Alec is 10 months & Haven is 19 months

Wow hard to believe we have been home as a family for 5 weeks. The children have just adapted so well. Last weekend they went to their first birthday party. Haven had fun once she got used to the crowd of people. She discovered she loves donuts! She is talking more each day. She says about 12 words now and almost says I do it (her first sentence). She is very independent when it comes to doing certain things like feeding herself. She likes to figure out how to buckle and unsnap things. She is starting to try to climb out of her crib. Yikes not looking forward to her having more freedom!

Alec is pulling up now. He continues to get stronger every day. He now has 4 teeth and likes to bite. We are working on that. He says Mama and hi. He is starting to assert his independence with Haven and they have had some fights over toys. She even closed his hand in a toy to get it away from him. So there is a lot of sharing teaching going on right now. He still is getting up every 3 hours, but is now eating more solids, so fingers crossed his sleep time improves. They are so amazing and light up my life.

Our amazing dogs

I just wanted to brag on how wonderful our dogs have been with Haven and Alec. They have done so well with them. Haven loves the dogs and is always kissing and hugging on them. But she also sits on them alot and uses them as a step to get up on the couch. Alec just pulls their hair alot!!

Tenley and Haven have bonded. In the morning Tenley whines at their bedroom door waiting for them to get up. She runs to Haven's crib and jumps up to see her. After I have changed Haven and put her down on the ground. They run and romp together while I'm changing Alec. Haven throws the toys for Tenley down the hall. Poor Tenley's ball time has been downgraded big time.

Stuart is not as fond of the children, but has been very tolerant. He gets a little grumpy but gets up and leaves instead of snapping. I was concerned about him when we brought the kids home, but he has done well. It is hard for him to share Naing. Naing is his world and Stuart isn't getting walked every day like he used to. The only saving grace is Haven shares her food with them. Stuart is just trying to help keep the floor clean and Tenley cleans the high chair seat.

Here is a picture of Alec laying on Stuart and Tenley being cute laying in the clothes basket. We are very blessed to have such wonderful dogs!

Little Update

Just a small update on our sweet, sweet babies.
Alec at his recheck appointment today gained 1 & 1/4 pounds in 3 weeks. YEAH!!! He is now a few ounces shy of 16#. He is starting to pull up and stand. He has cut 2 new teeth, the top front teeth. Now he has 4 teeth. He is just so sweet, easy to laugh and so snugly. He now says Hi and Mama and jabbers alot. The women at our pediatrician's office go gaga over him and he smiles at everyone. He is starting to get a little shy around strangers and only wants Mama to hold him.
Haven is going 100 miles an hour. She has gained 1/4# in 3 weeks. She is eating non-stop. She now comes and tells us she wants food by using sign language for eat. She says Mama, Dadda, doghi(doggie), Alec, baby, gentile(almost understandable), up and tries to say brown bear (her favorite book). She is very sharp (not just the opinion of her parents). She actually pulled a chair over to the counter to try to get her drink the other day. She wanted me to read Brown Bear the other day and I was having a coughing fit and couldn't read. She put the book in my hand, took her hand and put it on my face to move my face toward the book and then took her hand and tapped on the book to get the message across I was to read it. Talk about getting her point across! She is strong willed, determined and very independent. She figured out how to snap the belt in her high chair. I was very impressed with her dexterity. She is very social. Interacts with everyone and today at the Dr. appointment went up to front office to say hi to the receptionist like they were her long lost buddies.

All and all they have adjusted and are doing very well for being home less than a month. How we love, love, love these sweet babies!

More Meki pictures

Meki

Sorry I have been lacking in my blogging lately. On with the tale of Meki.

We finally got on the road to Meki after much confusion and commotion. I am so glad we made that trip. Once you are about 10 minutes out of Addis there is such a drastic change in scenery and the level of busy declines dramatically. It actually reminds me a lot of the Willamette Valley here in Oregon. It is green farm land surrounded by rolling hills and mountains.

