Early Thanksgiving Gratitude

As I ready to return back to full time work I am noting a lot of  lasts - the "last" week I am home, "last" day that Mehandis is home on a Monday and "last" Thursday that I drop Abera off at Michael's while I travel to see my private speech students.  This isn't the best perspective to take I am know... causes a bit of blurred vision as I type through teary eyes actually. 

So... here's to the "firsts" and giving thanks for all that is yet to come!

Abera is now sitting up on his own, for a few moments at least, and consistently turning over from back to tummy.  He seems very proud to be moving a bit more on his own... he tells us all about it when he is moving (in his baby language - "Da da bbbb mam bob")

We have a had a fun run of introducing Abera to several new friends and family. 

He seems to love meeting people for the first time... and the second and third times aren't too bad either I suppose ;)

Here Abera met Bridget, who is one month younger than Abera.  Bridget's big brother Sean opted not to pose for the pic.  Thanks so much for coming up this way Colleen! 

My Uncle Gregg also made a road trip to visit his two great-nephews.  Everyone got in on the fun!

Mehandis got a helping hand on the monkey bar rings and fire poles, while Abera got a chance to take his first turn on the slide!

Not sure if the big boy or little boy enjoyed this "first" more?

All of us headed to Train Fest the next day... thanks for treating us Uncle Gregg!

This was my favorite scene - a model train town that has a fire burning and all the rescue cars are there to help.  I could have used a rescuer myself when we kept having to hunt down Mehandis as he rushed from one exhibit to another.

All of were a bit spoiled by the treats, presents and hot fudge sundaes that my Uncle shared with us.  Had fun watching Toy Story while having a pizza party too.  It was fun to see everyone enjoy the time (and naps) they had together.  Also great to have an extra helping hand with feeding Abera his bottles (a first for my Uncle as he said he never gave a baby a bottle before). 

After we said good bye to Uncle Gregg our new friend Dominic came over for a play date.  Here the boys are modeling Mehandis's "fancy" belts.  It was hard catching them standing still to snap any pics.  Should have had video of them dancing to Abba together though.  Hysterical.

Thanks to Rachel for her generous ways in sharing her costumes with Handi during a recent get together too!  This is actually an older photo which doesn't catch her latest "Lady Gaga" outfit.  Her mom, Natalie, and I got a giggle watching Lady Gaga chase and scare Darth Vader.  As Natalie said "Who knew Lady Gaga is scarier than Darth Vader?".

While my free time is now going to be lessened with my return back to work next week, I am so thankful for all the fun we fit into the 3 months home with Abera.  So many friends and family visited or we traveled to visit them.  We have made new friends and gotten to know others better.

Hundreds of smiles and snuggles will continue to be freely shared.
And they will be fully appreciated.

Helping hands will be even more appreciated as life gets a bit busier.

We will just "kick" up our energy a notch to make sure to fit all that fun in!

Marquette Memories



A recent article titled "100 Things to do Before Graduating from Marquette", from the Fall 2010 edition of the "Marquette Magazine", brought back much nostalgia.  Places that I have all but forgotten about, events that I thought only my group was creative enough to do, and memories of people that were good friends but now fond thoughts from my past were brought back to the front of my mind.  I have to admit I am a bit proud of all that I did "do before graduating as well". 

So here is the list that of things that the magazine recommends and a tally of how I fared. 

