This is the story of our journey to adopt our daughter and son from Ethiopia. As we enjoy parenthood we continue to rejoice in the trials, triumphs, and blessings that took us halfway around the world to our cherished children.
After numerous ear infections, chronic congestion, night time coughs, and observed balancing/stability problems, we took Addison to a pediatric ENT and audiologist and discovered she had significant amounts of fluid in both ears. Last Thursday, she had outpatient surgery which included suctioning out some of the fluid and implanting ear tubes. We arrived at the childrens' hospital at 6:30 am thinking Addison would be the first patient of the day. How wrong we were! The waiting room was full of sleepy, crying, and hungry babies. Many were still in their cuddly PJ onesies with feet. Seems like ear tube placements and tear duct surgeries were the procedures for the day. After completing some paperwork, Addison's procedure started at 8:00 and was over by 8:15. We were back at home before 9:30. I'm happy to report that Addison is doing great.
So back to the title of this post...Ear Tubes and Red Shoes. Miss Addison got a new pair of sweet red Mary Janes by the trendy baby/toddler shoe company Preschoolians (FYI: You can find a new pair of these shoes for a fraction of the retail price on Ebay:-). Well Miss Addison LOVES these shoes! She actually goes around saying, "I like these shoes". When it was time to undress her to put on that sad little hospital gown, she protested when it came to taking off her shoes. The nurse said it was O.K for her to leave them on so Miss Addison went right into the operating room wearing her shiny red shoes. What can I say? Maybe she wanted to retain just a little bit of dignity. I think she got the shoe thing from her aunt Marilyn. Or maybe she got a little bit of it from me:-) She is truly our child. Now presenting Addison's favorite shoes of the month:
Miss Addison had her first Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday morning. The event was held in the neighborhood park in front of our home. Aaron arrived an hour prior to the hunt to help other parents pick up dog poop and hide the eggs. I elected to be the parent that remained inside with Addison to prepare breakfast and dress her for the big event :-) I must say that Addison caught on to the concept of collecting eggs very quickly. Aaron proudly told people that Addison collected so many eggs in spite of starting with a big handicap (she arrived three minutes after the official starting time).
Sunday morning didn't go as smoothly but that's another story. I didn't even get a good picture of Addison in her Easter dress. However, we enjoyed a great brunch with my mom. It was a great weekend. A good time was had by all.
I love to see Addison interact with other children. Today she decided to be a member of the Welcoming Committee for our March EthiopiaAdopt GA gathering. She met a couple of beautiful toddler girls in a group that tends to be dominated by handsome toddler boys. One of the sweeties arrived home from Ethiopia a month ago, while the other cutie pie will soon be relocating to Atlanta from the D.C. area (along with her parents of course :-) It turns out that the family who is relocating here are friends with a woman with whom I've communicated via adoption blogs and forums for the last two years. It really is a small world.
Those of us in the Atlanta area with Ethiopian born children are incredibly blessed. We have such a loving and supportive group in the greater Atlanta area for families who have, or are in the process of adopting from Ethiopia. I can sincerely say that I LOVE interacting with these incredible people with whom I share the experience of adopting from Ethiopia. When this group was formed in January 2007, we had approximately ten families (and that's a generous count). Fast forward to February 2008, and this group has exploded with kids who have been adopted within the last few years and adults who have returned with children from Ethiopia, or are somewhere in the long process of waiting to parent an Ethiopian born child.
The people that I've met in our group hold such a special place in my heart. It's sort of weird how I often feel closer to some of these great individuals in our group than I do to friends I've known for many years. In many ways, I consider members of this group as my extended family. I know it's because we share a common bond of adopting from Ethiopia, but I believe it's also because of unspoken similar core values that just seem to bring people together in unexpected ways. Whatever it is, it works for me. It is my hope that Addison and all of "our" children will grow up together and find value in our little EthiopiaAdoptGA community. Here are a few pictures taken from our last event which took place in a play equipment showroom owned by members Stephanie and Jason. It's obvious from the photos that we had a blast!
Wow, two posts in one night. For those of you who follow my blog (and I love you for being so patient with my lack of productivity in the blogging world), you know that my average rate of posting is one...maybe one post per month. Looks like I'm on a roll in 2008! ANYWAY---I wanted to share these photos. Addison received her first car for Christmas. Actually, she got two cars. The first one was a Flintstone type car requiring her to move her legs in order to go forward. However, my tall girl would hit her knees against the handle bars so we traded it in for a slightly larger one with power. I don't know if Addison was ready to handle the responsibility of driving. As some of you know, she loves the phone and I'm already warning her about the dangers of talking on a cell phone while driving. She's not listening. The first photo shows the too small non-powered car. Fast forward to car number two. Oh she's liking the power in her Barbie car. Maybe she likes it a little too much as the last photo shows her right before she bumped into the wall. Thank God we have another 15 years to work on her driving habits and skills!
As a mom, I've learned to always have my camera handy. Just look at Addison's expression when I caught her enjoying a brand new box of tissue that I foolishly left on top of her crib. Maybe someone shoud have captured my expression when I entered the room and realized why my angel had been so quiet for too long!
Last night, I had the fortunate opportunity to witness a live performance by the African Children's Choir. I'm a little lost for words to describe how moving this performance was. The African Children's Choir is composed of children between seven and twelve years of age who come from five countries in Africa - Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Nigeria and Ghana. Annual auditions are held to select these little stars who travel throughout America. Many of the choir's members are from very poor backgrounds or are orphans. Now just in case the thought has crossed your mind (as it did mine)a sweet little choir member announced that they were NOT available for adoption! However, you can assist them by attending their concerts and purchasing their CDs, tee-shirts, calenders, etc.
At the end of the concert, each child introduced him/herself and told the audiance what profession they wanted to pursue after completing college (which is paid for because of their participation in the choir). While some wanted to become teachers, lawyers, doctors, pasters, and singers, the most memorable desired profession was Vice President. Of course that stated career choice was met with smiles and laughter! More then twenty-four hours after the concert, I'm still smiling just thinking about how these precious souls now have the freedom to not just dream about a promising future, but actually achieve their goals. Please go to www.africanchildrenschoir.com to see if these amazing performancers will be in your area this year. If so, I can promise you that it's a concert so worth your time, effort, and money. Some of you may have seen this performance on last season's American Idol. I never get tired of watching it. Anyway, here's a sample of what I experienced (minus Josh Groban of course)!
