Aw my early Xmas present!

Was being woken up at 4:45! Thanks Addis!

Miss Mimic!!

This is crazy Addis being a mimic. If you put your head on your hand, she does it too, if you sigh, she does it too, if you put your hands on your hips, she does too. It's so funny!

Walking in a winter wonderland!

Addis is so so in love with Christmas! She loves all the lights and music and is so so cute about everything. Jackson still believes in Santa and is super cute as well!
Meeting Santa's reindeer
Movie star!!!

Aww family
First time to meet Santa!!
Freaked out by Santa!
Get me AWAY from this weird man!
My Christmas angels!
Aw my baby!

Breakdown

As I was in target, hurrying to get stuff together for Addis' Christmas party, I saw the cutest little Christmas robes in Eyerusalem's size. I just burst into tears right then and there. I know my family is so so lucky to have two great kids home, but sometimes it just sucks not having her here! Last christmas I bought her a stocking, and this year I have to hang it knowing that there will be no little girl to get the presents inside. Oh I miss you sweet Eyerus!

Adorable

Jax lost his first tooth since being in America and we taught him about the tooth fairy. He was so so excited to wake up and get his money. He got up at about 6 AM and screamed "Awesome", (Thanks Gina's family). He claimed to have seen her, that she did in fact look like Tinkerbell and Addis saw her too. Then he asked, "But Mom, why does she likes the teeth?" It was the funniest thing in the world. And then he tried to give me his 3$ to buy a present for Mom. I was actually going to post this a few days after the picture post, but I felt compelled to do it ASAP as Malia's Momma called me out. Jax is doing well, I think he is just having a lot of grief about the people he left behind in Ethiopia. He doesn't know how to cope and sometimes lashes out at us. We are really working hard at showing how much he can hurt us and his little fits are farer and fewer in between. He is on a basketball team and has an amazing coach who is doing a lot of one on one work with him. He is going to go get dreads or twists or something next weekend, I'm so excited! He has been being really really affectionate towards his baby sister which just over joys me. He threw a hissy fit last night, and had to come shopping with us for 3 hours and by the end had apologized and was in a great mood. It's hard work, but I love him.

Oh Fits!

Do you want some sister?

A delicious appetizer of sour cream

Yum bean dip!

Uh oh bean dip hair

Caught in the act

trying to play it off

Our new puppy Yellow Jack. Yellow because that's what Addis named him, Jack because every dog is a Jack to Jackson in memory of his Ethiopian puppy. I know the last thing we probably needed is another dog, but he's sweet and we rescued him so what! This is Addis about to slap the crap out of him.

Then she felt remorseful so she went to give him a kiss, and when he tried to eat the bean dip out of her hair....

She slapped the crap out of him again!

My first fire roasted marshmallow YUMMERZ!

Please ignore all the crap lying around in our house. I swear mom spent every second of her 4 day weekend cleaning but someone (Addis) is a destructo baby that just makes a mess out of anything and everything.

thanks gina!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child- come on let's just call it even
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem-uh I've walked with Eyerusalem!
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Happy Thankgiving!!!

Only one of our family members will take pictures, so here you go!

A comparison

Most of you know that Addis had extreme failure to thrive when she was in Ethiopia, suffered from malnutrition, and had to be admitted into the hospital multiple times. Today I found the pictures we received from her "sick" days, and noticed how much she has grown and how great she is!
This is Addis' referral picture when she was about 1 month old and 8.5 lbs, in mid August!

This is her in October, when she was admitted into the hospital in Ethiopia. She weighed about 4 lbs when she was admitted, and this is a few days later when she has plumped up some. This isn't even her saddest picture.

Here is her first photographed laugh, in DC on her first day in America in January! She weighs about 7 lbs here.

Here is Addis now, she weighs like 26.5 lbs and is 30ish inches. She is way too smart for her own good! She has a vocab of about 30 words, loves to dance and be outside and run around. She is very spirited to say the least!
This is her riding her bad-A trike.

This is her picture from school. I love it, it's so addis! Look at the fat belly, they could have pulled her shirt down!! She looks like she is posing for a CEO picture.

Happpppy Birthday Mommy!!!

Reunited and it feels so gooood

Yes that is them in my ALL PINK ROOM REBECCA!

Or not.

