retail therapy

I'm not a big shopper. Every so often I get the urge. If I wait a few moments the urge passes, and then shopping returns to being a chore.

Well, one thing I have been looking forward to since we got our referral is going out and shopping for my daughter. Now, I have to say that I am not one who has always had this longing to go out and buy pink frilly dresses and shiny clicky-clacky shoes. I didn't dream about the day that I could wander out of the boy world of Star Wars pajamas and into that of Strawberry Shortcake underwear. Actually, I really didn't mind not having to go into all that is lavender and pink. But something happens when they call you and tell you that you have a little girl. And when you see picture after picture of her wearing a prized pink coat that she seems to never want to take off, well, that changes everything. Everything changes when you realize that you will soon bring home a little girl and you have nothing in her closet to dress her in.

So it had to be done. I went shopping.
Here's what I got:

8 pairs of pants
7 shirts
5 sweaters
8 fleece shirts
5 dresses
6 pairs of socks
1 set of pajamas
1 pair of overalls
1 sweatshirt (her first OSU sweatshirt!)
1 warm jacket
1 winter coat (I'm sure it is waaay too big.)
1 raincoat (incredibly cute)
1 pair of snow boots

Grand total for all of the above?? (drum roll please. . . )

$64.38 Yep. Sixty-four dollars and thirty-eight cents.

(This total does not include the underwear and additional socks purchased separately.)

Still need to get some shoes, but I don't know her shoe size. Also need hat and gloves, some undershirts, and at least one more set of pj's or nightgown. But hey, I'm making progress. Also still need to do a bit for little brother, but he's got hand-me-downs from big brother so the situation is not as desperate. Shopping for someone you haven't met yet can be really hard, but when it is for your new daughter it can be so much fun.

Somehow, though, I imagine that "fun" is going to change a bit once she's home and wanting to go shopping herself. Yikes!

school daze, school daze . . .

So the Fall Quarter just started last week, and I am teaching my usual ESL composition class. The twenty available spots filled up fairly quickly, and that always gives me a great advantage: Turning students away. Yes, I know that sounds mean, but when you have to correct the essays and tests of 20 non-native speakers, the work gets a bit tedious. I used to be really wimpy and sign everybody in -- I was such a pushover. Now, however, I am really good at firmly saying "no" and not getting suckered by sob stories. ("Please please please! I really need to get into this class because I have to work in the afternoons and I can only get childcare in the mornings and I'll lose all my financial aid and I really really need this class and. . .and. . .and")

As usual, the first day of class was a hectic one, parking was atrocious, and nothing really seemed to go as planned. Then, of course, I had that one student come up to me at the end of class and admit that she wasn't actually signed into my class, and could I please sign her in?? I started with my standard firm response, and she countered with a story about time/childcare/work conflict. I don't really remember what it was. So, I was weak and I gave in. I took her blue registration form and started signing it, and then asked what country she was from.

Ethiopia.

Ha! I just smiled and said, "Well, you should have told me that first!"

Since that day, we have had some nice conversations, and she seems excited to help me learn about Addis Ababa. Today she helped me with the pronunciation and meaning of our daughter's name, and we talked about hotels, food and children in Ethiopia. She also asked me why we had chosen Ethiopia. I told her the whole story.

You know, I've always believed that certain people come into your life at certain times for certain reasons. This is a great time for Ekram to come into mine. Now I just have to try to be unbiased when I grade her papers. :)

wal-mart. bleh.

Ok, I'm going to come out and admit that I'm not a big fan of wal-mart but will occasionally shop there for convenience sake. It's closer than our nearest Target or Meijer, nicer than the Meijer, and better stocked than the Target. Fortunately, they are building a new Meijer closer to us, so we will have an option.

But this post is specifically about the baby doll aisle in our local wal-mart. Having a 3-year-old daughter on the way has me keeping an eye out for baby dolls, so after checking out the legos (yes, more legos) I walked around the toy department a bit. I found a whole aisle of pinky, girly, froo-froo (is that how you spell it?) doll babies and their accessories -- a little girl's dream come true. If she's white. Not so much if she's brown. You see, in this whole aisle of dolls, the only ones of color that I could find were these little miniature Cabbage Patch dolls, and they were toward the back of the shelf behind the miniature white CP dolls. In addition, there were only 4 of these mini dolls of color, and they seemed to be Asian and Hispanic/Latina. So, I stood back and looked again up and down the aisle. No brown babies. I couldn't believe it.

For those without brown children, maybe this isn't such a big deal, and maybe it's one of those things you never have to think about. As a white mother to 3 brown children, it's a huge deal.

My first thought was, well, we are out here in the rural burbs of Columbus. But, if you just walk around that particular wal-mart, you will see MANY people of color -- and not just African Americans. You would think they would do a better job of representing their customers.

But, then again, I did hear that the Walton family has fallen down on the list of the richest American families. Very sad, I know. Hmmmm. . . maybe they should try stocking more brown doll babies. Just a thought.

One of the great things about Ethiopian adoption is that other families travel ahead of you to get their kids, and they take pictures and get to know the other kids that are there. As a result, we have been in touch with a few other families who have already met our two cuties. Not only have they sent us pictures, but we have gained valuable insight into the personalities of our newest children.

For example, we have learned that our daughter is the happiest little girl in the world, and our young son tends to take life in stride. We've also learned that it's a good thing that chocolate is a staple in our house. Boy, is she going to loooove her daddy's job!

Of course, getting all of this information has been wonderful, but it also makes the wait more agonizing. Gee, I thought it was hard to wait for referral! It's nothing compared to waiting to travel! Ugh! Can those darn courts please reopen??? At lease when we get through court we can officially introduce them here on the blog. Until then, we have to talk in code and keep pictures a secret. (I understand and agree with it, but it's still hard.)

