pictures because I am too lazy to post anything else

today's quote

me- "anteneh does your tooth still hurt, do you want to still go to the dr.?"
Teneh- "Well, today I am busy busy, doctor tomorrow okay?"
how cute is he???

Things are looking up here

Sorry it's been so long since posting. Its just that so much happens every day that when I finally have time to post I am overwhelmed. Anteneh is doing really really well. He hasn't thrown a fit since Sunday!!! Just a few little early morning pouts about stupid things like not being able to wear soccer shoes to camp but typical stuff for kids his age. He started day camp at addis' school and he loves it. He gets so excited about going and gets so worn out it's better for us that he isn't just bored sitting around. He is getting more comfortable around us, and we are really starting to actually have fun as a family. We also got a puppy because Anteneh had to leave his childhood dog Jack back in Ethiopia. The new Jack is about 8 weeks old, a pain in the you know what. He came to us pretty much house broken but now just likes to go on the floor for fun. He eats EVERYTHING in sight but oh well, he'll grow out of it. His mom was a great pyrenees (sp?) and i think his daddy was a german shepherd or something. He and addis are hilarious together. She likes to beat the crap out of him and pull his tail, and he just takes it. okay so we have some pictures. Mostly of my walking little angel in her adoooorable texas tech shirt. We went to the mall today and got anteneh his first pair of abercrombie jeans, he was apprehensive then tried them on and was like oh yeah i look good. and he did! So so cute. He is so skinny with the cutest little butt!! I will take a picture of him in his new clothes later but he is watching Mortal Combat right now and can't be bothered. Please excuse the mess, snot, scratches, slobber etc.

today is the day

that I may very well lose my friggin mind

today's pout

only lasted 2 hours and ended in anteneh apologizing to mom. YAY progress!!

ahh the overnight pout

How fun you are

Edit:
Here's the story, Monday was great, perfect. Anteneh even said "Monday good, Sunday not so Good," then the crap hit the fan. He was eating an apple and teasing Addis with it. Mom said 4 times to stop and he wouldn't. He became indignant threw the apple on the floor and ran to try to leave on his bike. Mom went after him and grabbed him because last time he ran off we couldn't find him so he isn't allowed to leave the house during his pouting fits. He was fighting her, Addis was screaming and I was just trying to wash the dishes to keep the peace. Then I took Addis, and Anteneh made 3 or 4 more attempts to flee (Damn you 3 exits in our house). We told him he could go to the basement, to his room, to mom's room but he just couldn't go outside because it's not safe. She tried "time-in" and literally was having to drag him into her room. Then he locked her out. She was like oh hell no and he left and finally we were like okay you can leave and I opened the garage door, let him get about two steps out and got in my car to follow him. I don't care if he is mad and "hates us" at that moment, I just keep imagining him running away and getting kidnapped or hit by a car or something horrible like that. I followed him for about 5 minutes then he got tired of it and went back inside. He ran into his room, Mom was freaking out and starts calling every "adoption expert" (aka other older children adopters), and ethiopians we know. Finally someone hooks us up with a random Ethiopian lady who starts talking to him. At first he won't listen but then he realizes she's speaking in Amharic and talks to her. She basically told him that we love him and it's okay to be mad but you can't leave the house because there are people who want to hurt you. Then he continued pouting, doing things to annoy us, being loud while addis was asleep and the such. Finally when I was going to bed I asked him if he wanted to sleep with me and I got the shoulder shrug (oh I HATE the shoulder shrug) and he came and slept with me. He woke up in the same pissy mood wouldn't talk or look at mom. I had a horrible migraine so I took some meds, slept it off and when I woke up he was fine. Hungry but fine.

THEEEEN the basically same thing happened last night but with a dinner roll and our dog. He was teasing her with it and mom told him no he ran away wouldn't eat dinner kept shoulder shrugging at us. Finally about 3 hours into it he came into mom's room and apologized so yay it didn't last all day!

Birthday Pictures!!

YAY I LOVE BIRTHDAY DINNERS


The infamous "Ethiopian pouting" we keep hearing about

OMG a cash register!

For me??


oooh that's what you do with it.


omg omg this is sooo good

it took 3 q-tips and a shower/bath to clean up this ear.

