Hike up your Skirt!

Have any of you Atlantans ever picked up the free skirt! magazine? I love browsing through it and picked up the March copy yesterday at my local Whole Foods. This is the cover art, by Penelope Dullaghan. The mag is fresh, edgy (read: sometimes offensive, which I enjoy, I think it is good to be reminded that not everyone agrees with me) and it is all about women. There are so many remarkable women in our area who are doing amazing things with their time, talent and money, and I just like learning about them.

For example: Here is a fabulous web site that sells affordable originals by budding artists: 20x200

And there was an article called "Gently Used" written by a SAHM who previously had quite the writing career. She has come to love her new position, finding in it more purpose than anything she had done prior, but missing certain aspects of her old life before kids. Women deal with challenges such as this that most men never face... I think it is because we are the stronger, wiser and more discerning of the species - we generally have an "I can do it all" attitude where most men are singly focused :). I consider it an honor to now be home with Kai, but also know that God is brewing up something in me that is bigger than I ever thought possible.. I am woman, hear me roar.

A good groove

People have been asking how it is going & now that we have been home almost a month (!) I must say, things could not be better. I am loving parenting with Ben, just being a mom and Kai is such a dream baby that I feel like I have to pinch myself and wake up to the real mommyhood soon. We continue to deal with some sleep anxiety, and the FOMS syndrome is still hanging around, but last night we had a major breakthrough!
I decided that even though we are on a schedule, eat every 4 hours and going through an eat, play, sleep cycle, I still felt like I was at his mercy at night.. he has been waking me up twice a night and for those who know me, I like my sleep. I fully understood and accepted when we signed up for this that there would be less sleep and that it would often be disturbed, but according to my mommy friends and "the books", by almost 7 months old he should be sleeping longer than a 5 hour stint without eating! and Yes, before you ask, the night bottle is with cereal and we have recently started solids 2x's a day now, which I think was part of the problem - I just wasn't filling him up enough during the day, poor guy.. So, anyway, to make myself feel a little more in control I decided that we would wake him to feed him before we go to bed and then hope that he would last until Ben rises at 5:15am to wake and feed him again - On our time, not his! and it worked great - last night at least :). I feel so much more in control already!! and his naps are getting longer, he is going down easier, I can tell when he is hungry, tired or just cranky and needs to laugh. He is responding so well to our voices, reaching for us and looking for us in a crowded room.. He and Norman are good buddies, no fear or apprehension from Kai and respect and curiosity from Norm. Norm does try to sneak in a cuddle now and then, which I am not usually ok with b/c Norm curls up half on top of Kai instead of next to him, but there you go..

We are all in Love.

Into the Wild

We just finished watching this movie and along the way, the munchkin decided that not only was he not tired, but he was going to make sure we knew it.. many times over.. So, here we are, 11:52pm.. and hey, it's time for another bottle - lets hope this time it helps him sleep.

The movie was an excellent evening spent. Just a few minutes in and it all came flooding back to me from the book that I originally read shortly after college, only a few years after the events actually occurred. I definitely recommend both, the book first of course.. :)

Our son is screaming happy screams, while hubby is exhausted.. & why is he wide awake at now 12:08am?? only Gods knows!

Happy Easter,
va

One of the many from the weekend

I have THE best in-laws ever

Let's have an I do(person #1 - me), No, I do(person #2 - you), No wait I do(person #3) contest!

My in-laws are THE best b/c:
They were so looking forward to meeting Kai that as soon as we gave them the go-ahead and book we're ready for visitors call, they hopped on pretty much the first Spirit Air deal they could find... and boy were they excited. I got random phone calls from old friends who have run into Mom-in-law over the last few weeks just to tell me how excited she was. She's thrilled to be a Grammy for the first time, she is excited about Kai, excited about Ethiopia, excited about all that God has done through the process and just bubbling over. Dad-in-law is pretty psyched too.. don't want to leave him out.. He bought a new camera for the trip up and was shooting pics constantly.. So cute :)
We had a great visit over the last few days and through the running around and random naps, Kai was a super trooper. So at least for now, he is pretty much perfect in their sight.

