My Green Little Monster is Good For Me!

Just got word that a friend of ours received their family's travel date... they received their referral about a week or so after us.  That is not only awesome that they will be meeting their little girl soon (July 1st) but I am selfishly celebrating that the 2 trip/2 court process is now beginning!!!  This is the first I have heard that anyone has received a court date following the recent rule change.

So hooray for the Hammerlund's!!!  And hooray for the kids that will soon be officially adopted by their new families.

I do have to admit that I am a little green with envy... but it will definitely serve as a motivator to get moving in project completion and a reminder to appreciate all of the special moments that I have right now (like a peaceful house will my "only" sleeps!).

The Rest of the Story

So who was to know that I would have a day late Mother's Day gift at the time of the above photo.  Mother's Day was wonderful for me as it was!  My parents came in town, to help out with our garage sale/Mehandis watch as well as visit.  We enjoyed a great dinner of jumbalaya together as well as french toast al fresco the following morning.   Mehandis delivered my fave flowers, a bouquet of tulips to me (with a little help from Grandma & Grandpa.  The 3 M's then traveled south to join Michael's parents and sister for more Mother's Day celebrating.  I received some thoughtful cards from Michael's family... and got to kick back while Michael did much of the dinner prepping :)  Ooh, forgot to mention that my husband gave me an incredibly sweet gift card to enjoy during an outing with a friend.  A wonderful weekend with wonderful people.

But then Monday came!

My phone rang at 1:15 during a speech session with two kindergarden students.  I jumped up to check... as has been my habit the past several months.  And the caller ID said CHSFS!  I answered calmly telling me that it could be our specialist just checking in (as has been her habit once a month the past 6 months).  But then she asked if my husband was available - a big clue of big news about to be shared.  I told her my husband wasn't available since I was at work, to which she asked if she should talk to me at a later time.  Of course I answered "No!  Now works great."  The students were quickly sent back to their class with promises of stickers to come.  Then the news of Abera was shared.

I called Michael right after we hung up.  Together, over the phone were able to look at the 10 page email, all about Abera, which our specialist immediately sent.  I forgot that it would have his picture in it :)  Michael got to that first while I was reading away.  Awesome!

We had to wait a couple of days to share our news with friends and family, to which God wanted to lend me a helping hand by giving a bout of laryngitis.  Guess He didn't know that by noon on Wednesday I could have the gag order removed.  I could only croak out every fourth word when we got word that all the paperwork was in and we had officially accepted the referral of this one month old boy!  I needed to email the news to my parents since I could not speak at all clear enough to communicate over the phone.  Pretty funny.  I stayed on vocal rest for the rest of the day and night (except for a couple of pitiful phone attempts) and was pretty much recovered by Thursday.  Never had I wanted to cheer and share so much and be unable to!!!  A good joke on me.

Abera's First Book

We sent Abera our first gift... a photo book with pictures of his new family (or as Mehandis calls it... his "last family").  It was fun picking out the pictures that best represent us...

Here are the 3 M's on our front lawn, waiting for A to join in on all the outside fun we have.

His big brother, Mehandis, ready to "help him when he bumps his head and cries... or bites people".  Hmmm.  Not sure where that was described in the "My Little Brother and Me" book?

Dad can take him on adventures.  He always is eager to watch a game, go on a picnic or head out for a hike.  Abera will not get bored!

Mom jumps at the chance for a snuggle - whether it be while slowly waking up in morning, reading a book on the couch or watching "people" on t.v. during nail cutting time.

                   We are very happy to see how our family will continue to grow!

Little A

So happy to share the news of our referral... a one month old baby boy, named Abera.

He is a tiny little guy with amazing eyes and a full head of hair.  He is fairly long and looks like he has powerful hands and feet.  His personality appears to be strong, as he is noted to cry out often to be held and fed. 

Abera's name means, "He Shines", which seems to fit him just right when looking at his pictures (which we do very often).

Michael, Mehandis and I are all very anxious to learn more about Abera as we wait for our travel information... and of course so eager to meet him in Hosanna.  For now we celebrate our growing family and pray that Abera will keep "asking" for what he needs, until we can hold him here in our arms.

Goal!!!

Can you spot our little soccer "learner" (not quite team player) in the following pic?

I do believe it is a learning experience for Michael and I to see how "3 Year Old Soccer Classes" work as well.  While fun is had on both sides, the hardest part for the parents entails  figuring how much we should/shouldn't be on the field with the toddlers.

So far my favorite part is having Mehandis spin in circles singing "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" when his teammate, Lucy, is called by name.  Long live the effects of Rock Band on children.

