Katie & Ryan's Adoption Adventure

New Blog

2008-01-04T12:38:00.000-06:00

I've decided to start another blog.
It will focus more on my life as a mom....I don't know, we'll see how it goes.

Check it out here

It's still a little bit under construction.

Finally!!!

2008-01-02T12:17:00.000-06:00

We can say "Mom, mama, mana, mamamama" and any other variation of MOM :)

And we are quite good at pulling ourselves up!!

I think we may be saying good-bye to our beloved morning nap :(

2008-01-02T12:14:00.000-06:00

....and I think Mommy is going to miss it the most!

In Memory of the Dogs Michael Vick Killed...

2007-12-30T14:04:00.001-06:00

Thanks Santa!

2007-12-28T16:39:00.000-06:00

It really isn't as annoying as it looks. The music is pretty "jazzy" as long as you keep it on music mode and not annoying-lady-singing-the-alphabet-mode.

Nora's First Christmas

2007-12-26T16:02:00.000-06:00

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Melkam Yelidet Beaal!!!!

2007-12-24T19:33:00.001-06:00

Winter Wonderland

2007-12-24T08:46:00.000-06:00

On Sunday we took a trip to the Chicago Botanical Gardens to see the Winter Wonderland exhibit. It was cool, not worth the $35 we spent for tickets & parking, but cool nonetheless.

Nora especially liked the "snow" that was falling from above.....

Some woman chastised me for letting the "snow" fall on Nora's face. C'mon lady, it's just soap and besides, does she look bothered by it??!! Sheesh, let the kid have a good time!

We ended our little excursion with some peppermint hot cocoa and a lemon bar :) I really wish I had taken a photo of Nora's face when she had her 1st taste of lemon custard! Let's just say it was priceless.

sad, sick baby:(

2007-12-20T10:51:00.000-06:00

Poor, poor Nora. She has had a really wicked cold since Sunday, complete with a constant snot facial-which, in case you were wondering, is NOT good for your complexion.
Last night was rough, with coughing and wheezing to boot. I tend not to overreact with her but after talking with the nurse, we trekked on in to the Dr. office.
Her cold is just a cold, lungs are clear :) BUT she has a horrendous ear infection (!!@*) Aaargh, I hope this isn't the start of an endless succession of ear ickiness......

Look what appeared in my inbox today!

2007-12-18T13:41:00.000-06:00

2007-12-16T16:12:00.000-06:00

I think it is time to lower the crib mattress again.....

2007-12-12T07:09:00.000-06:00

The good news is......

We've been sleeping through the night fairly consistently!!!

The bad news....

It is like an ocean in her crib in the morning! Yuck!

Suggestions?

2007-12-11T18:02:00.000-06:00

We say dada and baba and dodo.

No mama.

We worked on that today. I would say mmmma mmmmma mmmmamma. Over and over and over again.

She just stared at me and laughed.

Oh well.

New ride

2007-12-10T14:12:00.001-06:00

My stroller is a giant piece of poop.

I have used it for only 4 months and it is falling apart. I mean literally falling apart. Pieces fall off of it on a daily basis.
It won't turn anymore unless you strong-arm it....very inconvenient in small spaces.
Heck, it even hates being pushed in a forward direction.
It hates being folded/unfolded.

Our friendship is over already. I think it still holds a grudge from our 2 visits to the apple orchard.

Thank goodness Grandma got us this for Christmas!

It freakin' rocks!

That Peanut! She's hilarious!

2007-12-10T14:05:00.001-06:00

*this is what happens when I'm at work

2007-12-06T14:19:00.000-06:00

naptime

2007-12-06T14:15:00.000-06:00

Daughter from Danang

2007-12-05T08:55:00.000-06:00

I finally sat down and watched Daughter from Danang on Monday night.
It had been sitting in it's little netflix envelope for the past month, and although I really wanted to watch it I kept putting it off. I was scared.
It gave me alot to process and I walked away from it with a new sense of what culture will mean to my daughter. One of my goals? dreams? in raising Nora is that she will someday be able to fluidly be both Ethiopian and American. I know this is virtually impossible, as Ryan said "When she is 15 and stepping off the plane in Addis, everyone will know she is American." I understand this but I hope to give her the tools to someday be able to navigate Ethiopia. To be comfortable in Ethiopia.
Watching that movie, I felt so bad for the daughter as she struggled to understand the customs of her birth country. I felt so bad that other than being born there, she really had no connection to Vietnam. None at all. She seemed so lost and confused.

I just hope that we can do a good job at raising Nora to be comfortable. Comfortable as an American and comfortable as an Ethiopian.

Court & Christkindlmarket

2007-12-03T17:26:00.000-06:00

Well, that was easy!

We went to court today to finalize Nora's adoption....the way our lawyer explained it was that we essentially sued our daughter to become her parents...how nice :)

Court was at The Daley Center downtown and they happen to have the coolest Christmas market goin' on right now so we indulged in a little shopping, a hot beverage and some great food!

I had the German equivalent to a Spam sandwich with sauerkraut and a boot (yes, a boot..anyone see the movie Beerfest? That's all I could think about) filled with hot spiced wine (yeah, I had wine before court..I needed to relax!) Soooooo yummy!

Here we are serving Nora her court summons!

We are officially official!

