A best friend is someone who loves you all the time, through the good and the bad. They are easy to talk to. They love you when you make mistakes, they help you up when you fall, and they are ALWAYS there for you. If you can find a person (s) to call a best friend, I'd say you are pretty lucky.
My Grammy and Grampa are two of my best friends. They have been the ultimate support and role models for me for the past eleven years. They also gave me two of the most precious gifts they could: the ability to play the violin, and unconditional love.
I didn't get my grandparents in the usual way. My grandparents adopted me into their lives. I met them when I was sixteen, and from that day on, we were family. When I moved away at age twenty, we set up a weekly phone date. We have kept that date for the past seven years. I visit once a year around Christmas. When I go, it's like I am royalty. They decorate and cook and then make me sit and eat a ton of delicious food. We hang out and then they shower me with gifts. We play music and dance. They have my pictures all over the walls and they sing my praises (they give me way more credit than is due). And when I go home, they mail me letters and cards and Starbucks giftcards (they truly know the way to my heart.... ;))
My Grammy and Grampa have always been there for me, no matter what I am going through. They have never judged me or criticized me. They never made me feel stupid or tried to guilt me into making the right decisions. They just gave me unconditional love. And after my mistakes, when life left me battered and bruised, they were right there to take care of me. I can tell them anything, good or bad, and I know that they will love me through it. They never tell me NOT to do something. (I am a stubborn person. I don't like to be told what to do. If you tell me not to do something, or that I "can't" do something, you can be sure I will do it.) They just love me and pray for me and stand beside me.
Six years ago, when I was dating Abe, I brought Abe on a nine hour drive to meet them for their approval. Abe passd with flying colors of course, and my Grammy still talks about it to this day. "I felt so honored that you wanted our opinion! I remember when you first brought him over here, and I thought, he is tall, tall, TALL!!!! And I knew he was a good boy right away! I mean, the way he treated you was just like how Grampa treats me. And you always said you wanted a man like Grampa. And we've been praying for that for you since you were sixteen! And he was so polite and nice, and I knew he was going to be a good one!!!!"
When Abe and I announced that we were adopting, and most of the world thought we were crazy and laughed in our faces, my grandparents rejoiced. They never told us we were too young, didn't have enough money, hadn't been married long enough, had too much debt, should finish school first, should have biological children first, shouldn't get two kids, should buy a house first, shouldn't adopt because "those" children have problems/emotional issues/aids, etc. No. They were HAPPY for us and supportive and they gave us courage. I don't know if they were ever worried when we told them we were adopting, but they never tried to talk us out of it, and they were truly excited and happy for us.
At one point during a weekly call several years ago, my Grampa asked how our adoption finaces were, and I told him we were struggling to come up with the first big payment. Without my knowledge, my grandparents and their church raised money for the adoption. And they paid off our ENTIRE HOMESTUDY. People, we are talking about over $3,000. From a church who basically didn't know us, but who loved us because they love my grandparents. It was SUCH a huge encouragement. And this church continued to pray over us and our adoption with my grandparents for THREE YEARS.
My grandparents used to ask every week how the adoption was going. For the first year. The second year, they barely asked. I brought it up once, at the beginning of the third year, and my Grampa said, "I'm always afraid to ask you. I'm afriad if I don't ask, you will think I don't care, but I know if I do ask, you will cry if you haven't heard anything, and I don't want you to cry." (When we finally got our referral, then our court date, and then our embassy date, we had a screaming party on the phone. :))
I recently took the kids to visit them. We pulled up to find that the house was still fully deocrated (inside and out) for Christmas, just for the kids. It was beautiful. My grandparents were thrilled to see us and we spent five hours playing and talking.....and eating, of course. (Zahria STILL asks me everyday, "Mommy, choc-co-lot?? Puuh-LEASE????" referring to a chocolate peanut-butter pie that they made us, and Levi will say, "Grampa and Grammy are FUN!!!" They gave the kids presents and they let them play with everything in the house. The fish, turtles, the dog. The bric-a-brac. (I didn't even know that word was in my vocabulary until it typed itself....) All the talking/walking/dancing Christmas toys. A keyboard, a snare drum, a guitar. (It was definitely a "joyful" noise..and a LOUD one.) My kids LOVED their new Grammy and Grampa. Like L-O-V-E-D. And vice versa. On our weekly phone date afterwards, my Grampa confided, "We missed them as soon as you guys walked out the door.......we really love those kids of yours! They're terrific!" and my Grammy said, "I want to steal them from you, but then you would be sad, and you worked SO hard to bring them home...." Thank you for not stealing them, Grammy. :)
So my point of this post is this: unconditional love is encouraging. Uplifiting. Can keep a person out of dangerous water. Can help miracles take place. Unconditional love is a balm to a hurting person and a pillar to a confident one. So please go out today, and BE unconditional love.
Welcome to Ruperville. This is the story of two kids who got married and then adopted an ever-growing number of teenagers from Africa. This journey has been wild, and we've learned a lot.... Love always wins. Jesus is bigger. And faith + God = MIRACLES.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Blessed
Yesterday I was twisting Z's hair (you know, the longggggggggg Rapuzel hair that takes me ten hours or so) and watching Levi with a pair of headphones on his head "listening" to (feeling) music and all I could think was, "I can't believe they are HERE." After three years and countless tears and hysteria, my beautiful children are HERE, sitting in front of me, safe and happy, eyes shining, telling me they love me. And I am blessed. Byond blessed.
And it is terrifying.
I am blessed with an incredible husband who is my best friend. We have a fairy tale relationship. We always have. And I love him more than anything else on earth. We have jobs that we love and that pay our bills. We have two decent cars. We have been blessed with good health. We have supportive families. We have freaking incedible friends (too many to count). We have a beautiful house. And two gorgeous, amazing kids. And it scares me. I don't deserve to be so blessed. I don't deserve this perfect life. I don't deserve any of the things that I have and I am scared that since I am not worthy, it will be taken away from me. It freaks me out. True story.
And that's where grace comes in. I don't deserve anything. Much less the prcieless gifts I have in my life. And as I was processing my fears (of being blessed with too much), something hit me. I LOVE to bless my kids. I love to buy them stuff and give them stuff. It's FUN. I love to see their faces and the light in their eyes, and their excitement. I love to watch them enjoy what I give them. And I bet it is the same way for God. He loves to bless his children. So I don't need to be afraid. Can bad things happen and gifts disappear? Yes. This is life, and nothing except Jesus is guaranteed. But I am a child of God and He loves me, and with God (my loving Father) on my side, whom shall I fear?
And it is terrifying.
I am blessed with an incredible husband who is my best friend. We have a fairy tale relationship. We always have. And I love him more than anything else on earth. We have jobs that we love and that pay our bills. We have two decent cars. We have been blessed with good health. We have supportive families. We have freaking incedible friends (too many to count). We have a beautiful house. And two gorgeous, amazing kids. And it scares me. I don't deserve to be so blessed. I don't deserve this perfect life. I don't deserve any of the things that I have and I am scared that since I am not worthy, it will be taken away from me. It freaks me out. True story.
And that's where grace comes in. I don't deserve anything. Much less the prcieless gifts I have in my life. And as I was processing my fears (of being blessed with too much), something hit me. I LOVE to bless my kids. I love to buy them stuff and give them stuff. It's FUN. I love to see their faces and the light in their eyes, and their excitement. I love to watch them enjoy what I give them. And I bet it is the same way for God. He loves to bless his children. So I don't need to be afraid. Can bad things happen and gifts disappear? Yes. This is life, and nothing except Jesus is guaranteed. But I am a child of God and He loves me, and with God (my loving Father) on my side, whom shall I fear?
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Letters From My Kids
Oh that's right! I lured you into reading this post by titling it "Letters From My Kids." Which it will be. But first I have to rave about them really quick, and then on to the letters. ;) These kids are so freaking amazing and I love them so much!!!!!
Levi: Levi is a care-taker. I guess that isn't really a word in this context, but it describes him perfectly. His priority in life is to take care of the people he loves. Especially Z. He is constantly checking on her and making sure that she has what she needs. If she is sad or upset, Levi may roll his eyes (typical big brother) but ten seconds later he is asking her if she is okay and trying to make her feel better. He will talk to her and then try and play with her until she is happy again. Yesterday when she was moody, he offered to play basketball with her and within ten minutes, he was signing to me, "Mom, Z is smiling now! She's happy." The look on his face was so precious; he was overjoyed that his baby sister was no longer upset.
One of my favorite things about him is how far he is willing to go to make her smile. I mean, he is the perfect big brother. He will give up ANY of his belongings (including his camera or his soccer ball) if it will make her smile. He will play baby dolls with her--and give the baby a kiss. He will play make-believe stuff. He will sit with her while she plays dress up. He actually put ON a dress one day.....which led them both into hysterics. :) He tells her she is beautiful. He reminds her to say thank-you (for everything haha. He is constantly like, "Zahria, tell Mom thank-you." For every little thing. :) Anyone who met him in ET, especially the Parkers, will back me on this next statement: Levi is Mr. Manners. He is the most gracious kid ever to walk this earth.)
Zahria: Z is a helper. No matter what she is doing or where we are, she will be right next to me with WHATEVER I am doing. When I get home from work and Levi is sleeping or working out, she is downstairs waiting for me. Normal, right? Except if she is downstairs, that means she has already made her bed, made MY bed, and thrown whatever clothes she sees in the laundry (she doesn't understand that not ALL clothes that are not put away are not dirty haha). She helps me make breakfast; she does the scrambled eggs ALL on her own. After breakfast, Levi washes dishes and Z sweeps. Except she doesn't just sweep. She takes initiative and straightens all our shoes, dusts, gathers the trash and takes it out. It's ridiculous. This precious baby girl helps me deep clean and do laundry all the time.
