Convergence

Amazing things are happening in our lives. Last Friday we received an email from the Indiana Ethiopian Adoption group about a dinner being held by an Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Indianapolis. The pastor is inviting families who have adopted from Ethiopia in an effort to reach out and help these children connect with their culture... We were very excited and planned to attend.

Days later we received an email from our wonderful friend Ephrim in Ethiopia. We hired him to find Yabbi's birth mother. He found her and we shared information, but when we traveled to Ethiopia, he couldn't reach her, and we were worried about our Visa, so we didn't get the opportunity to meet her. The good news is that he found her again... she had lost her cell phone. He gave her the pictures he took of our family and told her that we were interested in keeping in touch with her. She, in turn, sent him an ADDRESS.

When we emailed the Pastor about this development.. he agreed to translate a letter for us. We are so grateful and excited to send her pictures and an update on how well Yabbi is doing. It brings tears to my eyes.

And, while all of this was going on, I was reading Dan Savage's book about his open adoption. (I highly recommend it... it is really funny and heartwarming at the same time). It was strengthening my resolve to find Yabbi's birth mom and making me wish that we had this option... for Yabbi's sake.

It looks like now we do, and I am so grateful for this convergence of events.

Beautiful Day for a Hike

It has been gorgeous this weekend, so we dusted off the old baby backpack and took Yabbi and Oscar for a hike in the woods!














She approved and seemed to really enjoy the hike. She pointed at the trees, babbled, and did a lot of giggling.












































The kids loved playing in the leaves... Oscar was a leaf monster and Yabbi (who normally loves to eat leaves) didn't put any in her mouth. Maybe "No Mouth" is working?




















After our hike, we stopped at the playground, where both kids enjoyed a swinging good time!











I can only hope all weekends in November will be this lovely....

Space Family and the Halloween Wedding

Expectations were high this year... It was it Yabbi's first Halloween and our good friends Maria and Mike were getting married in costume and having a huge bash!


We rejected several ideas... a family of vampires (with Yabbi as a little bat), classic horror monsters (with Matt as Wolf-man), or superheroes (with Oscar as Superman). And then we found Oscar's astronaut costume and it was decided... we would be Space Family.


We found Yabbi a baby Chewbacca costume and I opted for my favorite alien of all time... Dr. Frank-N-Furter from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Matt's twin brother was in town.... perfect for Spock and Evil Spock (one with a menacing goatee).

















Only problem.... Yabbi HATED my costume. She saw me in my wig and make-up and screamed in terror... Poor thing. She wouldn't even let me hold her. Uncle Josh, since he looked more like her parent than I did, was my substitute.

So, we made it through the ceremony and then I ditched my terrifying alter ego and became Mommy again. Yabbi and I went home early and had a nice night together. We walked through the neighborhood and watched the trick-or-treaters and she forgot all about her scare and loved me again.


But lest you worry that I didn't have fun on Halloween night.... after Matt came home from the wedding, I went out with my friends to the Rocky Horror Picture show.... where my costume was appreciated by all!

Back to Work

Last week was my first week back to work and I'm happy to report that everything is going well.

I started back part-time and I'll be part-time for a couple of months. My husband is also working part-time for six weeks, so Yabbi is still at home, but getting used to being without me every afternoon.

Knowing that she is home with Matt eases my mind, so I've actually enjoyed getting back into the lab, seeing all of my cultures and friends and getting back to working on some projects.

Unfortunately, I don't think we are going to be able to figure anything out for December. My mom was going to come and stay for awhile, but she broke her foot, so she won't be able to make it. So, Yabbi will be starting daycare part-time (afternoons) in December and will start full time in January.

Last week we had our first visit with her daycare provider, Omi. She is such a sweet lady and took care of Oscar from three months to three years, so I feel completely comfortable with the care Yabbi will receive. I'm only nervous about the transition! So, I'm trying to make her comfortable with Omi and the new surroundings. We'll be visiting once a week for about an hour for next six weeks. It's fun for me too because I enjoy Omi's company and get to see Yabbi playing with some other super cute little ones... soon to be her little buddies.

My little pumpkin

I've been out of town and I'm starting back to work this week, so I haven't had a chance to catch up... but I just had to share these pictures from our pumpkin patch adventure.

Yabbi's One Year Well Check

Yabbi had her one year well check on Monday and although she didn't enjoy it very much ( she had to have some vaccinations and cried so hard that she threw up all over herself and me! ), we have good news. Yabbi now weighs almost twenty pounds and has grown two inches. So she is now in the 10-25th percentile for both height and weight. Our doctor told us that after her weight started to catch up, her height would too. So, it's happening and we have a very healthy little girl!

First Birthday Fun

Yabbi's First Birthday party was this weekend. We tried to keep it small since Oscar was clingy and scared at his first birthday party.

We shouldn't have worried. As you can see, the birthday girl had a great time!






And even enjoyed the cake I baked for her!



















Favorite present: a package of teethers..
Come on teeth!



































Oscar making out with the loot at the end of the party...he is so sneaky!