Holiday Party

2007-12-03T17:18:00.001-06:00

We had a fantastic time at the IEKC holiday party on Saturday-it was great to see old & new friends!

rant & randomness

2007-11-29T16:54:00.000-06:00

So, it looks like I am not going to be able to pull of going part-time after all :(
I am having a really hard time finding a solution to my health insurance quandary. Right now, Nora & I are on my plan and Ryan has insurance through his job. We looked into hopping on his plan but it would be $600 a month (faint) So, I applied to a couple of insurance companies on my own.....errrr....very frustrating. The 1st company (Blue Cross) denied me because of my fertility problems. Can you believe that? I am not receiving any treatment for my endometriosis and I don't have any symptoms of endo. (other than infertility) and I certainly will not be receiving any fertility treatments...argh!
The 2nd company said they would cover me but would not cover anything related to my asthma. Well, that doesn't do me any good! So, we are back at square 1...with me working full-time unless I can come up with another scheme......

In better news, we are going to court on Monday afternoon for Nora's re adoption! I am so excited!! But I am feeling an unexpected twinge of sadness now that Nora's name will legally be changed. It's silly I know, because she will always know the name that her mother gave her and we are incorporating it into her full name AND we call her by it more than we call her Nora but I still feel a little guilty. I guess it's just another part of my grieving process...I grieve for her loss of her mother (and her mother's loss of her) and the loss of her country and culture.....and now her name.
Jeez, I am in a mood today! I took my happy court news and made it all depressing!

I promise I will be a bundle of cheer for the IEKC Holiday party!!!!

Although, I do feel better after this rant!

Ho Ho Ho

2007-11-29T16:38:00.000-06:00

Boy. Santa sure is expensive!

We trekked out to Woodfield today to meet the Big Man himself....I myself was a little nervous...maybe I was having flashbacks of my childhood, sitting on Santa's lap, screaming my head off. I don't know. Nora did remarkably well, she just stared at him with this "Who the hell are you and why am I sitting on your lap?" look on her face.

2 minutes and $29 later we had this lovely keepsake

Yeah, this photo looks like crap because they don't let you bring your own camera so I had to take a picture of the picture to be able to post it:)

It was fun and it made me excited about Christmas this year....maybe I won't be such a Grinch about the holidays any more....

Melkin Yelidet Beaal!

Sometimes you just have to laugh

2007-11-28T15:58:00.000-06:00

As we were leaving the grocery store today we decided to drop some cash into the Salvation Army bucket.
The woman ringing the bell smiled at Nora and said "She's so beautiful...." I said thank you and started to walk away when she said "She's dark. Is she dark?" I paused and said "Yes, she's Black" (I assumed when she said dark she meant black). "She's Ethiopian"

Bell-ringer lady then whispers "Ethiopian....." looong pause "Are you Ethiopian?"

Strange friends

2007-11-28T15:54:00.000-06:00

Nora likes the vacuum. I mean, she really likes the vacuum. She'll sit in front of it and babble away.

Today I actually turned it on and she chased it around the room! It was hilarious to see her dragging herself around super fast just to catch up with her "friend".

We really should get out more.

love is in the air

2007-11-28T09:56:00.000-06:00

It seems that Nora has a not-so-secret admirer!

Dadadadada

2007-11-24T13:09:00.000-06:00

Yesterday afternoon Nora woke up from her nap and started saying "Dada"!!
She hasn't stopped saying it since...no, really....she goes on and on and on and on with her "Dada story" She holds her hand up in the air to express the important parts of her little tale.
Her little voice is so sweet, it melts my heart (even though she is saying dada and not mama)
and her little lips do this funny Brando-esque thing as she talks.

I'll try to get a video of her-she stops talking as soon as she sees the camera!

Reunion!

2007-11-20T09:23:00.001-06:00

We had a great time at our little travel reunion on Saturday. The kids all look fabulous-I can't believe how much everyone has grown! Wow! We really did have the best travel group...whatta great group of people :)

The group rented a conference room at a hotel and we set up shop there. The hotel had a pool so the older kids could go swimming-I really wanted to take Nora but we ran out of time.
We pretty much hung around there most of the day so the kids could run wild (plus, it was cold & crappy outside) and in the late afternoon we went out to dinner at a local East African restaurant. It was a great way to spend a Saturday!

Here are some of the dads....

Nora with a friend who happens to be a huge UW AND Packer fan (boo-hiss!) but we love her anyway!

Here is an attempt at getting a bunch of babies to sit still

Happy Adoption Day!

2007-11-17T08:59:00.000-06:00

November marks National Adoption Month and today is National Adoption Day!

To celebrate, we are heading up to Madison for a reunion with our travel group..well, most of our travel group.

I am so excited to see how all of the kids have grown & changed in the last 3 months:)

Post-placement #2

2007-11-16T19:58:00.000-06:00

We had our 2nd post-placement visit this evening and I guess it went pretty well.
We drove into Evanston-which is good because my house is a disgusting disaster and I didn't want to deal with it. Our visit lasted less than an hour and Nora was in a good mood til the end (when she got hungry!) :) Our next and last visit is in February!

I hope our SW didn't think it was weird that I use this thermos to keep the water for her formula warm.....

*It's the only thermos I have & she doesn't like cold milk!!

The Wounded Soldier

2007-11-14T16:28:00.000-06:00

Nora started to do a sort of "army crawl" this weekend. She only does it sometimes and usually only on hardwood floor.

Ryan has dubbed it the "wounded soldier" because she drags herself forward with 1 arm, as if the other arm is injured and her legs aren't working well.

Let's hope this week is better

2007-11-12T14:59:00.000-06:00

I've had a rough couple 'o weeks :(

I didn't realize that Ryan's new job would require so much travel and I'm just not dealing with it very well. He was gone all last week and the week before that and it totally sucked. It wouldn't be all that bad if I didn't have to scramble to find someone to watch Nora until I get off work at 2am (since they give him very little notice) AND the serious lack of sleep on the days I do work is killing me.
We are working to get me part-time but it can't happen fast enough. I am shooting for the 1st of the year....if we can get our health insurance situation figured out (that's a whole 'nother story!)

