Goodbye

Well, it is time to put the blog to rest. It's clear that I don't have time to keep it updated, considering it's been two months since my last post. A lot has happened since my last post ...

We celebrated our one year anniversary of "Gotcha Day". Kali has changed so much since we first saw her, yet she is still the feisty little girl who can hold her own with any rough and tumble boy.

Our 3 oldest kids are scattered all over the world ... Channing is still in China, but we hope to have him home soon; Landree spent six weeks in England and feels as if she will be back there again soon; Jordan is in his 5th week of Navy boot camp at Great Lakes, IL and will be graduating a month from now.

And Carson will be starting "big kids school" (Kindergarten) in a few short weeks.

But the biggest change of all since my last post ... kindergarten will be in West Texas. Yes, we are moving. Rick took a new job out west and we are moving in just one more week. Considering our house sold in only two weeks, it is clear that this move was meant to be. Life has been hectic, to say the least, trying to get all the logistics of a cross-state move (and when it's Texas, that's a big move!) in order AND continue working full time AND taking care of two little kids. Yeah, I know ... cry me a river, my own little pity party. I can't wait until all of this is over and we can settle back in to normal life. But I will miss my house and my life in North Central Texas.

I had the cutest picture of the kids waving goodbye, but alas, the picture is on my other computer which is sitting on a Bekins moving truck right now.

I know I will always keep in touch with some of the friends I have made in our adoption journey ... all the wonderful people at Gladney, Rachel, Kathy, Carol ... we will never be completely out of touch. And I know I will see many of you again at another Gladney function. New friends await in the Midland GFA as well.

Blessings to you all!

Our Munchkins

These two never cease to amaze us. They are the very best of friends and every bit brother & sister. They squabble and fight over toys and who gets to watch what on TV, with the frequent "he's touching me" or "she's looking at me" thrown in for good measure just to make sure we are listening. Then the next minute they are playing and laughing and having the best time ever. They take very good care of each other and always have each other's back. For a while, Carson seemed to be fully in charge ... deciding what they were going to play, making all the rules (and of course changing them midstream to his benefit), and ordering Kali around. But she has come into her own and she is now quite comfortable throwing her own orders around. But he's still such a great big brother to her.

Funny story from Wal Mart ... I had both kids with me one day doing a little shopping and we stopped in the kids' clothing section. Kali was riding in the kids' seat on the cart while Carson was walking with me. We picked out a few things and proceeded to the food section where we ran into my mother. We stopped to talk a minute and I noticed a shirt in the cart that I had not put there. I picked it up and asked, "Where did this come from?" Kali smiled and said, "Me!". It was a pink shirt, the right size for her, and it said in big letters on the front FUTURE PRESIDENT. Don't ask me how she managed to snag this shirt as we were walking past the rack, and in the right size no less, but it was so prophetic! Now, we just have to get rid of that silly little law that says you have to be born in the USA to be President!

The Fatal Kiss!

Thank goodness it was just my normal over-reacting! Like I said, I actually didn't think about the possible bigotry until much later in the evening, so it wasn't my first reaction at all ... but I still had to ask. I had to know! The answer ...

The assistant director actually laughed when I asked her if Kali's skin was the "issue". She assured me that they have no tolerance at the preschool for such things and that if a parent had "issue" with Kali's color, that parent would not be welcome at the daycare. In fact, she said that many of the parents are quite fond of Kali and often talk to her when they drop off their kids. Apparently, this particular little boy who has the "issue" had been at another daycare prior to this one and some things happened. She could not tell me what things ... and honestly, I didn't want to know ... but the mom now tends to over-react herself over something as innocent as a kiss from an affectionate 3 year old. But hey ... depending on what the issue from the previous daycare is, I might be just as overprotective of my children.

Whew! Now I don't have to go and beat someone up ...

The Kali and Kuri Reunion!

We meet again!

We finally got to have the long-awaited reunion of the two good buddies from Addis Ababa! Of course, it didn't quite go as we had hoped. Kuri very much remembers Kali, but Kali wasn't quite so sure about Kuri ... after all, she's been here now for almost 10 months and little 3 year old minds just don't remember too much from being 2. But it was still a really nice reunion. Kuri was a little shy at first, but by the time lunch was over, she was laughing at things and having a good time. They did NOT want to stand next to each other for a picture, so we had to trick them and take the picture when they didn't notice. Of course, smart as Kuri is, she figured out I had taken a picture and was none too happy with me.