Both kids are always concerned that Abe and I don't eat enough and EVERY meal they try to give us their food off their own plates, but Z is especially big on this. She will tug on my sleeve every meal, offer her plate, and go, "Mama?" It breaks my heart. Her biological mom described her as an incredible helper and said that any time there was food, that Z would give it to her mom before eating any herself. This tiny tiny baby is trying to be the mommy and take care of those she loves. It breaks my heart. She tries to take my coat from me and hang it, she brings me blankets and a pillow if I sit down on the couch, and she puts away the groceries with me. She is literally my tiny shadow. Actually no. She's more like a third leg or arm......both in the fact that she almost never lets go of me, and that I can't function without her anymore. :)
Are they perfect? No. (Me neither, go figure. :)) Levi is almost OCD about keeping stuff clean and in a certain order. Like, EVERYTHING. He drives me insane in this area. He daily reorganizes a cupboard or entire room in my house (without checking in first). I can't find anything in my kitchen. Well, not anything that I want. I do find surprises now, since everything is moved. Example: I looked in where the glass cookware is now, and he had put some thawed chicken thighs down there because they were in a glass bowl near the fridge and he didn't like them cluttering the counter. Bye bye chicken dinner. It was a little old at that point. :) He also went upstairs (I myself am a neat freak, but he has me beat by a mile!) and decided my hairbrush and comb should not be on bureau so he stuck it with my nail polish and nail files. Then he reorganized my earrings. I can't find a ton of them. I haven't said anything yet though, because he is SO proud afterwards. And it's really not hurting me. And he thinks he is helping. However, once I put a bowl where it USED to go and then he opened the cupboard and looked at it sadly, and just stood there shaking his head. Later he went to my room, saw a pair of jeans on the floor and did the same thing. I was like, "Get OUT haha," and he started laughing and walked out still shaking his head.
Z has a habit too that drives me slightly insane (mostly because it requires a lot of patience and that's not my strong point) but this issue is a little more personal for her and are possibly adoption/grieving/bad past related, so I won't expand on them here. She's also pretty jealous of me which is both a blessing and a curse. :) She even drew a line down my face and chest yesterday in the air and told Levi that my right hand, side of my face, etc., are hers. :) She told Abe he can't hold my right hand either haha. Her exact words were, "MY Mama!!!!" :-p However, she is a precious DARLING, and the sunshine of our house (and the queen of silliness) and I have no clue how she and Levi turned out as amazing as they are after all they have been through. #angels #trulymiracles
Something I L-O-V-EEEEEEEEEE is that the kids clearly love us as much as we love them. Levi is constantly hugging me throughout the day. He will walk up and just hug me ALL. THE. TIME. And say, "Mom, I love you! I love you SOOOOO much!!!!" He also kisses my hand. I seriously cannot believe that after all this time fighting for him, that he is actually here and grinning while he walks around rearranging my house. This child is SO special....words can't describe it. He is a living, breathing miracle and testament that circumstances do NOT have to shape who you are. He knows how hard we fought for him, and he and I have a special saying. I say, "Levi, my heart is in here," and I tap on his chest over his heart. And then he will say it back to me. Yesterday he made me a bead heart in Ethiopian colors and told me it was so I could have a visual "heart".
Z bear hangs on me and usually I am carrying her around or holding her tiny hand. I love to tell her about the first time I saw her picture but didn't know she was going to be mine and all I could think was, "That little girl is SO beautiful.....whoever gets her is SO lucky!" She loves to snuggle (we also call her Snuggle Bear) and will sit in my lap any time she can. I love hearing her run through the house calling, "Mama! Mama!" Side note: she decided a week ago to call me Mama and that is my name now. No Mom. No Mommy. It's Mama. :) And I love it. :) Her laugh is infectious and almost always present. She is talking in 3 and 4 word sentences and usually she describes or explains something by saying, "Dis (deees) one Mama, dis (deees) one! Mama, JD, (motions to tail), BOOM-BOOM (points to eye)." Me: "Oh no, JD's tail hit you in the eye?" "Yes Mama! Dis one go boom-boom!"
Oh look, we are finally at the part about the letters! Like, a year after I started this post. :) Anyway....both kids write us letters (this started about a week ago) every two days or so. I thought I would post the first one from Z and the most recent one from Levi.
Z's is pretty self explanatory. I cried when I got it.
I am going to interpret Levi's for you, just to make sure you understand what it really means. The left hand column is pretty clear most of the way down. "GOOD NOW" means that he is good now. As in, he feels safe, protected, and loved. So he is "good now". He often tells us stuff from his past and then says, "LEVI GOOD NOW." My poor poor baby. Last time he told us stuff was two days ago and let me tell you I was BAWLING. And of course, Levi tried to comfort ME. Anyway, back to the letter. "YOUR YOUR" means that he and Z are mine. "Good much love so your" means, now that they are mine, they are both good (safe, loved) and they love me so much.
Can I just say I love these kids beyond words.
Levi: Levi is a care-taker. I guess that isn't really a word in this context, but it describes him perfectly. His priority in life is to take care of the people he loves. Especially Z. He is constantly checking on her and making sure that she has what she needs. If she is sad or upset, Levi may roll his eyes (typical big brother) but ten seconds later he is asking her if she is okay and trying to make her feel better. He will talk to her and then try and play with her until she is happy again. Yesterday when she was moody, he offered to play basketball with her and within ten minutes, he was signing to me, "Mom, Z is smiling now! She's happy." The look on his face was so precious; he was overjoyed that his baby sister was no longer upset.
One of my favorite things about him is how far he is willing to go to make her smile. I mean, he is the perfect big brother. He will give up ANY of his belongings (including his camera or his soccer ball) if it will make her smile. He will play baby dolls with her--and give the baby a kiss. He will play make-believe stuff. He will sit with her while she plays dress up. He actually put ON a dress one day.....which led them both into hysterics. :) He tells her she is beautiful. He reminds her to say thank-you (for everything haha. He is constantly like, "Zahria, tell Mom thank-you." For every little thing. :) Anyone who met him in ET, especially the Parkers, will back me on this next statement: Levi is Mr. Manners. He is the most gracious kid ever to walk this earth.)
Zahria: Z is a helper. No matter what she is doing or where we are, she will be right next to me with WHATEVER I am doing. When I get home from work and Levi is sleeping or working out, she is downstairs waiting for me. Normal, right? Except if she is downstairs, that means she has already made her bed, made MY bed, and thrown whatever clothes she sees in the laundry (she doesn't understand that not ALL clothes that are not put away are not dirty haha). She helps me make breakfast; she does the scrambled eggs ALL on her own. After breakfast, Levi washes dishes and Z sweeps. Except she doesn't just sweep. She takes initiative and straightens all our shoes, dusts, gathers the trash and takes it out. It's ridiculous. This precious baby girl helps me deep clean and do laundry all the time.
Both kids are always concerned that Abe and I don't eat enough and EVERY meal they try to give us their food off their own plates, but Z is especially big on this. She will tug on my sleeve every meal, offer her plate, and go, "Mama?" It breaks my heart. Her biological mom described her as an incredible helper and said that any time there was food, that Z would give it to her mom before eating any herself. This tiny tiny baby is trying to be the mommy and take care of those she loves. It breaks my heart. She tries to take my coat from me and hang it, she brings me blankets and a pillow if I sit down on the couch, and she puts away the groceries with me. She is literally my tiny shadow. Actually no. She's more like a third leg or arm......both in the fact that she almost never lets go of me, and that I can't function without her anymore. :)
Are they perfect? No. (Me neither, go figure. :)) Levi is almost OCD about keeping stuff clean and in a certain order. Like, EVERYTHING. He drives me insane in this area. He daily reorganizes a cupboard or entire room in my house (without checking in first). I can't find anything in my kitchen. Well, not anything that I want. I do find surprises now, since everything is moved. Example: I looked in where the glass cookware is now, and he had put some thawed chicken thighs down there because they were in a glass bowl near the fridge and he didn't like them cluttering the counter. Bye bye chicken dinner. It was a little old at that point. :) He also went upstairs (I myself am a neat freak, but he has me beat by a mile!) and decided my hairbrush and comb should not be on bureau so he stuck it with my nail polish and nail files. Then he reorganized my earrings. I can't find a ton of them. I haven't said anything yet though, because he is SO proud afterwards. And it's really not hurting me. And he thinks he is helping. However, once I put a bowl where it USED to go and then he opened the cupboard and looked at it sadly, and just stood there shaking his head. Later he went to my room, saw a pair of jeans on the floor and did the same thing. I was like, "Get OUT haha," and he started laughing and walked out still shaking his head.
Z has a habit too that drives me slightly insane (mostly because it requires a lot of patience and that's not my strong point) but this issue is a little more personal for her and are possibly adoption/grieving/bad past related, so I won't expand on them here. She's also pretty jealous of me which is both a blessing and a curse. :) She even drew a line down my face and chest yesterday in the air and told Levi that my right hand, side of my face, etc., are hers. :) She told Abe he can't hold my right hand either haha. Her exact words were, "MY Mama!!!!" :-p However, she is a precious DARLING, and the sunshine of our house (and the queen of silliness) and I have no clue how she and Levi turned out as amazing as they are after all they have been through. #angels #trulymiracles
Something I L-O-V-EEEEEEEEEE is that the kids clearly love us as much as we love them. Levi is constantly hugging me throughout the day. He will walk up and just hug me ALL. THE. TIME. And say, "Mom, I love you! I love you SOOOOO much!!!!" He also kisses my hand. I seriously cannot believe that after all this time fighting for him, that he is actually here and grinning while he walks around rearranging my house. This child is SO special....words can't describe it. He is a living, breathing miracle and testament that circumstances do NOT have to shape who you are. He knows how hard we fought for him, and he and I have a special saying. I say, "Levi, my heart is in here," and I tap on his chest over his heart. And then he will say it back to me. Yesterday he made me a bead heart in Ethiopian colors and told me it was so I could have a visual "heart".