Key "X"= DID, "O"=MISSED

O 1.  Catch a show at The Rave
X 2.  Visit an exhibition at the Haggerty Museum of Art
X 3.  Take in a show at Milwaukee's Pabst Theatre
X 4.  Head to the Helfaer Theatre for a student performance (still remember Valentine's Day with the girls)
X 5.  Watch the Calatrava wings open and close (don't think they had this before I graduated, but have seen since)
O 6.  Study in Caffrey's
O 7.  Get a haircut at Bob's
X 8.  See the AMU's 5th Floor
X 9.  Get into the Safehouse
O 10. Climb to the top of Marquette Hall bell tower
X 11. Visit St. Josephat's Basilica
X 12. Open the Harp and Shamrock (then known as Murphy's I think?)
O 13. Go to the Orientation Square Dance
O 14. Bike from Milwuaukee to Madison
X 15. Walk to Lake Michigan
X 16. Take a brewery tour
X 17. Take the Amtrak to Chicago
X 18. Play volleyball at Bradford Beach
O 19. Participate in the PT Massage-a-thon
X 20. Visit the Milwaukee County Zoo
O 21. Eat crab at the Public Market
O 22. Eat at a Friday night fish fry (can't believe I still haven't done this too!)
O 23. Get a Solly's butter burger
X 24. Eat a greasy breakfast at Michael's (but always under protest)
O 25. Brunch at the Comet Cafe (another place I think new since 1996)
X 26. Go to Real Chili and have the works at 3 AM
27. Dine at the Jesuit Residence
X 28. Eat at Miss Katie's (real cheese fries and a chocolate malt)
X 29. Go to La Fuente
X 30. Find a ride to Kopp's for the flavor of the month
O 31. Eat the Double Sobelman
O 32. Load up at the Dog Haus (never heard of it)
O33. Order a Grande anything at Starbucks (do they have that on/near campus now?)
X 34. Eat chicken nuggets at the res hall dining rooms
X 35. Play tennis at the Rec Center (thanks for playing Maira)
O 36. Go to the Night of Chocolate a student tradition (does going to "Like Water for Chocolate" count... this wasn't a tradition in my day)
X 37. See a Braodway show at student rates (did go to NY after my senior year)
X 38. Tailgate at Miller Park on opening day (an absolute blast)
X 39. Play Bingo at Potawatomi (gotta be 18 though!)
O 40. Join an intramural sports team
O 41. Invite a Jesuit to dinner
X 42. Go to Tuesday night mass at St. Joan of Arc Chapel


Joan of Arc





X 43. Be at the Mass and Picnic for the Welcome Back Festivities
O 44. Hug Father Naus (he was the clown right?)
X 45. Touch the legendary cold stone at St. Joan of Arc Chapel
O 46. Sing carols at the Miracle on Central Mall
X 47. Rock Summerfest
X 48. Play with butterflies at the Milwaukee Public Museum
X 49. Go to the lakefront at midnight
O 50. Tour Marquette's supposedly haunted buildings
X 51. Have a snowball fight on the square
X 52. Make snow angels
X 53. Enjoy Winter Flurry (that was when Liquid Chicken played in our apartment I think!)


Fancy party before Snowball (aka Winter Flurry)





O 54. Roll monster snow boulders
O 55. Perform at Open Mic Night
O 56. Rehearse for Late Nite Marquette
O 57. Help a freshman their first week on campus
O 58. Take a professor coffee
O 59. Run for office for a sorority/fraternity
X 60. Lead a student organization
O 61. Do Habitat for Humanity
X 62. Connect with a MU alum who is already successful in you career track (Thanks Judy!!!)
X 63. Visit Marquette's career counselors
O 63. Join a Greek organization
X 64. Pull an all-nighter
X 65. Set up to study in the Brew Bayou
X 66. Take a road trip (Padre should give me triple points)
O 67. Write for the Marquette Tribune
X 68. Get a campus job (DR'ing is the best... skip catering)
X 69. Spend a summer in Milwaukee
X 70. Get involved with student organizations
O 71. Get an internship with the Aspin Center and live on The Hill (lucky Michael did that!)
O 72. Work for MU TV or Radio
X 73. Sign up for Campus Kitchens and feed the hungry (think it was Midnight Hunger then)
O 74. Take a course just for the reason that it interests you
O 75. Learn to play the carillon
O 76. Take a service learning class
X 77. Attend non-required lectures
X 78. Join a Marquette retreat
X 79. Stay for summer school
O 80. Study abroad
X 81. Read the Marquette Tribune
X 82. Get up early for Hunger Clean-up
X 83. Live in McCormick Hall

McCormick!