We can't wait to get together again with the Waltons. The next time should be much easier since the girls have now become reacquainted with each other.

On a side note, I think I may have just experienced my first bout of bigotry with Kali ... I think. I am going to have to dive into this a little further and report back tomorrow. I went to pick the kids up from daycare today. They were on the playground so I stopped there first to pick them up before going into the school to get their things. One of the teachers came up to me with a strange look on her face and asked me if I had been in the office yet. Kali was sitting off to the side of the playground with a little boy and another teacher was talking to them, so I just assumed she had gotten in trouble and I asked if that was it. The teacher tells me, "Well, no, not in trouble. But she (lowered voice) kissed one of her friends today on the lips. They'll tell you about it in the office because they have an incident report for you to sign." An incident report!! for a 3 year kissing another 3 year old!! The horrors! So we head into the school to get their things, and the assistant director pulls me into a side room and quietly tells me, in a very hushed voice, that Kali had kissed one of the other students, went and played, and then came back and kissed him again, all in the span of about two minutes. I guess my face must have said it all, because she quickly tried to explain to me that this little boy she kissed "has ... umm ... issues with this." What kind of issues?? They do go to a church-based preschool, but it's Methodist, for goodness sake ... not something super conservative where kissing is only allowed between two consenting married adults! I told her that I didn't understand why it was such a big deal ... she's only 3 years old after all. There was absolutely nothing sexual about it ... she kisses her brothers on the lips too. So she tries to tell me that it really isn't a big deal, but some of the parents make it into a bigger deal than it really is. Ok, I can kind of understand that. Parents who don't know that ALL kids bite each other around the age of two make a big deal out of that too when their child happens to be on the receiving end of a bite (even though their child is probably also doing a little biting of their own). I am still a bit flabbergasted by it all and she proceeds to ask me if I am mad. I'm not mad, just a little confused. Why would they make such a big deal over a 3 year old kissing another kid, and in such hushed tones???

So I am cooking dinner this evening still in a state of confusion by it all and it hits me ... is it because she is (gasp!) B-L-A-C-K? Is that the "issue" the assistant director spoke of? If so, it has to be an issue with the parent, not the child. "Some parents make a bigger deal out of it than it really is." And the hushed tones, pulling me into a side room so as not to be overheard by another parent ...

I WILL ask about this tomorrow and report back. I sure hope I am wrong about this ...

Reunited with Belay

Gladney just celebrated their 120th Anniversary and the festivities were great. The best part of the shindig was that we got to see ALL of the wonderful Gladney people who brought our sweet Kalkidan to our family ... Ryan and Abby, Scott and Monica, Mary, and the Great Belay (or is it Saint Belay?? inside joke). Even got to spend the evening chatting with Piper's mom, Rachel Elliott. So sorry that we didn't meet up with you guys again on Saturday, Rachel. Soccer interferred. And we missed the Kali/Kuri reunion ... I just knew that the Waltons would be catching up from jetlag. Drat and double drat!! But we'll have that reunion very soon.

A Letter to Ethiopia

Dear Children,

Your prayers have been answered!!! If all goes as planned, meet your new family.

The Wolfe Family

We know you will love being Wolfe cubs!

With all the love in Texas,
Rick, Becky, Landree, Channing, Jordan, Carson and Kali

Look what we got!

Such a beautiful surprise we received last week from our sweet Aschalew! Scott and Emily Lydick returned from Ethiopia just a few weeks ago and brought this beautiful oil painting for us from Aschalew. He had a friend paint this from a photo he had. If you look closely, you'll see the elephants in the bottom right corner ... we were at the Ft Worth Zoo.

This painting will definitely take a place of honor in our home once we have it framed! What a wonderful tribute from one of the kindest, sweetest young men we have ever met! And a very special thanks to Scott and Emily for bringing this home to us ... even when the airport officials made you take it off of it's frame.

On the home front, we have a comedy team on our hands. These two kids keep us in stitches. I know I keep saying that it is amazing how well Kali speaks English now, but it is true. People who now meet her would never know that English was not her first language and that she has only been immersed in English for 8 months. So, she has re-discovered Dora and Diego. The little girl who previously could not sit through 5 minutes of any other TV program or movie will now sit and watch Dora or Diego videos for hours ... that is, if we allowed it. It is the first thing she asks for when she wakes up in the morning, the first thing she asks for after school, and the last thing she asks about when she goes to sleep ..."Tomorrow, I can watch Dora?" She interacts with everything they say and ask and she can even count to 5 in Spanish now ... except for the 3 ... she jumps straight from dos to cuatro. And then tres pops in after cinco. But hey ... 3 languages now! Aschalew would be jealous ... he asks me to teach him more Spanish in every letter he sends.

