Chicago, Pneumonia, & other less-exciting things

Sorry it's been awhile (I seem to say that alot lately on here). There has been lots going on that just seems to get in the way of posting. Everytime I think I'm going to sit down and write a post, something else happens.

First, Chicago. I flew to Chicago a couple weekends ago....my AWESOME mom came and stayed with Mari from Friday afternoon until Sunday evening so I could have a much-needed recharging. I met up with some of the best friends in the whole world...all of us brought together by our shared adoption experiences but now friends for life because...well, just cause we really like each other. Isn't that what friendship is about? I mean, I travelled half-way across the country to spend about 36 hours with women that I had only met once in my life and all we did was sit around and chat and eat and chat and eat. No judgements, no hidden agendas, no worrying about appearances, no worrying about differing opinions. It is so weird to think that you can be so comfortably at ease with a group of people that you know primarily through blogging and yahoo-chats. So to all my buddies....I love you guys and I can't wait to see you again (and to meet you, Annie!).

So what did we do in Chicago? Well, first, I'm a pretty freaked-out traveller. I just don't do well with worrying about logistics. This involved flying to Detroit then on to Chicago. Landing at night and then taking a subway/train to the middle of a big unfamiliar city (and it's big....made DC look like a cow-town) and then get a taxi to an unknown location. Yes...I'm dramatizing!! Luckily, CH was able to meet me at the airport...her plane arriving before mine and she was a pro at navigating the subway system. The taxi smelled (I'd never been in one before!!) but we made it to our apartment around 10pm. Then we sat up half the night and pigged out and talked and talked and talked. Saturday, we went out to lunch at the Ethiopian Diamond with a bunch of local adoptive moms (and some little cuties) and I did actually eat some of the food and ENJOYED it! (Yes....I know, I'm doing good!) We went across the street to an Ethiopian store and then tried to find a cab...there was a driverless one parked at the curb. Finally, we went back to the Ethiopian store to see if they would call us a cab and the cab-driver was in the store! He was Ethiopian and I think he was a little surprised shocked to hear that all us white women had been to his beloved land and why! It was a fun ride. We ordered in Giordano's pizza for supper....unbelieveable. I'm not a giant pizza fan; I like it but I don't live for it way some people do....well that was only because I had never had this pizza. OMG!!!!! I'm still tasting it 3 weeks later....yum!

The trip home was gruesome and stressful. The flight from Detroit to my local airport was delayed due to being overweight (even though it was only half full) and no one would volunteer to get off so they put everyone's boarding pass in a hat and drew names and two people had to get off. They would have had to arrest me to get me off that plane...the next one wasn't for 9 more hours! Seesh!

So then....when I got home, my mom was starting with a cold. It's probably good I got home when I did, she got pretty yucky later in the week...about the time I started feeling crappy (SWINE FLU - not really!). Mari was doing fine though and didn't even have the sniffles. Then last Sunday rolls around and during the afternoon Mari spiked a temp around 104 but was still very chipper - the only way I knew she was sick was cause she asked to take a nap! She was fine after a dose of motrin and went to sleep, albeit in my bed. Around 3 she woke me up and was burning up...temp was 105.9! Hot! So I took her to the ER (isn't that what all good ER nurses do?). They did a flu test and a strep test and I declined a chest xray because Mari had NO other symptoms besides the fever. So home we went. Later in the day I took her to the pediatrician since she was still running a high fever and after several hours, peeing in a cup (yes, Mari peed in a cup! what a big girl!), chest xray.....Mari had pneumonia!! So she got a couple antibiotics shots and was sent home with two antibiotic prescriptions, plus adding back in her nebs. She then became "sick" - not eating, throwing up, sleeping in short agitated spurts....overall though, she was a trooper and was still playful and cooperative. Just wouldn't eat - which is very un-Mari-like. By Thursday, she was back to school and today she was able to attend a birthday party at the park!

So that's what we've been up to!!

New Mari stuff:

• About 85% potty-trained...only had 3 accidents the entire time (I'm counting 6 days) she was sick with the exception of the horrible side effects of the antibiotics and she's even managing to make it to the potty for some of that!
• According to her teachers, she can say the entire Pledge of Allegiance...she won't say it for me though!
• She can correctly identify/name a circle, square, triangle, star, and heart. She can draw a circle.
• She can sing the entire Sesame Street theme song.
• She can tell a joke. She looks at me and says "I love you Gramma" and then laughs hysterically!
• She can play with playdough without eating it!!! (okay, that's a stretch...she still licks it!)
• She can consistently count to 14 but always misses 7.

Rainy Chicago

Ethiopian Diamond

Giordano's
Delivered to us!!

What we did the whole weekend.....

Chicago's finest

A front-porch picnic

Introducing Cousin Abigail to Farmer Tad

Mari and Cousin Madi hanging out

Sleeping in "mama bed" the night she got sick

MOMMY - I don't feel good!!

I STILL don't feel good!
I'm better!!!
I think this might be one of my favorite pix of all time!!!
But this one's pretty great too!

8 minutes in the life of Mari

I need to do a real post soon and I wanted to do a video montage of Mari singing all her favorite songs....until I have the time and energy to do that, please enjoy this video.