Z bear hangs on me and usually I am carrying her around or holding her tiny hand. I love to tell her about the first time I saw her picture but didn't know she was going to be mine and all I could think was, "That little girl is SO beautiful.....whoever gets her is SO lucky!" She loves to snuggle (we also call her Snuggle Bear) and will sit in my lap any time she can. I love hearing her run through the house calling, "Mama! Mama!" Side note: she decided a week ago to call me Mama and that is my name now. No Mom. No Mommy. It's Mama. :) And I love it. :) Her laugh is infectious and almost always present. She is talking in 3 and 4 word sentences and usually she describes or explains something by saying, "Dis (deees) one Mama, dis (deees) one! Mama, JD, (motions to tail), BOOM-BOOM (points to eye)." Me: "Oh no, JD's tail hit you in the eye?" "Yes Mama! Dis one go boom-boom!"
Oh look, we are finally at the part about the letters! Like, a year after I started this post. :) Anyway....both kids write us letters (this started about a week ago) every two days or so. I thought I would post the first one from Z and the most recent one from Levi.
Z's is pretty self explanatory. I cried when I got it.
I am going to interpret Levi's for you, just to make sure you understand what it really means. The left hand column is pretty clear most of the way down. "GOOD NOW" means that he is good now. As in, he feels safe, protected, and loved. So he is "good now". He often tells us stuff from his past and then says, "LEVI GOOD NOW." My poor poor baby. Last time he told us stuff was two days ago and let me tell you I was BAWLING. And of course, Levi tried to comfort ME. Anyway, back to the letter. "YOUR YOUR" means that he and Z are mine. "Good much love so your" means, now that they are mine, they are both good (safe, loved) and they love me so much.
Can I just say I love these kids beyond words.
Sunday, November 25, 2012
A Month of Thanksgiving
First, I need to say a HUGE thank you! I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!! You all are so amazing and Abe and I are SOOOOOO grateful for all the support we were shown from the minute we stepped off the plane. It was completely amazing to walk out the airport doors and see so many happy faces there to greet us. We cannot tell you what it meant to us, having you there with signs and balloons and HUGE grins!!!! After 3 years of fighting and 30 hours of travel, we were so grateful to see so many faces who love us. Thank you also to everyone who couldn't be there but was praying for us and thinking of us. We love you guys soooooooooooo much!!!!!!!
Thank you everyone for respecting our wishes and not approaching the kids. They were so overwhelmed and you guys were incredible. Levi talks about the airport all the time. He will be like, "I saw so-and-so, and so-and-so, and so-and-so," and point to your picture and I will say, "Yes, and they love you SO much!", and he will smile and duck his head. :)
Second I need to say another HUGE thank you to some special friends who made our coming home and first week amazing and easy! We were driven home by the lovely Jamie, and we arrived to find our house stuffed with ballons, cards, welcome home signs, and a refrigerator and freezer full of food and meals. We had pot roast, pork roasts, pizzas, lasagnas, frozen meals, and fruit and veggies galore. Even just two days ago, someone dropped off a delicious meal of homemade mac and cheese, salad, bread, and ice cream. HOW DID I GET SO LUCKY?????? This is unbelievable. The support and love you have shown us has blown our minds.
I also need to say thank you for the cards and giftcards. We have literally received SOOOOO many giftcards to Target and Wal*Mart (thank you for clothing our children) as well as to other stores, that we have been able to purchase everything our kids need from your generosity. We are STILL getting cards in the mail!!!!! We even received cards from families I knew when I was little, but who I haven't seen in YEARS. Like, since I was 15 or 16. Over a decade. Seriously, you guys all make me want to cry. I am so blessed.
So how is it being home after two weeks and having the kids full time for a total of three weeks?
Ummm, AMAZING.
Nothing can describe this. Having my two babies HOME is absolutely incredible. It's been three weeks home (and one month together) and I can't imagine life without them. They are an extension of us; part of us. Was the first week totally different than life as we have known it? Yes. Was it a little tough being tied to two kids and having them 24/7? Of course! (We are talking about ME here, Miss Independent and Always On The Run....I've spent more time in my house in one day than I have in the entire time we have lived here.) Did I think, "OMG, what have I done?!?!?!?!?" Several times. Did I wonder why I had thought we could handle a teenager? Once. It's completely normal. Our life has changed. Many mothers experience post-partum depression when they have a baby. It's hard when everything changes and your life goes crazy. I am so thankful that we have had it VERY easy, and that the first week was simply adjusting and trying to figure out a new schedule and routine that works for all of us. Really, about four days in was the hardest, and everything has been downhill from there. By the end of week one, we were grooving. End of week two, loving the groove and ready to bring home two more kids ASAP. Yeah that's right. It's gonna happen. Not right away, but it will. Bring on the babies! :)
Here's our routine so far. It's been working great. I work 4am and get home at 7:30am and then Abe leaves for work. The kids and I make breakfast together and set the table. The kids are AMAZING. Soooooooooo helpful and they always want to do everything with me, which is great, because we have plenty of time, and they need to learn a lot of American basic life skills. :) Z LOVES making eggs in the morning. We cook together and then we eat together. After breakfast, Levi does the dishes (his favorite chore). Zahria sweeps the floors and stairs. I pick up anything around the house, start the laundry or whatever, and then run and do my makeup. We all meet back downstairs and read Bible stories and then do schoolwork. We do school for about three hours or so (the kids are super smart and they love to learn). Then we make lunch, eat it, and clean up together. After, we play with JD in the yard, and then go running, or play basketball, or do P90X (Levi is obsessed with it, and he is GOOD!). In the afternoon we color or play games, and then often Skype with their ET friends. We then make dinner, eat it with Daddy, clean up, and get ready for bed. The kids sleep 12 hours and are used to going to bed when it gets dark, so 7pm-7:30pm is bedtime. By that point, not even gonna lie, we pretty much go to bed too. We are both shot by that point. They kids are AMAZING, and they also take all our energy. Plus I wake up at 3am pretty much on a daily basis for work, so I'm readyf or sleep anyway. Weekends have been a great time of family hangout and fun.
So what have done since we've been home?
-Zoo
-Playground
-Met a few people
-P90X
-Running
-Made paper chains, Thanksgiving turkeys
-Coloring
-Board games and card games
-Grocery Shopping
-Clothes shopping
-First doctor visit
-Small waterfall
-Playdough
-Paintingsticker books
-Homeschooling
-Skypingwith friends
-Made cookies
-Made a movie "David and Goliath" (the kids were hysterically cute and Abe totally put his pride on the line and showed what a great father he was by letting Z put a pink crown on him and also wearing tinfoil armor and allowing us to put en eyeliner beard and moustache on his face. LOVE THIS MAN.)
The kids have been angels. I keep waiting for the honeymoon phase to drop and the war to start but so far, parenting these two has been a piece of cake. They are amazing kids and have been trained and raised so well. They are so respectful and helpful that it is literally not possible. I am so thankful to their mother and the other people who cared for them and taught them how to act and live. I can in no way take credit for their stellar behavior but am forever blessed by it. I couldn't ask for better kids. I LOVE having them around, I love being with them, I love living LIFE with them. Listening to them laugh is the best thing ever (and they do that a LOT). They say the cutest things, do the cutest things, and are all out awesome.
Levi:
Levi is my handsome young man. He has been great; is always trying to learn new signs and asking for the "name" (spelling) of something. He works so hard at his school and is always so willing to help me. He will NOT let me do the dishes. Like, ever. I have to trick him into watching a movie and then do them sometimes, and he yells at me after. He is also always convinced that I should eat half his food. He will NOT be affectionate to me in public (a cultural thing) or around Abe, but in the house when it is just us and Z, he will hold my hand or hug me and he says "I love you, Mom" about a bazillion times a day. We have this thing where he says, "I love you," and I say, "I love you SOOOOOOOOOO much!", and he says, "I love you SOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH! S-O M-U-C-H!!!!" He also is constantly telling me I am beautiful. He especially says this after I have my makeup on........... :-D He's also made up a sign for "I-REALLY-LOVE-YOU-MOM". He is SO expressive and loves to tell me stories or describe stuff. He is going to be KILLER at ASL. So proud of him. He is an amazing kid and I have no idea why I am so blessed to have him in my life.
He is also in an American-only phase. He will not read in Amharic. He will not use Amharic Sign Language. I wanted to videotape him signing in Amharic before he forgets but he is constantly tell me, "AMHARIC NO. ME ENGLISH." He says that about everything. He wants American Sign Language. English reading/writing. American food (he loves pizza especially). He is always pointing to an American flag and saying, "MOM, ME-LOVE." I'm like, "I know sweetie." He is beyond precious.
Zahria:
Zahria is our sunshine. That baby girl is constantly laughing or being silly. She is a RIOT. I wish I could record everything she does. Luckily, she loves the camera and lets me get a lot more pictures and videos of her than Levi does. She is my helper and is always running around by herself and finding ways to help me; she folded laundry when I was with Levi, and she sweeps and dusts and does whatever cleaning her little hands can find. She loves to run the washing machine and dryer; she will follow me around and say, "Mom! Laundry! Mom! MOM!" She is shy in public but at home and with her brother, she is crazy. She is also agressive....we were playing basketball with Grandpa Brian and she was bodyslamming him and Levi for the ball! She actually stole it a few times and at one point she and Levi both jumped for the ball, both missed, and slammed DIRECTLY into each other mid-air. It could have been an NBA move. They narrowly missed hitting Abe's car as they fell, landed on the pavement both laughing, and then Z jumped up and grabbed the ball and took off. Abe and I were DYING. The kid is COMPETITIVE.
These kids are also so much like us that it's scary.