Anyway, last night we took them to see a show and got into an interesting conversation in the car on the way home. We decided that we would all have a race today to see who was fastest, and Dad and Carson began a battle of words ...

Dad: "Hey Carson, my friends call me Lightning."
Carson: "Well, my friends call me Speedy the Racer."
Kali: "My friends call me Dora!"

What a character! Rick has decided he is going to handcuff Kali to the couch when she turns 16 and make her watch a marathon of Dora videos so she knows what we have been going through now!

Hair & Skin

I know that I, like many people adopting African or African American children, panicked at the very thought of caring for the hair and skin of these beautiful children. After considerable trial and error, and some great advice from other women, we have hit on some things that work for us. Thought I'd share what we have learned.

Hair: We wash Kali's hair only once a week with a normal tearfree baby shampoo. After washing, we put a good quality conditioner in her hair (we've been using Pantene for curl definition), comb it through, let it sit in her hair for a few minutes and then rinse. Those little curls just perk right up after this washing and her hair is sooooooo soft!! Throughout the rest of the week, I will get it wet every other day and spray a good leave-in conditioner in it before it dries. I have been using Carol's Daughter Black Vanilla. It's a little pricey, but it too leaves Kali's curls very soft ... and it smells really good too! And that's it. As for hair styles, her hair is still pretty short so we're not at the braiding stage yet. Most mornings it's a headband or a few barrettes. On weekends when we have more time, she may get puffs, but she really doesn't like it when I put puffs in. I think she prefers the natural, care-free afro!

Skin: Kali has very dry skin. We do give her a bath every night and use baby wash for cleaning. But we have to immediately lotion her up after her bath to keep her skin from getting too dry. I've run the gamet on trying to find the right lotion ... my personal favorites for myself have always been Lubriderm and Aveeno, but neither of those worked for Kali. In the mornings her skin would just be too dry. I finally hit on Eucerin Plus. This one works very well, but I have to warn you ... it is very greasy. Now I use Gold Bond Ultimate with Shea Butter. This one is not greasy at all and it keeps Kali's skin very soft and supple. I like this one the very best!

Face: This poor little thing has not been able to get over a cold and allergies for at least the past 3 weeks. Her nose has been running like a faucet, it seems like forever. Needless to say, with all of the nose wiping, the skin under her nose and around her mouth had become EXTREMELY dry, to the point of being flaky. I advise against putting any kind of regular hand or body lotion on your child's face ... it will make their face break out. So I hit the face products aisle at Wal Mart. Do you know how hard it is to find a good face lotion that isn't supposed to be geared toward fine lines and wrinkles? Don't think I need to worry about that with this little girl for quite some time. I tried Aveeno, I tried Neutrogena, I tried Oil of Olay, I tried the Wal Mart brand ... I even tried the good stuff, Estee Lauder. None of it seemed to work. So here's the funny part ... I remembered that Vitamin E is very good for your skin and for helping scars heal. Wouldn't you know it, it's also much less expensive than any face product ... and it worked! Just a drop applied to her skin once a day and after just a few days, the dryness and flaky skin was gone! Her nose is still running, but that's another issue altogether!

Just a few side notes ... Kali has a tendancy to get these small warts, called molluscum, on her face and neck. She had several on her eyelid and the edge of her lip when we first met her that she soon scratched off. Over the past 8 months, new ones developed on her chin and her neck. The pediatrician kept telling us these were nothing to worry about, and everything I read tells me that this is quite common in children and eventually goes away. But still, it drove me crazy to see these things, seemingly getting bigger every day, on her pretty little face. Thankfully, she did end up scratching them off on her face and now we only have one left on her neck. I asked Belay about these when we were in Ethiopia and he too said that it is very common ... and he suggested using Compound-W to get rid of them. On her face??? NOT!! I hope new ones don't develop, but at least I now know that when they go away, there is no discernible scar left after they heal. The other item is the ringworm ... another common little pest. Kali got this lovely fungus right in the middle of her forehead ... a week before picture day at the daycare too!! Lotrimin ... works wonders!! Even says it right on the label ... "for ringworm". Keep some in the medicine cabinet ... you just never know.

Happy hair and skin care!!

