New Year, New Season, New Blog

As we approach our 6 month Fami-versary,

As we enter a new year and a new decade,

As we close our season of waiting, and enter a whole new adventure of parenthood,

it is time for a fresh face in blog land.

So, today, on this first day of 2011, we announce

ReSoNate,

our new blog!

http://weresonate.blogspot.com/

If you have been following us at Worth the Wait, please consider continuing to follow us in our new location.  If you have a link to Worth the Wait on your own site, please consider updating it to ReSoNate. 

Here's to new beginnings - in the cyber world and the "real" world!

Ciao!

Hope Deferred is History!

(mass picture alert: Our First Christmas together)

What a difference a year makes!

Christmas 2009, and many Christmases prior, we dreamed of this day.

Every meal, every gift opened, every carol sung - I imagined the day we would share these traditions with our children.  The longing for a child is a deep anguish at times... a constant holding onto hope, sometimes by a thread.  For so many years, holidays, parties, and vacations have been accompanied by this inner conversation and poignant questioning - when, O Lord, when will the "multiplication" and the "fruitfulness" You've promised be a tangible reality?  The loneliness and grief have been periodically debilitating but hope has always picked me up, standing on the truth that joy always comes in the morning.  Spring always follows winter...

and THIS is our springtime!

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is the tree of  life. 

Proverbs 13:12

This Christmas season, we are grateful to be living in a "desire fulfilled."

At the beginning of December, we attended our annual Church Christmas Party.

It's an adult only party, but since our babes' "family age" is just 5 months, they came with us.

E-man loved the lively game of corporate Family Feud and the Baby Doll loved grazing from our plates. 

We'd barely walked through the door when Ayat snatched his grand-girl from my arms and whisked her away for a photo.  (photo credit goes to Mark & Jen - thanks!)

These photos of  Daddy and his girl were too cute to leave out.

She placed the paper cup in his mouth and then laughed hysterically.

 ... again and again...

... and again.

A few days before Christmas, E-man helped me make sugar cookies.

(A bit of free advertising for Trader Joe's cookie project in a box - fabulous and yummy!)

His jobs were cookie cutters and sprinkles.

On Christamas Eve Day, we headed out to Grandpa and Grandma's house.

The plan was to eat, attend Christmas Eve service, then open gifts.

We had trouble with transferring the carseats, however, and ended up skipping the service.

E-man loved sitting in the driver's seat out of the pouring rain while Daddy fixed his seat.

We finally arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's house much to the delight of all.

Reading the Christmas story.

(note to self: find a children's book to tell the Christmas story.  Any suggestions?)

Baby Doll would rather visit with Mr. Snowman than listen to the Christmas story in the NKJV.

Time for a family pic with Grandma and Grandpa.

camera propped up on a tv tray and large book... O where did I put that tri-pod?!

New favorite books.

On Christmas Day, we had a quiet time at home for a couple of hours, then headed over to Ayat and Ayate's (only 15min away) for our traditional Christmas brunch.  Love this pic of our baby doll - before nap time when she was still bright eyed and bushy tailed.  We've been getting over some nasty sinus colds around here.

Uncle J brought his Wii and we tried our hand at some Mario Brothers racing.  Baby Doll always wants to be right in the middle of everything.

Oh how I love my girl!  Snotty nose and all.

Kisses for Mommy.

Uncle J must have had fun buying the many gifts for each little person, including this stuffed pink dog for the girl.

Peek-a-boo!

Puzzles for E-man... he also got a helicopter, electronic learning toys, pjs and more!

s.p.o.i.l.e.d. and LOVED

cuddle time with the pink dog

The day after Christmas Family Photo at church.

Phew!  Christmas festivities can tire a person out!

Every little girl needs a big pink dog to hang out with for some well-deserved rest.



Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the N-4 Family!

Hope deferred is history!

Love you to the Angels

Bedtime:
E-man: Mommy I love you BIIIIIIIG.  (arms outstretched as far as they'll go)
me: I love you sooooo Big
E-man: I love you Big Big Big Biiiiiiig
me: I love you to the moon
E-man: I love you... (thinking)... to the Angels! (wide eyes, big smile, as tho' challenging me to top that)
me: Wow!  That's a lot.
E-man: Yah!