Thank you everyone for respecting our wishes and not approaching the kids. They were so overwhelmed and you guys were incredible. Levi talks about the airport all the time. He will be like, "I saw so-and-so, and so-and-so, and so-and-so," and point to your picture and I will say, "Yes, and they love you SO much!", and he will smile and duck his head. :)
Second I need to say another HUGE thank you to some special friends who made our coming home and first week amazing and easy! We were driven home by the lovely Jamie, and we arrived to find our house stuffed with ballons, cards, welcome home signs, and a refrigerator and freezer full of food and meals. We had pot roast, pork roasts, pizzas, lasagnas, frozen meals, and fruit and veggies galore. Even just two days ago, someone dropped off a delicious meal of homemade mac and cheese, salad, bread, and ice cream. HOW DID I GET SO LUCKY?????? This is unbelievable. The support and love you have shown us has blown our minds.
I also need to say thank you for the cards and giftcards. We have literally received SOOOOO many giftcards to Target and Wal*Mart (thank you for clothing our children) as well as to other stores, that we have been able to purchase everything our kids need from your generosity. We are STILL getting cards in the mail!!!!! We even received cards from families I knew when I was little, but who I haven't seen in YEARS. Like, since I was 15 or 16. Over a decade. Seriously, you guys all make me want to cry. I am so blessed.
So how is it being home after two weeks and having the kids full time for a total of three weeks?
Ummm, AMAZING.
Nothing can describe this. Having my two babies HOME is absolutely incredible. It's been three weeks home (and one month together) and I can't imagine life without them. They are an extension of us; part of us. Was the first week totally different than life as we have known it? Yes. Was it a little tough being tied to two kids and having them 24/7? Of course! (We are talking about ME here, Miss Independent and Always On The Run....I've spent more time in my house in one day than I have in the entire time we have lived here.) Did I think, "OMG, what have I done?!?!?!?!?" Several times. Did I wonder why I had thought we could handle a teenager? Once. It's completely normal. Our life has changed. Many mothers experience post-partum depression when they have a baby. It's hard when everything changes and your life goes crazy. I am so thankful that we have had it VERY easy, and that the first week was simply adjusting and trying to figure out a new schedule and routine that works for all of us. Really, about four days in was the hardest, and everything has been downhill from there. By the end of week one, we were grooving. End of week two, loving the groove and ready to bring home two more kids ASAP. Yeah that's right. It's gonna happen. Not right away, but it will. Bring on the babies! :)
Here's our routine so far. It's been working great. I work 4am and get home at 7:30am and then Abe leaves for work. The kids and I make breakfast together and set the table. The kids are AMAZING. Soooooooooo helpful and they always want to do everything with me, which is great, because we have plenty of time, and they need to learn a lot of American basic life skills. :) Z LOVES making eggs in the morning. We cook together and then we eat together. After breakfast, Levi does the dishes (his favorite chore). Zahria sweeps the floors and stairs. I pick up anything around the house, start the laundry or whatever, and then run and do my makeup. We all meet back downstairs and read Bible stories and then do schoolwork. We do school for about three hours or so (the kids are super smart and they love to learn). Then we make lunch, eat it, and clean up together. After, we play with JD in the yard, and then go running, or play basketball, or do P90X (Levi is obsessed with it, and he is GOOD!). In the afternoon we color or play games, and then often Skype with their ET friends. We then make dinner, eat it with Daddy, clean up, and get ready for bed. The kids sleep 12 hours and are used to going to bed when it gets dark, so 7pm-7:30pm is bedtime. By that point, not even gonna lie, we pretty much go to bed too. We are both shot by that point. They kids are AMAZING, and they also take all our energy. Plus I wake up at 3am pretty much on a daily basis for work, so I'm readyf or sleep anyway. Weekends have been a great time of family hangout and fun.
So what have done since we've been home?
-Zoo
-Playground
-Met a few people
-P90X
-Running
-Made paper chains, Thanksgiving turkeys
-Coloring
-Board games and card games
-Grocery Shopping
-Clothes shopping
-First doctor visit
-Small waterfall
-Playdough
-Paintingsticker books
-Homeschooling
-Skypingwith friends
-Made cookies
-Made a movie "David and Goliath" (the kids were hysterically cute and Abe totally put his pride on the line and showed what a great father he was by letting Z put a pink crown on him and also wearing tinfoil armor and allowing us to put en eyeliner beard and moustache on his face. LOVE THIS MAN.)
The kids have been angels. I keep waiting for the honeymoon phase to drop and the war to start but so far, parenting these two has been a piece of cake. They are amazing kids and have been trained and raised so well. They are so respectful and helpful that it is literally not possible. I am so thankful to their mother and the other people who cared for them and taught them how to act and live. I can in no way take credit for their stellar behavior but am forever blessed by it. I couldn't ask for better kids. I LOVE having them around, I love being with them, I love living LIFE with them. Listening to them laugh is the best thing ever (and they do that a LOT). They say the cutest things, do the cutest things, and are all out awesome.
Levi:
Levi is my handsome young man. He has been great; is always trying to learn new signs and asking for the "name" (spelling) of something. He works so hard at his school and is always so willing to help me. He will NOT let me do the dishes. Like, ever. I have to trick him into watching a movie and then do them sometimes, and he yells at me after. He is also always convinced that I should eat half his food. He will NOT be affectionate to me in public (a cultural thing) or around Abe, but in the house when it is just us and Z, he will hold my hand or hug me and he says "I love you, Mom" about a bazillion times a day. We have this thing where he says, "I love you," and I say, "I love you SOOOOOOOOOO much!", and he says, "I love you SOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH! S-O M-U-C-H!!!!" He also is constantly telling me I am beautiful. He especially says this after I have my makeup on........... :-D He's also made up a sign for "I-REALLY-LOVE-YOU-MOM". He is SO expressive and loves to tell me stories or describe stuff. He is going to be KILLER at ASL. So proud of him. He is an amazing kid and I have no idea why I am so blessed to have him in my life.
He is also in an American-only phase. He will not read in Amharic. He will not use Amharic Sign Language. I wanted to videotape him signing in Amharic before he forgets but he is constantly tell me, "AMHARIC NO. ME ENGLISH." He says that about everything. He wants American Sign Language. English reading/writing. American food (he loves pizza especially). He is always pointing to an American flag and saying, "MOM, ME-LOVE." I'm like, "I know sweetie." He is beyond precious.
Zahria:
Zahria is our sunshine. That baby girl is constantly laughing or being silly. She is a RIOT. I wish I could record everything she does. Luckily, she loves the camera and lets me get a lot more pictures and videos of her than Levi does. She is my helper and is always running around by herself and finding ways to help me; she folded laundry when I was with Levi, and she sweeps and dusts and does whatever cleaning her little hands can find. She loves to run the washing machine and dryer; she will follow me around and say, "Mom! Laundry! Mom! MOM!" She is shy in public but at home and with her brother, she is crazy. She is also agressive....we were playing basketball with Grandpa Brian and she was bodyslamming him and Levi for the ball! She actually stole it a few times and at one point she and Levi both jumped for the ball, both missed, and slammed DIRECTLY into each other mid-air. It could have been an NBA move. They narrowly missed hitting Abe's car as they fell, landed on the pavement both laughing, and then Z jumped up and grabbed the ball and took off. Abe and I were DYING. The kid is COMPETITIVE.
These kids are also so much like us that it's scary.
Z can't do anything (play, school, whatever) unless all the cleaning is done. She can't focus. She's gotta wash all the dishes and fold laundry with me before a movie. She's crazy competitive. She has to get everything 100% perfect. Period. Angry Birds score of 1 or 2 stars? No way. She will stay on a level till she passes with 3 stars. Always. Produce a sign wrong or say a word wrong? She will go, "A-gan (again), a-gan!" and do it over and over until it is perfect. She loves getting her hair and nails done. She talks in her sleep. She cries like me (no sound, and just a few tears.) She's like Abe in that she LOVES taking her time with things and playing games that require patience and thinking. She's like Abe in that she is brilliant in math and she loves to learn in general. She loves music. Also like her daddy, she will give me the clothes off her back and food off her plate, literally.
Levi is so much like Abe. Chill, sweet, beyond helpful, totally selfless. Always putting others first. (He also wants hair like Abe's; he talks about this EVERY. DAY.) Good at basketball (he's also awesome at soccer!). Takes care of his family: if Z is sad or needs help he takes care of her or helps her (or anyone who needs it). He (generally) dislikes having his picture/video taken. He sleeps like the dead (literally can NOT be woken. Trust me, Abe and I have tried!) He's like me in that he likes quick decisions and action, minimal details. Slow, thoughtful processing and strategy bore him (us) to tears. He loves to read (although his version is looking at pictures and making up the stories since he can't read English). He has two chapsticks on him 24/7. Yes, that's right, he sleeps with them. (He's a child after my own heart!) He loves avacados and mangoes. He's a clean freak. He loves music.
I wish I could record everything that has happened the past few weeks. The kids say and do so many funy and sweet things. And they have had so many firsts these past few weeks! First hot chocolate, first ice cream, first time living with electricity and running water, first time picking out their outfit from their OWN clothes, first Thanksgiving, first time making cookies, first time trying to ride a bike.
What's the hardest part of all this? It's actually that both kids need exposure to language, only they are both trying to learn TWO languages (ASL and English) andddddddddddddd I can't do both at once. So everything takes twice as long. For example: I will read a Bible story in English while both kids look at the pictures and then Z will hold the Bible and turn the pages and I will sign the stories for them both. Z signs almost as much as Levi which is amazing and awesome, but it is still hard. Also extremely hard is the fact that Levi has had almost no education and he does not have a language yet period, but he wants to do school. Thankfully, both kids are super smart and eager to learn.