At least I am on "vacation" this week :)

She did it!

2007-11-09T07:29:00.000-06:00

Sort of......

I set Nora down this morning for some tummy time. Now when I set her down, she bends her legs and likes to be set down in the "crawling position". Well, today she immediately rolled to one side and SAT UP!!! I know, she was already kinda there when I set her down but she's never done THAT before :)

Here she is right after she (sort of) sat up!

My little baby is growing up.....

BFF

2007-11-08T15:45:00.001-06:00

All dressed up with no place to go

2007-11-08T09:52:00.000-06:00

Sleeplessness & Nora's 1st protest

2007-11-08T06:54:00.000-06:00

I have been totally exhausted lately!
Ryan was out of town all last week, came home for the weekend (which I worked so I didn't even see him) and then left again on Monday for N. Dakota. Needless to say, with my crazy work hours and Nora not adjusting to the time change and not having Ryan or I to put her to bed on a few nights, I could probably count on my fingers the hours of sleep I have had :(
But yesterday, I had a burst of energy and decided that we should head downtown to a rally at Federal Plaza for the Jena 6/A.N.S.W.E.R.....yeah, bad idea. First off, I had some wacky idea that we should drive....in rush hour. By the time we got there, it was 6:00 (the rally was from 5-7) and very cold. There were like 15 people and it only lasted another 15 minutes or so...total bummer. I don't know what upsets me more, that I drove forever or that there were only a handful of people there?
It was a really disappointing turnout.

2007-11-07T08:49:00.000-06:00

Of course, this brought tears to my eyes....

I've gone video crazy!

2007-11-02T17:21:00.000-05:00

Injera & Ice cream

2007-11-02T17:03:00.000-05:00

Nora and I met Auntie Caroline at the Ethiopian Diamond today for lunch and had the absolute best experience. This was Nora's 1st time there and the minute we walked in the door she was showered with so much love and attention!
This was our first experience with the Ethiopian community since coming home with her and it was nothing but positive. Of course, a couple of the women made me cry (which isn't hard to do) they hugged me and thanked me.....and I thanked them...I was a mess.

Our waiter was hilarious and he kept whisking Nora away and taking her from table to table to greet people.

We had such a great lunch and Nora really enjoyed her 1st taste of injera :)

In other news, Nora also enjoyed her 1st taste of vanilla ice cream yesterday......

I will have to thank Diana for the stinky diaper this morning;)

Tubby time

2007-11-02T09:41:00.000-05:00

Nora has finally moved on to bigger and better bath tubs...the infant tub wasn't cutting it anymore since she now likes to sit up and actually play during bath time:)

I found this crazy inflatable duck-tub at Target. It took me, the asthmatic, like a year and a whole lotta dizziness to inflate it but she absolutely loves it!

Plus, it quacks which drives the dogs crazy;)

2007-10-31T08:13:00.000-05:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

2007-10-28T16:20:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I tried to capture a video of Nora doing her backwards scoot thing but she wouldn't perform for the camera. Here she is doing what she does best-rolling around! She prefers the hardwood floor to carpet, I think she just likes the squeaky sounds her hands make on it :)

*Thanks to Jayme & Nancy for supplying the cute outfit she's wearing!

good read

2007-10-28T10:31:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Harlow's Monkey for bringing this article to my attention-"Did I Steal My Daughter?" by Elizabeth Larsen

It is posted on Mother Jones and it brought a whole lot of emotions to the surface.....

Just hanging 'round looking cute :)

2007-10-26T15:14:00.000-05:00

2 months

2007-10-26T09:37:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was our 2 monthiversary...I can't believe we have been home for 2 months!
It seems like Nora has been here forever but at the same time the past 2 months have totally flown by. Wasn't it just yesterday we were anxiously waiting for our phone to ring?

Nora has already grown & changed so much in the past 2 months.
It seems like every morning she is bigger and has learned some new trick overnight-it's totally wild! She is now 16 lbs and 26 inches tall!

Everybody's workin' for the weekend

2007-10-23T14:08:00.000-05:00

Well, I've decided to start working part-time.

Ryan's new job calls for some overnight travel (sometimes for up to a week) and I need to be able to be more flexible with my schedule. I will probably end up working just a teensy-bit less than I am now but I won't feel like I am stuck on set days. I will still do Saturdays or Sundays and I will still do some holidays. It was a really hard decision to make-I will lose 3 weeks paid vacation and I will have to fund my own continuing education to maintain my license but really, the more I thought about it, none of that is important.

Spending more time with Nora is important.

Yeah, we'll probably be broke and I'll have to cut back on my Venti Chai intake from Starbucks and my shoe obsession will have to be curtailed but I think...no, I know it will all be worth it.

In other news, our new washing machine arrived and my house no longer stinks of dirty cloth diapers!

2007-10-22T09:20:00.000-05:00

Ryan's Dad & Step mom finally made the trek up to visit Nora.....and to watch the Bears game!

We had a great time except that I was tired and frazzled (see photo below) because our washing machine broke and my house was a disaster. I felt better after we opened the bottle of wine:)

Ryan made a great meal and Nora ended up eating almost an entire sweet potato-I can't believe how much this girl eats!!

This is why I am always covered in dog hair......

2007-10-19T14:38:00.001-05:00

Warm, clean laundry=dog bed

Maybe I need to be faster at getting things folded and put away.

milestones

2007-10-18T14:01:00.000-05:00

At first I thought it was a fluke.