I didn't know it was possible to love like this.

Trimming the Tree

Another FIRST: Trimming the tree!

We've had the tree up for over a week with just the lights on it.  Today was the get 'er done day.

During nap time, I started putting on the bead garland.

Then, my little helper got in on the action.  E-man kept saying, "Oh Mommy, it's so boo-tee-full."

The first ornament.

Mommy: Put them up as high as you can.

Almost done... and very proud of himself.

(This is what sleepy eyes with bed head looks like.)

We have several clusters of ornaments like this one.  They resemble huge shiny white grapes.

And I'm not moving any of them because I've waited ten years for a child to "mess up" my symmetrical matchy matchy tree!  I love it just the way it is.

When I announced that the last ornament had been hung, my sweet little man hugged the tree and began singing "lovely are your branches."  Be still my heart!

In the meantime, the baby doll watched the tree trimming from her high chair, occupied by her fist full of graham crackers.  When we let her down, she laughed, cheered and clapped.

She promptly knocked an ornament off and said "uh oh" several times.  See it down in the corner? 

A fabulous afternoon!

p.s.  the baby doll is now walking all over the house with an occasional face plant into the carpet.

Final Stamp of Approval

On Friday, we pulled the kids out of bed at the crack of dawn.
We drove two hours south.
 We stood before a judge, raised our right hands, and swore to
"take responsibility for these children as though they were born to us."
We legally changed the kids' names and received the certified documents to prove it.
Phew!  Except for post-adoption reports, our paperwork and legal work is finally complete.



This judge was so cool.  E-man was a bit apprehensive at first when invited to sit with the judge, but he warmed up to him and now proudly reminds us, "judge gave me candy."  It was surprisingly emotional for me.  Perhaps it was not being present for the court hearing in Ethiopia (an agency lawyer represented us), and not hearing a thing at the Embassy appointment (because our baby doll was screaming her little lungs out), and now - standing here in this formal setting - before a judge - with my family looking on - I found myself tearing up, overwhelmed by the Lord's goodness to bring us to this point.  I was glad the judge directed his questions to my husband, because I just knew I would burst into tears if he addressed me. 


The whole thing lasted about ten minutes, but what a monumental ten minutes!
The children have been legally ours since May 17 and in our care since July 5, so this hearing is a necessary formality providing us with the documents we need to apply for U.S. citizenship.  (Currently, the kids are on Ethiopian passports with immigrant visas.)  From this point on, their names are legally changed as well.

It was fun to share this day with the "B" family who adopted two older children from the same orphanage.  Congratulations to them!

It was fabulous, also, to have Mark and Liane (YWAM director and homestudy social worker) there too, snapping pictures like crazy.  I'll probably do a follow up to this post when I get those pics.  :)

Thank you to all who have joined us on this journey to PRAY OUR BABIES HOME.

We feel so privileged that God would choose us to parent these two little people.

They bring us more joy than we can express.

We are rich!

BOOK REVIEW: A Long Walk to Water

A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story by Linda Sue Park

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A short read, but profoundly moving. Based on the real life experiences of Salva Dut of Sudan.

View all my reviews

BOOK REVIEW - Choosing to SEE

Choosing to SEE by Mary Chapman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Mary Beth Chapman shares her story with raw emotion and poignancy. Many will gain insight and hope from her willingness to be vulnerable. As a new adoptive parent, Choosing to SEE causes me to hold my children a little bit tighter and cherish each moment with them a little bit more. It was hard to continue reading at times, but to stop would have felt like cutting a friend off mid-sentence while that friend bared her soul. In addition, Choosing to SEE provides a profound perspective on eternal life after death... and the Chapmans have paid a high price to provide that perspective.

View all my reviews

Thanksgiving Day Milestone

After two days of school being cancelled and not leaving our house, we ventured out on Thanksgiving Day to cure some cabin fever.  We waited 'til the afternoon for the expected rain and warmer temperatures and headed to Ayat & Ayate's.  We made it down our hill... slowly... over several miles of compact snow and ice... and finally to bare roads. 