Things I have learned over the past month:
1. I LIKE staying home with my kids (although I do miss my crazy old schedule. Life is still crazy, just different crazy. :-p)
2. I can lie (not sleep!) on the edge of a bed with a tiny 200 degree Ethiopian grip-locked around my neck for 11 hours straight for three consecutive nights to scare away bad dreams. (I lost all feeling in my left shoulder and arm those nights haha).
3. I still don't like to cook.
4. Cornrowing hair that is 1-1.5" long IS possible. Barely. But it CAN happen.
5. My 8-year old is going to know more math than me within two years. #babyengineer #daddysgirl
6. Being a mommy and doing your makeup is still totally manageable, it just takes a little planning
7. The past 4 years were INSANE and almost killed me and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I would I am doing it again. ASAP.
8. There is nothing like my daughter being wrapped around my leg and saying firmly, "Mom work-work-work? NO. Mom STAY. Work-work-work? No no no," and shaking her head while squeezing my leg with all 57lb of her tiny self.
9. My heart can explode and yet still function when my son (who by every right should be a hate-filled, bitter child) randomly signs, "MOM, I-LOVE-YOU. I REALLY LOVE YOU!!!!!!!! SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
10. My husband is a sexy daddy. Especially with an eyeliner beard and tinfoil armor, or cardboard ears and a tail (long story, we made a movie of David and Goliath, or as Z says, "Dawit and Go-lee-ath!").
Friday, October 26, 2012
Embassy Donation List
Okay, I have to say THANK YOU to everyone who has donated supplies for this embassy trip. Our house was literally STUFFED! I am SO grateful! And the orphanages will appreciate more than I can tell you!!! Below I have made a list (I tried to count everything) of what we have received! We literally have 200lb of donations going with us. All with my unique identifying zebra tape......hey! It worked last time! Even the Ethiopian men at the airport who brought me a cart thought it was great. :)
(Click on the picture to see it full size.)
Embassy Donation List:
55 Beanie Babies
14 Pencil Sharpeners
7 Slinkies
27 boxes of crayons
2 packages Kleenex towels
120 toothbrushes
153 chapsticks
57 adoption bracelets
7 jump ropes
100+ balloons
1 balloon pump
3 hackey sacks
3 balls
3 yoyos
3 large boxes of gronola bars
1 large bag of fruit snacks
24 kids sunglasses
30 toy jewel rings
44 jumping frogs
53 matchbox cars
100+ small toys
5 paddles and balls
4 pads paper
8 decks of card games and flashcards
50+ stickers
13 plastic necklaces
14 packs of gum
103 flosses
6 soaps
5 Desitin
4 lotions
10 pairs scrubs
20 pairs of shoes
4 small formula packets
8 bottle nipples
2 triple Antibiotic ointments
2 A+D ointments
21 toothpastes
1 baby rattle
2 bags cough drops
1 Iron Drops
1 Vitamin D drops
19 boxes bandaids
1 box alcohol wipes
4 bottles multivitamins
1 Robitussin
3 Benadryl
5 Tylenol
2 dry erase boards
2 puzzles
8 books
6 boxes markers
18 boxes pencils
11 boxes colored pencils
1 box of erasers
1 bag of pens
1 box eye of eye patches
10 bottles of bubbles
16 bottles pain reliever
16 bottles Cough + Cold relief
40 bags of clothes (Obviously I can't take them ALL, but the rest are at Goodwill and shelters! :))
$360 cash to buy formula in country for the infants!
THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!
Embassy Donation List:
55 Beanie Babies
14 Pencil Sharpeners
7 Slinkies
27 boxes of crayons
2 packages Kleenex towels
120 toothbrushes
153 chapsticks
57 adoption bracelets
7 jump ropes
100+ balloons
1 balloon pump
3 hackey sacks
3 balls
3 yoyos
3 large boxes of gronola bars
1 large bag of fruit snacks
24 kids sunglasses
30 toy jewel rings
44 jumping frogs
53 matchbox cars
100+ small toys
5 paddles and balls
4 pads paper
8 decks of card games and flashcards
50+ stickers
13 plastic necklaces
14 packs of gum
103 flosses
6 soaps
5 Desitin
4 lotions
10 pairs scrubs
20 pairs of shoes
4 small formula packets
8 bottle nipples
2 triple Antibiotic ointments
2 A+D ointments
21 toothpastes
1 baby rattle
2 bags cough drops
1 Iron Drops
1 Vitamin D drops
19 boxes bandaids
1 box alcohol wipes
4 bottles multivitamins
1 Robitussin
3 Benadryl
5 Tylenol
2 dry erase boards
2 puzzles
8 books
6 boxes markers
18 boxes pencils
11 boxes colored pencils
1 box of erasers
1 bag of pens
1 box eye of eye patches
10 bottles of bubbles
16 bottles pain reliever
16 bottles Cough + Cold relief
40 bags of clothes (Obviously I can't take them ALL, but the rest are at Goodwill and shelters! :))
$360 cash to buy formula in country for the infants!
THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Miracles
This past week I've been a cranky mess. Matt and Marina are flying out Saturday (and now we are going with them, but hold that thought!) and I was so frustrated and stressed because I desperately wanted to be on that plane with them. I wanted to travel with good friends, and I wanted my daughter to feel safe because her friend would be with her. And I was done waiting. I was near a breaking point. Exhausted and heartsick, I cried multiple times a day this whole week.
Fast forward to Friday the 19th. I don't know if it was God giving me a hint or my own stubborn self trying to force something to happen, but I started feeling like we were going. So I started believing that we were going. Going on Saturday the 27th. I even wrote a post about it (although I held off actually posting it because I didn't want people asking about the trip when there actually was no trip at that point). We spent the weekend shopping for donations and minimal outfits for the kids (how do you shop when you don't know their sizes? Weight charts and eye-balking pictures!!!). Then we packed. I sorted and rearranged and went all out crazy the entire weekend. Abe is a saint for putting up with me. I also spent all Saturday crying. Like EVERY. TEN. MINUTES. Allllllllll afternoon. Every movie we watched while packing made me start the waterworks. "What To Expect When You're Expecting" (total trash by the way and completely inaccurate), "Killers", "Beethoven". Cry cry cry. Abe just sat there and snuggled me and let me be a mess. (Thanks babe <3 I love you!)
By Sunday afternoon, I was done with the waiting and inaction. I had to DO something. I emailed my travel agent and asked about getting on Matt and Marina's flight the following Saturday. At 9pm or so that night, I got an email back from her (who does that? They were CLOSED. How awesome is SHE?!?!?!) with a quote of $1,600 per ticket with that flight being open. For our court trip, tickets were $2,300 each. I started freaking out again. What if the embassy didn't give us our date and we couldn't catch the flight? What if the birth parent interview (BPI) went awry? What if we didn't clear embassy????
Sunday night I went to sleep and got up at 3am for work. Worked two torturous hours and then at 6am (the time of the BPI) I started checking my email every other minute or so. Wore my phone battery down before I even left work to head to my next job. Abe had to come bring me my charger.
Ethiopian embassy closes at 10am EST (5pm their time). 7am hit. 8am. 9am. I met with my mentee and sat down with her to give her feedback on a project. And lo and behold, at 9:17am an email made my phone buzz and I jumped at it like it was a live bomb. We had CLEARED!!!!!!!!! I emailed back that instant with dates we wanted to go (I gave them three days for next week) but they did not respond before closing for the day. I was more tense than before now. We didn't want to announce it because we didn't have confirmed travel and we still weren't sure if we were making on M&M's flight AND even if we did, flight prices could wreck us.
I didn't hear anything from my travel agent all day yesterday. I knew she was probably crazy busy and I didn't have an appointment with the embassy anyway, so there was no point in bothering her. Around 9pm that night (LAST NIGHT :)), she called me. And told me of a miracle. Here's how our conversation went:
Agent: "Marissa, it's me! I'm so sorry I couldn't get back to you. I was slammed all day!"
Me: "No problem! Thanks so much for calling me."
Agent: "Okay, you're all set. I've booked your flights."
Me: confused/stunned/??????/silence.
Agent: "I know you really wanted to get on that flight and the only way to hold them was to book them. So I did, and I processes it as cash so they would go through and I have 24 hours to cancel them! If embassy doesn't give you a date, let me know so I can cancel."
Me: "OH MY WORD!!!!!! You're amazing!!!!!!!
Agent: "It gets better! Tickets are cheaper than what I had quoted you! $1,500 each for you and Abe and $1,350 for each kid!!!!
Me: "That's amazing!!!!!"
Agent: "Yes! So I already booked them. But there weren't any seats left for the kids on that return flight. You and Abe were the last two."
Me: ................
Agent: "So I wait-listed the kids and called Washington, DC, and spoke to the airline manager and told them we need two priority/emergency seats for your kids since you are already on that flight. Those seats will be clear by tomorrow."
Me: "Are you an angel from heaven?"
And that, ladies and gentleman, is the story of our embassy trip miracle. How cool is God? The kids seats cleared this morning and I paid for the tickets. We are ready to roll! and Marina and I are sending the agent flowers.
Leaving Saturday for Ethiopia!!!!!!!!!!
Fast forward to Friday the 19th. I don't know if it was God giving me a hint or my own stubborn self trying to force something to happen, but I started feeling like we were going. So I started believing that we were going. Going on Saturday the 27th. I even wrote a post about it (although I held off actually posting it because I didn't want people asking about the trip when there actually was no trip at that point). We spent the weekend shopping for donations and minimal outfits for the kids (how do you shop when you don't know their sizes? Weight charts and eye-balking pictures!!!). Then we packed. I sorted and rearranged and went all out crazy the entire weekend. Abe is a saint for putting up with me. I also spent all Saturday crying. Like EVERY. TEN. MINUTES. Allllllllll afternoon. Every movie we watched while packing made me start the waterworks. "What To Expect When You're Expecting" (total trash by the way and completely inaccurate), "Killers", "Beethoven". Cry cry cry. Abe just sat there and snuggled me and let me be a mess. (Thanks babe <3 I love you!)