Happy Birthday Angel

Happy first birthday to Miss Addis Fitsum Tesfaye Pruitt. You are everything I ever wanted in a little sister. You are the meanest, funniest, loudest, weirdest person I have ever met. I love you as much as anything in this world. I hope that your family in Ethiopia knows how much you mean to us and how we treasure every single day with you. My life would not have been complete without you.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We are home

We are home finally and have been adjusting for the last few days. I will try to give a play by play on how our trip went.
Addis was sooo bored on the flight over, but she did pretty well, and on Tuesday? we went with some other hope families back to the orphanage. The second they opened the gate, we saw Anteneh, wearing a shirt we had sent, and he was just waving and smiling from ear to ear. I of course started crying, gave him a hug and a kiss then got mobbed by other kids. He took Addis and said, Hi mom, hi miranda, hi Addis, in the cutest little voice in the world. We gave him his big present, a camera and he just followed mom around taking pictures of the kids. He was excited to go, I don't think it really hit him that he was leaving forever. That night he prayed for about 10 minutes before bed and gave us all kisses. All four of us woke up at about 3 in the morning from jetlag and excitment. He started doing sit-ups and playing with the ipod. We finally went to back to sleep, and he was up and ready to go at 6.
That day we went with Brian and Andy and a friend we met at the New flower, to the Weaver's market, while Mom did business things. He was really excited to buy Mom a few scarves, and we had a great big lunch that he really liked. When mom finally came home at like 7 he had gotten so nervous and was really excited to see her. We moved to Shimiless' apartment that night.
I think the next few days we went to the orphanage, shopping for the orphanage, visited a sick friend and things like that.
Around day 4 was when the attitude problems started. Apparently in Ethiopia, if a kid wants something, and is told no, then they just pout until they get it. Well let me tell you, this kid can pout. No you can't have a 4th coke, he didn't talk to us all day. No we can't go play video games at the carnival, Mom has to work, he wouldn't come out of the room. It didn't help that his family kept constantly coming to visit, and it was so obvious that it just broke his little heart. I can not even comprehend leaving your country, family, friends, food, language, everything behind to go basically with some strangers to America.
It was obvious that going back to the orphanage was hard on him, so a lot of the time I stayed behind with him while mom went and worked. He went to another orphanage, Bethel, while I stayed with Addis. This was around the time that Addis got food poisoning and my cold/flu got really bad. We moved back to the New Flower so that we would have a car if something bad happened to her. She had to go to the hospital (where the owner recognized us--so nice!) 4 times over the course of 2 days. I had to be moved to another room because my coughing kept everyone awake.
During this time, Anteneh's family is still coming to visit, which is just devestating him, and they invite us over to the house he was raised in. I was literally coughing up a lung and the rainy season had started so I stayed behind, but my family, and a friend from the New Flower went. It was very very hard on Anteneh. He saw his childhood room, his childhood dog, pictures of his parents, and grandma. He also went to his Uncle's house.
Our friend who is very ill and close to all four of us was becoming even sicker before our eyes, which was obviously hurting Teneh as well. We went to visit everyday, and it was hard on all of us.
Lots of hugs and kisses and help from everyone, Ayele our favorite driver, Genanew, the staff at the New flower, helped us to try to comfort him.
All of the kids at Hope's place are just beautiful! They are all so happy and well cared for it is amazing. The staff truly does love these kids. Every single person remembered Addis, and were so happy to see how she has grown and how beautiful she is. She is walking now, it's horrible, she is into everything. All of the older kids were so sweet and friendly. The babies are all very very well cared for and the toddlers seem very happy.
Now that we are home, Anteneh's personality and english usage have come alive. He is hilarious, and constantly making all of us laugh. He taught himself to ride a bike in ONE DAY! He seems to be the only Ethiopian older kid who does not have food issues. He eats burritos, broccoli rice casserole, quiche, and tons of fruit. The only problems we have right now is that he chews with his mouth open and doesn't understand that when Addis is napping, he has to be quiet. Other than that he is doing really really well. Even though we both read older child adoption books, we thought that because we had met Anteneh, and he was such a sweet kid, we wouldn't have any of the problems like other people. Well we did, and it was really hard, and we are going to still have more obstacles to overcome. But as of right now, I can defintely say, it's worth it.

Update from Miss Miranda...

Hi everyone! I got an email from Mir about an hour ago. Here's what she had to say...."Addis had a terrible stomach bug and had to go to the hospital. She is 100% better now and loves being here(ET). I (Mir) have a cold that will not go away and the internet has been down for days. All the kids look healthy and are happy." This is the funny part...."Everyone keeps saying that Addis looks Somalian-like"....that's our Addis!! That's it....they'll be home in a few days...exhausted, I'm sure, but with Anteneh in tow.

Upadate....

Well, one of the Hopers heard from Grace VERY early yesterday morning. Talked for exactly 7 minutes, I do believe. Apparently Addis got really sick....they think it may have been food poisining. She was at or in (I'm not exactly sure) the hospital for about a day and a half. She is doing much better now. Internet and phone service is really bad, so they're having a hard time with that. Said that they're spending as much time as possible visiting with the other kids and knowing Grace and Miranda, I'm sure that's true. I did see a pic of them from one of the traveling fathers that just got home and they looked great. Grace was holding Addis and Mir, of course, was completely surrounded by kids. That's about it. They're due home this weekend, Saturday, so we'll know more then. Godspeed Pruitts!!!