Peek-A-Boo

I just had to put this on here because it was so cute.  Last night Hagirsa was looking at our full-length mirror and kept peeking around the corner at it.  I came over by him and he said, "Where'd he go mama, where'd he go?"  I just lauged and hugged him then he put his little face over the mirror and said, "Peek-A-Boo" at himself.  So darn cute.

What a Difference a Year Makes

A year ago tomorrow, we got a call from Bethany telling us we have a little boy.  It's amazing how much has changed in a year.  We love you so much Hagirsa!!  Hagirsa was just baptized on July 24th at Harderwyk Ministries in Holland.  It was a beautiful service with so many loved ones who could be there.

Family Picture

We finally got our family picture done this morning. We can't wait to see all of the pictures from today. The kids did such a good job. We are so lucky to have our whole family together. The pictures were taken by April Kornoelje Photography.

Camping with Families who Adopted from Ethiopia

Hanging out with my best buds, Reese and Eli

Yummy breakfast on the campfire

Sammy is playing with me - love that kid

All the kiddos

Ian dug a hole for Kendal and Hagirsa to play in

I hope this is a yearly event.  We had friends drive from Pennsylvania and fly from Kansas to be here.  It was so heartwarming to see some of these kids for the first time again since we've seen them in Ethiopia.  Thankfully, we are blessed in West Michigan to have a lot of the families right here.  It was a lot of fun.

Summer Fun

Does Hagirsa love the water you ask?  Oh my goodness.  I've never seen a kid gravitate to water like this kid does.  He knew what the word, "bath" meant right away.  He is hysterical to watch in a lake or pool.  He goes in like he owns the place and doesn't care about going under or how much he gets wet.  When he does go under, he just comes up smiling and laughing with his eyes and mouth wide open!  He can count to three now due to us dunking him on "three."  He'll say, "two" to get you to do it again. 

He's growing so fast.  His budda belly seems smaller now.  Maybe we're just getting used to it.  He feels taller though and he's cutting more teeth!  Yes, this will be nine of them since we've been home.  I guess he'll get them all out of the way.  We've attributed his constant runny nose to this. 

His new thing when he gets mad is to say all the naughty words in a row while pointing his finger at you....."no, mine, stop."  I literally just laugh when he does it.  I wouldn't let him get in the dishwasher yesterday so all the words went flying along with the pointed finger at me.   He means business!  :) 

Having a great time with him this summer and introducing him to all sorts of new things.  I can't wait for what each new day brings for him and us as a family.  His baptism will be July 24th and we are so exited.  We have water from Lake Awassa near where he was born to baptize him in.  It will be an emotional day.  God is good!

Yezalalem Minch Fundraising Walk

The Future Hope Campaign was developed to raise money for Yezalalem Minch in Ethiopia.   While we were in Ethiopia, we were given the opportunity to be a part of the most wonderful program, Yezalalem Minch (yezalalemminch.org). The family that we staying with in Ethiopia runs YM. We have been so blessed to have them in our lives. YM helps orphans get food and education in Ethiopia among many other things (child sponsorship, adoption, family education, etc.) Their vision is to see all orphans and vulnerable children in Ethiopia be productive and valuable citizens to their country.

Kreg I have been working with four other families in MI who started the Future Hope Campaign to raise money for this cause. YM is about to lose the land they facilitate all of their programs on due to rising costs and goverment involvement. We are trying to raise money for operational space and a future vocational school that is their OWN.

If you go to the website, www.futurehopecampaign.org (started right here in West MI), you will find information and a pledge form. Any money donated will go to pay for the "Land of Opportunity" and you will receive a tax deductible receipt in the mail. A lot of times we give our money to great causes but never know where it's really going. I can testify that I have met and been a part of where the money will go.  It will be the best money ever spent.

Fellow Ethiopian adoptive parents and supporters walked this weekend at Kent Trails to raise money.  At the walk itself, more than $11,000 was raised!  Thank you so much.  We will still be raising money through August 1st, 2011.

May Update

These are pictures from Tulip Time last week.  Hagirsa did not want to sit but we got a few shots in.  He had his check-up doctors appt on Tuesday and he grew 2 inches since we've been home!  He's very healthy besides the constant runny nose.  He had his "little man" surgery today.  He did so well.  I got him up last night and fed him and played with him for a bit.  He got up this morning and didn't cry all morning until they took him into surgery.  Everything went great and he will be healing the next couple of days.  So glad the weather is nicer.  He loves to be outside.  I'm excited to be able to spend more time this summer with both of the kiddos.

Happy First Easter Hagirsa!

