Wednesday, June 16, 2010

We're HOME!




Well, we made it! We're finally home with our beautiful daughters in tow. They are a delight. I am a bit out-of-my-league with a girl older than I expected, and am just getting used to life with a toddler around as well (showers? computer time? What the heck are those???). However, it has been fun discovering the sugar and spice of life. They are definitely girls, and immediately went through the closet and counted shoes. Tse picked out the frilliest dress I had bought for her and refused to take it off all day. She played out on the swing and attempted to ride Noah's bike, with flowing blue satin billowing around her. I bit my tongue and let her enjoy it.

The boys seem to enjoy their new sisters, for the most part. Wyatt is saddened that he is not the oldest (Tsegereda is formally eight years old, as we were told that her birth year would be 2004 on her Ethiopian birth certificate and instead it showed 2002!), but he is beginning to realize that he is still the oldest son and his sisters need a lot of guidance in this crazy world we've dropped them in. Noah is feeling a bit jealous and I think he is searching for his place in the new family dynamic. He's feeling like a third wheel, but I think as soon as he realizes that if he focuses attention on Rodas, he'll find his place as a big brother. Rodas loves to be held and played with and she and Noah could tell stories to each other all day long (neither of course understanding what the other one is saying...but the telling is what is important for each). Tse is very academic and loves to write--she can write a number of English words (including all our family names)--but she is afraid of school. I think as her English gets better and we are able to socialize her a little more with American peers, that fear will not be so strong.

Both girls love water and want to swim very badly (I gave them what appeared to be their first warm water bath on Sunday and they LOVED it). Tse saw pictures of Wyatt at the swim pool and asks a lot when she can go. I guess a trip to the wave pool is in order. We're trying to introduce things slowly and have kept them home quite a bit, so this might be a fun excursion for them.

There have been bumps, and we know the journey will likely get rougher before it smooths out. We are dealing with girls that have not known a lot of authority in their lives, very little consistency (coming to America has been their fifth move) and who expected America to be full of dresses and dreams come true. What they know of family is that family leaves you and so we have our work cut out for us proving them wrong about that. The pouting and the demanding and the tantrums will fade away (hopefully!!!), but I hope they do see that our guidance and rules are an expression of our love and that America is a land where dreams come true but that one must work hard to make it happen. It is our commitment to show them that we will not leave them and will be behind them as they search for their dreams.

Sugar and spice. Yup, that pretty much sums them up. Blessed are we for the family we are becoming.


Wednesday, June 2, 2010

It's Time!

Bags are packed. There are still loose ends, but I guess we're as ready as we'll ever be...

Addis here we come!

We will fly out in the morning to Denver then D.C. We will overnight in D.C. then catch the morning flight straight to Addis Ababa (15 hours) and arrive in Addis at 8:00 a.m. Ethiopia is 9 hours ahead of MST. We will actually wait in the Addis airport for the day and catch a flight to Mekele that afternoon. The care center where the girls spent this past year is there and the girls supposedly come from that region, so we want to do all that we can to catch a glimpse of part of their roots. They deserve that. We have one full bag loaded with donations for the care center there.

We will return to Addis on Monday morning and will meet our daughters on Tuesday morning. From that moment on, they are permanently in our care.
Wahoooo! I CAN'T WAIT! (0;

We will leave for home Friday evening and fly into SLC late Saturday night. We will overnight in SLC and head home Sunday morning. We are hoping to keep visitors to a minimum--not because we don't want all our friends and family to meet our beautiful daughters, but due to attachment issues. The girls have had a number of transitions in their short lives and will likely view this change as just one more transition. It may take a while for them to realize that this is HOME. We are their FAMILY. FOREVER. Meeting a lot of new people may confuse the process of them attaching to our family. Meeting lots of new people and suddenly being dropped in the middle of American society may cause massive over-stimulation. Any visitor is likely to be viewed as a potential person to come take them away to another orphanage. Without having properly attached to us, the introduction of Friend or Grandma or Uncle means nothing to them. Nothing, at least, until they truly see me as Mom and Colt as Dad and Wy and Noah as their brothers. We haven't a clue of what will happen after we bring them home, because it is up to them and their history and their ability to adapt. And it is up to our ability to recognize and facilitate their ability to attach to us.

I will write more on this after we bring them home...when reality is in our laps and we know our daughters a little better. I just wanted to warn those that if you do not see the girls in church or are not invited immediately over after we come home, please don't take it personally. We still love you and you will meet our daughters, just give us a few weeks to get to know each other.

THANKS!


A few have asked for some phrases/words in Tigrinya to help them communicate with the girls. I have written a few below. Keep in mind, most words have two to four versions depending on who you are speaking to (male, female, male plural, female plural, plural formal, etc.). It's not easy! I have just included the female version as that is who you are talking to in our case.

Tigrinyan Primer:

Hello: Selam
Good-bye: Dehan kunee
Welcome: Merhaba
Yes: Uway
No: ayknonen
Please: bejakee
Thank you: yekanyeley
How are you?: Kemay alekee?
My name is...: Shemay ..... iyu
I don't understand: ayeterede-anen


I will add more later, but now I think we're ready to head to SLC. I will try to update the blog while in Ethiopia--there is Internet service, but the power is unreliable.

Thanks to all for your love and support...heeeere weeeeeee GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...