Oh well, we'll be coming sooner or later eyerus!
Addy and Jax didn't pass on the first try either, why should it be simple starting now?

one year, 18 weeks

or 491 days since Eyerusalem's referral. Wow, what a special day tomorrow will hopefully be my little gobbez!!!

oooh gosh

okay mom, I realize you are like helping out the needy and stuff, but this baby is crazy. I am so not having kids for like 10 more years. She is so abusive, I have bruises from where she has punched, kicked and gotten other things to hit me with. She wouldn't eat dinner, she wouldn't go to sleep AND she wouldn't give me any kisses today! I'm pretty sure you aren't going to be able to leave her until she is like 14.

a little late

So I tried to post all these pictures a week ago and it just didn't work so here they are!
Jax climbing the rock wall

Mommy and Addy at Jackson's fall festival

Addis and her friend Zz being mischeivious





Jackson was obviously spiderman and Addis was Tinkerbell.
BTW Addis totally redeemed herself! We just woke up from a THREE hour nap, and she has eaten leftovers of my mac and cheese twice. I think we are going to go to Jackson's team's soccer game, and target today! fun fun!

omg

Is there weekend daycare?
This kid went to sleep at 9, woke up every two hours, popped up at 5:30 and hasn't stopped since.

Day two of our bonding time!

Ahhhh today we slept until 7:15!! It was so great, I kept like waking up to see if addis was okay and she was just snoring away. Last night I got to talk to mommy, and then again this morning. She is going to visit Eyerus tomorrow!! She said she misses all of us bad. Addis got to go to school late because we woke up so late, and they were having song time, and the second she walked in she just busted out dancing, it was the funniest thing! I went to my classes, went grocery shopping, came home and cleaned up. I took a nice long bath and shower. I went and got miss addis and we came home to make dinner. Note to Addis: next time I spend a hour making a delicious and healthy dinner for you, please don't throw it on the floor and refuse to eat a bite! I made homemade spinach macaroni and cheese and tuna croquettes. The croquettes were gross, the mac and cheese was delicious! We played around for a while, took a bath, cleaned up more, did the dishes and some laundry and then watched the office and then miss Adda conked out! I am actually enjoying having Addis all to myself. She is such a funny baby, and she is so happy and fun to be around.

Girls gone wild day one

Okay so today we got up at 5:30, watched the Wiggles, Higgly Town Heroes and Baby Einsteins. Addis was sweet and fun and drank a mango smoothie with her antibiotic in it. I dropped her off at school at 8, came home and studied for a test I had at 11. After my test I came home and NAPPED! For 3 hours I just slept, no one woke me up by being loud or anything it was amazing. I went and got Adda and we went to the Dr because she has a weird rash. Turns out she has a fungus again. I think she got it from day care this time! After that we went and ate and everyone was sooo enamored by Addis. We came home, talked to Jax and took a nice long bath. Now its time to play and clean up.

About the car. Okay long story but sad and funny. So my power steering has been out for like a month but I have still just been driving because there is never a good time to just leave my car at the shop for a week. I decided that I would drop it off when we were taking Jax to the airport and then just drive Mom's car while she was gone. As we pull into the airport, Mom's car dies. She thinks its because she ran out of gas so we rent a car for the night because I had a class in an hour that I HAD to get to and plan on bringing the gas the next day when we drop mom off. We get to the airport, drop of the rental car and then try to get the gas in her car. Of course it goes everywhere, but we manage to get some in. Then it just won't turn on. So mom has an hour till boarding, and we are sitting there in the parking lot of the airport basically without a car. We can't rent one because I am not old enough so we are screwed. We call Mom's business partner's wife (from her OTHER job) and she offers to come pick me and Adda up and take me to the shop to pick up my car. By this time mom has like 15 minutes till she needs to board so she finally leaves us and Renee comes and gets us. For some reason they have 3 cars so she is letting me borrow one of them because she didn't want me driving Addis around in the broken power steering car. So THAT Rebecca is the car story. That would only happen to us, thank goodness for nice people that leave work and drive all over town for us!!


PS we only had 2 poops today. When I wrote the stuff she ate yesterday I was like oh no, now I'm gunna plug her up!!