This is Mari at the dinner table...this is as calm and quiet as she gets.

The Mother of all Posts! (Tons of Pix)

You're gonna wish you'd never asked for a new post! Go get a snack, take a bathroom break, sit back and enjoy. I'm going to break this into sections to make it easier for me to remember...I need to learn to blog more often so I won't have SO MUCH to say at once. And I have tons of funny videos but I'll make those into a montage and give those to you another day.

Talking and Conversations:
I've been blown away by Mari's language lately, not just her words but also her comprehension. We are now carrying on conversations that actually make sense! She is also tuning into feelings and emotions and wants to make sure everyone and everything is "okay?" Like whem my parents dog jumped over the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs, she said "Daniel-Dog, okay?" (He was!)

Here is an example of a Mari conversation:
I was strapping her in the car seat the day after we had woken up to a surprise dusting of snow. ('No is snow in case you can't figure that out!)

Mari: 'No, Mommy?
Me: I don't know Mari, we'll have to see when we open the door but I don't think it snowed.
Mari: No 'no Mommy?
Me: I don't think there's any snow left, Mars.
Mari: 'No all gone. (said very matter-of-factly)
Me: Yes, the snow is all gone.
Mari: 'No all done.
Me: I certainly hope the snow is all done.
Mari: Mama funny! Funny Mama!


New Skills:
Mari can now jump! She is still way behind on her gross motor skills (had her 2-yr-old checkup on her bday) but not enough of a concern to intervene. She is making up for it in other areas, though!

Memory:
She can kind of sing her ABCs (I'm trying to get the whole thing on video)...she's got the A-G and the Q-Z (okay, what kid can pick up with Q and keep going? weird!), the in-between is garbled. She blew me away counting to 13 with Granddad the other day...he was helping her down the steps and she was counting as they stepped...maybe she can go further, I don't know, they ran out of steps. I thought she could count to 10 but with a few numbers missing (usually 6 & 8).

She has an incredible memory for names...she will tell you every Sesame Street character every made (including the rarely-seen ones like Grover), she includes Isa and Tiko in her Dora lineup...you get the picture! I swear she can rattle off the name of every kid in her school (and there's 24 kids just in her class alone!). It's kind of scary.

More Singing:
Her singing is pretty much non-stop (to the delight of fellow shoppers at Wal-Mart who got to hear E-I-E-I-O at volumes loud enough to shake cans off the shelves). Tonight she was singing Hi-Ho the Dairy-O...pretty funny cause she got stuck and all I heard for about 10 minutes was "the wa tacks the dag" (the wife takes the dog). Also she LOVES singing "no more monkeys jumping on the bed" (no need for phonetic spelling...she's got that one down perfect).

Why we haven't been blogging:
So what have we been up to the last few weeks? I did Mari's bday at school, rounded out my old job, re-decorated Mari's room, hosted a next meeting of our Playgroup With a Purpose, had Mari's 2nd birthday party, and started my new job all in the span of 6 days! And I survived! Holy Cow!

Check out our Playgroup With a Purpose blog for pix from our last playgroup meeting...it was so much fun and can't wait to get the next one going.

Mari's room makeover

Birthday Party Day!

Um...a little self-decorating!

Tired of waiting, think I'll empty the wipes container.

The cake!

Party dress complete with beads.

Blowing out the candles.

Dancing with Mommy!

More beads!!!

The GIANT Elmo book. (There was a distinct theme to the gifts...Elmo book, Elmo chair, Abby Cadabby Doll, Abby Cadabby book, etc)

Too much birthday!

My SIL with Mari and my niece Madison. (not trying to leave any family members out but this was a great picture!)

More Random Pix

Mari taking her new stroller for a spin.

Yes, she is sleeping with 3 giraffeys! We bought a couple more and I retired the original to the memory box with her other "brought home with her" items.

Another of Mari's bday gifts...supposed to wait until bathtime but try telling her that!

I haven't posted any pet pix in awhile...if there is such a thing as reincarnation, I'd like to come back as either of these two. ("Ham-Ham and Mick-a-Mouse" aka SamSam and Mickey Mouse)

Go Diego Go, Go Diego Go!

Finally getting some nice weather!

After desperately searching the house for my quiet (you know what a quiet 2-yr-old means!) child...here is where I found her!

Fun hairstyle with awesome hairbands.

New toy...Spin and Spray Turtle!

Okay, that's it for now...if you're still reading, I will try to get some videos posted eventually. I also need to tell you about the Ethiopia Heritage Camp coming to Virginia in July but it deserves a post all it's own. So I'll post that soon too! We are going and would love to meet up with some others.

Two years ago....

* Two years ago...I was just starting my adoption journey. Decision made, agency chosen, application accepted, just waiting on the Ethiopia program to officially get underway.
* Two years ago...in a little tiny village of Eteye, Ethiopia a beautiful little girl was born to a single mom of a 3-year-old.

* Two years ago...I was starting my 9 month journey to motherhood, praying that time would move quickly.
* Two years ago...an incredible woman knew what she was facing and praying time would slow down.

