s social security card in the mail! YES! This was causing me anxiety because we would really like to be able to claim her on this years’ taxes (2007) since we spent most of the adoption money in late 2006 and early 2007. However, to do that we either need a social security number or adoption ID number (and of course have to have the adoption finalized in the US). One helpful hint for those in a similar situation (your child came back on an IR-4 visa), you do not need to wait for the Certificate of Citizenship to get a SS number. The SS administration just registers that the adoption was finalized and puts the child in as a permanent resident. Then, once we receive the Certificate of Citizenship we can go back and update her citizenship status. Whew! That was a relief.

We attended a gathering with the local Ethiopian adoption group last Saturday! It was huge. There are so many new families in the process, waiting, or with their children from Ethiopia. It is great to see the group grow. The event was at the local Ethiopian Cultural Center. It was busting at the seams and so we need to probably have these at bigger places next time. But, the local group had some girls do dancing, artwork, etc… I am looking forward to using this center more to connect with Ethiopian culture and grow closer to the Ethiopian community that is so huge in our area.

Wow-now that I have started posting again, I already have so much to say. I will definitely post again in a day or so with more pictures.

Birthdays, Beach Trips, Busy Summer Days...

Well, this summer is flying by. The girls just both celebrated birthdays in the past 2 weeks---Reese turned 3 and Lilly turned 1 and life just gets more fun every day! We got back last week from our second beach trip just for a little while before taking off again for another trip to...where else? The beach. This past trip was with family. My (Anne's) brothers and sisters rent a house every year together at the beach, the 8 of us (yea, i have 7 siblings--4 sisters and 3 brothers) and our spouses (if applicable) and kids! it gets a little rowdy! we have SO much fun together. Some people think that it seems kind of weird that we like to get away for a whole week together in the same house every year, considering the fact that we all live in the same area---anywhere from 10 minutes to at most 45 minutes apart and we see each other very often. Sounds crazy to some, but it is great fun for us! We have done it each year since we lost our mom to colon cancer in 2000. We are a very close family...(we also lost our dad 8 yrs earlier to leukemia). Anyways- the beach was GREAT--the pics above are Reese and one of her cousins on the beach one overcast morning and below are some other shots with the fam and in the pool at the house we rented. Reese and Lilly were both given a few incredible birthday parties. Both sides of the family threw them parties. Can I just say that we have the BEST family ever? They love up on our kids SOOOO much! Reese had a princess party (2 actually), as she is really into dressing up now--especially like a princess. I will have to post pictures later of what dress up around our house looks like--some of the outfits she designs are WILD! She had cinderella on her cake and plates, etc... and forever she has called her "cinda gorilla." We just think it's so funny that we have yet to correct her. so, everyone in my family now says, "cinda gorilla." We're pathetic, I know. Interesting note on the health/adoption front: we noticed about a month ago that it appeared as though Lilly's thumbs do not straighten. (They are always bent at almost a 90 degree angle). So, i took her into the doctor and our pediatrician (whom we love) was not in that day and the one available to see us is fairly new. Anyways- this new pediatrician referred me to get an x-ray and said "i have never seen this before!" (Just what you always want to hear from a doctor, right? that this is the first time they have ever seen a condition. Way to put the parents at ease, doc.) So, off we went to get x-rays. getting a little girl/baby to hold her hands flat for like 5 x rays of each hand is NOT fun. (especially when your hand cannot be in the way holding hers down). We had to tape them to the x ray table over and over again to get each angle---she was traumatized. Then, we were at the beach when the results came back and when i read them they basically said"x rays indicate that there is a bend at the blah blah blah joint in the thumb." Thanks but no thanks! Duh, we knew that there was a "bend in the thumb"--that's why we took her in! basically, the x ray was USELESS. Our pediatrician then saw her and said "no big deal, we see this every so often, you just need to see an orthopedist. You really didn't even need to have an x ray for this, as it is not really a bone issue." Once again- the x rays were USELESS. so, we went to a pediatric orthopedist and he said that he has "trigger thumb." It is not common, but not super uncommon. typically it isn't seen in BOTH thumbs like with her, but he thinks that it is likely a congenital birth defect. Since I didn't actually see her at birth, I cannot verify if it was present or not. here's the sad part...looks like she has to have surgery. :) Poor Lilly--- she will have to be completely anesthetized. local anesthetic won't work. I have never even been anesthetized and now our little girl who has already lived through too many traumatic events for a 1 year old will have to be put under for surgery on both hands! :( We'll need lots of prayers for that event. Not scheduled yet, I am still researching before agreeing to it. Anyone heard of this or had to treat it? Well, onto better info: tomorrow, my dear dear friend from Chicago is arriving with her husband and two kids who are the EXACT same ages as our two little girls-3 and almost 1. They are staying a week and I am SO excited. Mwende (my friend) and I lived together for 3 years during graduate school in Chicago. We spent like every moment together because we had the same classes, same friends, same apartment and often spent like 18-20 hours a day studying and doing research in the engineering building at northwestern....so we were sleep deprived for several years and insanely stressed out, but we managed to have some of the most fun together ever (probably because we were a bit delusional). I am convinced no one else on this planet could have lived with me through those years but her. I cannot wait to spend time with her and have our girls play together.

