Turnpike Play Date

As I mentioned in my December Recap post, we had the opportunity to meet another adoptive family that I have known through blogging for several years. However, it didn't come about as you might expect. Rebecca's blog was one of the first blogs I started reading when we began the process to adopt from Ethiopia. They were in the final stages of waiting to bring their son home in 2008 when I first stumbled across her blog. Since then we have communicated several times over Facebook and email and through our blogs. She cheered us on when we brought LB home and I cheered for her as they returned to Ethiopia to adopt their daughter. We've even talked about trying to arrange a get together when LB and I were visiting Oklahoma, since they live about two hours from my parent's house. However, as Rebecca said several times when we met, "We could not have planned this!"

We decided to begin our journey back to Ohio on December 28th. The plan was to leave around LB's nap time and drive to Illinois and stop for the night. My sister, who lives in St. Louis, was going to follow behind us. (My sister also followed their blog.) We were about an hour into the drive on the Oklahoma turnpike when an SUV with an Ethiopia bumper sticker passed us. D and I both noticed the bumper sticker and wondered aloud if the people in the car were an adoptive family. D even mentioned that maybe they used the same agency since we were still in Oklahoma at that point. All of a sudden the SUV slowed down and pulled in front of us so it left D with no choice but to merge over and pass them. I looked over into the car as we were passing and Rebecca was waving at me! It turns out she had recognized me when they initially passed us and told her husband to slow down. I happen to have an Africa bumper sticker on my car as well, which is what prompted her to look at our car. I actually wonder that if neither of us had Africa themed bumper stickers would this meeting ever had happened? Maybe not. Once I saw her, I started dying laughing and D thought I was totally insane. He couldn't believe I would recognize someone that I had never met. I started wondering if they would know to follow us off an exit so we could try and meet and just say hi. But then I got the idea to message her on Facebook with the hope she had her phone on her. She wrote me right back and we decided we would travel up a few exits to a stop in Missouri where there was a Starbucks. It turns out they were driving from Oklahoma to Missouri to see family. Thankfully, LB had yet to fall asleep because I really wanted our kids to meet. I should also say that we used the same agency so LB and Rebecca's kids were all at the same care center in Addis. Not at the same time. But still the same place and the same nannies. So they didn't meet in Ethiopia but they did meet at a Starbucks off the highway in Missouri. Too funny.

It was so surreal to see her family get out of the car and to give her and her kids a hug. We spent close to an hour at Starbucks where we chatted and our kids ate snacks and played. It was so fun to see them together and to experience her kids' personalities, even though I felt like I already knew them. They were as cute and as wonderful as I thought they would be. Rebecca and I kept laughing about the craziness of the whole situation and the time we spent there flew by. We did snap a few photos to document the occasion before we all continued on our road trips. As you can see from the photos, LB was quite smitten with cute Ruthie. You can hardly blame him! I love that he put his arm around her.

Seriously? How often does stuff like this happen? I'm so glad it happened us!

Rebecca, next time let's pick a spot other than the turnpike for a play date.

An Amazing Gift

Yesterday was a good day! I knew that Heidi got home on Tuesday (go check out the beautiful photo of their family of FOUR!) but I was not expecting photos from her so quickly. I opened up my email mid morning and I had an unread message from her with the title, “Pictures of (baby’s name)!” My heart started pounding and it seemed like it took hours for the photos to download. It was probably 30 seconds. He is growing!! In the pictures he had on overalls and I seriously thought that he looked like he was ready for college. His eyes make my heart melt. Heidi gave me a wonderful description of him and used words like amazing, alert and happy. Oh the JOY!! Later in the morning two more emails came through from Heidi with VIDEOS!! Yes, I got to see my baby smile and look around and shake his arm all about. He is real. The videos make him seem truly alive to me. Of course, I know that he is real and alive but to see him interact with someone I adore was almost too much for me to handle. I almost lost it when Heidi put our photo book in his crib. It seems that if I don’t cry at work these days then something is terribly wrong. I just love him. Thank you, Heidi!!

I have also realized that Damon and I need to hurry up and get our travel vaccines. I am not looking forward to this. I am not sure why I am being a baby about it but I am. I think I will bring a picture of our little guy with me and just stare at him to remind myself that it is totally worth it!!