We have lots to do -- including things we don't really want to do, like get more shots -- and we somehow have to keep our head in the game and continue to do all the regular, mundane stuff life requires us to do. Like work. And eat. And breathe.

I think I need a nap. . .

a language lesson from J

Driving J home from the eye doctor the other day and he asked if anyone at the orphanage spoke English. I told him that, yes, there were people who spoke English at the House of Hope, the transition home where our two children are living until we can go get them. He was hoping that they were teaching the 3-year-old some English, and I assured him that she was probably learning a few words.

J: Maybe they will teach her to say "ooh-la-la."
Me: Now, why would they teach her that?
J: Oh, you're right. That's French.

My multilingual child.

the whole reason this blog was created. . . .

. . . was to announce our referral when it finally came.

It finally came.

On Monday, September 10, 2007, we received THE call that presented us with the opportunity to become parents to a 3-year-old girl and her 14-month-old baby brother in Ethiopia. With one phone call, we have tripled the number of children we parent. We couldn't be more excited or happier.

Due to Ethiopian law, we are not allowed to post pictures or give identifying information until the children legally become ours in Ethiopian court. Unfortunately, courts are closed for the rainy season until early October. (Yes, Ethiopia has a rainy season.) I imagine that we'll be able to travel either by the end of the year or the beginning of 08. Just my guess; no official word on that.

While I can't post any pics or info, I can tell you how absolutely beautiful they are. Yes, we are biased, but it's the truth! With big, gorgeous brown eyes and smiles that melt your heart, we tend to turn into puddles of emotional goo with each picture we receive. Even J isn't immune. Upon hearing the news of his new siblings, he jumped around yelling, "Yes! Yes! That's exactly what I wanted!" He's even excited to have a sister! He is sooo happy to finally become a big brother.

So, after prepping for China for 5-6 months, sitting in line with China for 14 months, taking about 4 months to get our dossier to Ethiopia, and then waiting a whopping 2.5 weeks for our referral of two beautiful kiddos, I think we made the right move. What do you think??

The spirit moves in mysterious ways. . .

time to embarrass our child

One of the great things about being a parent is that your children provide you with endless hours of entertainment. It makes you wonder what the heck you did to amuse yourself before the wee ones came along. Take this story, for instance. . .

We have finished with dinner, and the hubby and I are still sitting at the table. J has sprinted to the family room -- a room that should probably just be called the Lego room as it usually looks like LegoLand has exploded in there. Anyway, it doesn't take long for our dear son to go running into the bathroom, spitting and sputtering along the way.

Me: "What's wrong?"

My traumatized child: "I found something on the floor that I thought was chocolate, but when I put it in my mouth it was cat poop!" (something brown is smudged on his t-shirt; big tears well up in his eyes.)

Me: "Cat poop! What are you doing picking up things off the floor and sticking them in your mouth?!?"

My still traumatized child: "But I blew on it!" (I think the 5 second rule was waaaayyy expired on that one.)

So, dear hubby takes dear child upstairs to help with the brushing and rinsing, while I did some investigating. Anyone with a cat knows that cat poop is fairly stinky and generally not something you would confuse with chocolate. After doing a quick sweep around the LegoLand family room and finding nothing resembling or smelling like kitty crap, I went into the bathroom. Seeing watery streaks of brown on the sink, I knew that this was not cat poop. Checked the wastebasket and found the offending brown blob, took it out and gave it a whiff. It was a chocolate candy. Probably an old chocolate candy, but definitely chocolate candy.

I took it upstairs to reassure J that it was not kitty poop that he had tasted. There was much relief and laughter by all.

Later, before we all headed up for bed, I took a few minutes to clean out the litter box. "Hey," I called out, " there's a whole bunch of chocolate in kitty's box!"

Eeeeewwwwww!!!!

melissa fay greene: you rock!

For anyone with any mild interest, nagging curiosity, or hopeful dreams about Ethiopian adoption, please go here. Melissa Fay Greene has a wonderful book called There Is No Me Without You, which is now in paperback so go buy it, and she now also has a blog. If you do nothing else but go to the blog and play the 4 minute slideshow on the front page, you will make me your biggest fan and make yourself more informed.

Ok. That's all I'm going to say. Have loads more I want to say, but I would rather have you hightail it over to her site. So go. Now.

presenting miss abigail

Our newest niece has finally arrived. I guess I shouldn't say "finally" because she came a little earlier than expected but still full term. Little Miss Abigail decided that she wanted to enter this world on Sept. 2, which just happened to be the birthday of her late grandmother. Little Miss Abigail also decided she did not want to turn upside down, so she tried to make her grand entrance ass first. As most know, that is not a good idea. So, when her mama (M's sister and my seester-in-law) started having contractions, and the doctor decided that, yes, the baby was attempting to be birthed, a c-section was in order. And then, Voila!, here she is! All 6 pounds of her! Welcome to the World, Baby Girl! (title of a Fanny Flagg book.)

Ok, so for all of you out there paying attention, let's look at some numbers.

On M's side of the family, there are now 6 grandchildren. 2 boys, 4 girls. (btw, J is not pleased with the gender imbalance!)

On C's side of the family, there are 13 grandchildren, and 6 great-grandchildren. So far I can still name them all, but I can't tell you their birthdays.

In addition to Miss Abigail's birth, I would also like to congratulate my student, Abdou, on the birth of his first child. Abdou had to wait patiently to hear word from his wife in Dakar, Senegal about the arrival of their son, Abdoulaye, named after Abdou's late father.

Yea for babies!!