Hagirsa really enjoyed Easter.  It was so nice to spend our first holiday with him.  We were thinking about Ethiopia a lot today because Easter is their biggest celebrated holiday.  When he's old enough, we can't wait to share the story of Easter with him.  Hagirsa went to nursery for the first time today.  The ladies couldn't get over him and took lots of pictures.  He did great.  When I got him to come sing with us, he had his hands in the air praising the Lord.  It was so sweet and put a permanent smile on my face!  We are very thankful that he came from an orphanage that taught the children a lot about God.
Hagirsa was not scared of the Easter Bunny AT ALL!  He kept following him around with an egg and offering him it.  He didn't really get the concept yet.  He just wanted to chase the bunny.  Kendal didn't really want to go anywhere near him (bunny).  Such a great day with family and friends.  Hope everyone had a great holiday remembering the true meaning of Easter.

Finally a Family Pic

Hagirsa is doing very well.  It's almost as if he's been here his whole life.  It just warms my heart to see him with family and friends.  He's such a happy little guy.  He picks up words and sign language so quickly.  He just learned to say, "I love you" and loves to blow kisses.  He always blows kisses before he goes to bed so each time I carry him in his room now he blows me a kiss!  Too funny. 

Kendal is such a big helper (most of the time).  She loves to play with him and pick him up.  He LOVES to be outside.  He got a "new" bike from his cousin, Jack, on Saturday.  His little legs don't hit the pedals yet but he loves to just sit on it and be pushed around. 

His sleeping habits are getting better but he still likes to self-soothe by banging his head into the side of the crib.  He doesn't do it all night like he used to.  He's been doing it more when he's falling asleep and when he wakes up.  We're hoping it slowing will just go away soon. 

Updates are far more infrequent now but wanted to get some new pics on here.  Enjoy!

HE'S HOME!!

I will eventually finish our trip timeline but we have been so tired and haven't had time to get on here.  I thought I would post some pictures instead!  I posted pics of our other days as well.

Gotcha Day - Day 7

We woke up anxious again. My life story on this trip. We went to the Bethany Corporate Office here to meet with social workers and the head of Bethany. He showed us how to fill out our Embassy forms that we do tomorrow. We then met with our social worker and his nurse to go over final details. Hagirsa is a happy, healthy boy.
We started with lunch at a golf club today! My favorite. We got to eat outside and loved the warm weather. Did you know that Malarone and Cirpro BOTH make you sensitive to light? Yep, got a nice sunburn at the beginning of February which I can say has never been done before. We were all so anxious, we just wanted to GO!
We had a few families on the bus getting children from other orphanages as well today. We went to the Mussie orphanage and got to see four children with their parents - so emotional! Kids sang songs and they cut a cake and everything (never mind the butcher knife they gave a five year old to do it with). Very sweet little ceremony. Now unto our day. We walked in and they had the children that were leaving dressed up in traditional Ethiopian clothing. Hagirsa looked so dang cute as ever. His nannies cried and cried. They tried to hide their faces but that didn't help. They kept asking for Hagirsa to hold - one more time. "He is such good boy, so happy, he so lucky to have you as family" one said. So, we all cried, hugged and had bittersweet feelings about the whole experience. These nannies have been his mom for half of his life. They know him way better than I do. I'm hoping the transition goes well. We took a great big group picture which was amazing. So many orphans now into good homes in the US. It broke my heart to leave the orphans there that weren't leaving yet. One was Samuel and he LOVED Hagirsa. We found out he will be in the Grand Rapids area when he comes home. He was crying too. So many tears this past week. Anyways, the bus ride was a bit stressful. My quiet kid whom I've never heard cry decided he was going to on the bus ride home and for about an hour after that. It is a sweet little cry. He is teething though, has really bad diaper rash, and left the only world he knew to come with us to a new place with more new faces. Poor thing. After feeding him I decided to bring him down to the common area where the kids were and he was TOTALLY fine. Kendal is going to be so helpful in this transition. We put him to bed okay, he was fussy for a bit but a little bottle and he was out. He put up a good fight though. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings after some sleep that we all will hopefully get.
Side note: I tried camel tonight. No, it doesn't taste like chicken, I though it tasted like beef. Weird! You can buy it on the street right around the corner from us at the butcher. Whatever dead head is outside the market, that's what dead meat is hanging inside the market.
Can't believe we are a family of four now! We go to embassy tomorrow to finish paperwork and file for his visa. His passport is so cute. Going to bed early tonight, when your kid sleeps, you sleep! Have a good week everyone.
--
Stacey Sills
Health and Prevention Consultant
Ottawa Area Intermediate School District
13565 Port Sheldon St.
Holland, MI 49424
1-877-702-8600 ext. 4111
ssills@oaisd.org
He who has health, has hope. And he who has hope, has everything. ~ Proverb quote

