6 MONTHS/15 MONTHS...

On Aug. 14th we celebrated 6 months home with Elijah.
This was taken as soon as Almaz placed him in my arms. There were no tears (from him) and he just checked out my face and and looked like he was trying to figure out what was going on. You can see the startled look in those precious eyes. Poor little guy! And believe me he had no idea what he was in for. :) It is a good thing he fits right in to our crazy household! Don and I were talking yesterday and both of us think it feels like he has been here so much longer than just 6 months. We heard it would feel like this but I guess you just have to experience it to believe it.

AND...now at 15 months old TODAY...this is what our little guy is up to. He has now figured out how to dump everything out of his toy basket and climb in it to play. He is quite inventive at times and truly baffles us with what he can figure out.

This is Elijah's favorite chair. If anyone else is sitting in it he will climb up on a end table/ storage box and act as though he is counting (giving them til the count of 3 to get up) and then he jumps on them. He thinks he owns this place (and I guess he kind of does!)

We took a trip to Chuck E Cheese a few weeks ago. I love the look on his face. Chuck E was standing not far away from him and he is watching him very closely making sure he doesn't get too close to him.

He had a lot of fun riding the rides and playing. His favorite was talking on the phone and going up and down the slide.

At 15 months Elijah is saying about 10-15 words. We have only added one sign that he can do and that is pray. We say pray to him and he folds his hands and will repeat "pay". It is pretty cute. In the last week I hear him repeating more and more words that I say to him. He gives the best hugs and kisses. Last night he climbed up on my lap and laid several kisses on me....I love the MMMWAHH sound he makes with each kiss. Today at lunch he kept grabbing Tifanie and giving her bear squeeze hugs around her neck. I think she said she would forgive him for not saying her name yet after that. "Sissy and Tifanie" are both really hard words to say but we are working on it. He says bubby and Emi and Mama (sometimes Mommy) and Dada but not Sissy yet. He has just started saying OWIE...so he will get hurt and yell it repeatedly and then laugh! Or he will hit you and say it.

We are getting ready to turn in his re-adoption paperwork so we are hoping to have that all out of the way very soon and will legally change his name from Bereket Donald to Elijah Simon Bereket.

We have a busy month coming up. Don and I are going to his Yearly Guard conference in a few weeks and that will be the first time he has stayed over night with Grandparents for the weekend. I hope he does well...and me too! Then the beginning of Sept we are taking a trip to St Louis to see the Ethiopian Director and his wife. I am SO looking forward to seeing them again. Then the end of Sept I am taking my parents back to St Louis to my cousin's wedding.

Busy Busy!!

I am going to try and be a better blogger. :)

Blessings~

Tina

12 YEARS AGO TODAY...

...Our third child was born. Emilie Jean entered this world on July 23, 1998 at 1013 am. She weighed 6lbs 14oz and was just 18 inches long. She was such a little butterball with the chubbiest cheeks. We thought she was huge compared to our first 2 kiddos who were just 5 pounders. Em was a miracle baby. It took us about 2.5 yrs from the time we started wanting another baby to finally get pregnant. Then she was our first baby to carry to full term. Emilie has such a love for life. She is always on the go and has been from day one! We are truly blessed by this girl. This is her last yr before being a teenager...YIKES. Here are a few pics of her...

almost 12 yrs with Elijah

4 yrs old

2 yrs

3 months old.

** I really need to scan the photos and get them on the computer!!! :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY GIRL!!

LOVE, MOM

THE ZOO

We went to the zoo today. It was a very "warm" day but we ventured out anyway with lots of snacks, water, and gatorade! We took our little friend, Alex, along with us. The boys had a great time as did Emilie. Elijah got a bit fussy towards the end. I think he was tired of being confined to the stroller. The boy does not like feeling trapped! :)
Here are a few photos from our day:
Emilie watching animals...Elijah checking out the ground.

Elijah and Alex climbing on the frog slide

At the chimp habitat...Alex was nervous at first and Elijah was just looking at them.

"Hey, this is fun!"

Having some lunch. Elijah has cheese on him but Alex never allows crumbs!

Praying for a wonderful week for all~

Tina

ADOPTIVE PARENTS...

Don and I were never so aware of being "adoptive parents" as we were at the Children's Hospital the other day. I think we were asked at least 20 times if we were his adoptive parents. By the time we were headed out I wanted to firmly say..."I AM HIS MOMMY!!" It has never bugged me before. Of course, I have never been asked several times in a row either.
Don did say later, that at one point he just wanted to say "DUH!". We kind of discussed it together and I guess it only bothers me at the thought of someone not thinking we are his parents. AND that I would prefer it not be stated several times in a row! :) I wonder what he would think if he heard people asking repeatedly? Would it make him so aware of the fact that he is adopted? Would it make him feel less in some way? I guess those are the things that I am thinking right now.
We mentioned it to our caseworker when she was here. I told her they were not rude or mean about it. They just kept repeating it over and over. But I found myself stating the same thing later in our conversation when I was sharing an adoption story I had read about to her. Hmmm??
Anyway...I am still trying to figure it out and why it bothered me as much as it did? We have not really encountered any weird or off the wall questions. We have not enocuntered any real negative reactions yet. I am not so naive to think we will not at some point but we just haven't yet. The most frustrating question I have gotten was how much did he cost? I NEVER comment on this one. I think the only time I did...I was caught off guard and just said "enough". That was during our first week home. Now I just give them a look of "I can't believe you asked that" and walk away or just change the subject.