By Sunday afternoon, I was done with the waiting and inaction. I had to DO something. I emailed my travel agent and asked about getting on Matt and Marina's flight the following Saturday. At 9pm or so that night, I got an email back from her (who does that? They were CLOSED. How awesome is SHE?!?!?!) with a quote of $1,600 per ticket with that flight being open. For our court trip, tickets were $2,300 each. I started freaking out again. What if the embassy didn't give us our date and we couldn't catch the flight? What if the birth parent interview (BPI) went awry? What if we didn't clear embassy????
Sunday night I went to sleep and got up at 3am for work. Worked two torturous hours and then at 6am (the time of the BPI) I started checking my email every other minute or so. Wore my phone battery down before I even left work to head to my next job. Abe had to come bring me my charger.
Ethiopian embassy closes at 10am EST (5pm their time). 7am hit. 8am. 9am. I met with my mentee and sat down with her to give her feedback on a project. And lo and behold, at 9:17am an email made my phone buzz and I jumped at it like it was a live bomb. We had CLEARED!!!!!!!!! I emailed back that instant with dates we wanted to go (I gave them three days for next week) but they did not respond before closing for the day. I was more tense than before now. We didn't want to announce it because we didn't have confirmed travel and we still weren't sure if we were making on M&M's flight AND even if we did, flight prices could wreck us.
I didn't hear anything from my travel agent all day yesterday. I knew she was probably crazy busy and I didn't have an appointment with the embassy anyway, so there was no point in bothering her. Around 9pm that night (LAST NIGHT :)), she called me. And told me of a miracle. Here's how our conversation went:
Agent: "Marissa, it's me! I'm so sorry I couldn't get back to you. I was slammed all day!"
Me: "No problem! Thanks so much for calling me."
Agent: "Okay, you're all set. I've booked your flights."
Me: confused/stunned/??????/silence.
Agent: "I know you really wanted to get on that flight and the only way to hold them was to book them. So I did, and I processes it as cash so they would go through and I have 24 hours to cancel them! If embassy doesn't give you a date, let me know so I can cancel."
Me: "OH MY WORD!!!!!! You're amazing!!!!!!!
Agent: "It gets better! Tickets are cheaper than what I had quoted you! $1,500 each for you and Abe and $1,350 for each kid!!!!
Me: "That's amazing!!!!!"
Agent: "Yes! So I already booked them. But there weren't any seats left for the kids on that return flight. You and Abe were the last two."
Me: ................
Agent: "So I wait-listed the kids and called Washington, DC, and spoke to the airline manager and told them we need two priority/emergency seats for your kids since you are already on that flight. Those seats will be clear by tomorrow."
Me: "Are you an angel from heaven?"
And that, ladies and gentleman, is the story of our embassy trip miracle. How cool is God? The kids seats cleared this morning and I paid for the tickets. We are ready to roll! and Marina and I are sending the agent flowers.
Leaving Saturday for Ethiopia!!!!!!!!!!
Attachment Plan
(I wrote this blog on Friday, 10/19/12).
This is is people. The game changer. The final inning.
We are still in limbo. Our I-171H (immigration) finally arrived this past Tuesday, but we are waiting on the results of the birth mother interview, which is going to be on Monday, Oct. 22nd. The embassy could clear us, require more documents or interviews, or send us to Nairobi. I'm choosing to hope/believe/pray/obsess that we will pass. And that we will travel on Oct. 27th. Why the 27th you ask? Well, Marina and Matt are flying then.....and I'd like Z and Shanbu to be able to talk (they speak the same dialect) on the 18 hour flight (pre-layover) home!!!! :)
It's almost the end (we pray!) of this specific journey, and we are expecting an email from the embassy fairly soon. This email will tell us that we are free to spend the remaining savings we have (four years of working 18 hours a day) to climb into a giant piece of metal and fly halfway across the world. I hate flying. But I'm DYING to climb into that aerodynamically impossible metal bird and sit in a cramped seat for 13+ hours. Because we will be flying to our kids. And THAT is surreal. (P.S. Our I-171H, also known as "immigration", arrived three days ago!!!)
While we are waiting for that precious embassy email, I'd like to explain our attachment plan to you. I'd posted it before, but I want to bring it up again, and this one has adjustments. A lot of what is below is directly copied from my previous post.
Now you may be thinking: an attachment plan? What???? What does that even mean? Why would they need one? Aren't they getting older kids?
An attachment plan is just what it sounds like. We have to figure out how to make our children trust us, bond with us, depend on us, and realize that we will NEVER leave them and that we will ALWAYS care for them.
We've spoken to multiple families (as well as our agency and social worker) who have adopted children of all ages on the topic and made our decisions for our personal attachment plan based off the information we have gathered.
Our kids each have a personal history that we will not be sharing or discussing. They have possibly been abandoned, have been moved multiple times with no warning or explanation, have had numerous adults in their lives (none of them permanent) and have had communication barriers (or no communication) with their care-givers for years. It can only be expected that they will have attachment issues. These issues could be a huge range of things but mostly likely will be an inability or struggle to attach to anyone, specifically an adult/care-giver OR the tendency to try to attach to EVERY adult they see. We want them to learn that WE are their parents forever and we want them to learn that it is safe to attach to us. We do not want them trying to attach to others.
Therefore: attachment-plan-a-la-Ruper. :)
So here is what we have decided. On our "airport day", the day when we finally come home with the kids, anyone and everyone is welcome to come to the airport. We WANT as many people there as want to come, to celebrate one of the happiest moments and greatest victories of our lives. :)
On the "airport day", anyone who wants to can come. You can bring balloons and signs and cameras. Basically, it's a party, except that we ask you do not GIVE our children anything, and also that you do not TOUCH them. No hugs or kisses. Imagine being taken from everything and everyone you know, leaving with two people you cannot communicate with, and not in your wildest imagination be able to envision where you are going. Imagine leaving a dirt courtyard with small wooden buildings where you sleep and then coming to AMERICA. Imagine being surrounded on the trip home by thousands of people you don't know who do not speak your language and being exhausted and given unfamiliar food and being forced through airport security and customs. Imagine FINALLY landing after 19+ hours flying (not including layovers) and being greeted by a large group of unknown white people (and you are used to seeing brown skin) and all of them want to touch and hug and kiss you. And you can't ask what's going on, who they are, or what's happening. Completely overwhelming. So we've decided that we cannot allow anyone to touch the kids. Anyone. Period. Thank you for your understanding and please feel free to hug me and Abe! ;)
Also, no presents, no snacks, etc. Thank you so much for your generosity but they need to learn that everything they need comes from us. This will do wonders in helping them attach to us and learn to trust and love us. (PS, if you want to SEND presents, or give them to me and Abe to give to the kids, that is fine with us. :))
After the "airport day", we will be staying home as a family to work on our new "normal" and to start bonding as a family. We will not be allowing visitors at all for about 5-8 weeks. During this time we will work on teaching them to trust us. Eight weeks may seem like a long time, but it really isn't. We will use an intuitive approach depending on how our kids do, but 5-8 weeks of solidarity is the plan. If we happen to make a trip as a family and you see us, feel free to say hello and chat but please do not touch our kids or give them anything. You CAN talk to them though; I'm sure they would love it. :)
After eight weeks, we will allow family and close friends, 2-3 at a time, to visit us if they want. During these visits, you are welcome to play with and communicate with our children! :) We would love that. And we are sure they will too. You are extremely important in their lives. The only clause is that you may not touch them (no hugs or kisses) and you may not give them anything. No presents. No giving them a drink if they are thirsty. No feeding them. No helping them complete a task. Abe and I will be taking care of that to ensure they know WE are their caretakers, even in the presence of other adults.
After ten-twelve weeks, we will evaluate how we feel our children are doing and figure out how we will proceed from there.
Thank you for your understanding! We love you all, are so glad to have you in our lives, and can't wait to introduce you to our precious children! :)
This is is people. The game changer. The final inning.
We are still in limbo. Our I-171H (immigration) finally arrived this past Tuesday, but we are waiting on the results of the birth mother interview, which is going to be on Monday, Oct. 22nd. The embassy could clear us, require more documents or interviews, or send us to Nairobi. I'm choosing to hope/believe/pray/obsess that we will pass. And that we will travel on Oct. 27th. Why the 27th you ask? Well, Marina and Matt are flying then.....and I'd like Z and Shanbu to be able to talk (they speak the same dialect) on the 18 hour flight (pre-layover) home!!!! :)
It's almost the end (we pray!) of this specific journey, and we are expecting an email from the embassy fairly soon. This email will tell us that we are free to spend the remaining savings we have (four years of working 18 hours a day) to climb into a giant piece of metal and fly halfway across the world. I hate flying. But I'm DYING to climb into that aerodynamically impossible metal bird and sit in a cramped seat for 13+ hours. Because we will be flying to our kids. And THAT is surreal. (P.S. Our I-171H, also known as "immigration", arrived three days ago!!!)
While we are waiting for that precious embassy email, I'd like to explain our attachment plan to you. I'd posted it before, but I want to bring it up again, and this one has adjustments. A lot of what is below is directly copied from my previous post.
Now you may be thinking: an attachment plan? What???? What does that even mean? Why would they need one? Aren't they getting older kids?
An attachment plan is just what it sounds like. We have to figure out how to make our children trust us, bond with us, depend on us, and realize that we will NEVER leave them and that we will ALWAYS care for them.
We've spoken to multiple families (as well as our agency and social worker) who have adopted children of all ages on the topic and made our decisions for our personal attachment plan based off the information we have gathered.