Question for Ethiopian Adoption Blogging Friends: Does anyone know of a blog for a family that has a court date and they will have to travel for that court date? I am starting to get nervous (biggest understatement of the century!!) about this whole two trip thing and would like to be able to properly stalk anyone going before me in this new era of Ethiopian adoptions. My anxiety is starting to creep up and up and I don’t like it!

Time to go watch my video for the billionth time!!

Addicted

It’s official. I am completely addicted to reading about adoption. I need to join a support group or maybe the blogging community is my support group. However, if that is the case then we are a bunch of enablers by continuing to update our blogs and share information about adoption and our personal journeys through it. It doesn’t end with just the blogs. I also love all sites that sell any sort of Ethiopia related gear like t-shirts or baby clothes. I have to exert a lot of will not to buy all of it. Did you know there happen to be shows on TV about adoption? They exist to feed my addiction. There is a new show on the WE network about open adoptions. That is obviously not the route Damon and I chose but I still enjoy learning about it and how the relationships develop. The show makes me wonder even more about my future child’s birth mother. I think about her a lot but that is a post for another day.

This adoption addiction really became apparent to me on Saturday morning. I have been super congested and not sleeping well so after a night of tossing and turning I was up pretty early. I decided to let Damon sleep in and went out to the living room to watch a little TV. I flipped through the channels and settled in on the Today Show. You know how the crowds gather outside on Rockefeller Plaza and occasionally hold signs and Al Roker will engage some of them and wish them happy birthday. Well, I was slouched on the couch and my eyes were a bit glazed over and I saw a sign in the crowd that said, “I love my Gladney Baby.” Then I saw another one that said, “Adoption Rocks – I heart Gladney.” I was seriously concerned that I was hallucinating. No joke. I rubbed my eyes and looked at the TV again and the signs were still there. I couldn't help but laugh at myself. I had no idea why they were there but it pleased me. I went through the rest of the day and most of Sunday and basically forgot about this moment. Then I was checking blogs on Sunday afternoon and Heidi mentioned a gathering of Gladney folks in the NY/CT area and I remembered “the incident.” Luckily, Heidi was able to reassure me that this was not an "adoption brain" vision but an actual occurrence. It was a close call. I rarely watch the Today Show on Satuday mornings and think it is a little weird that the morning I decided to watch there were people there holding signs about our adoption agency. It makes me smile actually.

I wanted to share a few of the great links I have discovered through my addiction.

Amharic Tees: They have adorable stuff for infants, toddlers, women and men. If you typically get a Christmas gift from me then odds are that you might receive something from this site. Their shirts are 100% organic cotton and they import their natural fibers from Ethiopia. Plus the shirts are just plain cute and incorporate Ethiopian culture.

Parenthood for Me: This couple has started a non-profit to help provide resources and education for couples either going through adoption or pursuing treatments for infertility. They are currently building an endowment so that couples pursuing adoption can apply for grants to help ease the expense of adoption. The wife also has a great blog and she is an extremely gifted writer. You should check it out!

Amharic Kids: This site has educational tools for kids. The couple that started Amharic Kids realized after the adoption of their daughter that they wanted more tools like books and toys that could help incorporate their daughter’s culture into her life. They have a book called “My First Amharic Words” and these bean bag sets that teach colors and numbers in Amharic. Plus they have tons of other stuff. And the cool thing is that proceeds from the purchases go back to Ethiopia in the form of sponsoring children and towards Ethiopian food relief programs. I will make several purchases from this site when our little buster is home.

I joke about my addiction but I really do think overall the addiction is therapeutic. There are so many times I read someone’s blog and I think how they took the words right out of my mouth. To know that someone out there in Minnesota, Oregon, New York or right here in Columbus is feeling what I am feeling is of huge comfort. There is no doubt the addiction will continue and I will only stop when I have a true hallucination. I’m okay with that.

One Month Down & Tagged

One Month Down! Today we are celebrating our one month wait-a-versary. Whoo Hoo! I was trying to come up with a cute picture of my dog carrying a sign with a 1 on it but that just wasn’t happening so you’ll just have to envision it. J We are one month closer to our little buster!

As I mentioned in my previous post, Tam tagged me. Then a few days ago Leah tagged me as well so I figured I better get to work. I will admit that I did the 25 random things that spread around Facebook like wild fire earlier this year and I did steal from that list. So if you are my friend on Facebook then I apologize for the repetition.