Mesgana Dancers

Here is a video from the website for the Mesgana Dancers, which is a group of adorable Ethiopian girls who do a dance tour every year in the U.S. The dancers are affiliated with the Children of Ethiopia Education Fund (COEEF) which is aimed at improving the lives and futures of girls in Ethiopia through education. It is an great video and undoubtedly a great cause! Many people in our local Ethiopian adoption group are planning to go see them and so are we. We feel spoiled because it appears as though they only have a half a dozen stops in the US and two are in our area! Probably because there is a huge Ethiopian population here. Can't wait to see them. For those of you who have already been to Ethiopia and perhaps dined at Fasika, the dancing will remind you a bit of the evening there!!!! :) Good memories...

4th of July at the Beach!!

We took the girls to the Jersey Shore for a little time at the beach, thanks to the Brophy's incredible hospitality. We all had a great time! The weather didn't cooperate the first few days-raining. But, we managed to find many things to do: shopping, relaxing, eating a lot of yummy seafood and everything else, pedicures, etc... The last few days were nice and sunny and all of the kids seemed to really enojy the beach. Reese loved playing in the sand and building sand castles. The ocean water was FREEZING and quite rough some days, but you'd never know watching the way the kids loved the ocean. Especially Eyerus (pronounced Ye-rus with a long U). This is the charming young girl that the Brophy's are hosting through Gladney's Bright Futures Camp. She was incredibly adventurous in the ocean! She is such a little sweet heart. Reese called her "Roos," "Roost" and a few times even called her "Rooster." Reese has this funny thing with giving people nick names. She also calls a neighbor's son, 'Trouble,' when his name is actually Trevor. She also calls my friend Matt's son, Ian, 'Ant' or 'Int.' She is crazy for sure. We really enjoyed our time with Eyerus; being with her reminded us of how sweet the Ethiopian children were when we were there. Oh, and Lilly's little' boyfriend,' Ashenafi, is doing great and as cute as ever! (As you can see in the photos). I got to hold him and feed him his bottle one day after his nap while everyone else was still at the beach, and I enjoyed every minute of it. What a little heart-breaker!

Here's a cute pic of daddy and Reese on the beach:

I am so proud of brave little Reese---she rode her first Roller Coaster at the board walk! That's right, at age 2! It was pretty fast and definitely had some scary drops and turns...it wasn't one of those baby ones, I assure you. She took it like a champ! :)

Eyerus and Reese getting onto the helicopter ride. Eyerus really took great care of Reese all week...taking on the role of big sis.

The Delp and Brophy family at the beach (on the boardwalk one rainy evening):

This last pic is of crazy Reese when I went to get her after her nap one afternoon. She was wearing clothes when I put her down, and when I returned, she was asleep and wearing Lilly's bathing suit (yep, that's right, Lilly is 2 full years younger than her--it was tight) and then she had her own bikini bottom over top of it! The messed-up pig tails just makes the image complete:

Crawling, Teething, Laughing...

So, our little Elizabeth is finally crawling (see video), and over the past few weeks she has become quite an expert at it. Though she's moving at a leisurely pace in the video, she can cruise. We also think that she has great form! :) Reese also crawled for the first time at 10 months old. She had her own "special" technique, though. It resembled the 'butterfly' when swimming: both arms, both legs, both arms, both legs. It was funny, but it got her from point A to point B. Elizabeth's (we are calling her Lilly as a nickname) is a more traditional crawl.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Elizabeth also had 4 teeth cut through all at the same time! (top 2 & bottom 2). Poor thing...she seemed a bit uncomfortable with it, but it has produced an even cuter little smile. She is laughing A LOT, clapping and says "hi" and waves all of the time! She has also added "mama" to her vocabulary of three words --- dada, mama, hi!!! Reese daily says to her, "Say Reese-IE, Reesie. Can you say that Liz-a-Beff, Reese-IE!?!?!?" Reese is such a good big sister. She holds Elizabeth's hand in the car and calls her "my baby." She says, "I need to check on my baby..." and comforts her, saying "It's okay Liz-a-Beff!" Very sweet. They really seem to love each other. Here are a few pics during the nighttime routine, after baths and before bed. As you can see, Elizabeth can even stand when leaning against something or holding onto tables. She is very strong, at least we think so. We are gearing up for a few much-needed summer vacations. The first one is next week and is an Ethiopia-reunion of sorts: a couple, the Brophy's, who traveled with us to Ethiopia and picked up their son, has so kindly invited us to join them at their beach house for the 4th of July holiday!!We are so excited to get the former Gladney buddies together again. The Brophy's are also hosting a young girl through Gladney's Bright Future's Camp, so we'll get quality time with her also. Oh, and on Tuesday, before leaving town we have our first post-adoption follow up appointment with our social worker. Last week it was three months since we arrived back home.