Day 6 - Sunday

This is the fun day. We get up and have a quick breakfast. We then leave for this resort that has a boat ride you take to photograph hippos! So excited. People are dropping like flies though getting sick today. So many reasons why you could be sick here it's scary. So anyways, we get on a pontoon boat that takes us about 1/2 hour across Lake Awassa to see the hippos and we DID. Got some great pics. So amazing. Came back while the other group went and walked through the resort where monkeys were on the trees just like squirrels are at home. Got lots of pics of the monkeys. My favorite was the one holding her baby. The girls played putt-putt. So, I legally can say that I PLAYED GOLF IN ETHIOPIA! We ended up staying at the resort because one of our friends was really sick. We at right on the water of Lake Awassa. It was a beautiful day too. I got sunburned! It just so happened that the second prime minister of Ethiopia was eating outside as well with about 100 other people on poverty. He would be like our vice-president in our country. I was wondering why so many people had AK47s standing on balconies. So, I did get an illegal picture of him. Got lots of pictures by the water of the exotic birds and more monkeys before we left. We started on our 5 hour trip back on a bumpy bus with sick people on it. Two more got sick and one is actually in the hospital now getting her fluids revived. Very scary. I'm doing good mom! :) Tomorrow morning we will get up and head to the Bethany Corporate office here and get prepped for our embassy appt which is Tuesday. We then eat lunch and go pick up Hagirsa. They do a goodbye ceremony which I'm looking forward to except the tears I shall have again. These nannies have had him for half of his life. They love him. One of the nannies patted his head on Friday and said, "I will miss this one" and had to walk away because she was crying. It will be a packed house tomorrow night with all of our kids here together. At least the kids all know each other so that will be helpful for them. Alright, it's almost midnight here so I'd better get to bed. I will enjoy the Superbowl in my sleep tonight since we are 8 hours ahead! Go Lions!! :))))
--
Stacey Sills
Health and Prevention Consultant
Ottawa Area Intermediate School District
13565 Port Sheldon St.
Holland, MI 49424
1-877-702-8600 ext. 4111
ssills@oaisd.org
He who has health, has hope. And he who has hope, has everything. ~ Proverb quote

Day 5 Continued

So, Sisay who was the one who trained us at Bethany and was with us at court got married about three weeks ago and was having a prolonged reception. We went to that and got to pray and pray with Ethiopians. It was very cool to see the ceremony while my mind is racing about what may happen in less than an hour. We see a goat and find out that he has to kill it and they will eat it for dinner. The goat kept making sounds during the ceremony - famous last words. Kind of funny - not for the goat. So, as we leave I ask where we will meet her. Well, she's not here yet............seriously, our time and Ethiopian time are not the same. So, we sit down to eat dinner at our hotel for that night in Awassa. I ordered but didn't think I could eat. Mahi, then comes up to us and says, "She is downstairs." Oh my gosh. What do to? I feel so unprepared. How can you feel prepared for this. We were asked if we would like to eat and then meet her. We opted for meeting her first if that was okay with her. She agreed. We walk downstairs of the restaurant and there she was. THERE SHE WAS! The woman that gave birth to my son and gave us this precious miracle was right in front of us. What do you say? I hugged her and we were escorted to a room to "interview" her. She was very shy and timid. We asked if she would mind if we could record our questions to her so that Hagirsa could see them later. She said that was fine. We asked lots of things (most I won't put on due to Hagirsa being the one that can tell people if he wants in the future) but there were two answers that so warmed our hearts. We always have wanted "Hagirsa" to be his name unless it meant something negative. We asked her what it meant and she said she had him in peace and so that's why she named him "Hagirsa" which means peace in Sidayamo. Yep, cried. We got some information about her family and her life. She is twenty right now and is remarried. She smiled and even laughed in the interview even though I could tell she was very nervous, as were we. The last thing she added (which was not on tape) was that she prayed and prayed for her child to go to a christian family and now she is so blessed. That's all she wanted for him. We showed her the photo album we brought and the videos we had taken of Hagirsa walking the day before. She thought it was the cutest thing. She was smiling and laughing and holding her chest to laugh. Kreg then prayed with all of together. We got our pictures taken with her and two by herself for Hagirsa to have. She was beautiful and so petite and about 4'10". We all hugged, gave an Ethiopian handshake and said our goodbyes. So hard to talk when we got back up to the group. We made everyone cry with the story about his name. We made sure she knew how much WE are blessed to have HIM. Finished what I could of dinner and then just layed on the bed. I couldn't fall asleep. My mind was racing about what I didn't ask her, etc. She really wants him to come back someday when he gets older so I will make sure that happens. :)

