God Bless America

Friday, my family got to be part of something very special. An event I hope everyone gets the opportunity to witness. An event filled with patriotism, excitement, anticipation, and love. We were at Camp Pendleton, Oceanside, CA when the 4th LAR returned home from fighting in Afghanistan.

Words can not describe the emotions that filled the day. All I know is that I feel very blessed to have witness the reunion of families. There were husbands kissing wives, Mom's kissing sons father's meeting their newborns and our own Uncle Matt meeting his new nephews. I felt so honored to be an American and so thankful for the dedication of our military men and women.

Like I said words don't describe it.

Man's Best Friend

Talk about loyalty...
This is big. Our boy is no longer scared of the dogs. He called Dutch in to keep him company.

Humor

Sintayehu's English is really coming along. He is starting to understand some dual meaning jokes. We knew he liked comedies. He laughs really hard at the humor in many of the Disney movies but they were usually slapstick kind of humor. But recently, he is laughing at the word jokes too. And then yesterday he told us a few jokes and laughed at some sarcasm. He is learning so fast. It is amazing. Nick and I were cracking up when he realized some of the jokes.

We are having so much fun. We absolutely love being their parents. Don't get me wrong, we have some very hard moments and days; but those just make the fun days that much better. I didn't know how fun this parenting thing would be.

We went to the water park this past weekend. These boys absolutely LOVE the water. Sintayehu loved the wave pool. He spent so much time in the pool that he only went on the other slides one time. He put his goggles on and jumped through the waves. At one point he jumped up yelling, "This is soo Coool" Dawit loved the slides. The faster the better. He is going to be our little dare devil. He was sad he couldn't do the drop out slide because he was to small. He has about 8 inches to go so it will be a long while before he's able to do that one. He liked the pitch black slide, especially once it was over and he realized there would be an end to the darkness. But once the lines got long he was content riding the kiddie slides. The lines were only 3-5 min for those. And by the end of the day, I was content just watching him. Nick was freezing in the wave pool with Sintayehu.

This is what the little man wanted to wear to the water park.

I can't wait for summer to be here. I absolutely hate leaving them. They are with fantastic Grandparents and look forward to seeing them; but it is so hard to not be with them. I am told it gets easier. I hope so. I still cry on the way to work. I think about the memories or events that I am going to miss. I hate it. But I guess that's part of life.

Sintayehu got some new Ethiopian books in the mail yesterday. He was so excited to read them and Dawit liked the packaging...

Nick introduced the boys to racquetball last Friday. They had a blast. Only one minor injury.

Me and my little men. There is a nice trail that outskirts our town. The boys enjoyed the hike.

(notice the helmet, there was no bikes :))

2 months Home

Yesterday was two months since we arrived in LA. It has gone by so quickly. We are learning in leaps and bounds. I thought teaching had prepared me for motherhood... boy was I wrong. Here is a slide show of our two months home. Enjoy!!!

Love of my life

I am a little late in posting this but Friday I fell in love with my husband a little more. I work on Fridays and nick doesn't; he works 4 tens. After a long day at work I came home to a clean house, a fridge filled from a recent trip to Costco, dinner in the crock pot and two happy clean children. Who by the way were playing together nicely. We have endured a lot of crap together; it is so nice to see life is at a nomal speed. I swear I have the best husband in the world.

Swimming

I officially have a self sufficient swimmer. Sintayehu can swim across the deep end. He still is a little nervous; but tomorrow they are spending the day at Grandma's pool. I am sure I will have a total swimmer by the end of the week. We are going to Knott's Soak City this weekend so there is incentive for him to be able to swim without any floaties.

Joy

I am not sure I understood the meaning before...

I snuck in on them reading to each other this morning.
and then I made them smile for the camera.
Hangin' at the park...
Fun new toy from Great Aunt Sue. They loved it...
and a good game of Hide N Seek.