New Shoes

It is a rare thing these days for me to get new shoes, so I am understandably excited. I think my last new pair were the foxy black boots Mom-in-Law got me 2 Christmases ago.. No, wait, I bought shower shoe flip flops from the dollar bin at Target before the trip to Et, does that count? I am even more excited b/c these are my first ever scull purchase, they are really comfy, which has skyrocketed in importance lately and hubby likes them (read: he has great taste). The best part is that even though I am way too old for them.. I don't care..b/c they look great with jeans & a T-shirt.

We're SO spoiled!!

Ben returned to work today and his coworkers gave us a huge shower! There were so many people there and so many wonderful presents ~ Kai is definitely set for a while now & he was such a trooper! This was his first interaction with that many people who all wanted to love on him. He had many hugs and kisses and was great being passed around from lap to lap, as long as he could keep an eye on mom & dad. It is such a wonderful feeling to have him looking for us, recognizing our voices and reaching out for us.. awww... my little sonshine :)

Thank you Plaid!

First Dr. Visit

All I can say is: WOW!

I have had so many !WOW! moments in the last few weeks, here are just a few highlights:

~To all who have called, sent texts, left comments, sent cards/gifts/hand-me-downs, stopped by, prayed and just ewed and ahhed, we are so very grateful. Family, friends & neighbors, you have all blown us away with the generosity and love thrown our way recently. THANK YOU!!!

~Kai - he is just amazing.. We are all still adjusting to a schedule, each other and to less sleep :) but this little boy is a champ. He is sleeping better each night (almost) and has laughed and cooed his way into the depths of our hearts. He responds to our voices, is reaching out for us and seems to be attaching really well. He had his first Dr. visit the other day and had to give up 5 vials of blood.. that was rough for all 4 of us (Wesley the awesome Hematologist included) but we got through it :). The only thing that came back in the tests is that he has F.O.M.S. - Fear of Missing Something.. He always has to know what is going on, doesn't nap more than 30 minutes and is happiest just watching everyone buzzing around him. He also definitely has a special connection to Ben and that leads to my next !wow!...

~Ben is THE biggest stud of a husband and father. We all knew he would be a great dad, but so far, he is the shining star in this new family. He is a natural, and Kai knows it. Ben is the one who can soothe him, get him to sleep out of a wailing fit and make him laugh from nothing. I keep saying in jest to Ben that he needs to be the stay-at-home parent.. :)

~The trip.. I don't know that I will ever really post much of a summary about it beyond this, to be honest. As many have told me from reading the posts, it is easy to tell that it was one of the most emotional weeks of our lives. We walked away with a sense of honor and blessing of being given the opportunity to spend some time in Ethiopia, learning about the people, history and culture.. To to have the weight, responsibility and humility of being able to bring home a child as our own, to have 7 other fabulous families to share the experience with, to know fully that Ethiopia is so much more than what you saw on TV in the 80's.. There is a deep pride in the people of their heritage & history, coupled intimately with the desperation of wanting to make changes, experience economic growth and to be able to trust their government.. Education is important to them, but the opportunity in country is limited..so, many leave.. How can we help those who are educated to be able to stay? That is where I am stuck.. the problem is so much larger than "poverty" or HIV or lack of water and schools.. those are only part of it.. As I posted last week.. I am so grateful that I was born in the "land of opportunity".. even if just for the fact of opportunity...

Love to all!
gin

We're home!

Hey everyone!
It's good to be back.
Thank you all so much for your wonderful comments to the blog during our adventure!
Although we could not read them while in Ethiopia(blogger sites are off limits in Ethiopia), it was really nice to come home and see all the support and prayers that we were receiving while there...we could feel it!
I'm sure Virginia will get on here in the coming days and post a more comprehensive review of the trip, there's just so much to say and so many emotions involved, and we're in no shape right now to get into it all.

For now, enjoy these photos of our beautiful baby boy Malakai Musse Bubar  (middle name pronouced Moo-Say)

Ben