We're Home!

There's No Place Like Home! We made it home safe and sound from Ethiopia.
Here's an overview of how things went in Ethiopia and how things are now that we're the proud parents of two.

Solomon gets an A for his behavior on the plane! My niece Ashli and I had him trapped between us so he couldn't run up and down the aisle. He whined a little but I had plenty of new toys and snacks for him whenever he became too restless. I've read so many horror stories about traveling with toddlers so I was quite impressed with his behavior. By the time we took the flight from DC to Atlanta, Solomon acted as if he was a frequent flyer! My friend Lisa gave me the idea about taking injera on the plane. This was a brilliant idea because Solomon would not eat any of that airplane food! I even put some berbere (traditional Ethiopian spice). The flight attendants said it was against regulations to heat his food up so I was forced to gave it to him cold. That didn't make him a bit of difference because he ate it all up. I also had a snack cup of apple sauce which was a big hit. I was however, able to get him to eat the yogurt served with his meal.

For the most part, our transition is going smoothly although there were many tears from both Solomon and Addison the first 48 hours home. Most of these tears resulted around Addison getting used to sharing her mommy, daddy, and toys. She goes from smiling and giggling at him to crying if he touches one of her toys when she's not in a sharing mood. I can tell that Solomon likes Addison. She can make him smile when Aaron and I can't. Of course we're using that to our advantage to make Addison feel like she has an important role in his adjustment. Solomon is generally a sweetheart of a boy but he won't let you forget he's a toddler. I'm amazed at how laid back he has been since coming home. While in Ethiopia, he was very active as he wanted to run, jump, and play constantly. He has a future in professional sports for sure. This boy is coordinated beyond his years and seems to be a quick study with learning new skills. He's very neat as he likes to wipe off the crumbs from his clothing and wipe his hands after eating. He sleeps through the night from around 9 to 6 and upon waking immediately wants to roam around the house to check EVERYTHING out. I'm working on teaching him to say Addison and he sometimes smiles and gets out the "Addis" part. He doesn't like to take off his shoes and totally over-stuffs food in his mouth which I think are both orphanage -type behaviors. We continue to have a difficult time getting him to eat anything besides fruit or bread dipped in a condiment (olive oil, syrup) so we'll be eating Ethiopian food quite a bit in the weeks to come.

The day before I traveled, I exchange his new 2Ts for 3Ts based on all the reports about his "huge/solid" size. Bad decision. His clothes are so large on him he looks like a hip/hop rapper. I'll be buying him more 2T clothing and will save the 3T ones for next year. He's solid but much shorter than Addison.

That's it for now. I'll post more as soon as I get a chance. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from our journey:

Solomon LOVES to play ball. This is what we spent most of our time doing in Ethiopia.



Solomon's second passion is riding in cars. It's even more fun for him while holding a car!



Solomon on the plane ride home. He was such a good little traveler! Stickers are my new best friend!



Here are Addison and Solomon preparing to leave the airport. How sweet is this?!!



Solomon entering our house for the 1st time:



Addison's thought: So is he really staying and do I HAVE to share my things?!!



More to come soon!

I'm on my way!

This time next week, I will be on a plane to Ethiopia. I finally get to meet my sweetie-pie son. Over the last six weeks, I've gotten wonderful updates and precious pictures of Solomon. He's been described by those who've meet him as ENERGETIC, sweet, intelligent, fun, and did I mention ENERGETIC! I think I need to upgrade my vitamins.

My travels will take me away from Addison for an extended period of time for the first time ever. I'm really struggling with being away from her for a week although I know she'll have a great time with her dad. I've arranged several play/dinner dates for them while I'm away so Aaron won't have to bother too much with cooking. I'm hoping that having several play dates will minimize our time away from each other. I'm also leaving her small presents and notes for each day I'm away. As much as I'm looking forward to returning to Ethiopia, I'll be so happy to be back home with all of us under one roof.

As usual, I leave you with a recent picture of our Solomon. I hope he doesn't tire of me kissing those cheeks!

Introducing... Solomon Alemu

Here's our first image of Solomon. It was love at first sight!










We love you Solomon and can't wait to bring you home!!!

We Passed Court!!!

I am thrilled to announce that Aaron and I are the proud parents of a son. As we slept last night, the Ethiopian courts were busy reviewing our files to determine if all documents were complete and clear enough to legally and officially declare us the parents of a beautiful boy named Solomon. Solomon is his birth name and we will keep it as his name. The biblical King Solomon was known for his wisdom, his wealth and his writings. Solomon was the son of King David. Wouldn't you know that Aaron's middle name is David! It was soooo meant to be!!!