Today was my first Mother's Day. There was a mix of emotions that went with today. While obvious joy and praise is given to God for our children; there is a subtle mourning for Ayme. I am a mother because my boy's mother is no longer living. The morning went really smooth. Got up, the boys brought me coffee and their gifts and we got ready for church. I was asked to speak about God's victory throughout our adoption and our story to parenthood. The boys went to their classrooms where they talked about moms and everything they are thankful for.

After church there was a noticable mood change in our eldest. I had a feeling he was thinking about Ayme, his momma. We got home and readied a picnic in which he was refusing to participate in. I sat with him. He wouldn't let me hold him or look me in the eye. I asked him of he was sad and he didn't respond. I tried to get him to tell me why but he wasn't using words. So I asked if it was because he missed his mother. Scared to make me sad, he didn't respond. So I told him we would pray to Jesus and ask Jesus to tell her thank you and happy mothers day. I am not an eloquent pray-er. But Gods words flowed through us and it was the closest I had felt to my sons. I know she is in heaven watching her sons grow every day. And she is proud of how smart and brave her sons are. So I am honored to share this Mothers Day with her. She raised her sons to be respectful an to love God with their heart, mind, and soul.

Thank you God. We don't know why there is hurt and pain, but thank you for your comfort. We pray that your patience and love shine through us and our sons continue to grow in you. And God, tell their Mother that we will protect them, and love them, feed them, educate them and tell her thank you for everything she had done for them. We love her always and she will always be a part of our family.

Back to Work

Today I went back to work. There are so many emotions that ran through me today, I am quite exhausted. I left before the boys were awake. I don't know what would have been harder. I watched them sleep for a good 15 minutes before I left. I am fortunate because my mom and dad were here to be with them for the day. My mom will watch them on Thursdays for me. It's awesome and difficult at the same time. Grandma's are supposed to be fun. And our boys hit the grandma lotto. They have three loving fun grandma's. But the dialema is in the transitioning into a life in America.

Last night I laid awake wondering if my returning to work will hindering the bonding and schedule/rules we have worked on for the last eight weeks. It's been difficult setting limits. It's not fun to be the bearer of bad news when it's time to turn off the tv/video games/ computer; but there definitely need to be time limits for kids. I wondered if the boys will feel a stronger connection with my family during this time. I wondered if they would be scared; God forbid. I wondered if they would notice/ care. It sucks. I want them to be with me. I don't want to work I have to work. Insert groan.

I thought about them all day. When I finally saw their faces this afternoon the same joy that hit me at the transition home overwhelmed me all over. I love them so much.

So then I found out about their day. My dad told me that they were very comfortable and didn't seem to worry at all. Is this good? I would be lying if I didn't feel a tinge of pain that they didn't cry while I was gone. But I was happy they weren't scared. So I have questions. Is this helping or hurting attachment? And then the kicker happened. Dawit called Grandma, Mom. He hadn't done this in a while (like 5 weeks). I know it's small, but it was like a punch in the gut. We regressed.

I am so happy they had fun, were comfortable, and were LOVED today, but this is way harder than I thought. It's such a slippery tightrope we walk between bonding and reality of the outside world. I know there are many adoption mama's are out here, what have your experiences been?

Silly Boys

Today we went to an air show put on at the local air force base in Moreno Valley, which was awesome by the way. Our very close friend is in charge of it and his hard work definitely shows. Anyways, two funny things occurred due going to the air show.

On the way there were people demonstrating against the recent Arizona immigration laws. Sintayehu noticed that they were all "Mexicans." His words. He asked what was going on and we explained that they did not like a law that was passed recently and this is a peaceful way to get attention. Well, several hours later at home on his bike he shouted, "Free Moreno Valley!! Go Mexico!!" We about lost it.

Our other son, was observing the families around us and decided that he would call us "Mom and Dad" from now on instead of Mommy and Daddy.

Silly Kids! You never know what they are going to say next.

Pictures at the air show

My silly boy wanted to go on vacation so badly he packed himself in the suitcase