Our kids each have a personal history that we will not be sharing or discussing. They have possibly been abandoned, have been moved multiple times with no warning or explanation, have had numerous adults in their lives (none of them permanent) and have had communication barriers (or no communication) with their care-givers for years. It can only be expected that they will have attachment issues. These issues could be a huge range of things but mostly likely will be an inability or struggle to attach to anyone, specifically an adult/care-giver OR the tendency to try to attach to EVERY adult they see. We want them to learn that WE are their parents forever and we want them to learn that it is safe to attach to us. We do not want them trying to attach to others.
Therefore: attachment-plan-a-la-Ruper. :)
So here is what we have decided. On our "airport day", the day when we finally come home with the kids, anyone and everyone is welcome to come to the airport. We WANT as many people there as want to come, to celebrate one of the happiest moments and greatest victories of our lives. :)
On the "airport day", anyone who wants to can come. You can bring balloons and signs and cameras. Basically, it's a party, except that we ask you do not GIVE our children anything, and also that you do not TOUCH them. No hugs or kisses. Imagine being taken from everything and everyone you know, leaving with two people you cannot communicate with, and not in your wildest imagination be able to envision where you are going. Imagine leaving a dirt courtyard with small wooden buildings where you sleep and then coming to AMERICA. Imagine being surrounded on the trip home by thousands of people you don't know who do not speak your language and being exhausted and given unfamiliar food and being forced through airport security and customs. Imagine FINALLY landing after 19+ hours flying (not including layovers) and being greeted by a large group of unknown white people (and you are used to seeing brown skin) and all of them want to touch and hug and kiss you. And you can't ask what's going on, who they are, or what's happening. Completely overwhelming. So we've decided that we cannot allow anyone to touch the kids. Anyone. Period. Thank you for your understanding and please feel free to hug me and Abe! ;)
Also, no presents, no snacks, etc. Thank you so much for your generosity but they need to learn that everything they need comes from us. This will do wonders in helping them attach to us and learn to trust and love us. (PS, if you want to SEND presents, or give them to me and Abe to give to the kids, that is fine with us. :))
After the "airport day", we will be staying home as a family to work on our new "normal" and to start bonding as a family. We will not be allowing visitors at all for about 5-8 weeks. During this time we will work on teaching them to trust us. Eight weeks may seem like a long time, but it really isn't. We will use an intuitive approach depending on how our kids do, but 5-8 weeks of solidarity is the plan. If we happen to make a trip as a family and you see us, feel free to say hello and chat but please do not touch our kids or give them anything. You CAN talk to them though; I'm sure they would love it. :)
After eight weeks, we will allow family and close friends, 2-3 at a time, to visit us if they want. During these visits, you are welcome to play with and communicate with our children! :) We would love that. And we are sure they will too. You are extremely important in their lives. The only clause is that you may not touch them (no hugs or kisses) and you may not give them anything. No presents. No giving them a drink if they are thirsty. No feeding them. No helping them complete a task. Abe and I will be taking care of that to ensure they know WE are their caretakers, even in the presence of other adults.
After ten-twelve weeks, we will evaluate how we feel our children are doing and figure out how we will proceed from there.
Thank you for your understanding! We love you all, are so glad to have you in our lives, and can't wait to introduce you to our precious children! :)
Monday, October 15, 2012
3....2....1.....
Okay, so Wednesday we got our embassy submission email. And our file-under-review email. Thursday we received another email saying that the embassy is requesting an interview with the birth mother. Most likely, the American Embassy in Ethiopia is just checking in to make sure that everything is being done legally and that the kids aren't being sold. Sometimes scheduling these interviews take weeks/months depending on the embassy's scheduling availability. However, on Friday we received yet another email, saying that the interview appointment will be Monday, Oct. 22nd, at 1pm. So exactly one week from today. Then the embassy will probably make a decision sometime next week as to pass us, request more documentation, or investigate our case.
After we clear, we give the embassy three dates we are available and they pick one. Then we go and get the kids!!!! We COULD travel early and pick up the kids before clearance but we would be stuck in Ethiopia indefinitely as the kids wouldn't have visas and other critical documents. And we are too poor to risk flying over and staying indefinitely. So we are waiting.
On that note, Marina and Matt cleared for Shanbu this morning!!!!!!!!! (That's right, her second BigBird came!!!) We are SO happy for them!!!!!!! Can't wait to see pictures of Shanbu with his Mommy and Daddy FOREVER!!!!! :)
After we clear, we give the embassy three dates we are available and they pick one. Then we go and get the kids!!!! We COULD travel early and pick up the kids before clearance but we would be stuck in Ethiopia indefinitely as the kids wouldn't have visas and other critical documents. And we are too poor to risk flying over and staying indefinitely. So we are waiting.
On that note, Marina and Matt cleared for Shanbu this morning!!!!!!!!! (That's right, her second BigBird came!!!) We are SO happy for them!!!!!!! Can't wait to see pictures of Shanbu with his Mommy and Daddy FOREVER!!!!! :)
Thursday, October 11, 2012
EMBASSY SUBMISSION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WE GOT SUBMITTED TO EMBASSY YESTERDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND THEY ARE REVIEWING OUR CASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!
Typically the process is that you get submitted and wait a week to ten days to get s second email saying that they are reviewing your case. The embassy then has ten business days to decide if they will pass you, require further documention or interviews with the child's relatives, or investigate and send your case to Nairobi, Kenya. Since we got submitted yesterday, Oct. 10th, the embassy has till Oct. 24th to make a decision regarding what they want to do. To clarify, this is the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia. Ethiopia has legally given us custody of the kids. Now the American Embassy in Ethiopia is going to look into things and make sure that everything is being done correctly and legally. After they clear us..............WE GO GET THE KIDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is the LAST step, people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We were extra blessed because we recieved our submission email yesterday at 4:17am (Ethiopia is seven hours ahead of E.S.T.) and then at 6:55am, we got another email saying that they have started the review process on our case!!!!! That made an awesome day even better; I was bouncing around all day and grinning like an idiot at anyone within 200 feet of me. I'm sure I looked like a creeper. Marina got her review email six days after submission and my friend Brandy got hers TEN days after. So three hours was a miracle. :) One other family was also submitted, reviewed, and CLEARED yesterday. That is a record in the history of embassy clearances!!!!! So happy for that family......we were at court with them, and they rock. :)
While we are thrilled to be submitted and under review, we are still waiting on a new I-171H (immigration) with our new address, and we can't travel without it. So if we clear embassy, but don't have our immigration paperwork.....then we are stuck. I have called our officer at USCIS three times and left messages but she has not returned my calls. I am hoping our letter is in the mail and on its way. Please pray that it gets here in time! It's the only thing we need besides clearance!!!!!!
I thought I would put down a quick timeline of our process here, since it is almost over! :-D These are the most important things that happened.
December 2009: started talking about startiung the process
January 2010: started the process.
01/29/10: Announced our decision to the world
03/01/10: Officially signed with EACI (an adoption agency)
05/27/10: Switched agencies (signed with AWAA)
02/18/11: Dossier to Ethiopia.....started waiting for a referral
07/31/11: Found out about Levi (and started fighting tooth & nail for him)
05/31/12: Levi and Zahria showed up on the Waiting Child List
06/21/12: Received our referral for Levi and Zahria
08/17/12: Court date (PASSED)
10/10/12: Submitted to embassy
1,015 days so far. <3
Typically the process is that you get submitted and wait a week to ten days to get s second email saying that they are reviewing your case. The embassy then has ten business days to decide if they will pass you, require further documention or interviews with the child's relatives, or investigate and send your case to Nairobi, Kenya. Since we got submitted yesterday, Oct. 10th, the embassy has till Oct. 24th to make a decision regarding what they want to do. To clarify, this is the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia. Ethiopia has legally given us custody of the kids. Now the American Embassy in Ethiopia is going to look into things and make sure that everything is being done correctly and legally. After they clear us..............WE GO GET THE KIDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is the LAST step, people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We were extra blessed because we recieved our submission email yesterday at 4:17am (Ethiopia is seven hours ahead of E.S.T.) and then at 6:55am, we got another email saying that they have started the review process on our case!!!!! That made an awesome day even better; I was bouncing around all day and grinning like an idiot at anyone within 200 feet of me. I'm sure I looked like a creeper. Marina got her review email six days after submission and my friend Brandy got hers TEN days after. So three hours was a miracle. :) One other family was also submitted, reviewed, and CLEARED yesterday. That is a record in the history of embassy clearances!!!!! So happy for that family......we were at court with them, and they rock. :)
While we are thrilled to be submitted and under review, we are still waiting on a new I-171H (immigration) with our new address, and we can't travel without it. So if we clear embassy, but don't have our immigration paperwork.....then we are stuck. I have called our officer at USCIS three times and left messages but she has not returned my calls. I am hoping our letter is in the mail and on its way. Please pray that it gets here in time! It's the only thing we need besides clearance!!!!!!
I thought I would put down a quick timeline of our process here, since it is almost over! :-D These are the most important things that happened.
December 2009: started talking about startiung the process
January 2010: started the process.
01/29/10: Announced our decision to the world
03/01/10: Officially signed with EACI (an adoption agency)
05/27/10: Switched agencies (signed with AWAA)
02/18/11: Dossier to Ethiopia.....started waiting for a referral
07/31/11: Found out about Levi (and started fighting tooth & nail for him)
05/31/12: Levi and Zahria showed up on the Waiting Child List
06/21/12: Received our referral for Levi and Zahria
08/17/12: Court date (PASSED)
10/10/12: Submitted to embassy
1,015 days so far. <3
Friday, October 5, 2012
Update on the Kids :)
We finally got our September update on the kids!!! We've been waiting impatiently for almost ten days now haha. ;) I pretty much wear out my phone battery every two hours, since I check my email every five minutes now that we live for updates on the kids and an email (*hopefully soon*) from the embassy! Here is some brief info that we can share from the update:
Levi is signing "Dad" (Yes, that's right, I'm jealous! Where's my "Mom" picture hahaha????)
