Sisters

They ran past me into the bathroom and shut the door.  I could hear giggles, lots of giggles, and when the emerged I asked what they'd been doing.
"We were telling secrets, because I have a sister now, and that's what sisters do!" - Ella

Wordless Wednesday- Whidbey

Biniyam's dance moves

Halloween 2011

 Once the candles were lit Bini burst into song "Happy Birthday to you..."

 See the wink, it's something new, we explained winking to Mekdes one day and then she had about a week when she would do this exaggerated wink whenever possible.  And the black on black outfit, I suggested she wear her pink pants with that top and she told me "no mom, this (top) and this (pants), it's very cool" how does she get that? She picks up so much!

 not so scary that night, but now that they've been on the steps for a few weeks, oh they are scary!

 Mekdes had her first field trip and she was so excited.  Ella had a teacher work day so we were all able to join Mekdes' class at the farm for some soggy fun.

 Ella's school does a "Historic Halloween" which is a pretty big deal.  The kids chose a person in history, write a speech in the first person, practice a lot, and then present their speeches in front of a room full of parents.  Ella chose to be Catherine Hamlin, a fistula surgeon who has worked in Ethiopia for the past 52 years (Greg and I were able to meet her on our trip to pick up Biniyam) There is a wonderful documentary called A Walk to Beautiful about Dr Hamlin and the fistula patients in Ethiopia. Ella's speech was only 3 sentences but she did great and didn't seem nervous at all.

 Happy Halloween! from Princess Tiana, the mermaid, and the puppy dog (Bini wanted to be Bob the tomato, I made him a costume, he refused to put it on, so hence the to small doggy costume) We joined the crowds for after school trick or treating around the stores in the old part of town, it's fun because we get to see so many costumes and run into friends.  How did Mekdes like her first Halloween experience? silly question right? She loved it, and after 2 hrs told me she was tired and ready to go home.

 I love this picture of Mekdes, because it so so her, see the position of her hands on her hips as she's eye to eye with the scary head.  She's so strong, and her stance is letting this head know she is not going to let him scare her!

After dinner we went trick or treating around our neighborhood.  At one of the houses Mekdes was handed candy, turned to me and said (loudly) "Wow mom, she is SO old!.. I hope she doesn't die!" I was able to hold it together until reaching the sidewalk and then just burst into laughter.  Got to love it, she is just so honest.  And Biniyam was Biniyam, pure entertainment and a lot of energy! 

Flower Girl

Ella recently had the honor of being a flower girl in our friend Sarah's wedding.
I forgot my camera, but some pictures of the beautiful wedding can be found here:

http://followcharles.wordpress.com/2011/10/27/sarah-and-matts-wedding-in-bellingham-washinton/

(Bini and Mekdes stayed home with a sitter. I'd brought Mekdes out in the afternoon for special mommy-Mekdes time, so that during the wedding she was happy to stay home and watch a movie.) 

Mekdes' 1st Birthday Party

A little over a month ago we got to celebrate Mekdes' first birthday with us, turning 6 years old.  Mekdes was SO excited in anticipation of the big day.  They don't celebrate birthdays in rural Ethiopia, so Mekdes had never before had a birthday party, but, as in so many instances, she copied Ella's emotion, and Ella was very excited for Mekdes to have her birthday.
We started the day by opening a special present from Mom and Dad, a new doll

 Greg and I were able to go into her school for the beginning of the day and watch for a little bit as she did her morning routine and then shared a bag of 5 things that told about her (we packed her swim suit, a bike bell, and ballet slipper as she loves those activities, a cross- because she loves Jesus, and an Ethiopian basket to represent her 1st home.) Mekdes' teacher told me that later in the day when a game was stopped so the teacher could talk to some of the boys who were misbehaving, Mekdes took off her crown and stated "this part IS NOT my birthday!" I found this very cute.

 We had her party that afternoon at a nearby park, 13 friends came and helped her celebrate as well as both sets of grandparents, quite a treat!