~Blessings~
Tina

14 MONTHS OLD...

It is hard to believe that Elijah is already 14 months old. He is quickly becoming a toddler and not so much a baby. BOOOOO!!! I love watching him learn and grow but it makes me sad at the same time. He is such a quick study and learns so fast. I love watching him take things in and then figure it out on his own. I have said it before but this little guy amazes me more and more each day. We have been so blessed to have been allowed to parent him. We grow more and more in love each day!
The rest of our month will be a busy one. We are planning a trip to the zoo (for the first time) this coming Monday. Don leaves for Haiti on Wed so it will be a family day. Em's bday is next weekend and the following weekend we are planning a road trip to OK to see my Aunt Carol. I am trying to keep us busy to pass the time while Dad is gone.

Hope you are all enjoying your summer~
Blessings to all~
Tina

2ND POST-PLACEMENT VISIT...

Today was our 2nd post placement visit. We have been home almost 5 months already. My how time flies when you are having fun. She was very impressed with Elijah and says she tells many of her families about him. He played and showed off for her while she was here.
In preparing for our visit, Don got the living room painted last night. AND I forgot about the needed pics so he ran this morning to get those printed up for her. Nothing like waiting until the last minute.
Emilie decided she needed to see all of our bedrooms again! So she showed her around, even to the basement. That is usually the scary part of the house. That is where the boy teenager lives. NEED I SAY MORE??? I think I finally threatened him and took his car keys and said he could not have them back until the room was clean...MY WAY! :) Yes...Mean Mom.
Now we will have our final post placement visit in Jan 2011. We are hoping to get the re adoption done in Aug and then we will have to start on the citizenship part of it.
Elijah got circumcised yesterday. He did much better than I expected him to. We knew it was needed due to some issues but I was concerned for him. They did put him out for it. It was heart breaking to hear him cry as they took him away from Daddy (more like peeled him off). We could hear him crying as we walked to the waiting room. We were both in tears by the time we got there. When we went back to him afterwards the nurse said he was the hit of the room. He was sitting up drinking his bottle, waving and smiling at everyone that came his way. But as soon as he saw us he started to get upset. He was ready to go home. We got him home and he slept for about an hour and then ate dinner and played then was back to bed. He woke this morning as if nothing had ever happened and has been happy and playing like usual all day. This boy continues to amaze me!
Next week Don leaves for Haiti until the 8th of Aug. I know Elijah will miss his Daddy very much but I am just as certain that Daddy will have a tough 2 weeks without his little guy. Elijah certainly brightens a room where ever he goes.
Hope you are all staying cool~
Have a blessed day!
Tina

4TH OF JULY AND OTHER "STUFF"...

We spent the 3rd of July in Adrian with both sides of our family. We went to the annual parade and Elijah enjoyed it and Em got her backpack pretty full of candy! SO...everyone was happy with that. After the parade we headed to my parents for lunch. My Mom did a shrimp boil that went over very well with everyone except me and Amanda (we don't eat shrimp!). SO...my Mom also had chicken, hot dogs and hamburgers. What a great Mom! We had a good time sharing and visiting with family. Emilie got to shoot off some of her fireworks there.
Then later in the day we headed to my in-laws for the evening. There we enjoyed fried chicken. My mother-in-law makes the best fried chicken so we were all very happy and very stuffed when finished. We also celebrated my niece and brother in law's birthdays. Maggie will be 4 on the 10th. She is so sweet and I really enjoy my conversations with her. She actually played more with Elijah this time. It is tough sharing your Mammy and Happa, you know!
Elijah did well and even played in mud puddles while we were there. He was not real crazy about the fireworks. He didn't mind the single booms but the ones with several booms made him very unhappy! He finally crashed on me while the guys were shooting off the night time fireworks.
On the 4th we went to Church and then to our friend's house for dinner and more fireworks. We have gone to their house for the last few years. The boys are all in scouts together and they enjoy shooting off the fireworks. Unfortunately, our final display got rained out. Elijah was not unhappy about it. :)
Elijah Update: Elijah is doing great! We are still teaching him a few signs at a time. He has added drink, book, and snack. He is also saying up and all done. He just started going down the stairs on his own. I was in the restroom one day and put him in with Em for a few minutes, telling her to keep an eye on him. When I came out and started looking for him upstairs, I couldn't find him. Randy hollered from downstairs and said he was down there. I assumed Randy had gotten him. Then Randy said he found him playing in the living room when he came in from work. I freaked out a little. Then a few days later, I watched him to see how he was going down. He goes down on his bottom and scoots. I can't believe he is only 13 months and going up and down the stairs on his own. This boy amazes me. We weighed him and he is now 23lbs 2oz. So, He is also a BIG boy!

Here are some pics to enjoy!
*Elijah...ready for the parade!

*waving at the horses going by

*waiting for the parade to start

*Elijah picking up candy

Hope you are all enjoying your summer! We certainly are having a great time with our little guy.

Blessings~

Tina