Nora pushed herself up on her hands and knees and did one scoot backwards...then she did it again...and again! Ok, now I know this probably isn't a big deal but she's sort of crawling, the wrong way, but its a start!
She's been rolling all over the place for a month or so but this backwards scoochy thing is new!
She is now also able to sit when placed in a sitting position for a little bit before toppling over. Plus, she has a great new high-pitched happy scream!

I think my baby is a genius:)

We survived!

2007-10-18T08:02:00.000-05:00

Well okay, I survived since I knew all along that Nora would be just fine ;)

I didn't cry....got a little "misty" but didn't really shed a tear. Thankfully she wasn't upset when I left and had a great time with her Auntie Jen...she really only spent 1 hour there since Ryan got out of work a tad early. He said she was happy as a clam when he picked her up and she ended up staying awake until 7:45ish :)

My first day back wasn't bad either. We weren't terribly busy so I was able to ease into things a bit. I felt like I was gone for so long yet the time had totally flown by...weird. I was home by 3:30am and in bed and asleep by 4am.
I can tell you that I WILL be napping with Nora this morning and thankfully I am not due in again until Saturday.

Tag!

2007-10-16T18:53:00.000-05:00

Jobs I've Had

1. Baskin-Robbins

2. Cinnabon-for one day!!

3. Security Guard-I wore a sweet brown polyester uniform!

4. Telemarketer

Places I've Lived

1. Madison, WI

2. Los Angeles, CA

3. Evanston, IL

4. Arlington Heights, IL

Food I Love

1. Chocolate chip cookie dough straight outta the tube

2. Peanut Butter n' Chocolate ice cream from Baskin-Robbins

3. Corned Beef & Cabbage

4. PB & J-gotta be on Wonder bread

Places I'd Rather Be

1. In the Caribbean on a beach drinking a frosty beverage

2. On the Gulf Coast of Mexico, laying on a beach drinking a frosty beverage

3. In Tahiti, floating on my back in crystal clear waters with a frosty beverage

4. Anywhere but here

Movies I Love

1. Pee-Wee's Big Adventure-all time favorite!

2. Office Space

3. Sixteen Candles

4. Drop Dead Fred

TV Shows I Watch

1. The Office

2. ER

3. Law & Order SVU

4. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Friends I'm Tagging

1. Jamie

2. Cathy

3. Stacie

4. Diane

It's the final countdown.....

2007-10-16T09:03:00.000-05:00

Cue the 1980's Europe hit!

I'm going back to work tomorrow! ACK!

Ryan started his new job yesterday. His 1st day consisted of overnight training in Springfield-he left the house Monday early am and won't be back until tonight. It hasn't been too bad without him here, we had breakfast & shopping in the city with Grandma yesterday then we hung around the house the rest of the afternoon. Nora was in bed by 7pm and the dogs & I stayed up with a glass of wine and watched all of my shows from the TiVo. Neither of us slept well though, she was up a couple of times and I couldn't sleep because the dogs were hogging the bed.

Funny, we have a king sized bed and I had LESS room last night....even though we were minus one 6'3, 200lb person!

Well, I'll let you know how my 1st day back goes, and how Nora does with her Auntie Jen!

Hey Mom! These are for you!

2007-10-15T15:58:00.000-05:00

Oktoberfest

2007-10-15T13:56:00.000-05:00

On Saturday we hit the Oktoberfest celebration down in Long Grove....totally on accident! We were driving around, looking for something to do and we stumbled upon it.

Unfortunately for Ryan we didn't have enough cash on us for beer or brats, but it was a beautiful day to wander around anyway.

We did manage to scrape together enough to share a cup of hot cocoa & a giant peanut butter cup from The Long Grove Confectionery

We spent the rest of the weekend just loungin' around, watching football:)

Interesting read

2007-10-13T19:14:00.000-05:00

Please read this great essay about hair in Brain, Child Magazine (Thanks Sarah!)
http://www.brainchildmag.com/essays/fall2007_friedman.asp

Pickin' Punkins

2007-10-11T17:00:00.000-05:00

We traveled north to Apple Holler this afternoon to grab some pumpkins, hay bales and corn stalks....oh, and some apple pies, apple dumplings, hot apple cider and apple donut holes (yum!)

Yeah, we went a little overboard but autumn is my favorite time of year AND Halloween is my favorite holiday so we kinda had to get a little crazy. It was pretty freakin' cold out...I really prefer a gradual introduction into fall/winter-not 90 one day and 52 the next-my body goes into shock and all I want to do is eat (see 1st paragraph!)

Anwhoo, we took some cute pictures of Nora T

This time next week....

2007-10-10T18:37:00.000-05:00

I'll be at work :( Hmmm, I'll be about 40 minutes into my shift...

Ugh, I'm totally dreading it.

It is going to be difficult seeing that I have been in bed by 9 (10 if I'm feeling wild n' crazy!) every night for the past 8 weeks.

How am I possibly going to get into the groove of working until 2am?!

blech!

I luv Sundays

2007-10-07T11:47:00.000-05:00

Ahhhhh....Sundays are nice.

Our new ritual is to get up & head over to Starbucks in our jammies bright n' early for Chai & breakfast sandwiches. We sit and chat for awhile...Nora is always in a good mood just after her 7am bottle..life is good :)

It's not even noon and it is already scorchin' hot outside! We slapped our sun hats on (still in our pj's, c'mon its Sunday!) and sat outside and watched Papa toil in the yard....hehehe

2007-10-06T19:22:00.000-05:00

Please check out this great post over at Heart, Mind and Seoul

http://heartmindandseoul.typepad.com/weblog/

2007-10-06T10:44:00.000-05:00

Nora is finally enjoying bath time now that she can pretty much sit up on her own in the tub.