3 days of Kinfe kids ...

I don't know where to start. The Kinfe kids are smiling! They don't know why yet, but trust me ... they're smiling! I suppose I should start at the beginning ... sometimes not as much fun as starting at the end, but I'll let the suspense build ...

We have been thinking a lot lately about our dear teenagers in Ethiopia. We sent Christmas presents for them with a very nice family who was kind enough to take our heavy boxes with them in their suitcases. We haven't heard yet whether they were able to deliver the gifts ... hope that they weren't confiscated at the Addis Ababa airport! Those guards might look awfully silly wearing the pink and purple toe socks we sent for the girls!

Anyway, back to the story. I think about Aschalo and his living conditions at Kolfe Boys Home quite often. I remembered reading some great news about plans for Kolfe and the boys on Eileen Mestas' blog and decided to catch up on my overdue blog stalking (check out her two posts from January 8th). So on Wednesday, I sent Eileen an email asking some questions about Kolfe and, specifically, Aschalo. I was checking my email the next day to see if Eileen replied (she did ... thank you!), and there in my inbox is an email from a new friend of this past summer when the kids were with us, Melani. Melani mentions to me that her parents are in Addis now for some mission work and they will be checking in with the Kinfe kids and will let us know how they are doing. Thank you so much, Melani!

Ok, stick with me here. I'm getting to the really good stuff. Today, day three, I am at my work desk eating my lunch and typing a reply to Melani (I promise, my bosses ... I was on my lunch hour!) when my husband calls me. He just happened to take the afternoon off from work today and was home to receive a phone call from Scott Brown of Gladney. Scott gave Rick some fantastic news ... no, the kids have not been adopted yet, but they are now well on their way! The adoption expenses for Aschalo, Genet and Yesalemush are no longer an issue for the lucky family that will step forward to bring these children home!

Ever heard of David Nasser? We had not until this afternoon. Landree had ... we had dinner with her this evening and asked her if she had ever heard of him. She looked at us warily and said, "Yes ... why? I just ordered his book yesterday." Yesterday we did not know who these people are, but today David and Jennifer Nasser are the two most wonderful people on the face of this earth! What a gift they and the students of Liberty University have gathered for these kids! This is truly amazing! Sorry folks ... you're just gonna have to click on the link to get it all. I don't think I could do the story justice if I tried to repeat it myself. All of the details have not been worked out quite yet ... all of this happened only yesterday ... but the current plan is to pay all adoption expenses for these kids and possibly put some away for their education.

Anyone who ever has anything bad to say about the youth of America these days had better not say anything to me!

And now to finish the story. The mail came today and we received a beautiful letter from Genet and Yesalemush. The end of the letter ...

"We are so busy, we spend our time by study. Many children are finish their process and goes to U.S.A. we are very sad. Every day we pray to God to help us to get a family from Texas. We ask you again don't forget us to find a family to adopt us."

My dear children, you are NOT forgotten!!!

And for the non-Texans, I'll interpret ... "a family from U.S.A"

We know the day is just around the corner now when we will receive that next call from Scott telling us that the Kinfe kids are coming home! Anyone who knows me knows that I am not the most spiritual person they've ever met, but that doesn't mean I am not a believer. I believe in the goodness of people and I find myself believing with all of my heart that God has had his hand in this one. Three solid days of Kinfe kids on the mind and heart, and oh what a happy almost-ending!!

As the song says, "... the rest is still unwritten."

Sharing Christmas

Making Christmas cookies is much more fun when you eat the flour too!

I see Mary and one of the Three Wisemen

Opening presents with Aunt Sandy at the Page Christmas




Are these Halloween costumes for next year? Cool bath towels! Thanks Aunt Sandy and Uncle Terry!

And not to be outdone, Landree gets into the act too!

The proverbial "kids table", Christmas Eve with the Kleins.

This bag ought to have LOTS of stuff in it since it's almost as big as me!

Wait! Carson still sees one more thing way down at the bottom of the bag!

Can you believe these two are twins? Cousins Merrick and Rowan.

These kids had more fun playing with the babys' toys than their own!

When I grow up I want to be a welder just like my brother, Channing!

Yeah, but Kali and Channing won't be the ONLY welders in the family!

Christmas morning with my two favorite guys ... Daddy and Monkey George!