Dear mom,
we miss you bad. This sucks. Addis had 5 poopy diapers today. She wouldn't eat anything! She finally ate cheese, a banana, a smoothie and more cheese. I got her to take all her meds though. We played up/down in the bath like you said, went for a walk on her trike, and watched bee movie AGAIN. Hope we hear from you soon.

welll she's gone

As most of you know, my mommy left for Ethiopia today. Why you ask? For work. The agency she works for is going to sponsor an orphanage very close to the area shown in this video. http://www.smh.com.au/interactive/2008/world/ethiopia/index.html
So every time I am sad that she is gone for two weeks, I just need to suck it up. Jackson got shipped of to the Ellerbee's because even though he is being a good boy, he would have a bit of a problem listening to me for two weeks. Now before you start bitching about this affecting his bonding, he is proud to have a mom that cares about his country and knows he is coming home. Absence makes the heart grow fonder eh? And that leaves Adda, oh Adda. Yes, I will be taking care of her. Please pray for my sanity. This is the child who does karate kicks, beats me with large objects and doesn't like to sleep. YAY!!!

Now how does this thing work again?

sorry for the super blurriness but if you try to get a good picture of a never stopping baby on an iphone.

6 things about Grace

Finally, here are my 6 things!!

1. I was born in New Mexico and miss fresh roasted green chile in the fall more than words can adequately express. Something about the smell of fire roasting green chiles signal the beginning of fall. I cannot tolerate Tex-Mex food and usually drive to New Mexico in the fall to pick up my beloved chiles. This year is a little bit crazier than years past, so I will have to settle for mail order.

2. My daughter Miranda is my best friend ever.

3. Ties into number 1--I love any spicy food, the spicier the better. I love Thai, Mexican, New Mexican, Indian, Vietnemese, and Ethiopian of course!!

4. I hate watching movies. I become unbearably bored and antsy. I have trouble sitting still for 2 hours in the dark without being able to talk or answer my phone!!! DVD's and TiVo make it a little easier, but I still am not a huge fan of movies. I much prefer reading, I can read a good book for hours at a time. Which is weird, I guess but there it is.

5. My kids are huge spoiled brats--I am not a strict disciplinarian and always think "Ahhhh, they are only young once"! It is how I was with Miranda and how I am with Addis and Jackson. I get frustrated all the time with them, and vow to "make some changes" but somehow never quite do it. Addis has turned into "that kid" in stores and restaurants. Oh well, she is only a baby once, right?

6. My 3 favorite places in the world, the places that I can return to over and over are: Santa Fe, New Mexico--I love it, love it, love it there! Rome, Italy--Duh!!!, and Ethiopia--I love everything about Ethiopia, really I do.

There you go 6 random facts. I won't tag anyone, because all my peeps have been tagged I think.
Miranda still needs to do hers!!!!!

http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/princessandthefrog/

Go there. I might be a little biased but I think she is the prettiest princess EVER!! How exciting, and just in time to take my sisters to see it!!

omg ADDIS THE MODEL???

Okay so a doctors office contacted the place where we got Addis' homecoming pictures done for some pictures to use in their advertisement. GUESS WHO GOT PICKED???? Yep, Miss Addis Fitsum!! aww

oh Adda

This girl can dance.
and yes that is me encouraging her to "do your booty dance"

Hard to celebrate right now...

Yesterday there was a tragic accident involving a great family we are blessed to have met through the adoption process. Their youngest son, only home 5 weeks from Ethiopia, was hurt very badly in a tractor accident. Please pray and keep this family in your thoughts. I was lucky enough to meet this little boy when we picked up Jackson, and I absolutely adored him. He was sweet, and silly and so mischevious. I know he will make it through with everyone's prayers.

Jesus, Mary and Eyerusalem. Her papers have been filed.


As in Eyerus' papers have been filed.
As in she will have a court date.
As in she will be coming home.

oh lord.

our busy weekend

First, Addis got some new boots.

Theeen we had soccer practice.






Then on Saturday, Jackson got to go flying with his ESL teacher in her cutest little airplane!!!




And then he had a soccer game where he scored 3 POINTS!! They won 4-1 against a team that was playing unfair and I was really proud of them!!




Then, Mommy, Addis and I went to an adoptive families pizza party where Adda basically reeked havoc on everyone and everything there.


ANND finally i uploaded these pictures from Jackson's first day at school and my birthday.