Thanksgiving Day highlight: To our delight, our girl took her first 3 steps from the coffee table into the arms of her name sake, Ayate.  (Her second middle name is Lucille, which is my Mom's middle name.)  We thought it wonderful that she took her first steps in the presence of us all - where she was cheered on with squeals, cheering and clapping.

"Ayate's heirloom rocker is just my size!"

"Yay!  I'm sitting all by myself!"

"I'm going to try this walking thing again."

"I'm standing!"

"I'm falling."

We love our baby doll!  She is our joy and delight.

"A sweet fragrance to the Lord,"

as the meaning of her name so adequately describes.

Today, we're off to our second Thanksgiving.

I'll be sure to get some pics of the big brother today.  The baby doll kind of stole the show with her new trick.

(No Black Friday shopping for this mama... I stay as far away from the stores as possible from now til Christmas.)

p.s. We're still figuring out how to do a Christmas tree with this little curious munchkin moving around.  Any ideas from you experienced mommies out there?

"Ishi Bishi" Spider and Twinkle Twinkle

If you're on facebook, you may have already seen these, but they deserve a blog post all their I own.
Our E-man loves to sing and here's two of his favorites as only a 3 year old can do.





note: at the end of each, he asks, "May I please look at it?"

First Snow

First snow of the year. First snow for the babes.
We awoke on Sunday morning to a dusting of snow and a bit more of a dusting by the time we returned from church.
E-man keeps going to the sliding glass door and saying with a dreamy fondness in his tone, "My first snow."
We feel like we're seeing it for the first time too - through his eyes.

The baby doll just wants lunch and a nap but she tolerated a quick photo shoot for posterity's sake.

 

p.s. the bloggin' hiatus has now turned into an occasional family update

Happy First-Day, Happy Four Months, and an Update

We interrupt this bloggin' hiatus for two important reasons of celebration.
Our baby doll turned 1 year old on November 1!
and
Today, we have been a family of four for four months!

We had two birthday parties.

The first was celebrated on Oct 31st, which is Daddy's birthday.
E-man wanted to help blow out the "candy" - that's how he says "candle."

Baby Doll had her first bites of ice cream.

 

She shared her new dolly with Grandpa.



One week later...

Baby Doll shares a birthday with her Uncle (my brother) so we partied again.

She had her first cupcake.

 

She liked it.

Her shirt says it all.

"Grandma Spoils Me"

(both of them)

When E-man tried to say, "Happy First Birthday" to his sister,

it came out, "Happy First-Day."

So there you have it!

While on bloggin' hiatus, we have:

completed our first of three post-adoption reports,

begun the process for our re-adopt (where we go before a US Judge and the adoption is officially recognized in this country),

received more shots (much to E-man's dismay),

 packed away the 12 mos clothes and replaced them with 18 mos clothes,

gone to the pumpkin patch for the first time,

had our first play dates,

donned hats and gloves for the first time,

had our first rides in the grocery cart,

had another family baby shower, 

attended our first Reformation Fest (no Halloween for us),

and "discovered" Sesame Street on the computer.

Also,

E-man has forgotten most of his Amharic (bitter-sweet),

E-man is attending Sunday school class,

E-man is taking naps all by himself,

E-man is "reading" books and speeding around on his big wheel,

E-man has warmed up to Diesel, the Golden Retriever,

Baby Doll is saying "up," "Wow," "Hi," as well as "Maaaaa" and "Da",

Baby Doll is pointing, blowing kisses, standing all by herself, getting into everything, 

and expressing her opinion (if you know what I mean),

and both kids enjoy their 2 hours/day with Ayate.

This mama,

is glad I only have to work part time and wishes I didn't have to work part time,

is happy for the progress and is sad they're growing up already.

Four months has gone by quickly but it feels like we've always had them.

I'm cherishing every moment and thanking God every day.

And two last pictures to say Happy Fall Days, everyone.