She never hated it, she just sort tolerated it. Bath time was always a fast operation around here.

Now we take our time....and splash like crazy!

me + baked treats = HAPPINESS

2007-10-06T10:03:00.000-05:00

How is it that I keep finding fantastic places to eat in the city now that we've moved to the 'burbs?

Maybe it's better this way.

I mean, I couldn't possibly eat this everyday...

Could I??

The Faker

2007-10-04T17:25:00.000-05:00

Nora's new trick is to "cough" at the dogs when they aren't paying attention to her. She can be very dramatic.

Here she is "coughing" at Miss Peanut.

All Miss P wanted to do was take a nap.

YES!!!!!

2007-10-02T12:33:00.000-05:00

WE HAVE CHILDCARE!!!!! Whew!

It was getting close to the wire and I was starting to panic (a little bit) but its all good now.

My cousin, who lives like 4 blocks from me, is going to watch Nora.
I really should have asked her in the first place since she offered before Nora was even home but I felt bad because she just had a baby less than 3 weeks ago and I didn't want to put her on the spot. Plus, I figured her plate was probably a little full anyway.
Well, I asked her and she said yes! She doesn't want me to pay her but that's crazy. She's gettin' paid.
I'm also really excited because our girls will become really close, like sisters, and that is invaluable.

Oh, I am so excited I could just scream!! Nora's napping so I should probably just keep my mouth shut :)

No news is...well...no news.

2007-09-27T17:22:00.000-05:00

Wish I had some news on the babysitter front.....here are some pictures instead!

"Houston, we have a problem"

2007-09-25T14:45:00.000-05:00

In my perfect little world I was going to care for my daughter during the day and Ryan would take over at 4:45pm so I could jaunt off to work. For those who don't know, I work in emergency medicine. This was going to go on 3 days a week. Sooo dreamy, I know.

Well, my dream has just been shattered.

Ryan took a new job outside the realm of dog training. The money is alright but it will be a great experience for him. The problem? He works until 5pm.
I work at 6pm.
45 minutes away.
Not going to work.

So, I am scrambling. Scrambling to find a sitter, a daycare, someone to care for Nora during the overlap. Are you aware that most daycare only take in "full-time" students? They want some crazy amount of $$ to watch her "full-time," even if I only need to use them for 2 hours, 3 days a week. It's craziness!

I do have a lead on a sitter.
We'll see how it pans out, I'll let you know.
My leave is quickly coming to an end!!

Welcome Party

2007-09-23T08:09:00.000-05:00

My family had a little get-together for Nora, sort of a meet-n-greet the baby party.

Family came from California, North Carolina & Wisconsin!

The food was fantastic and my cousin (the fabulous, should-be-famous-baker) made a 16 pound, 6 layer coconut cake AND a flourless chocolate cake covered in ganache. I woke up this morning really craving some cake!

2 of Nora's 4 Grandpa's were there-one even came from Los Angeles to meet her for the 1st time!

It was a great day!

Old Friends

2007-09-23T08:05:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week Nora met up with an old buddy from Ethiopia.

It's like baby wrestle-mania!

Good-Bye Summer

2007-09-23T08:02:00.000-05:00

2007-09-21T13:29:00.001-05:00

You Belong in Fall

Intelligent, introspective, and quite expressive at times...
You appreciate the changes in color, climate, and mood that fall brings
Whether you're carving wacky pumpkins or taking long drives, autumn is a favorite time of year for you

What Season Are You?

Stomach malfunction

2007-09-17T19:08:00.000-05:00

Since I became violently ill (again) on Wednesday, I have been afraid to eat. Absolutely terrified. Nothing sounded good to me, everything was blech!
We had plans to go out for BBQ & mojitos for my birthday but I decided that probably wasn't the best idea.

Ryan decided that I could no longer live on ginger-ale alone anymore so he presented me with this on Sunday

A Baskin-Robbins ice cream cake!!! Mmmmm, my favorite! Please ignore how horrific I look in the photo & how messy my family room is. That man knows what I like.

So, that was the 1st real (I did have 2 pieces of pepper & an apple slice at Nancy's on Friday but that didn't really count, if you know what I mean) solid food I had in almost 4 days and Mmm..mmm..mmm..

Just in case you were wondering, so far so good ;)

30 tid-bits about me since I am now 30

2007-09-16T09:16:00.000-05:00

1. Most of my life I wanted to be a police officer. Seriously. I even studied Criminal Justice in college. I still have dreams of becoming a homicide detective.

2. My all time favorite ice cream is, hands down, Baskin-Robbins Peanut Butter & Chocolate. There is no better ice cream.

3. I am very passionate about animals and their rights & well-being. I believe in standing up for those who cannot speak for themselves.

4. I was a vegetarian for almost 10 years. I wish I could be again, we don't eat very much meat at home and when we do, it is free-range, grass fed. I know, it doesn't make sense given my answer to #3.

5. I am stubborn. Really stubborn.

6. I love to read and I wish I had more time for it. I am a huge fan of Stephen King, the Dark Tower series was the best ever. I am also a huge fan of Bret Easton Ellis, I like anything a little "off"

7. Speaking of books, I also love audio books! Ryan makes fun of me, but I love listening to them on my way to/from work! Again, The Dark Tower series was fantastic on audio book.

8. Ryan & I met through our dogs. We were living in the same apartment building-I had Yale, my 1st dog & Ryan just got a cute little puppy. I noticed the puppy, our dogs played together and the rest is history!