* Two years ago...my only worries were what to make for dinner, when to let the dog out to pee, and a huge stack of paperwork.
* Two years ago...that same single mom was worrying about food and shelter and basic survival…how she could provide for this tiny baby.

* Two years ago..my baby girl was born without me. I missed it. I wasn’t there. But she wasn’t alone. She was caressed, she was cuddled, she was celebrated, she was loved.

To Mari's first mom:
I wonder if you think of today with tears in your eyes and pain in your heart. I wish I could somehow ease that for you. HB, you are an incredible woman and your little girl is beautiful. Your courage steals my breath and makes my heart ache, one day we will return and you will see your courage and your beauty shining through your daughter. My only hope is that I can raise her as well as your greatest expectations. She is your dream. She is my dream.

Cradled in the arms of love, here and afar.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Amari!

Tubes, Snow, KY Trip, New Job, Readoption

Long, long overdue for a real update. I'll try not to blather on for too long! And at the end is another Mari Montage...not the easiest for all to view but blogger has gotten so finicky with uploading pix that I refuse to play those games anymore.

First, several people have asked for pix of the different hairstyles I do with Mari, so I'll try to make a separate post with some pix and descriptions soon...one that I can add to later as I think up more. I'm reading a great book, It's All Good Hair, right now that explains some things really well with some great hints on very basic hair care. Check it out.

So, last time we chatted was...a while ago, a long while ago. Mari moved into the 2s room at daycare, leaving behind her beloved Archie and all that was familiar. This is the first big transition she has had since last June; needless to say, it did not go smoothly. Things have finally settled down with some steps back; we had to work very hard on some basic attachment/security issues that I thought we were long over but came back to bite us in the butt. A great friend (one of those virtual blog buddies who shall remain nameless but much loved!) sent me this book, The Connected Child, and it was an eye-opening read. If you are adopting, read it although I really think I probably got more out of it now, living "in the moment," than I would have even 6 months ago. But I may have recognized what was happening a little better. So things are moving along better, still trying to differentiate between normal 2-yr-old behavior and fear/distrust issues...an ongoing committment.

Mari got her tubes in her ears. She did awesome, of course, charming the socks off everyone at the hospital. She knows how to work a crowd...definitely didn't get that trait from this wall-flower. We did have some issues for a few days with what I would call some "sensory overload" (see above paragraph!) due to finally being able to hear clearly. That mixed in with the new situation at school led to some very scary behavior...let's just say 2-yr-olds CAN have panic attacks. Luckily, it scared the socks off her teachers and we now have a lot more cooperation in understanding Mari's emotional health (which is far more immature than the rest of her development).

We finally got one big snow for the year. It snowed a couple inches one Sunday afternoon, so we got to play in it before bed. We woke up the next morning to nearly 10 inches of snow. So we got to play a LOT in it. Mari had a blast...just wish we would get a couple every year.

We managed to squeeze a quick trip in to Kentucky to visit all my kin...kind of a surprise to my Grandma who has been in the hospital since January and doesn't look like she will get to come home. She is doing very well though and was very surprised to see us. My cousin Juli even managed to keep our visit a secret from her son Brendan and he was delighted to see Mari again. They totally love each other. I had never seen Mari so physical before. She chased Brendan all over the house, pulled him off the couch, tackled him...it was so cute. Juli surprised us with a little birthday celebration (mine was the 14th and Mari's is the 24th) and it was a much better birthday than last year (remember the malaria scare that ended up just being mono?).

So as March winds down, we are starting yet a new chapter in our lives. I will be starting a new job on the 30th. My current employer is really struggling with the economy and, with recent mass layoffs, I decided to start looking around for some stability. I found a great job at a clinic where I'll be working for mostly caridologists. It is Monday-Friday, daylight, same pay...one of those nursing jobs that is very hard to come by so I made the decision to leave my current job. This one will provide me with a lot more hands-on clinical time and still fulfill my needs at home...sounds like a win-win to me.

Another chapter closed in our life Friday...a very happy chapter ending. Mari's readoption was finalized by the judge signing off on our last document (no pomp and circumstance in this state, just signing some documents). This means two things...#1, Mari's new legal name is AMARI ROZA (her third name in her short lifetime), and #2, she is an AMERICAN. Hip, hip hooray! Our paperwork is nearing an end...after I get her new birth certificate (in about 6 weeks), then I can send in the paperwork to get her Certificate of Citizenship (to prove to anyone who may question her status), and get her a social security card. Then we are DONE! Time for another one, huh? NOT YET!

So, I'll leave you now with a montage. Mari's 2nd birthday is Tuesday; I will be taking her butterfly cookies to school for lunch and then her party is next Sunday. So stay tuned for fun!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I ♥ Faces - Creative Crop Week

I decided to enter the I ♥ Faces Contest this week. I definitely am not even up to beginner level (do they have remedial photography lessons?) but this week is Creative Crop Week and I love this picture of Mari posing in the tub.

Aw-Chee!

I mentioned in my last post that Mari has a boyfriend named Archie. I think this video will show you just how infatuated she is. (Excuse the slamming door at the end, the windows were open since it was a nice day.)