 Nana made this amazing Princess Tiana cake and also did face painting at the party, she's got talent!

Mekdes had a great time, other than one incident when she was playing chase, tripped and fell and then another kid fell on top of her pushing her face into the cement.  Poor girl! It looked so painful! Her forehead, lip and both knees were bleeding. She was a trooper though and after some cuddles, ice and with the enticement of opening presents she was able to recover and even play some more.

One cute moment was at the end of the party when she looked at the gifts, picked one toy up and asked "mommy, can I keep this?" and I told her she could keep them all, they were all for her. She got wide eyed, like she hadn't realized this, and she quickly gathered up all the bags.

Here's a little bit more about our newest 6 year old:
The great majority of the time she is a very happy, bubbly, silly little girl

She loves to sing and has a beautiful voice

She has an athletic ability that leaves us in awe. She got on her bike and within days was riding it well, by the end of the summer she was riding without training wheels.  Her hand eye coordination with games like badminton if far beyond other 6 year olds we know. We love that she has this love for sports and what we see as being gifted athletically, we feel this will be a healthy way for her to differentiate herself from her sister.

She loves to run; she loves to go jogging with me, she actually keeps me going if I slow down. And I love watching her run, her long stride, it is truly beautiful.  (Yeah, we've done a little olympic day dreaming.)

She had no food issues, which I had anticipated her having d/t lacking food at times in her life.  But if she's not hungry or doesn't like the food she won't eat it.  She didn't like chicken or cheese when she first got home but now likes them both, and she's good with eating veggies, she asked for seconds of kale and mushrooms at dinner tonight, kale! Really what 6 year old asks for seconds of kale before asking for seconds of mac n' cheese?! This one!

She's great at sharing.  I'd had thought that a child who hadn't had much would cling to what she was given,  but she doesn't, overall she is very willing to share and even give some of her things away.

Her english is amazing, it's been such fun watching it progress by leaps and bounds.  On the downside she has forgotten both her other languages, this makes her sad and I hope one day we can give her Amharic lessons. (some cuteness while learning english: In Amharic "Buna" is coffee so when she got a cold and was coughing she'd say "oh, big buna!" )

Her foot has grown from a shoe size 11 to a shoe size 2 since being home!

She really like being helpful and to clean, this makes a mamma happy! Sometimes I'll hear her "whispering" to Ella that they should clean and surprise me, so I'll happily occupy myself elsewhere until they are done.

She loves cooking and we've had some good bonding time when she helps me do my dinner prep in the afternoons.

Yezelalem Minch Video

http://vimeo.com/joellemelissa/futurehope

Please take 3 minutes to watch this video.  Please consider donating to this worthy cause. 

Why I am Grateful Today

Labor Day (and September 7th) marked the 2 year anniversary of day our blissful life was jarred with the news that Ella's belly pain and fever was more than just a virus, not the appendicitis we had feared, but a nasty cancerous tumor growing on her kidney.
Yesterday as I washed dishes I listened to my girls, full of giggles,  playing in the living room and was overwhelmed with gratefulness to God for all the blessings I see as I look back to this time 2 years ago.

- Ella's 1st complaint of belly pain and a low fever happened on the day Greg and I were leaving for Ethiopia to bring Biniyam home (6 weeks before diagnosis.)  What if the tumor had been found then, how would we have gotten Biniyam? And what if it had been found while we were in Ethiopia? Oh, I can't imagine how hard it would have been to be so far from her at that time!

- The fact that  Ella got her fever and lethargy on a holiday expedited her diagnosis because we brought her to her the ER.  Had it been a regular week day I would have called her pediatrician, maybe got an appointment that day, maybe been asked about constipation and told to watch her. Either way Greg would not have been there, and we needed him with us!