9. Mac n' cheese is the best food on the planet. If we go to a restaurant and they have it on the menu, I have to order it.

10. The 1st concert I went to was Tina Turner and The Beach Boys at Summerfest. I was maybe 5 or 6...I don't remember anything about it. The 1st concert Ryan took me to was Tom Petty and it was for my 22nd birthday. Tom was a little inebriated during that show.

11. Halloween is by far, my favorite holiday. We usually don't do much but I love decorating the house & greeting the Trick or Treaters. Plus, I just loove the way that autumn smells!

12. Meeting my daughter for the 1st time was one of the most amazing experiences in my life. Meeting her birth mom was the other.

13. My 1st car was a red 1988 Honda Civic. It lasted 3 days before the engine died :( After that I drove a red Dodge Shadow that had the bumper duct taped on.

14. I love to dance...in my kitchen. I make up crazy moves and do this weird pseudo-Irish jig thing. Ryan hates it because he is sure that the neighbors are watching. I don't care. Oh, and I don't need any music-I'll just break out into a jig for no reason.

15. But I hate going out to clubs to dance. I need to have a couple of drinks in me before I will even consider embarrassing myself like that in public.

16. I wore torn fishnet stockings & combat boots through most of high school.

17. I got my 1st tattoo at age 14. It was supposed to be the symbol for the punk band the Dead Kennedys but the guy who tattooed me did it backwards. Never let your friends tattoo you unless you are over 21 and they are professionals. I now have 6 tattoos.

18. I always said that I wanted to be a mom by the time I hit 30. Whew, just in time :)

19. I have 3 dads :) And all 3 were at our wedding, it was fantastic.

20. I love college football. My favorite team is the Tennessee Volunteers. No, I didn't go to school there, I just love their uniforms (orange & white!).

21. I have a serious shopping obsession. Sometimes I just have to go out and buy something.

22. Hearing my daughter laugh is truly the best thing. She has the best laugh!

23. I love Chai tea lattes from Starbucks. I crave them. I get a headache if I can't have one.

24. I asked Ryan out on our 1st date. He was too chicken to ask me! I figured my lease was almost up so if he said no I could always move. I told him that my friend was supposed to come over to have a beer & watch a movie but she blew me off, so I was stuck with a six pack and Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas. It was a very weird 1st date movie. We moved in 3 months later and have been together ever since...9 years :)

25. I'm allergic to animals, especially cats, rabbits & guinea pigs!

26. My first job in an animal hospital was in 1996 and I haven't looked back! I went from working in a day practice as an assistant to working my way up to a large emergency & critical care hospital, getting my license as a Veterinary Technician and working where I am now for the past 5 1/2 yrs. Oh, and I'm still allergic to animals! ;)

27. I used to ride horses when I was a kid and I was pretty good at it. I keep saying I want to ride again but never get around to it. Maybe Nora will ride horses one day.

28. I will watch anything on t.v that involves true crime. I love CourtTv & American Justice, I could seriously watch that all day long...and believe me, I have. I once spent an entire summer indoors watching a trial on CourtTv, I couldn't help it, I am easily sucked in.

29. Carmen Electra was at my 21st bday party. Ok, she wasn't there to see me but she was at the club we were that night and when I was sick in the bathroom from too many shots, she came over to my stall and asked if I was ok. Of course, I didn't know who she was at the time but a male friend that was with me kept saying "Do you know who that was in the bathroom with you??!! It was Carmen Electra!" Hmmm, one of my few brushes with fame.

30. A few years ago for my birthday I traveled all of the way to Los Angeles to see the Supersuckers play at The Roxy. My best friend from San Francisco met me and we had a fantastic time! Plus, we were right on the stage AND I was able to meet Eddie Spaghetti!

Ethiopia part I

2007-09-15T15:09:00.000-05:00

Our trip. Wow. I feel like I still haven't processed the sheer magnitude of it all, it was incredible, fun, exciting, sad, heartbreaking, it was everything.

We were exhausted upon landing in Addis since neither of us could sleep. The seats were small & cramped, our legs & backs ached but most of all we were just too anxious to get much rest!

The sun rising somewhere over Africa was beautiful...

Landing in Addis, the mountain views were breathtaking

We met a good portion of our travel group at the airport. Everyone in our group was fabulous-we were really lucky to have such a great group & we all really had fun together. We are planning to have a yearly reunion since all of us are from the Midwest (IL, WI, IA, MN)

Massi picked us up from the airport where we all crowded into 1 van and all of our luggage crowded into another. Our 1st stop was the guest house-it is such a beautiful building. It is surrounded by other beautiful homes, all with razor wire above the gates and each with it's own guard. It was hard to swallow the drastic difference between the haves & the have-nots in Addis. We saw so much poverty everywhere, yet turn down one muddy, unpaved road and there are these HUGE homes with fancy Land Rovers in the driveways. It didn't sit right with me.
It was very weird to drive through the streets of Addis, to see goats available for sale & slaughter on the corner in front of the Home Depot (yes, you heard me correctly a Home Depot), down the muddy hill from where we would be staying.
But there was beauty everywhere. Ethiopia is truly a breathtakingly beautiful country.

The view from the roof was incredible

Massi gave each of us a packet containing pictures and info. on our little ones. It was a little overwhelming, looking at the pictures of Nora, pictures we wished we had while we waited. She looked so different and so smiley! The packet contained her "schedule" and some likes/dislikes. It was very weird to be looking at that packet and knowing that she was less than a mile away!