It is so hard to believe that it has been 6 months already since Kali became part of our lives. I have started following some of the other Gladney Ethiopian blogs again and it's all coming back to me ... the joy of referral day; the excitement of traveling to Africa; the overwhelming anticipation waiting at the hotel for our daughter to be brought to us; the look of sheer terror and utter confusion on her face. Too many adjectives? How about the longing to be home once you have your child in your arms; the fear of not knowing what to do now that you have your child in your arms; the doubt and wondering if you've done the right thing; the dread of the long flight(s) home; the exhaustion once you are home; and then real life resumes. Except now there's an additional little person(s) in your life and now you have to learn about each other ... difficult, exciting, scary, rewarding, frustrating, and downright fun sometimes.

Being on the other side of the hill now, it's fun to look back and follow the blogs of the parents still climbing that hill ... and I mean that in the nicest of ways! We made it over the top and we're doin' great! That's not to say that it's all downhill from here ... we still have puberty, driving lessons, dating, and applying for college to get through!

I read an article in an adoption magazine some time ago that stuck with me. The author, the mom, seemed quite offended when people would notice her daughter of a different race and make comments, NICE comments, about her and completely ignore her other biological children. She wanted to scream back to these people, "what about these kids here ... chopped liver!?" I have to admit I've noticed that people pay much more attention to Kali than Carson and make comments about how cute she is ... but let's think about it for a minute. She does kind of stand out when we're all together. And she is beautiful, so I really can't blame them for saying so. If people notice this beautiful African flower in a lily white field, would I rather have them say something nice like "Oh how pretty she is!", or something nasty? No brainer! So, even though Carson too is a beautiful child, it doesn't bother me a bit when folks notice Kali and say something NICE about her!! As a matter of fact, in the 6 months that we've had Kali, we have not had one negative experience or comment from other people. Knock on wood ...

Not much of anything new to report on Kali. She is a normal little 3 year old girl ... she likes to wear dresses (especially the kind that swirl really big when she turns around in circles), she likes to mimic her brother, she changes her mind every other day about what she likes and dislikes, she likes to whine when she doesn't get her way, she wants to do EVERYTHING herself, and she wants to help you do everything too. Listening to her talk, nobody would ever believe that she didn't speak a word of English 6 short months ago ... she is a chatterbox deluxe! The most shocking thing that has happened ... she loves one of the dogs! Phoebe, our yellow lab, is her best buddy now. Every day before we leave for school, she leans down and gives Phoebe a hug and kiss. 6 months ago she was convinced that Phoebe was going to eat her! She's still afraid of every other dog she meets, from the biggest doofus dogs to the smallest puppies. One of these days she'll figure it all out and she'll probably grow up to be a veterinarian ... or a ballroom dancer so she can have all those cool swirly dresses!

It's a small world after all ...

Remember this picture? This is one that our Gladney caseworker, Mary, sent to us after visiting Addis and giving Kali our gift. The little girl on the right is Kali's best friend, Kuri. We were told that Kali was so quiet and shy and Kuri was the only one in the orphanage Kali would talk to. Those Gladney people ... I think God must have a direct telephone line straight to their doors. Kuri is being adopted by a family who lives only about 40 miles away from us!!! Check out the Walton's new blog to follow their journey http://onemorewalton.blogspot.com/

Merry Christmas to all!

Thanksgiving snow in North Texas!!

Kali and "Aunt" Cathy catching snowflakes

What a shocker! Sitting around the living room watching football after the turkey gorge, and someone yells, "It's snowing!" Kali got to experience snow for the first time and she loved it. No snowman yet ... it was a wet snow that didn't stick, but she and Carson were able to get a few little snowballs out of the accumulation on the cars. And Jordan thought he had to go to Wisconsin to see some snow for Thanksgiving!

This is Kali's new hair. I know, I know ... it doesn't look much different than before. We had about 1/2 of the length taken off, so no more Afro Puffs for a while. This short hair is so much easier to deal with. Just wet it down in the mornings, spray a little leave-in conditioner, pick out and go! Maybe that's why I keep mine short too ... add a blow dryer and take away the pick, though.

Every time we both look at Kali, we can't help but think of the difference between the little girl we brought home and the little girl we have now. Every day she adds more to her vocabulary and she is such a chatterbox ... fits right into my side of the family! She smiles and laughs all the time and those beautiful little eyes just sparkle. We have learned how to divert her almost-tantrums now ... distraction works wonders! All I have to do is get her talking about something else and she forgets all about what made her upset in the first place. It takes a lot of patience (and I will admit that this is something I run short of more often than I would like) and trial-and-error to find out what works. I hope we have hit on something now that will work for quite a long time. Of course, we still have the drama ... oh, the drama! One would think her leg was being cut off when she gets the slightest little booboo! And when she gets mad at us, she starts crying for anyone, and I mean ANYONE, who is not in the immediate area. It was her Papa, it was her sister Landree, and more recently it was her teacher, Alicia! The one that had us laughing the hardest was when she was crying for her little 3 year old friend from daycare, Lily!