- The most vividly painful moment for me was in the emergency room at Children's when the oncologist came to admit her and told us that the first place that the cancer would metastasizes would be to her lungs. I remember reaching and grabbing Greg's hand and I don't know if I said it out loud or only with my eyes, but my thought was that it was in her lungs.  She had complained twice that week of pain in her upper chest, pointed to her lungs and said it "it hurts here" and I had thought it was weird, not a usual place for a kid to complain about, but cancer, no, that wasn't even a thought that passed through my mind,  I had told her she must have pulled a muscle. Yet in the ER when the doc mentioned mets to the lungs the fear gripped me, her complaints made sense.  I am so grateful that I can say that those were the worst 24 hrs of my life thus far, because once we received the CT results, then ultrasound results and finally biopsy results, the news kept getting better.

I truly believe that a miracle took place the night we entered the ER and people across the country began to pray for Ella. I believe that our prayers were answered and that Ella's tumor was shrunk back to a stage 1.

Thank you Lord!

We also rejoice in this, that last week when we went to children's for Ella to get an ultrasound and x-ray everything came back clean and healthy.  Praise the Lord!

Ella doesn't realize the significance of this week, so if you asked her about life she'd most likely tell you that she (finally!) lost her first tooth!

or that she was a summer superstar reader

Or that there are fairies living in the fairy garden that she, Mekdes, and Nana planted last week! 

 Or the biggest news, That today Ella started 1st grade!!

 Ella was a bit nervous about starting 1st grade, even though she goes to a montessori school and 9 out of the 10 kids in her class went to kindergarten with her.

 What did Ella think of 1st grade? "I LOVE it!"

Oh Ella, what a joy you are to us and what a blessing it has been this summer to see your kind and generous heart towards your new sister

Kindergarten for Mekdes

Today Mekdes started Kindergarten!

Before bringing Mekdes home I thought I may homeschool her for kindergarten to aid in our attachment and time together, but once she was here and seeing Ella go off to school each day it was evident that she would not be happy with being home schooled.  Ella's school was already full for kindergarten so we prayerfully went forward with trying to find Mekdes a school that would be a good fit.  We found her a spot in a christian school for 5 mornings a week, which is great for consistency of schedule. And it starts earlier than Ella's school, which works out well for getting both kids to school on time. But the best part is that out of the 12 other kids in her class, there is one other girl that was adopted from Ethiopia within the last year. Isn't that awesome!

I believe Mekdes will do great in school, she's a good listener and loves to be helpful.
My concern for her is that she doesn't know social norms and I fear she could alienate herself from the other kids by insulting them, or rather just speaking the truth...
Like how she always ask when seeing a large person "Too much food or baby?"
I've been talking with Mekdes about being polite and not saying these things to people, but this morning as soon as we walked into her classroom we were greeted by the principal and Mekdes grabbed my hand and whispered too loudly "Why her teeth black?"   I did not see any black teeth on the principal but I'm guessing that Mekdes saw fillings, the principal was very nice as I explained that we're working on learning social norms.

Ella came with me to drop Mekdes off at school and then I brought her out for a little time together, just the 2 of us.  It took only an hr before Ella said "mom, I really enjoy spending time with you but I kind of miss my play mate"

I was prepared for some difficult behavior this afternoon, brought on my this huge change of starting school and leaving the family. But, we had none, she got in the car and said "lunch, rest time, movie?" yes, and then blue berry picking.


                                     .  

Children's Festival

Today Greg had to work so, with questionable sanity, repeated emphasis on being good listeners and my cell number written on their shoes, I decided to attempt our first "crowd" event with 3 kids,  a children's festival being held at a close by park. 

We arrived early and went straight to the bouncy houses.  I thought we'd only stay for about an hr. we ended up staying for 4.  Everything was free (even the food) the kids were great (other than a little balloon drama by each in turn)  and we all had fun.

 Ella chose to be a cheetah,  Mekdes wanted a butterfly and a car, Bini asked for a purple car

 Bini ran up to kung fu panda yelling "kung fu panda I love you!" but he'd only get close enough to give a high 5

 exhausted!