They took us all over to the building where the infants live and we waited in a room for a social worker to call our names. When she came in and said "Tigist?" I thought I was going to faint. As we walked over, someone was filming the entire thing-it was very surreal. They took us into her little room in the Mussie building, which she shared with 6 or so others and there she was! Smiling away & playing with her hands! That is all I remember from that moment-thankfully, it is all on film! We were only able to spend about 15 minutes with her before we were ushered away:(

Part II to follow shortly..........

Sorry!

2007-09-15T14:38:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry to say but there will be no more anonymous postings on my blog.
I apologize to all of my friends (Donna, Zooms, you know who you are!) who choose to post anonymously so as not to have to register with Blogspot.
There have been people out there in cyberspace who choose to make judgments about my family & our choices as parents, but who do so hiding behind their anonymity... You know who I am, so I may as well know who is commenting on my blog.
Fair is fair.

2007-09-12T10:45:00.000-05:00

We don't like our new chair.....

but we like our puppy!

2007-09-11T18:58:00.000-05:00

HAPPY ENKUTATASH EVERYONE!!!!!!!

I hope that this new year finds everyone with plenty of happiness & love!

Two of my favorite things....

2007-09-11T11:45:00.000-05:00

are a yummy hot dog...Mmmm...

and really cool art

and I got to experience both yesterday!

The hot dog was heavenly and the art exhibit was totally cool. We swung on over to The College of Lake County yesterday afternoon to check out the "When I Grow Up I Want To Be.." exhibit. The work that these kids are creating is phenomenal-everyone should check it out!

GO BEARS!!!!

2007-09-09T13:31:00.001-05:00

This is what happens when Papa dresses you.....

2007-09-09T13:29:00.001-05:00

It's a Flashdance flashback!!!

Our day downtown

2007-09-08T09:16:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Ryan & I drove into Lincoln Park and hopped on the "L" to The Daley Center. There was supposed to be a big celebration to kick off Enkutatash (the Ethiopian New Year) but, it ended up not being so big after all. They had a flag raising ceremony, some speeches and some music. Not as wild as I thought it would be but we still had a great time.
We met up with Jayme & The Twins and took a walk over to Millennium Park (can you believe I've never been there?!)
It is such a beautiful space and my favorite was the interactive fountain....and The Bean was pretty cool too!
Since we were near our old neighborhood, we decided to grab an early dinner at The Northside (oh, those were the days...)
Nora slept through the entire meal and most of our trip back home (stuck in horrendous Friday traffic!)
All in all, in was a fantastic Friday :)

Check out some photos from our day below!

2007-09-08T09:12:00.001-05:00

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Independence Grove

2007-09-06T16:24:00.001-05:00

Jayme & I met at Independence Grove for a little picnic & some park time

The twins seemed to be enjoying themselves

And Nora liked the green, green grass......

and Elijah!

Afterwards, everyone was pooped

Including me!

Post-placement

2007-09-05T19:27:00.000-05:00

We had our 1st post-placement visit today :)

It was our first time meeting our new social worker and she was fabulous and I think that everything went well. Nora was in a good mood & Ryan was pretty much recovered from "Round 2" of the ever-circulating sickness in this house.

I remember the 1st time the social worker came over, to finish up our homestudy (almost 1 yr ago!!) and I was sooooo freaked out about if my house was clean enough, and what I was going to wear and "Oh God Ryan, you are NOT wearing THAT...go change!"

This time around, it didn't matter. It didn't matter that there was dog hair under the dining room table & all over the couch, and dog snot on the window and I had rice cereal on my pants. Nope, didn't care at all...well, maybe a little about the dog hair but whaddaya gonna do? I got other things to worry about now.

Like this

and this

2007-09-03T21:04:00.000-05:00

A drive through the streets of Addis...in the rain

If I could only figure out how to add some music...

sweet 'taters

2007-09-03T11:26:00.000-05:00

Our very 1st taste of sweet potato-not sure if it was good or bad ;)

Yes, it's really long but we just couldn't stop filming!

rough night

2007-09-02T11:57:00.000-05:00

Last night was rough and all 3 of us hardly slept at all :(

Poor Nora, she is still so congested but her diarrhea is gone....only to be replaced with constipation. She was up every 2 hours, screaming & uncomfortable. We finally relented and brought her to bed with us, which helped ever so slightly.

We are going to try offering her a vegetable tonight (sweet potato? maybe peas?) in an effort to get this poopin' thing under control-wish us luck.

On the up side, since our poops are very formed and less frequent, Nora is rockin' the bumGenius!

favorite toy

2007-08-31T17:37:00.000-05:00

This is Rick.

Rick Bayless.

Not only is he a mole, but he's mole as in mo-lay.

2007-08-30T08:56:00.000-05:00

The dogs!

2007-08-29T10:25:00.000-05:00

The girls loooove Nora-Peanut can't get enough of her!
Smokey, on the other hand, could really care less that there is a baby in the house.
Miss P has to know where she is at all times, plus she loves to clean her runny nose (ick!)

2007-08-28T20:26:00.001-05:00

Ugh, the doctor's appointment was awful :(

Don't get me wrong, I love our doctor-he was very nice & he has 3 kids from Guatemala and is the process for #4 so he was all up on what tests to run, etc BUT the blood draw was horrific!
The nurse strapped Nora down on something they call "The Papoose" which, in reality, is just a nice word for baby straight-jacket and proceeded to poke her a dozen times cuz she couldn't find a vein. All the while saying to me "Gosh, she must really be dehydrated, blah, blah, blah"
Finally, someone else stepped in and got blood right away (dehydrated? Humph! You should see how much liquid this girl consumes, plus her diapers are HEAVY)

Anyways, I seriously thought Ryan was either going to faint or smack the nurse!