But the best part of having Kali ... when she grabs my face and says "I love you, Mommy" just right out of the blue.

We are both completely in love with our daughter! Because of this, I can now say what I am about to say and be comfortable with it. I have always tried to be honest in this blog, so here goes.

I was very disappointed in myself when it was not love at first sight with Kali. I was even more disappointed when the love did not seem to come for some time. I didn't want to talk about it for a while ... I thought there was something wrong with me, or that maybe we had jumped into adoption too soon. I certainly didn't want to write about it in my blog ... what would people think of me? "What a witch, not loving that precious little girl!" Don't get me wrong ... I always wanted to take care of her and protect her - that maternal thing - but I just wasn't prepared for the lack of affection that I had for this child. I know we have all had the fantasies of seeing our children for the first time and having them immediatey love us and us love them. Even though I knew this was just a fantasy, I couldn't help but wonder if it still couldn't happen that way ... but it didn't. Maybe it was having biological children of my own already, whom I absolutely adore, and then adopting; maybe it was adopting a toddler rather than an infant; or maybe it was neither of these and it was just me.

But then I did start talking about it to friends and family, and I found out that maybe I wasn't so weird after all. Maybe it was more normal than I thought not to have that instant love with this new little person in my life. And then it happened. I can't say exactly when, but sometime in the past 6 months, I fell in love with my daughter! I am pretty sure it happened sooner for Rick, and I must say that I am a little envious of that. Now I find myself doing the same things to her that I do to Carson ... stroking her hair or cheek, rubbing her back when she is sitting next to me, kissing her for no reason at all. When I tell her that I love her, it comes straight from my heart and I know that I mean every breath of those 3 words! So, for those of you who may be experiencing this same situation, you're not weird. Just be patient ... it happens. For those of you who bonded instantly and felt that love from the moment you first laid eyes on your sweet children, be thankful for that blessing!

So on this first Thanksgiving with our new daughter and our newly formed family of seven, I am most thankful for the mysterious and wonderful way that love works its miracles in our hearts!

Happy Thanksgiving from the Page Family!

I hear they all do it ...

What is it with kids and scissors and their hair? I managed to raise one who never cut his own hair ... that is, not until he was 18 and decided to use the dog clippers to shave his head ... does that count? I remember when my 18 year old neice was small and decided she didn't want bangs anymore ... clip ... that's one way to get rid of them! So I'm warning all of you parents of young children ... hide ALL the scissors, even the dull ones that you think couldn't cut water ... they probably still work on hair!

In addition to cutting his own hair ... big chunk, right in the middle above his forehead (if you look closely at the picture, you can kind of see the semi-bald spot) ... Carson decided it would be fun to cut Kali's hair too. Let's put it this way ... she no longer has a widow's peak! I had to cut Carson's hair extra short to try to blend his work into the rest (I still think Rick secretly put Carson up to this just so I would be forced to give him the shaved head 1950's farmboy look he so wants our son to have!), but there was no way I was going to attempt to tackle those curls of Kali's. So today she got her first haircut ... well, her first haircut with us. After 11 months of growing hair (her head was shaved sometime around January of this year at the orphanage) and 5 months of me longing for it to grow faster so we could start braiding it, we're back to tight little curls. I have to admit, though, it looks really cute short. She looks so chic! No picture yet ... maybe tomorrow.

And we no longer own a pair of scissors ... maybe I should hide the weedeater and hedge clippers in the garage too ...

Happy Halloween!!

The Queen and King of Hearts!

Happy Autumn!!

From Ethiopian Princess ...

... to American Diva!

After we had Carson, I would jokingly think that the hospital switched babies on me. After all, how in the world did I, with brown eyes and brown hair, get a tow head with blue eyes?? Now it's deja vu ... I don't think we have an Ethiopian little girl! With her almond shaped eyes and big chubby cheeks, Kali doesn't seem to possess the traditional Ethiopian features. But here's the clincher ... she is so warm natured, she refuses to sleep under her covers. She will kick them off every single time you try to cover her up. And when she gets out of bed, her little arms and legs will be like ice from the air conditioning, but she swears she isn't the least bit cold. For those of you who have already been to Ethiopia, you get this ... all those people wandering around in mid 70 degree weather wearing coats and scarves and bundling up! For those of you yet to travel to Ethiopia, you'll get it once you see all those babies bundled up like little Eskimo babies.