We were enjoying the drive and taking pictures from the car the whole time holding the children in our laps. Yep kinda of different to not think twice about having a car seat. There is still a fair amount of truck traffic because this highway is the main highway out of Addis and to make connections to go west or continue south in Ethiopia.

I was amazed watching the scenery to see such young children with the huge responsibility of handling the family's herd. Boys between 8-10 years of age doing this important job for the family.

We passed an outdoor plant nursery on the drive. On the side of the road there were tons of plants lined up for a block or so with workers selling the plants. I so wanted to go do a look see at what they had, but we didn't stop.

Once we got to Meki I didn't know what to expect. There was a main street that had a few local shops and food stores. The street had a large number of people just hanging out, sitting around and chatting with each other. The driver stopped and asked directions to the Meki orphanage. I looked at Naing and told him I really didn't have interest in seeing the orphanage I just wanted to see the town. But to be polite we went in and that was one of the best parts of the trip. All the nannies were so excited to see Haven and Alec. The nanny that took care of Haven for over a year came running and grabbed her. She was just hugging on her and crying she was so overcome with emotion to see her again.

Unfortunately Haven did not feel the same way. She was screaming because she was taken from me and I do feel she thought she was being brought to stay again. The nannies asked where the children were going to go live and when the driver told them America they all started say oh America, America.

One of the nannies pulled out her cell phone to show us pictures of Alec and Haven she took on her phone of when they lived at the orphanage. They told us Haven's nickname was beautiful. (So nice to hear other people think so too!)

The nanny took Haven into a room and it was their sleeping area, she put Haven in her old bed and there was a total melt down. I took her back outside and calmed her down.

Meki's orphanage is very small. Doesn't have alot of toys or clothes for the children. But we were told that because it is an intake orphanage most children only stay there weeks/months before they are moved. Haven was there for over a year because her mother had not agreed to her being adopted. I never found out if it was because her mother was trying to find the father (whereabouts unknown) or hoping to be able to take care of Haven herself. There was a little girl Saraphina that the workers kept taking over to Haven. We were told that they were best friends when Haven was there. So obviously this girl has been there awhile as well. Again Haven had no interest. I just kept telling her you are not staying, you have a Mommy and a Daddy now.

One of the men that works at the orphanage brought out some pictures for us to see. One of Haven with two friends, one of Alec in a group shot of the nannies and one of Haven with her birth mother. I asked if we could have that photo of them. The man said no, that was there only one. Then I asked Naing to take a picture of the picture so we would have something for Haven. When the man saw how much it meant to us, he gave it to us. So we were meant to go the orphanage so Haven would have that piece of history on who she is. They asked if we wanted to meet her birth mom. I politely declined. I didn't think I could have handled that emotionally and her birth mom looked so said in the picture I didn't know if that would be good for her as well. Now I wish we had explored that a little more.

We spent some time with the beautiful children there and gave them pens/pencils and took pictures of all of us before driving back to Addis. It was a full day and a good day. Enjoy the photos.

So Sweet

Even though I'm so exhausted, beyond the definition of tired, I am enjoying every minute with my sweet, sweet babies. I just love them so much! How is that possible after two weeks.

Alec loves music. He has very good rhythm and moves to the music. Today we went to the church the first time after coming home. He was so focused on the choir and the organ music. He is such a sweet boy, even though he has been a grump because he is teething. He is determined, quick to smile, and a little sneaky.

Haven has a great sense of humor. Loves to smile and laugh (so wouldn't have thought that when we first met her). Loves, loves, loves to put my shoes on. She is now giving kisses (open mouth), going to more people, enjoys reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear. She loves to talk on the phone, remote or whatever else she can hold to her ear. She now is saying Woo Woo Woo and pointing her finger, translation No No No. She says it to the dogs, Alec and Mommy alot.

Enjoy a few new pictures.