The second picture was where we first saw his birth mom.  She was sitting in the back left table.
--
Stacey Sills
Health and Prevention Consultant
Ottawa Area Intermediate School District
13565 Port Sheldon St.
Holland, MI 49424
1-877-702-8600 ext. 4111
ssills@oaisd.org
He who has health, has hope. And he who has hope, has everything. ~ Proverb quote

Day 5 - Saturday

So, we eat breakfast in the morning and know that today is going to be a tough day. We decided from the very beginning that we would like to meet Hagirsa's birth mother for a lot of reasons. Mostly, so we can tell him about her. We get on the bus to drive to Awassa with about 20 people - eight families doing the exact same thing. I was an anxious mess the whole day. The scenery was beautiful but I was very distracted wondering the unknown. The countryside was beautiful. Mountains were on both sides of us most of the way down. There were lots of little "towns" on the road. Most with just a few shops and houses. There were a few lakes and we got to see camels. One guy was herding them and another was a camel farm. We arrive in Awassa and eat at a very beautiful restaurant. We then head to the orphanage where Hagirsa started and lived for about a month. We knew the birth mom was supposed to be there when we arrived. We first got a tour of the orphange. It was heart breaking to see so many very teeny tiny infants that were in the cribs. Way too many. It was also heartbreaking to know that they do not have an organization working with them now to adopt these children. Tears were rolling at this point. Kreg cried when we saw twin boys 2 months old in adjoining cribs. He truely wanted to take them home if we could. I would have been okay with that. The kids that were older waved and blew kisses to us. We then walk out back where sits unfamiliar faces to all of our group. Everyone is wondering who goes with who. This was the most awkward moment of our lives. So, we are all sitting there and our social worker from Ethiopia comes over to us and says this, "Your birth mother changed her...............address." My heart sank because for what seemed like a lifetime I thought she was going to say, "mind." She said that she would be here in an hour. So an hour passes and the couples are meeting their birth parents/grandparents. Things are going awesome for everyone. I ask after an hour has passed if they are getting close. She checks and has a very sincere look on her face. She says that they can't find her. Wow, speechless and lots of tears again. When in the world would we ever get this chance to meet her I'm thinking? What if they don't find her before next Saturday? My heart is racing and I think I was going to be sick again. They said they are still looking for her and not to worry. No, I don't worry at all!! So, after some more time and tears, Mahi, our social worker, comes over and says that they found her father and that she got remarried and moved. He knows where she lives though and can find her they say. Another hour goes by. No word. Finally, they tell us that she is on her way and that she would be here in about an hour.

The last picture was inside the Shalom orphanage in Awassa.
--
Stacey Sills
Health and Prevention Consultant
Ottawa Area Intermediate School District
13565 Port Sheldon St.
Holland, MI 49424
1-877-702-8600 ext. 4111
ssills@oaisd.org
He who has health, has hope. And he who has hope, has everything. ~ Proverb quote

Day 4

The last post was day 2 and 3 with traveling. Friday we got up and had some breakfast. We had some time to walk down the street we were on and played with some of the kids. I played hopscotch and Kreg and Tim got out the soccer balls of course. Everyone in Ethiopia knows how to play soccer (football here). We then left for the orphanage. We got there and found out they were going to tape us for our Life Book that they are making for us. So, there was a camera crew taping our first sight of him and for about an hour after that. We walked in and saw his cute little face sitting on the kitchen floor all by himself. He is so stinkin' cute. I went right over and picked him up. He was not timid at all with Kreg or myself. He smiled right away. We put our camera on him and got to see him walk for the first time. He took about ten steps before he squatted down so we missed quite a bit unfortunately when we were gone. He is so coordinated. He loves to move around and he LOVES to be held. He is really particular about just one toy. Whatever he has that day (this time it happened to be an empty bubbles bottle), he doesn't want to give it up. We may have our hands full for a while - literally! I'm okay with that. We got to play with all the kids and see all of the faces of the rest of the adoptive families light up. We eventually had to leave. We went shopping again and when I got to the first stop, I was violently ill. I had to use a restroom NOW. If you don't know anything about bathrooms in Ethiopia, don't find out. They are not really bathrooms so it was an awful experience. None that I had ever felt before or want to feel again. I eventually got better as the day went on. Got some other things to bring home to remind us of Ethiopia. We came back and layed down for a bit and then we had dinner together with the rest of the families at a traditional restaurant and then came back "home" to our guesthouse. Tomorrow we leave for Awassa to meet Hagirsa's birth mother.
--
Stacey Sills
Health and Prevention Consultant
Ottawa Area Intermediate School District
13565 Port Sheldon St.
Holland, MI 49424
1-877-702-8600 ext. 4111
ssills@oaisd.org
He who has health, has hope. And he who has hope, has everything. ~ Proverb quote