Poor Carson. One can tell he is definitely the product of older parents. He is playing T-ball with other 3 and 4 year olds through the Boys & Girls Club. First, it is clear that these kids are waaaay too young to be playing any kind of organized sports. It's not competitive in the least ... there are no outs, no score keeping, and every kids gets to bat twice. But when some of the 3 year olds are crying and refusing to go out on the field, and others are just leaving the field to go play on the nearby swingset, yes ... they are too young. This is all for the parents, not for the kids. As for Carson having older parents ... he is the only one on the team without his own bat bag, baseball bat, and batting helmet. We bought him a glove and that's all. But I certainly can't throw stones ... I bought all that stuff for Jordan when he first started playing ball too. Just a little bit older and wiser now ...

HAPPY AUTUMN!

Pink ribbons everywhere!

I can't believe it ... this disease has hit close to home now. My cousin's wife, Kim Klein, was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year. Kim and Randy have 3 children and Kim has been going to law school to finish her education. Even though they have insurance, the out of pocket expenses are still staggering. Kim started a blog to chronicle her journey through breast cancer, and now her blog has been chosen as one of 20 finalists for a $10,000 scholarship!

Please take a look at Kim's blog (http://blawgcoop.com/lawmom/) and help her win this honor and the money to continue with law school. And please add Kim and her family to your prayer list. With all the love we have in this Ethiopian adoption community, I am sure there is room left for one Law Mom who needs our support and encouragement!

What a week!

Attorney Susan Paquet, Carson & Daddy, Judge Catterton, Kali & Mommy

Kali is officially ours now according to the U.S. government! There is only one more step to this whole process and that is to apply for U.S. citizenship for her. But you'll never be able to convince Kali that she is not an American already ... Wednesday evening, after she took her baby doll to the doctor and the dentist (both have offices in our front yard under the mesquite tree apparently), she took her doll stroller, turned and waved to me and said, "Bye, Mommy. I go to Wa-Mart."

For those of you in the DFW area, I do recommend using Susan Paquet as your adoption attorney. She is the one recommended by Gladney. She is very efficient and just gets it done. It did feel a little strange, though, meeting our attorney for the first time 30 minutes before going into the courtroom. Other than the courtroom appearance, which took all of 30 minutes for the 5 families adopting that morning, everything was handled over the phone and through the mail. And the total out-of-pocket was much less than we expected too. It was totally painless!

Carson has his first t-ball game on Saturday morning. He is only 4 so it isn't Little League. This is through the Boys & Girls Club. He had his one and only practice Thursday night and it was hilarious! At this age, they are not taught positions yet. They're just all stuck out in the outfield and it is a free-for-all when that ball is hit! Whoever gets the ball first gets to throw it in ... and probably got a knee in the eye too when going after the ball with all 8 other boys! It is a sight to see and I can't wait to see how a real game goes. Go Team Spiderman!!

To my family and friends, you may want to sit down for this one. My BIG baby boy, Jordan, has officially joined the NAVY!!!

We sure didn't see this one coming when he announced his intentions to us a month ago. But we are very proud of him and his decision to follow this path. He signed with the Navy on Thursday of this week and will be going to CTN school (Cryptologic Technician Networking). He is very "stoked" about this and cannot wait to begin this phase of his life. I now proudly display a "Proud Parent of a SAILOR" sticker on the back window of my car. Jordan, you rock!!!

Attitude Galore!!

I agree with Rachel, it is getting harder to blog. Not only are there fewer hours in the day than there ever used to be (yes, I promise!), but it's just hard to blog about normal every day life.

But there is still one thing I can talk about ... ATTITUDE! I thought raising boys was tough, but I had no idea what tough was until I had a girl. And it doesn't matter what country a girl was born in, a girl is a girl is a girl the whole world over and they all come with attitude galore! It's in the "Born a Girl for Dummies" handbook, Chapter 1, titled "Diva-licious"!