Happy 5th Anniversary to Us!

5 Years! What an adventure it has been!! Since we've been together, Mike and I have been busy, we've:

• Added 2 incredible little girls to our family
• Run 2 marathons together (Mike has run more w/o me)
• Purchased and completely renovated 2 homes
• Begun new careers
• Traveled on many vacations to beaches, mountains, overseas, etc...
• Built many friendships and memories together... and on & on

I feel so blessed to be able to live life with my best friend. We share so many dreams and goals together. It's hard to believe how fast this year has flown by! Really Really flown by---to think that it was a year ago to the day that we decided to proceed with adopting from Ethiopia (but, we didn't start the paperwork until October) and now we have our little Ethiopian princess here with us! What a year.

settling in at home!

time is flying. two months home already! elizabeth is 9 and a 1/2 months old. we are all settling in to being a family of 4. in fact, we love it! reese often counts the number of girls and boys in the room, and it is always 3 to 1; sorry mike. we love our little girls. they are doing great. they love each other SO much. we are so proud of the way that both of them are handling this new transition in life. i can hardly believe how well elizabeth has adjusted. she quickly recognized her new name (turns when called); she definitely knows who mommy and daddy and big sister are. she laughs hysterically when reese kisses her and smiles all day long at her daddy. it is safe to say that this little lady has also stolen our hearts.

family and friends have been super welcoming to elizabeth with a welcome baby party and many visits and gifts and meals, and lots and lots of love! we even got to attend a local ethiopian adoption potluck and show her off shortly after we returned. very fun. :)

great news-two couples that we know are now planning to also adopt from ethiopia: a couple whom we know through church and a couple who live nearby! yea! we are so excited about this because (1) since we wanted to take all of the little kids home with us from the orphanage, but obviously couldn't; at least we can see more of them find wonderful new homes, (2) we LOVE the idea of elizabeth having more friends who are also adopted from ethiopia---ESPECIALLY if they live in our neighborhood and (3) this has been such an amazing experience for us, that we can't help but hope that others will have the same great journey.

we got to meet the bottomly family in person and their CUTE CUTE CUTE little boy, silas, when they came through DC on the way back from ethiopia. they had a horrible experience traveling home, but we enjoyed meeting them if only for a moment and reuniting silas and elizabeth. their beds were right across from one another in the gladney home and i got to hold silas a bit back in march when we were there. they are a super sweet family and we are so grateful to have built a new friendship with people half way across the country through this common experience that we share! the internet is so great for adoptive families! :) i am also so impressed by amy's vulnerability and the way that she shares so much about her adoptive experience with the world. impressive and helpful to other families, like us!

in the past two months, we received elizabeth's green card in the mail (sweet...she can get a job now! just kidding, obviously). we will start the re-adoption process here soon. going to try to do it without a lawyer. we have taken her to the doctor several times, and had blood work re-run and submitted stool samples (YUCKO) and she appears to be healthy as a horse! it's a amazing, really: no parasites, blood work looks great...everything is great! we feel fortunate for sure. she is on a great sleeping schedule...we had to teach her to get through the nights, because we feel confident that in the gladney home all the babies woke each other up and since elizabeth isn't into pacifiers, she probably got a few extra (probably not needed) bottles. so, that habit has been officially broken now. she is sleeping 12 long hours at night and two 2 hour naps during the day. YES! we have also been to 2 doctors regarding her sorta flat head. poor thing. we aren't sure if we'll be doing one of those helmet/bands yet because she is just on the edge of the normal/abnormal range and of course, insurance is making this decision harder by refusing to pay anything. lovely. they apparently only cover medical conditions that we'll never have, b/c they tend to deny a lot! frustrating.

more updates later...

slideshow of our time in ethiopia

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

day 8 in ethiopia-our last full day; the time went so fast

WOW. It's hard to believe that this trip went so fast. We did some more shopping, had a few more macchiatos, spent time with some of the Christians from the church, and went to the pool for a bit. One brother from the church came all of the way across town to bring us gifts for our little girls-dresses. Berhanu also came to the hotel, as did the young woman who leads the women's ministry. They gave us gifts last night at midweek last night (Wednesday), too. What an unbelieveble show of love. There was no holding back the tears anymore. We are sincerely SO SAD to leave here. We had no idea that we'd fall in love with this country. There is a sweetness to this place. We cannot wait to come back one day with the girls when they are older. We'd love to get out into the country-side and see some of the historic churches and more of the culture. If only we didn't miss Reese so much, we would definitely stay longer here. We can't emphasize how much we love the adoption agency that we used-the Gladney Center. They took care of us from beginning to end. Again, big thanks to Ryan, Abby and Belay as well as the US Gladney team- especially Mary T. and Tonia. THANK YOU GLADNEY for our little angel! What an incredible journey....