We feel incredibly blessed and humbled that once again God has given us the honor and privilege to parent one of His precious children. As we make travel plans,we continue to keep in our thoughts and prayers the other families that are waiting to have their adoptions finalized by the Ethiopian courts. We didn't pass court the first time around with Addison's adoption, so I know how difficult the wait can be. If someone who's reading is still waiting to pass court, please know that it will happen!!! Once you meet and hold your child for the first time, the delays and disappointments will soon become a distant memory.

I'll post a picture later. This such an amazing feeling!!!

Court Date!

What a day it's been! No only did we celebrated a birthday, we received our court date which means we're one step closer to bringing home our son. We also received an update on his personality AND the most adorable picture a waiting parent could hope for. A June 18th courtdate is awesome since Ethiopian courts will close for two months starting in August. Please pray that everything will be in order so we pass court the first time around. Now that I've been "introduced" to this sweet child, I can't imagine waiting until the Fall to see his face in person. Here's the update (minus his name and picture) I received:

"xxxx is such an adventurous little boy! Today, he enjoyed playing with his blocks and attempting at every opportunity to steal my pen when I set it down. We may have a future architect or artist in the making! He seems to be very inquisitive and intellectual. He even tried to make a break for outside when a caretaker opened the door. He was so curious and sneaky today! His curious nature makes him very exciting and fun to play with!"

Not only do I think he looks like Addison, his "inquisitive and intellectual" personality description sounds a lot like his big sister. I'm so excited to be one step closer to him and I just can't wait for him to come home!

I'll keep you posted!

Can you say....REFERRAL!!!

I received the best belated Mother's Day gift. Yep! We got our referral for a precious 28 month old boy. Over the weekend, I had mentioned to Aaron that I was so ready to get our referral and how nice it would be to know who our son was. I had a feeling that our son was at the care center and that Gladney was finalizing his medical/personal information in preparation of matching us as a family.

Those in the international adoption club love hear about the referral call so here are the details: I was trying to complete a report for work but couldn't concentrate. In fact, I kept thinking about the infamous Gladney FBI List when I should have been focusing on work. Gee, I love the smart ladies who created this FBI List to enable Gladney families in the adoption process to compulsively study the list to predict when a referral and/or court date should come their way. Anyway, I had a feeling that I would probably get a call this week and for sure by next week. I was surprised to find myself disappointed each time my phone rang and our caseworker Abbey's number didn't pop up. Anyway, I sensed Abbey's call coming on Tuesday and sure enough the phone rang at 2:48 showing her number. For some reason, I played it cool and answered in a very professional tone instead of shouting, “Hey Abbey! Bring it on girlfriend...Give me the details!” Abbey's happy sounding voice brought a sense of peace over me. She started out with, Well Pat, I have wonderful news for you and Aaron. Should we see if Aaron is available? Now I know most women refuse to get any of the details about their referral before hubby is on the line or sitting by their side, but my sweet husband had given me permission to go ahead and get the basic details about our child before trying to track him down at work. Why is that? Because he knows that I would jump out of my skin if I had to wait until he was able to talk privately at work about our referral. What a sweet guy! So as Abbey proceeded to give me general details about our referral, a beautiful little boy appears on my computer screen. I immediately connected with his image and told Abbey that I knew without a doubt that this was our son. We quickly tracked down Aaron and he was able to talk privately with us. After hearing all of the detailed information about our son and how he came to be available for adoption, we told Abbey that we would discuss the referral with each other and that she would be hearing from us shortly. After hanging up with Abbey, I immediately called Aaron back and we quickly decided we would accept the referral without having the medical information and photos reviewed by a specialist. We took this extra step when we received Addison's referral and didn't learn anything more about her that wasn't explained in the referral documents. I called Abbey back within a few minutes and told her that we would be honored to parent and love this child. I feel very much at peace now that I've "met" our son. Since this is our second adoption my level of excitement, wonder, and glee has come as a surprise. I am so totally smitten with this little guy. Now the really hard part begins. We must wait to be assigned a court date, be approved by the Ethiopian courts, and then and only then can we officially claim to be this sweet boy's parents. Let the journey continue!

Happy Easter!

Addison participated in her 2nd Easter Egg Hunt. She collected many candy filled eggs and had her picture taken with the Easter Bunny. She was initially frightened and didn't want me to leave her alone with Mr. Bunny, but she soon changed her mind and whispered that she wanted to sit with the Easter Bunny by herself. She's such a big girl. My sister and I never did like those big furry talking "animals" that seem to show up at children events!



Here is Addison posing for the 100th time following the Easter Egg Hunt and photo shoot with the Easter Bunny.