I promised Nora that tomorrow wouldn't suck as much as today did ;)

Feeling better :)

2007-08-28T10:17:00.000-05:00

We are all starting to feel a little better around here. Ryan's fever is gone, I'm not as weak and little Nora's cold is clearing up. She seemed really bad on Sunday so we took her to the Acute Care Center because we didn't know what else to do for her...they took an xray & swabbed her nose and said "She has a cold & you guys are doing everything right"
Oh well, I guess it's better to be on the safe side.
She is eating up a storm (loves her sippy cup, bottles are not her thing) and she digs the rice cereal...she has her 1st visit with her pediatrician today...I'll let you know how that goes.

Our trip (minus the vomit fest from DC-Chicago) was fantastic! We were really lucky to have such a great travel group and we had a great time & made some new friends along the way.
Ethiopia is such a wonderful country-it's beauty is breathtaking & the people are so welcoming.
Meeting Nora for the 1st time was fabulous but Ryan & I both agree that meeting Nora's birth mom was really the best part of the trip. What a wonderful, beautiful, sweet & caring woman. We were able to spend extra time with her since we gave her a ride back to her town, not much was said since we don't speak Amharic but just being with her was huge and being able to tell Nora about the time we spent with her is priceless. I am so grateful for that experience.

I will try to get my photos & videos of the trip in order and posted soon. I will also post more about our trip-I think I still need to process it, it was such a huge experience.

Ciao!

2007-08-26T22:04:00.001-05:00

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We're home.......

2007-08-26T15:16:00.000-05:00

and very sick:(

Nora is doing well.....she just has a MAJOR cold as do Ryan & I.

The trip went well except the last leg (DC to Chicago) I became VIOLENTLY ill....I vomited the entire flight & all the way through the airport & our ride home. I ended up at the ER last night where they gave me fluids and I'm better today. I will try to upload more photos and tell everyone more about our trip as soon as I am feeling a little better but here are a few to tide you over...

2007-08-22T06:25:00.000-05:00

Just dropping in briefly to say hello and give everyone an update!

Tigist is doing well, we still haven't been able to spend much time with her, other than the embassy appointment yesterday (BTW, that was a breeze and she did very well considering we had no idea what we were doing)
Tonight is the goodbye ceremony and then we take her back to the guest house with us for our 1st night together :) She is such a gorgeous & happy baby-I can't wait to post photos!

We will be home Saturday-I'll have more for you when we return!

Gotta run!!!!

We made it!

2007-08-20T01:13:00.000-05:00

We arrived safe and sound after a very very long flight!!
Nora is even cuter in person and the happiest baby ever!! We've only spent a little time with her-Wednesday we take full custody.
Don't have much time to write-we are leaving for the museum!

More later!!!!!

Go-bez

2007-08-15T21:09:00.001-05:00

I am so excited that this exhibition is coming to the College of Lake County at the end of August thru September!

The time has come...

2007-08-15T18:35:00.000-05:00

We leave tomorrow afternoon for Washington D.C. and then Friday for Ethiopia :) FRIDAY!!

I can't believe we are leaving-it's like I can't wrap my brain around it! It's really happening!!

Ryan struggled for about an hour to install the dang car seats this afternoon, all the while teasing me about my car seat because it is leopard print. He thinks it will send Nora into some sort of seizure...what's wrong leopard print? I like leopard print!

Anywhoo, we then went out for sushi as our last dinner out as a family of 2 and then headed over to Tastee-Freeze for butterscotch dipped cones..Mmmmm, yum..... But y'know what? I can't wait to have sushi & butterscotch dipped cones with my husband AND my daughter (OK, she'll have to have something cooked because, yes, I know that raw seafood isn't good for babies) BUT I can't wait for her to be here! I just can't wait!!

I will try my hardest to post at least once from Ethiopia and I'll see everyone when I return :)

FINALLY!!!

2007-08-14T15:41:00.000-05:00

YAY!!! We finally received Nora's birth certificate-she looks so much older but still is the darn cutest baby in the world!

OH MY GOSH, we leave sooooooo soon!!!!

2007-08-13T15:05:00.000-05:00

For those of you who have requested another shot of the nursery.......

T.O.P.S. Baby Shower Madness

2007-08-13T13:37:00.000-05:00

Ryan's work threw us a fantastical baby shower at The Full Slab

Really, how often can you have a baby shower at a bar? It was loads of fun and they kept the mojitos coming! Not only were Ryan's co-workers there but also quite a few of his clients. It was really sweet of everyone and it meant alot to both of us.

I was really touched that Mary Ann organized the whole thing AND managed to find some Ethiopian food to add to the menu :)

Thanks Mary Ann & TOPS!!!!

Check out some photos from the party below!

2007-08-13T13:23:00.000-05:00

The proud new papa

The proud new papa & mama!

The food-Mmmm, BBQ......AND Ethiopian food!

Ribs, pulled pork, lentils AND injera

Ryan eating coleslaw with injera (yuck!)

The cake & party favors

Gifts, gifts and more gifts!

I'm outta there!!

2007-08-12T20:37:00.000-05:00

Well, not forever..but for the next 9 weeks I AM DONE!
I have just completed my final shift before maternity leave (that still sounds weird to me) and now I am free! free!! free!!!
Don't get me wrong, I love my job and most of the people with it but it sure is a great feeling to know that I don't have to work for the next 9 weeks. It feels fan-freakin'-tastic!

Especially since today was an extra busy and annoying day.