Becca & I before the McCormick Formal



X 84. Eat wings and bowl at the Annex
X 85. Shout till you are hoarse at the games
X 86. Be seen on ESPN
O 87. Paint your face blue and gold
X 88. Buy student basketball tickets
O 89. Camp out at the Bradley Center the night before a big game (does camping out at the Union to get an apartment count?)
X 90. Go to basketball games
X 91. Run for "Al's Run"
O 92. Suit up for mascot tryouts (good job Kerbie... think Peter too)
X 93. Meet "the" Coach
X 94. Get down to Valley Fields for soccer and track (soccer only though)
O 95. Shout "Hi!" to Father Wild
X 96. Go to a basketball game in another city
X 97. Go to women's basketball
O 98. Stay on campus your first month of school
O 99. See the Tamagami Room (what?)
X 100.Meet Mr. Right... okay they didn't number these and can't really find 100 so I am adding my own!

Role Playing and Playfully Rolling

My friend Sarah had the best idea for a 3 year old birthday party... starting the day with a tour of her local fire house followed by pizza at kid friendly restaurant next door.  How could 3 year olds not love a restaurant that has a giant chicken statue on the top of its delivery trucks?

 Isn't it every kids dream to sit in the driver's seat of a real fire truck?  I was very impressed with all that the firefighters let the kids do.  They were very patient, helpful and excited to have us there.

 Mehandis and the birthday boy, Daniel, sitting next to the real driver of the fire truck.  When asked if there were any questions, Mehandis raised his hand to say "Our smoke detector needs new batteries".  Which he knew because it started beeping the day before... can't keep any secrets these days I suppose.

 The truck that was housed at this location was a "water" truck, versus the ladder truck that Mehandis had pictured on his shirt, so everyone got a turn hosing down the street. 

The following week the boys got the opportunity to try out some different roles for a Halloween party.

 Shiver me timbers, quite a fierce pirate Mehandis was. 

Thank goodness he was excited to be something other than a couple of earlier suggested side characters from Thomas the Tank or Cars movies!

Abera went through two cow costumes that day... good thing we have multiple bovine apparel at our house.

 While Abera was able to join in on the festivities at the costume party... he never did make it to the real deal on Halloween.  He ended up falling asleep in the above exer-saucer while the rest of the house were getting their costumes together.  The baby calf then slept in his crib from 5:30 until 1 in the morning when he realized he needed his "feed".

Michael and I have not carved pumpkins in years.  Mehandis enjoyed his handy-work with sticker decorating while Michael and I took suggestions as to what needed to be carved.  Mine is the biggest jack-o-lantern... attempted a spider.  Think I could use more practice!

 Halloween night was a very fun time.  We stayed warm by the fire pit, which Michael moved to the front yard.  Mehandis enjoyed collecting candy with a couple of his different friends - a dinosaur, cow, Tigger and a fairy.

I re-purposed a bridesmaid dress from my friend Kerbie's wedding.  Mehandis had fun calling me "Queen of Hearts" and sometimes "Queen of Parts" throughout the night.  Hmm... what to be next year. 

Everyone enjoyed a lazy morning the next day, while getting a chance to visit and share a apples and banana pancake breakfast with Erin and baby Elisa.  Well, most everyone was choosing the lazy route... Mehandis was quite wound up (perhaps we can point blame at the candy consumption that began before 9AM?).

After saying goodbye to our guests we traveled to Lapham Peak for another family hike.

 As usual Abera was a good "rider" for the walk.

And we figured out the trick for making the hike more fun for Mehandis... rolling down (and up) the trails.

Sometimes I complain that 2 of my 3 boys are a bit too busy (movement or event-wise)... but I love all of the activities that I get to enjoy because of it!

 

Wed, Sept 1st, 2010 - Down Day in Ethiopia

Michele and I woke up to Abera making noises in his crib around 6AM, so we eagerly brought him into bed with us.  We took some pictures of the three of us in bed, similar to the ones we did with Mehandis the first morning that he spent with us.  After some fun pictures, we fed him, and got ourselves ready for the day. 

We went downstairs to eat breakfast, however the dinner the night before (the hamburger and fries) did not agree with me, so I was quite bloated and did not eat much.  I did let out some really good burps all morning long though, but they added little relief. 