1. My middle name is Kyger. It was my grandmother’s maiden name. When I was in the second grade I changed it to Beth and I wrote it on all my papers. I think my second grade teacher really thought my name was Emily Beth. My mom was probably a little concerned. Now I really like it and that it is unique and has family meaning but at the time I just wanted to conform.

2. I am terrible at taking pills. I actually take a drink and then shove the pill in my mouth and hope it goes down. I have only met one other person who is like me in the pill taking world. If all pills could be chewable or like the yummy bubble gum liquid medicine we got as kids then I would be thrilled. I really want to start taking fish oil pills but all the ones I have found are just too big. It is a true conundrum.

3. I ran the NYC marathon in 2003. I wore a t-shirt that said "David's niece". My uncle David ran the NYC marathon over 20 times and one of the 1st times (I was probably 3) he wore a t-shirt that said "Emily's uncle". It cracked me up when I was running and people would cheer and say "go David's niece?" and you could just sense they were perplexed. It entertained me for 26.2 miles. My uncle passed away in April 2006 and I think of him often. I know he would be really excited about our adoption.

4. Damon cooks dinner every night. Since we have been married I could probably think of maybe 10 times when I have cooked and that might be a stretch. I do aspire to cook but at the moment I am fine with reaping with the benefits of being married to someone who enjoys cooking.

5. I LOVE the Olympics. When they roll around I am totally addicted and can’t get enough. This is probably because of my love for sports and also because I get caught up in the personal stories of the athletes.

6. I love to have coffee in bed on the weekends while I read the paper. I know with a child on the way those days are probably numbered. I will enjoy them while I can.

7. My family rocks. They are awesome. I also really lucked out in the in-law department. I know Damon's parents would do anything for me and I love them. I am blessed.

Okay, so here are the blogs I am tagging.

1. Tracy at Always and Forever Ours

2. Claire at My Inner June

3. Christine at The Mathews Family

4. Lindsey at Africa Bound Andrews

5. Kristi at We Love our Lucy

6. Amy at Peanut Journey

7. Valerie at My Own Crafty Wonderland

I’ll be eagerly awaiting your posts. J

Central Ohio Folks:

Enkutatash – Ethiopian New Year Celebration

Saturday, September 19th from Noon – 4pm

Whitehall Yearling High School

Kids under 12 are Free / $10 in advance and $15 at the door

Damon and I will be there enjoying the food and festivities so come on out and support ETSS!

Information Seekers

I have mentioned before on this blog how my mother is a librarian. As a child I would get annoyed when I would ask my mom a question and her response was always, “Let’s look it up in the encyclopedia.” I knew that she knew the answer but she was trying to teach me a lesson about seeking out information. She would gleefully go pull out the encyclopedia and we would read about whatever it was. Was it weird that we had a set of encyclopedias at home? I always wondered if that was a librarian-only house thing. At the time I wasn’t too hip on this lesson because I just wanted to know and didn’t want to “waste time” looking in the encyclopedia. I am now grateful for her desire to impress this thirst for knowledge upon me. Any time I told my mom about an obstacle I was facing or a new interest that I had, I would soon be bombarded with books or newspaper articles or websites that provided information about the topic. When I told my parents that we had officially made the decision to adopt from Ethiopia they were extremely excited and it was only matter of days before my mom was up to her old tricks. She started reading several blogs, looking for children’s books about Africa and finding books to buy and send my way.

She sent me this book about a young couple from our agency that decided to adopt. I read it in one afternoon.

(image via fromashestoafrica.com)

She sent me several children’s books like this one that I absolutely love.

(image via amazon.com)

When we were in New Mexico my mom had this book with her and told me to take it home and read it. I just finished it this morning.

(image via amazon.com)

My mom visited last weekend and brought the latest issue of Adoptive Families magazine and told us she ordered the subscription for us. She just can’t help herself.

To know that all of this information is out there really helps me feel connected to a broader group and this journey isn’t nearly as lonely as I predicted. I like to think that the success I have had so far in discovering my own list of Ethiopia and adoption related information is due to some of those old encyclopedia lessons from my childhood. That is part of why I started this blog in the first place. I found Paige’s blog and EOR. I found Amy and she told me all about the group of families here in our neck of the woods that have adopted or are in process of adopting from Ethiopia. This group has already provided us with new friendships and with people like Amy who are willing to pass on the information they have gathered. We are all paying it forward if you will. It is such a privilege to feel connected to this larger community and truly all the information and support lessens the anxiety of this process and all that is unknown. My prayer is that anyone out there who is considering adoption has someone in their life to encourage them to go out and seek the information they need to lead them down this path.

