Addison's First Job

We have decided that Addison will be our subdivision's first official dog walker. She loves trying to walk dogs but most are too large and strong for her to control. Well, Addison has recently met several yorkies in our neighborhood that have enabled her to hone her dog-walking skills. She can really handle yorkies because they're so small and light. A young couple was with their yorkie "Polo" in our neighborhood park and Addison insisted on walking him. It's gotten to the point that if anyone with a dog stops and talks with us, Addison will reach for the dog's leash as if it's her job to walk it. Polo’s owners took these pictures with their cell phone and sent them to us. We just happen to live in a subdivision where dogs are plentiful and very pampered. In fact, the dogs in our neighborhood have their own doggie park! So forget the lemon-aide stand, Miss Addison has found her toddler - age calling. We're pretty impressed with her finesse and think she’s just the cutest little dog walker we’ve ever seen :-)

 

 

 

A Day at the Zoo

Gee, I haven't posted in months. I started out the year with such determination to post at least monthly. What can I say? Trying to keep a blog going while parenting has been a challenge for me. I'm surprise that anyone still checks in from time to time to see if I've posted anything. Well I thought I could at least post some pics from Addison's recent trip to Zoo Atlanta. As you will see in the 1st photo, Addison was less than thrilled to be there. Just look at her expression in the 1st photo when she realized that she wouldn't be allowed to run freely through the zoo for the next couple of hours. Or maybe she was thinking, "Mommy thinks I look adorable in this get-up but I think I look ridiculous!" Although the pictures don't show it, Addison soon realized that spending the day at the zoo was actually fun. Now if I can just get her to smile for the camera:-) Enjoy the pictures!

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 

Celebrating Fasika

Orthodox Christians around the world celebrated Easter today (Sunday, April 27th) worshipping at candlelit services from Russia to Ethiopia before gathering their families for feasts. Orthodox Christians use a different calendar from Roman Catholics and Protestants, so their celebration of Easter usually falls on a different date from the rest of Christianity and always after the Jewish festival of Passover.

Last month at Keller's birthday party, Aaron, Addison and I met a sweet lady named Aster and her two beautiful children. Aster invited us over for dinner to celebrate Fasika. Aaron and I LOVE Ethiopian food and enjoyed it even before we started our adoption process. So needless to say, I quickly accepted the invitation and felt honored that she included my family in one of the most sacred holidays celebrated by Ethiopians.

Here are some photos of our special afternoon spent with the Gessesse family and friends (Aster is featured in the 6th picture), as well as our buddies Laura, Brian and Addison's pal...cutie-pie Max.

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 

Ear Tubes and Red Shoes

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:

 

The Easter Egg Hunt

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.

 
 
 
 

The Welcoming Committee

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.

 
 
 
 

Our EthiopiaAdoptGA Family

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!