Swiper Noo!!! Momma he just TAKES IT!!!

This is what is often heard being screamed by Sam from our living room as he is outraged, time and again by Swiper on Dora the Explorer. I really must record it, its hilarious and i probably should try and find someof the episodes where Swiper acts especially "bad"-....The irony is that Sam is Swiper....he takes stuff from Gabe and runs around with it, taunting Gabe that "look- I got it!!" and continues to run and giggle.....life imitating "art" ? hmmmm 

Two Years since our match date- and matched again

I mentioned before that it is nearly two years to the day between  our matches for Sam and K. Here are my thoughts on finally being matched with my wonderful little boy Sam,,.....i remember exactly where I was when i go the call (of course we were expecting the call because Jessica from Holt said she would be calling to tell us either way) Anyhow I was eating at Meskereem - a Charlotte Ethiopian restaurant and got the call then. Read more about it at MATCH Day for Sam

waterpark joy and other good things

We had a great great time at the small water park in Orangeburg. We are going back with Ross and Gabe next Saturday :)

The home-study visit went well- just did alot of updating of previous information. It was good to see our sweet SW again. I also signed up for the Empowered to Connect conference in TN (near Nashville) to be held in mid September. I am excited about that,

And for the big news- Our final interview/conference call with our new agency Wide Horizons for Children was last Wednesday night. We are unofficially matched with our little girl K- Wide Horizons have just started a pre-match program for their "Horizon Kids"- waiting child program. We are now awaiting the new forms that are being created especially for the new pre-match program - However, at this time they are not recruiting new families for her, or sending her file out. I am relieved and excited. The irony of this is that about two years to the date is when we were matched with Sam in a very similar way (via HOLT)- a series of interviews and questionnaires.

Here is to hoping and praying that it wont take over a year for her to get to her new family- like it did with Sam . I have a feeling that things will go faster this time....i am not as anxious about all the un-knowns. There are not as many un-knowns with her. Sam was abandoned, with little history, so many interviews and documents had to be gathered for court and embassy.

In even better news- our program director said she requested an interview to be done with the older WC, including K, in order to ascertain how much they know or expect about what is going on, about the process and what may happen soon. In my heart/mind i want someone to help her document - via talking/recording- anything she remembers about her life and family before she was taken into care....i feel that the longer she waits to be able to do that she may forget. I wish there were some way i could help that process start right away.....but i am just not sure how to do it. 

Going into this adoption, my feelings are in a different place. I am excited about K joining our family, but being that she knows her history and language- i want to help preserve as much as that as I can- even if the interview is in Amharic then thats ok.....just as long as its documented. 

Summer fun, homestudy prep for #2

whew so i have said it before, and shall now say it again, my summer as a stay-at-home mom is anything but "at home". This week i had a job interview (with the state department, no less- it went pretty well) the same day there was car drama that cost me like $300. Yesterday we spent the afternoon at Monkey Joes (Sam and I). Sam then had OT. We jumped on the trampoline as well....his legs were worn out! This morning Sam accompanied me to UUCC for a Hogwarts camp meeting and then we met some friends at Edventure Children's Museum....Sam has been taking near 2 hour naps each day- I must be wearing his little butt out!@ Last wee we had lots of fun with Hogwarts camp. Gabe took quiddich (spelling??) very seriously. It was a hectic, fun, busy, chaotic week- and we are doing it all again next week.
Tomorrow is our last homestudy visit :) Our SW Hollie will be here about 12. Tonight our agency program director wants to have a conference call with John and I. Our formal application was sent last week. We do a separate "intent to adopt" application when we get preliminarily matched with our little girl K.
Also I have been reviewing Amaric/Ethiopian names for K's middle name....that has been fun. Our agency that is doing the homestudy said that they planned for the formal write up to be done within a week or so of our last visit. Although we are still waiting on Johns medical sheet- ugh (long story)

Thanks Megan- mail order injera!

I found this one one of the email lists i am on....so happy its close. I am planning onr ordering injera and shiro!!!
http://www.abyssiniamarket.com/etfretinande.html

more than my birthday or fathers day weekend...