I recently ran into a friend who also raised only boys. She is now raising her 3 year old granddaughter. We found out that we now have a lot in common ... a little princess who insists upon being queen of the house! Kali is the most stubborn little creature that I have ever run across in my life. She can be sweet and loving one moment, and totally defiant in the next. I hate to put a stain on the fairer sex of the world, especially since I am one of them, but I firmly believe that the attitude has everything to do with those double X chromosomes and the hormones going bonkers in her little body (yes, I am convinced now that the hormones appear waaaayyy earlier than the teen years in girls!) and nothing to do with adoption transition. You know the wet noodle thing that all kids do when they get upset? That's Kali every time you want her to do something that she does not want to do. She gives you that glare that says "Make me!" and when you try to pick her up, you get wet noodle and major attitude. And the biggest cut-down she can think of when she is mad at you is "You're not my friend!"

Ok, so we want our girls to have some attitude and be able to handle themselves, right? I much prefer that she wait until she's grown and take that attitude out on someone else!

Surprisingly, she has not a touch of grace. If it can fall out of her mouth, it will. If it can spill and make a mess, it will. And if more can get on her clothes than in her mouth, it will. But I suppose we'll have to let her slide on this for a while ... after all, she was used to eating with her fingers and is only now getting the hang of using utensils. And to be honest, it is kind of funny. She will drop the candy out of her mouth at least 3 times before finishing it, and that's just from opening her mouth to talk!

On the bright side, her English is soooo good. She is quite the chatter box. We still have a bit of trouble understanding her here and there, but all we have to do is ask Carson what she said ... you know that they all speak the same language when they are under 5 years old anyway. And she still has that smile that lights up the whole room and a giggle that makes us all want to break into fits of laughter.

We will be visiting the Tarrant County Family Court on Wednesday of this week to make Kali an official American! She will no longer be Kalidan Rickey Page, she will become Kalkidan Faye-Sophia Page. She will have a birth date of 08/22/04 instead of 08/22/05. But the best part is that she will be ours according to the US Government as well as the Ethiopian Government! Add one more to the inheritance ... like there will be any!

It may take time, but she will learn ... I am the queen of the house and I will win all power struggles! It took her daddy a while to learn that one too!

More breakthroughs ...

The Tatoo Twins

Kali is definitely going to be a surgeon when she grows up ... she insists upon washing her hands all the way up to the elbow!

Breakthrough #1:

Kali always wanted to have exactly what Carson had, whether it was something to eat, a toy, anything. We know that most of this came from not knowing the language, so she would just say the same thing Carson would say. The other part of this mix, though, was thinking that she was missing out on something great if she didn't get exactly what her brother did. In the past few weeks, Kali actually asked for something different for breakfast than what Carson was having! I know this sounds trivial, but we really thought that this was a good milestone! Not only does she understand the language better and is figuring out what she likes and dislikes, she is starting to separate herself from Carson!

Breakthrough #2:

And another milestone in the language department ... as part of our bedtime routine, I read the kids two books every night right before bedtime. Carson had been picking out the books because Kali wouldn't sit down to listen anyway. She didn't understand what I was saying, so why should she sit and listen? She was allowed to play in the room while I read, but she couldn't leave the room. Now Carson picks out one book and Kali picks out one book ... and she actually sits and listens to the book! She likes to turn the pages for the most part, but while waiting to turn the page, she listens to the story and will even make comments when she hears something she recognizes!

Little things that mean so much to us as parents!

Teenager Update

Remember them? Oh how I wish I had good news to report. Sadly, our joy in having Kali as part of our lives is often overshadowed by the heartbreak that these children still do not have a forever family. We received letters today from Genet and Yesalemush. This is the second set of letters that we have received from them since their return to Ethiopia in mid July. These new letters are even more heartwrenching than the first set. The girls are so sweet and mention everyone by name, even remembering that Kali was going to have a birthday and wishing her a Happy Birthday. But their sadness at not having a family is so painful to read. Yesalemush writes, "Please try and be fast the paper and try to be fast to pick me out from Ethiopia to USA."

We thought the children knew that we were not adopting them, that we were truly just a host family for them for their stay here in Texas. But then, at the end of their time here, we found out that ALL the children were told that their "families" were only host families, even those whose families were already committed to adopting them. And then they also saw that most of the kids from last year's camp were indeed adopted. So what are they supposed to think? Of course they think that we are adopting them! How are we now supposed to tell them that we are not in a position to adopt them?

Even if there is a family out there who is meant to have these children, we know that the process takes time. But we can't help but feel that we've done nothing but give them false hope by bringing them here in the first place.