After breakfast all of us piled back into the van and drove over to the care center to meet with the nannies and social workers.  Our agency wanted us to spend some time with them to ask questions and learn more how they were cared for over the past couple of months.   So we were brought back to the big room where we had the farewell ceremony the day earlier and met with one of Abera's main nannies and a social worker, who worked as translator.  The nanny told us how she liked how Abera looked into her eyes, she said they went right to her heart.  She said he was her favorite in the room (how could he not be but we did not ask others in our group with the same nanny to see if she said the same thing).  She told us he is easy going, does not cry much and is a good boy who is growing really well.  We then got a nice picture with the nanny with our family.

We stayed at the guest house most of the morning, playing with our kids while waiting for all of the families to meet with the nannies and social workers.  We were told we were going to be meeting with the doctor but this never happened.  We figured Abera was doing well, so this was not a big deal.

Around noon we got back into the van and headed to the guest house for lunch.  Again I did not eat because I was still bloated (I got others worried thinking I had other stomach issues and soon they might be getting it too).   After lunch Michele helped organize a shopping trip to the Hilton in the afternoon, convincing the house leader that they needed to go "check their flight status" and the van driver should take them to the Hilton to do.  So about half of the group left while I stayed back with Abera.

I tried to get him to nap in our room but he would not relax enough to fall asleep.  It was a really nice sunny day, so I brought a blanket, Abera, and my Obama book outside to read and let Abera play.  Well I laid him down in the sun and in a minute he was fast asleep.  This gave me a great hour to sit outside, read and relax, something I rarely ever take the time to do.  It was a great afternoon.  While reading, one of the house workers noticed Abera's blanket and thought he needed something more comfortable, so they brought me a much bigger and softer blanket for him.  So I switched him and he snuggled in and continued to sleep.  It was sweet of the house workers to do this (but in my defense I think the blanket that he was on was sufficient :) ).

The ladies got back from shopping around 4PM and we basically relaxed for the rest of the afternoon, doing nothing exciting.  We talked outside with our other housemates, played in the dining area with our kids and relaxed in our room.  Around 6PM we went downstairs for dinner and I had a great conversation with Mike and Cindy's parents.  Mike & Cindy live in Dubai and had adopted a child a couple of years earlier.  Cindy's parents are world travelers, so it was not a big deal for them to travel to Ethiopia.  They live in Washington, near Seattle, and they told me about some of their adventures (including sleeping in the desert with an armed bodyguard).  They were an interesting pair and provided interesting conversation.

We put Abera down to bed around 7:30 and we read in bed until around 9 when we got up to go downstairs to eat some cookies and get something to drink.  We had a nice quiet conversation in the dining hall, then we went back to our room and were asleep by 10:30.

Bountiful Fall Fun!

We traveled to our friends' home this past Saturday, in Kohler, to visit their local pumpkin farm.  The Loest's treated us to some delicious breakfast treats and savory samplings as we waited for all to gather at their home.  While we waited the two babies, Abera and Emily, got to get to know one another :)

Abera sure seemed happy with the introduction of his new girl pal!

He also needed a bit more support sitting up than her, given Emily being a month older at 7 months and he at 6 months... along with his catching up on overall trunk strength.

Emily actually reached in and went for a baby kiss - or slobber as the case may have it.

Abera did not offer a reciprocal smooch though.  Sorry Emily!

Then he took a dive for older sister Ella... we will keep working on those sitting skills.  Does this count as achieving rolling over though?

The farm was family run and just down the road from the Loest's.  It had a hay ride, petting zoo (but we were cautioned that to keep away from the biting pig!), pumpkin patch, corn maze and pony rides.  Mehandis was excited to get a chance to take his first pony ride.

The pony was named Bronco... but fortunately did not buck.  Mehandis was pretty thrilled with the ride.

Handi also fed the goats.  And the goats were pretty close to feeding on his hand when they chomped down on the ice cream cone.  Guess they were still hungry.

I love little Lukas as the pumpkin above!  Ella and Mehandis took the scarecrow roles.

The four of us loaded up on the hayride with the rest of the gang.

Sugar and Spice were pretty impressive horses... they followed the drivers directions to a tee (we noted at the time that the horses listened better than some of our 3 year-olds!).