My birthday was yesterday- and i am elated with my new Kindle Fire and big loungey hammock. I am also linked to African children via my birthday being June 16th in quite a bitter sweet way.
DAY OF THE AFRICAN CHILD
Pretty ironic eh? More about our festivities for my b-day and fathers day....i am exhausted (as per usual) and may have to turn in early

Exhaustion - phase 1

so theres three weeks of Hogwarts Camp that i am the assistant "headmistress"/director for. We are in day two of week one....and my legs are killing me. I have spent the better part of five weeks either laid up with Sam on the couch or maybe int he pool helping him swim and recover. I do work at a large dog kennel/groomers/vet on the weekends (i am that much iof an animal person, getting paid next to nothing)- i get run ragged on the weekends a bit- but certainly 60+ dogs are actually LESS demanding than 21 students (20 campers and one "house elf" named Sam- guess who that is). The camp has been fun to plan, and the execution is going pretty well- with some kinks being ironed out on the fly. Gabe is really enjoying it and Sam is holding his own. Sam is actually doing much better walking- and is well on the road to recovery. He starts his OT tomorrow and gets his new braces! He shall soon be a force to be reckoned with.
Gabe is also getting very good at tae kwon do and has a belt test next week! Wish him luck. We are fostering two doggies, and are trying to get things planned for a little night out for my birthday this Saturday....so i just feel like i am running a mile a minute. Additionally we both just got our physicals for our medical reports- needed for our adoption home-study.....and our home-study visit is next Thursday!!! We sent the long first part of our formal application in last week as well and have been doing lots more research on out of birth-order adoption.  Maybe after next Thursday i will feel a bit like i am getting out of this tornado of activity. Its a good kind of exhaustion...

registering for our new girl

so if any family member or friend would like to purchase anything for our new little girl- when we get closer to welcoming her home- please please visit this fantastic website- that i just remembered existed.
http://amharickids.com/

I am ordering the counting and colors bean bags and several books

Tadpole Sam

Ignore my squeeling! I was so excited for him....he cant walk right now but swimming is his thang!

little steps little legs

so there is a great amount of frustration on the part of Sam and ourselves that hes not able to walk very well. Its a combination of weakness and pain- poor little man. Hes been annoyed because all other times the casts have been taken off hes been able to walk better....and now this. We go for his AFO brace fitting on Friday and I hope they can rush the production. We have Hogwarts camp next week, and it will be difficult for him to be my "little house elf"- Screetcher- if he cant walk :( so we may get the wheel chair back while the braces are in production

K adoption front (her name begins with a K and we will be keeping that name)- We sent int he first packet of documents for our home study- background clearance forms, financial statements, the boys' physicals/immunizations. Now we are waiting for our references and for our physicals to be done. Mine will be complete tomorrow :)-then we wait for Johns and our last HS visit .....with July 4th getting close, i hope to at least get the HS done by the end of July
The good news is that the agency director told us we can now be matched with her. The formal referral paperwork will be sent after the HS is written, but being "matched" means that other families will not be able to request her referral/match. That's a relief.....we aren't the type to just get a HS and prep a dossier to blindly wait to be matched. I dunno, but i just need to know who we are striving for....who we are putting together all these documents, visiting the Dept of Homeland Security folks for fingerprints for, having her face to look at makes it more real.
We still have to complete the rest of our formal application for our new agency, which we were told we could wait on- since there's a large payment towards the adoption required....ugh. Yay for my part time jobs !
Asst camp director, weekend kennel tech work and i still get to have the boys with me all the time- but money will be super tight until the refund comes..which has been delayed for several reasons...TAX ID number then needing to get his birth certificate and documents back from sending in to change name and birth date....
I feel trapped by paper work most days- but its for a good cause of course

Post-casting update

Sam was super happy about getting the casts and splits off. His little legs were quite atrophied and since he has not been fitted for his braces, he is not able to walk at all unassisted as I had hoped he could. So it looks like a long haul- but once his AFO (ankle-foot-orthotic) braces are made then we will be in a much better place. Here are some pictures of the de-casting

We are trying to help him walk, cruise and stand on his own. He is in some significant pain on the left foot around the sutures and such. I hope the tendons are healing well. Please send Sam some healing thoughts :)

Busting out of this piece!!

Well this "piece" is the last cast and splint-wrap that are still holding on to Sam's legs. He has bee in casts for 5 weeks....i am fearful of the condition of his muscles and if he can walk much at all today. We visit the doctor at 1:30. To recap- he had surgery in late April to extend tendons in his left, to reassign several tendons in his left and right foot. We chose to do all the surgical work at once as opposed to in stages, which is sometimes done with younger kids....its been an ordeal but one that will help him walk properly.
These are pictures of his legs from his court date:
He has been in and out of casting for years- NO MORE!