They Followed the Yellow Brick Road

A sampling of Mehandis's fun during Spring Break...

With Grandma, Dorothy & Tot

The Tin Man

Grandpa & the Cowardly Lion

As well as the Scarecrow

Even though there was no sand to be found at this park... sure looks like Oz Park has everything else!

Bumps, But No Bruises

The past month has been a bit of a bumpy ride for us emotionally.  Didn't want to blog about it because I didn't yet have answers (yet the questions and answers when waiting for a child do change often times, even after getting "an answer") and also knew I wasn't really keeping things in complete perspective. 

So to sum up the "news" of the past month, we received the following notifications from our agency-

• All parents need to travel twice when adopting a child from Ethiopia (Directed by the ET Courts)
• One week notice is likely all that will be given prior to the second trip (Directed by the US Embassy)
• 9 Adoption Satellite Sites were shut down (by the Ethiopian Government)
• Our Agency had a partnership with one of the sites that were shut down, but never received a referral from them, CHSFS did recently receive renewal of licensure (by the Ethiopian Government) without question
• Need for two trips was indefinitely on hold (per CHSFS)
• Oops, our agency redacted their statement about the two trip pause button.  All family's with court dates after May 9th will need to make the "two trip travel" (per ET Courts)

Long story and complicated details.  Sorry to all of those nice meaning people who have recently asked how "the wait" has been going.  They got a bit of a too detailed and/or stilted response from me.

We are doing very well with the perspective thing... now.  At least in "my perspective" I think we are ;)

I did enjoy reading the following transcript, which is Eric Weiner's Broadcast Via NPR's "All Thing's Considered".  There will always be changes in International Adoption, always a news story posing questions regarding what is right/wrong, and always questions about our family (so many I love to answer and share with other's about our experiences).  But the main thing is that we will always be a family... and I am forever blessed by that fact.

The NPR story I mentioned follows.

"I've gotten very quick with the remote control these days. I can change channels or hit the mute button in a fraction of a second. You see, I don't want my 5-year-old daughter to hear the adoption news out there, because lately, it seems, it's all bad news. The Russian case, the American missionaries accused of sneaking children out of Haiti — these stories raise questions that I'm not prepared to answer. Not yet, at least.
My daughter knows she is adopted. My wife and I don't hide that fact, nor do we dwell on it. It's just one more thing, we tell her, that makes her special. Once, we were at an ice cream parlor, and the clerk asked my daughter: "Where are you from, little girl?" "Kazakhstan," she replied proudly. I can still recall the shocked expression on the clerk's face.

Only now is my daughter beginning to understand that we don't look alike, she and I. Coursing through her veins is the blood of Genghis Khan and the Mongols. Coursing through my veins is the blood of the Jews of Eastern Europe. It doesn't matter, though. Love trumps genetics. Every time.

There's something mysterious and wonderful about the bond between an adoptive parent and child. For me, that bond jelled as soon as I saw her photo — sent by e-mail from the adoption agency. She had bright eyes and a huge bald head — "Buddha Baby," we called her. Normally I'm not one to believe in fate, but at that moment, I knew, just knew, she was destined to be my daughter.

Adoption is not what you think it is. It is not, as one well-meaning person told me, "an act of mercy." My wife and I did not adopt our daughter to "save" her or to demonstrate our innate goodness. We adopted her because we wanted a child and couldn't have one biologically. That's why we filled out endless reams of paperwork, underwent a background check, spent thousands of dollars we couldn't really afford.

Like our case, the vast majority of international adoptions end happily. Of course, you don't hear those stories. Good news is not news — which is a shame, really, because every time there's an adoption scandal, countries overseas get spooked. Sometimes, they suspend all adoptions, as Russia is reportedly considering now. When that happens, the main victims are the children sitting in orphanages, waiting for parents who may never arrive.

That's what nearly happened to us. At the time, there was a similar case involving a Russian child adopted by an American parent. This parent had allegedly beaten the child to death. It was a terrible story, and Kazakh officials — very much in the Russian orbit — were threatening to suspend all adoptions, including ours. My wife and I spent several tormented weeks holed up in an apartment in the Kazakh city of Almaty, wondering whether we would be allowed to bring our Buddha Baby home.

In the end, cooler heads prevailed and adoptions were allowed to continue. I hope that is what happens now. Meanwhile, I've figured out what I'll say the next time someone tells me that adopting my daughter was an "act of mercy." Yes, I'll reply, it was, and it is we — my wife and I — who are the recipients of that mercy."