It was fun having my parents join us for the weekend and ride north.  Don't think they bought a pumpkin but pretty sure they got plenty of photos of our little pumpkins and the patch :)

Bringing Home Abera by Michael: Tuesday - Embassy and Farewell Ceremony

Tuesday, August 30th

Michele and I woke up around 6AM to the sound of a dog barking outside.  It is something that you hear occasionally at night in Ethiopia and a couple of dogs lived somewhere close to our building.  We got up and enjoyed a tasty pancake breakfast.  Today is a big day, it is the one official act that we need to do while in Ethiopia; go the the US embassy, answer questions about the adoption, get approval and receive the paperwork to bring home Abera. 



Doing our best to look presentable for the Embassy




Michele and our friend Danielle prettied up pre-Embassy



The adoptive parents, all dressed up for our embassy appointment, piled into the van around 8:30.  We stopped at the guest house to pick up the kids and then drove on to the embassy.  This was the first time we were able to drive through the heart of the city in the middle of the day.  It seems 90% of the cars on the roads are taxi vans that are full of people.  I have no idea how their taxi system works but with how many people are in them, there certainly is a rhyme and reason.  Many of them seem to have two people working the taxi, a driver and a person standing up on the side of the van trying to get new riders.  The traffic was slow as the roads were very full.  There are numerous roundabouts at the major intersections, which makes for interesting and tight driving.  We had a great driver and he handled the traffic well.

As we neared the embassy, we saw a bunch of kids and adults selling flowers.  We soon saw why they were selling flowers, a large university was having a graduation and we saw all of the graduates standing outside in their cap and gowns.  It was a nice site to see with all of their smiling faces.

Right near the embassy there is a city park for kids that is about two city blocks long.  I remember seeing this park last time and what struck us then and again now is that no one is at this park.  This is by far the nicest park I have seen in the country and it is strange to see it so empty.  It is surrounded by fencing and there is a charge to enter it, but from what we have heard, it is not expensive.  But it must be expensive enough to keep most people out.  I think it is mainly used guest by foreigners and the upper class.  The grandparents who were staying in the guest house took their grand-daughter there while we were at the embassy and they only saw one other family at the park. 

We arrived at the embassy around 9:30.  The US embassy is a sight to see.  Driving around the city we were able to see a number embassies but none look like the fortress that is the US embassy.  The embassy looks like a bunker.  It provides a good perspective of how we have to protect ourselves in other countries and provides a reminder to what happened to the embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in the recent past.  The group that we traveled with, during their first trip, had someone take a picture of the embassy as they drove past.  A car shot out of the embassy, tracked down the van and jumped into the van.  The embassy employee became more relaxed when he saw 12 American faces looking very scared.  They did take the person who took the picture back to the embassy, erased the pictured and proceeded to question them.  Certainly a memorable experience.   

We parked on the other side of the street, piled out of our van and worked to cross and enter the security area.  There were a number of kids, knowing that Americans show up in this area on a regular basis, were there trying to get some money from us.  Soon we were going through security and walked to a building where we meet with the embassy agent who approves the paperwork.  We sat in a waiting area on the first floor with other people who were at the embassy for immigration and other needs.  We were the only Americans in the waiting area.  We spread out in the waiting room and cared for our kids.  We were taken one by one for our meetings.  It seemed that we had to wait 30 minutes before the first family was called and a new family was called about twenty minutes.  There was a TV with armed forces programming and a play area for the kids.  So the name of the game was to sit, make small talk with the others and keep your kid happy.

We were the third family called and we walked up the stairs with our agency's lawyer, who stood next to us the entire time to make sure the proceeding went to plan.  The embassy lady was good looking, professional Caucasian American who was very kind to us.  We are separated by glass and had to speak though a microphone.  She first had to comment that she got a kick out of Abera's faces.  She pointed out the distinct different expressions that he had with his birth certificate, his social report and his passport picture.  She asked the standard questions and everything went to plan.  Our meeting was about five minutes and went smoothly.  She approved the paperwork and our agency lawyer took the paperwork.