I also can’t end this entry without mentioning that I now feel like an official blogger. Why you ask? I have been TAGGED by Tam. This must be one of the true inductions into blog world. I will get to work on that for my next entry!

"Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family. " - Kofi Annan

Columbus Group

Wow, this week is really flying by. I have had lots of thoughts swirling around in my brain about what to write about and am finally finding time to actually post.

This past Sunday we went to the Abyssinian Café on the East side of Columbus to meet with a group of people that have adopted or are in the process of adopting from Ethiopia. When we first decided to adopt from Ethiopia I was totally clueless that there was such an active group. It was wonderful to meet other couples who are also knee deep in the process or were recently so it is easy to relate. It was great to meet Amy and Paige in person since I have been following their blogs. I’d thought from the get go that I wanted my future child to know other adopted children from Ethiopia. So I think the support of this group will be important for D and me but hopefully in the future it will be a good support for our child.

At the dinner we also heard about the upcoming Ethiopian New Year Celebration here in Columbus organized by ETSS (Ethiopia Tewahedo Social Services) of Central Ohio. Did you know that Ethiopia doesn’t follow the Gregorian calendar but they go by the ancient Julian calendar? I had only learned that recently. It is still 2001 in Ethiopia. So if you want to turn back time on your life you should head over to Ethiopia! I have decided that when we travel there I will temporarily be 7 years younger. If you live in Central Ohio you should consider attending the Enkutash Celebration. It will be on September 19th at Whitehall Yearling HS. Tickets are $10 in advance or $15 at the door and children under 12 are Free! D and I will definitely be attending. I am just so thrilled there are cultural events like this in Columbus.

I have decided that I am entering an important phase of international adoption…. the mailbox stalking phase. It’s an official stage. From what we have heard, CIS here in Ohio is usually pretty fast and several families got their CIS approval letters within just a few weeks. Next week it is going to be very difficult to squash the desire to drive home at lunch to check the mail for that elusive letter. D has already been instructed to text me when he gets home with a daily report of the contents of our mail. The last time I was stalking the mailbox I was looking for our FBI clearances. If you recall at that time I sent out a very polite plea to the FBI to hurry up please. Then we got them in the mail just a few days later. So I am making the official plea now to CIS. C’mon CIS! (please)

Also, there are tons of Gladney families with court dates tomorrow so I am praying they are all successful and can travel soon to bring home their kiddos before courts close for the rainy season.

On a more peaceful note, I will leave you with one of my favorite photos from our trip to New Mexico. It reminds me to keep breathing.

(That's me being Zen.)

Odds and Ends

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July weekend! D and I are still here in New Mexico and I really don’t want it to end. We’ve gone on some hikes, had fabulous food and just relaxed with my family. I am going to really try to savor these last couple of days of vacation. I’ll post some pics next week.

Before we left for vacation I stumbled across a blog post that I wanted to share. From what I can tell this family adopted a son from Ethiopia and then the mom went back when her sister adopted a baby girl from Ethiopia. She takes AMAZING photos and I just couldn’t stop looking at them. When you get to the middle of the post there is a photo of a boy running with all his might to meet her and get some crackers she was giving to the other children. It breaks my heart and I just sat there and sobbed. The photo is so powerful and in many ways speaks larger than any words could. Click HERE for the link to that particular post. She has posted other entries since then about her trip back to Ethiopia and those are also powerful.

I was in a Starbucks yesterday and noticed they have brought their RED products back for a while. If you buy coffee from Starbucks then please consider checking out the RED products. For every 1lb bag of coffee that is purchased they donate a $1 to the Global Fund, which helps people in Africa living with AIDS. They also have RED gift cards so if you go there frequently then you can just load the card and each time you use it money is donated as well.

I heard from our social worker last night that Gladney is done reviewing our home study and they are sending it back to our home study agency. That means we are VERY close to being able to send it to CIS for approval. We are so ready to be done with this first phase of the process. I am hopeful we will be able to send it to CIS soon.

Before I sign off I wanted to say Congrats to my new blogging friend, Sam. She recently got her court date for later this month and I am super excited for her. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Ethiopian adoption process, the courts there close in August for 2 months or so for the rainy season so it is great news she got a date for before the closure. I am hoping she passes the first time and can travel this summer to pick up her little girl. Congrats Sam!