We love you tooo baby girl!!!!!!!!! <3
Zahria: Z is healthy this month (yay!). She now weighs 48lb (that's a total of 8lb gained since May!) and is about 4 feet tall. My baby girl is growing!!!!!!!! My favorite line from the update about her is, "She is a dearly loved child at the transition home; she has a beautiful smile and laugh but is a little bit shy. She plays with children cooperatively and with understanding. She is good at reading different children's fiction books and has been reading a lot. She has no fears about going to America and can't wait to start a stable family life."
From previous updates we have also learned that she loves puzzles, role-play, and injera (the local bread). She does NOT like milk. Z is in 2nd grade (although levels are different than in America).
In last months update, the ET staff said: "She enjoys participating in different physical acitivites like jumping, running, throwing, etc., and performs them competitively. Also, she is a polite, disciplined, and loveable child at the transition home. She loves you and can't wait to meet you again."
Levi: My boy is healthy (yaya!). :) He now weighs 90lb and is 4 feet 10 inches tall. My favorite comment about him from the update is, "He is sociable, cooperative, and an excellent child. He is very much excited to go to America and start a new life with his adoptive family. He repeatedly asks us when his adoptive parents will come and take him. He expects his mom to help him a lot to learn sign language."
Previous update information has told us that Levi is passionately interested and involved with all sports. I am predicting a LOT of time in a large grassy area watching him play haha. Already have a sports schedule lined up for both the kids haha! Registration starts in January!
Last month the staff in ET said this about him: "He is a very interactive and happy child. He interacts with all children and staff members in a healthy manner. He loves all the CDs you sent and wants to thank you very much. He has been watching the CDs repeatedly and has improved his language skills. He loves you and misses you a lot. He has been asking when you will come and can't wait to meet you again and start living with you."
Also, both children LOVE soccer. Did I say LOVE? I meant L-O-V-E. That's right people, I'm a soccer mom. ;) Guess I should start looking for a bumper sticker...... ;)
Levi is signing "Dad" (Yes, that's right, I'm jealous! Where's my "Mom" picture hahaha????)
We love you tooo baby girl!!!!!!!!! <3
Zahria: Z is healthy this month (yay!). She now weighs 48lb (that's a total of 8lb gained since May!) and is about 4 feet tall. My baby girl is growing!!!!!!!! My favorite line from the update about her is, "She is a dearly loved child at the transition home; she has a beautiful smile and laugh but is a little bit shy. She plays with children cooperatively and with understanding. She is good at reading different children's fiction books and has been reading a lot. She has no fears about going to America and can't wait to start a stable family life."
From previous updates we have also learned that she loves puzzles, role-play, and injera (the local bread). She does NOT like milk. Z is in 2nd grade (although levels are different than in America).
In last months update, the ET staff said: "She enjoys participating in different physical acitivites like jumping, running, throwing, etc., and performs them competitively. Also, she is a polite, disciplined, and loveable child at the transition home. She loves you and can't wait to meet you again."
Levi: My boy is healthy (yaya!). :) He now weighs 90lb and is 4 feet 10 inches tall. My favorite comment about him from the update is, "He is sociable, cooperative, and an excellent child. He is very much excited to go to America and start a new life with his adoptive family. He repeatedly asks us when his adoptive parents will come and take him. He expects his mom to help him a lot to learn sign language."
Previous update information has told us that Levi is passionately interested and involved with all sports. I am predicting a LOT of time in a large grassy area watching him play haha. Already have a sports schedule lined up for both the kids haha! Registration starts in January!
Last month the staff in ET said this about him: "He is a very interactive and happy child. He interacts with all children and staff members in a healthy manner. He loves all the CDs you sent and wants to thank you very much. He has been watching the CDs repeatedly and has improved his language skills. He loves you and misses you a lot. He has been asking when you will come and can't wait to meet you again and start living with you."
Also, both children LOVE soccer. Did I say LOVE? I meant L-O-V-E. That's right people, I'm a soccer mom. ;) Guess I should start looking for a bumper sticker...... ;)
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
A Day in the Life of Marina and Me.
We are not clearing embassy this week. Again. I emailed the coordinator yesterday to find out, so that I wouldn't be up all night waiting for a non-existent email. Her reply was no, that we would NOT be submitted. Again. And it's been seven weeks. But rather than dwell on that and obsessing about the possibility of NEXT Wednesday, I decided to write a post that will hopefully make you laugh. :)
So over this adoption process, you get super tight (allow me to translate my street lingo: "close") with people from all over the country. I've made sooooooo many incredible friends who I absolutely adore, and who I could not survive this process without. One of these lovely ladies is Marina, who is waiting for embassy clearance (we are positive she is not clearing until I am submitted; because we NEED to travel together ;)) and she and I have been texting almost 24/7 (no joke) for ten days straight. I thought you might like to see in on the texts of two desperate and crazy moms (we survived court together), so here you go! Welcome to the minds of Marina and Marissa. This is an edited selection of some of our texts from the past 24 hours. ;)
Warning: Reading the following may induce blurred vision, extreme laughter and/or stomach pain. Other possible symptoms include but are not limited to: bewilderment, shock, and the desire to never again look at this blog. Talk to your doctor before reading this post.
Marina: "I got the big bag!" (We sometimes eat our feelings....)
Marina: "Boo and hiss!!!"
Me: "Talk to you all day tomorrow? Haha love youuuuuuuuu. P.S. I have a scone ready for breakfast. Basically a muffin..........We should go into comedy hahaha."
Marina: "We would be amazing as a standup! Xoxo. Maybe someone cool will read it and we can be on SNL."
Me: "Omg go look at Jill's new pix of her baby *****!"
Marina: "Is kidnapping illegal?"
So over this adoption process, you get super tight (allow me to translate my street lingo: "close") with people from all over the country. I've made sooooooo many incredible friends who I absolutely adore, and who I could not survive this process without. One of these lovely ladies is Marina, who is waiting for embassy clearance (we are positive she is not clearing until I am submitted; because we NEED to travel together ;)) and she and I have been texting almost 24/7 (no joke) for ten days straight. I thought you might like to see in on the texts of two desperate and crazy moms (we survived court together), so here you go! Welcome to the minds of Marina and Marissa. This is an edited selection of some of our texts from the past 24 hours. ;)
Warning: Reading the following may induce blurred vision, extreme laughter and/or stomach pain. Other possible symptoms include but are not limited to: bewilderment, shock, and the desire to never again look at this blog. Talk to your doctor before reading this post.
Marina: "I got the big bag!" (We sometimes eat our feelings....)
Marina: "Hey-I heard about a Big Bird sighting near you!! They say we might see him in the wee hours of Wednesday morning!!"
(To understand "Big Bird", "Muffin" and other such lingo, read "Club Soda and Muffins".)
(To understand "Big Bird", "Muffin" and other such lingo, read "Club Soda and Muffins".)
Me: "Hahahaha I freaking adore you!"
Marina: "I am standing here debating whether or not to wash my hair. Ugh. I hate getting ready :)."
Me: "Hahahaha just wear a scarf or headband and then you don't have to wash it!".........(two hours pass)......."How's your day babe? Did you wash your hair? LOL!"
Marina: "I did wash it and didn't have time to completely dry it and my work wardrobe is suffering in a serious way and my ass is huge because I live on pretzel M&M's so I look a LITTLE skeptical today :)."
Me: "Don't worry, I went to sleep with my hair wet and it dried vertical haha! I'm wearing a cloth headband thingy. And jeans. Because I feel like rebelling. And a pair of my work pants split down the front at work yesterday, BELOW the zipper!!!"
Marina: "NICE!!! Hoping I have more time for the gym when Shanbu comes home. I just wear long shirts to cover up my panty lines. And I have the benefit of wearing a lab coat :) I miss u."
Me: "I want a lab coat !!! Then I would feel cool! And I miss u too! Why you no live near me??? :( I demand that you and Matt move!"
Marina: "Ok. On it. Lol. So have you received an update?"
Me: "No, did you??????? OMG I'll beat someone haha...."
Marina: "Me too. I am jumping out of my skin over here. I feel like we will still travel together."
Me: "I'm not making it (embassy) tomorrow..........."
Marina: "It's gonna be good. We got this."
Me: "It's pouring rain here. Appropriate. I hurt too much to cry.."
Marina: "We will pray hard Marissa!!!! Matt is praying--he is WAY closer to God than the rest of us peons :). Lol. You want me to call and tell them to put a stat order on it? Xoxo I am sorry love...."........(hours pass)......."Cake and beer go together, right? I hope I eat healthier when Shanbu comes home. I also hope my desire to wash my hair daily and not wear sweatpants comes back."
Me: "LOLOLOLOl!!!!!! It will! You have to be the sexiest mama hahaha!"
Marina: "Oh yeah...Sexy...That's me!!! The ironing board seems like an appropriate place to leave all of our laundry--clean or dirty. It's really nice--all options are just displayed and you can just pick whatever you want. Matt prefers his laundry folded and neatly hung in the closet--I don't know what's wrong with him."
Me: "Omg I can't breathe I'm laughing so hard!!!"
Marina: ":) glad I could give you an ab workout!"
Me: "I think my Big Bird got hit by a plane. Maybe Carrie took him out by accident."
Marina: "Boo and hiss!!!"
Me: "SQUACK!!!!"
Marina: "I am praying something happens tomorrow....Good night my friend."
Me: "Talk to you all day tomorrow? Haha love youuuuuuuuu. P.S. I have a scone ready for breakfast. Basically a muffin..........We should go into comedy hahaha."
Marina: "We would be amazing as a standup! Xoxo. Maybe someone cool will read it and we can be on SNL."
Me: "Omg go look at Jill's new pix of her baby *****!"
Marina: "Is kidnapping illegal?"
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