First Mom and Son picture - Same spot as we took Handi's



Now with our official paperwork done, we were relieved and that made the waiting for the rest of the group easier.  We changed Abera's diaper, fed him and relaxed.  Finally, around 12:45, all the families had met with the representative and we left.  It was now raining and our van was on the other side of the street.  Some kids came out with umbrellas to help but I did not have any money on me to accept their help.  Once everyone was back in the van, we made our way back through traffic to the care center.  We dropped off the kids for one last time and drove back to the guest house for lunch.

We enjoyed a nice lunch, got our room ready and left to go back to the care center around 2:30 for the farewell ceremony.  The farewell ceremony is the unofficial transfer of the kids from the agency to the families.  We were brought to the big room in the downstairs for the ceremony.  The agency brought down the older kids (1-3 years old) who lived in the house for the cheering section for the ceremony.   

When the adoptive kids were carried down the stairs, the kid cheering section all started clapping in unison.  The kids were wearing traditional Ethiopian outfits and were carried by nannies who cared for them in the rooms that they have been living.  After all of the kids were downstairs, the lead social worker lead off the ceremony with a nice speech about how this is a sad and happy day for them.  Happy that the kids now have a new loving family and sad that they no longer get to care for these kids.  Then the kids are handed over one by one to their new parents.  There was one toddler in the group who lived with the other older kids who were the cheering section.  When they said her name, the kids went crazy.  It was really sweet how they celebrated for their friend. 

After the exchanges, we were asked to speak up and give any feedback that we wanted to provide.  Patrick spoke up and gave some nice comments about how thankful we were for how they cared for the kids.  After a group prayer, to remember the kids by, they called each family up one by one and put the kids handprints into a book.  We did this with Mehandis but it was put onto a wall.  Unlike Mehandis, Abera did great with this and his handprint was almost perfect (Mehandis had a smudge on the wall).  To close the ceremony, the staff brought out a huge cake and drinks.  During a bit of downtime, the cheering section of kids, broke out into song and dance.  They did a great job and it was really cute with one of the kids leading the song and dance. 

The party ended around 4:30 and we left the care center, this time with kids in tow for good.  Around 5:30, we had guests come to meet with us.  Our friends, Paul and Courtney, met a couple when they traveled to Ethiopia when they adopted their daughter.  This couple, Jerry and Cristy Shannon, also adopted a child.  The Shannon's, now a family of six with the oldest kid around 7, decided to move to Ethiopia and start a non-profit.  They had now been living in Addis Ababa for about seven months.  When Michele had traveled in July, she had spent some time with them when they met her at the hotel that she was staying at.  When they found out we were coming back, they asked if we would bring them some things.  Apparently it is expensive to send American products to Ethiopia.  So their parents sent us a box to bring along with us on our trip.  So we had a Rubbermaid box of stuff that weighed about 49 pounds, one pound less than the maximum for checked bags, that we brought along with us on our trip. 

The Shannon's arrived around 5:45 with their entire family.  They live on the other side of Addis Ababa and do not have a car, taking taxis and walking to get to us.  We brought them up to our room to talk and get to know each other.  They are still working on their Amharic and have been working to get integrated into society.  They do not yet have their plans for their specific non-profit but are getting close to finalizing their plans  We give them tons of credit for following their ambitions.  We had a great visit with them, they have wonderful kids and it was insightful to get perspective of living in Ethiopia from an American's perspective.  They stayed until around 7:30.

After they left, we ate a quick dinner from the kitchen (hamburger and fries) and put Abera down to bed for the first time  When he first put him down, he looked around his crib, crumbled up his forehead and started to cry.  I loved the fact that he took in the situation, realized he was not in a area he was used to, and started to cry.  After a couple of tries of putting him down, he settled in for the night.  We left some lights on and read in bed. 

As usual with the first time you spend the night with your kid, we were sensitive to all of his sounds and we did not know when he would wake up.  Around midnight Abera was making some noises and Michele was sure he was awake, so she jumped up to feed him.  But when we turned the lights on, we found him fast asleep.  Abera ended up sleeping through the first night like a champ, only waking up around 6AM when we woke him up to bring him into bed with us.  That makes us two for two, Mehandis and Abera slept through the first night with us.  It has to be our parenting.