I stole a camera... and I took these!

Uncle Kris and Auntie Amanda came over to work on wedding invites and they brought their camera. So I took some pictures to share. (We didn't make it to the beach today, maybe next week with Grandma Cheryl.)

Daddy and Tek played in the pool today.

.

Tek in his float in the pool. He loves it!

After we dried off we hung out with Riley for a while.

Then Daddy and Tek played a game Poppy taught them.

Tek is learning how to feed himself. He gets SOME of it in his mouth.

Tek loves to hold his own sippy cup now. He just started doing this yesterday. 

He is such a big boy!

Uncle Kris wanted to play a bit, but Daisy got a little jealous. 

She doesn't like sharing her daddy's attention.

Then after Tek went to bed Riley took over. He loves his Uncle Kris.

And that was our evening. Today Grandma Cheryl gets here and

I go back to work part-time. On Friday, Mr. Tek turns 8 months old! 

The entire city decided to celebrate it with fireworks!

Pool Party

I purchased a baby pool the other day. I use the term "baby pool" loosely. It is fairly large, large enough to fit two adults with Tek. It is very hot here in Georgia and I plan on spending just as much time in that pool as Tek. Which brings me to reason #3243 why adoption is amazing, three weeks after bringing my baby home I am able to shamelessly get in my bikini. :) 

Tek LOVES the water. Uncle Cody and Aunt Nicki came over for dinner and snapped this picture of Tek in the pool. 

Thank God for my friends and their cameras. 

Never have I felt so white in all my life than yesterday morning when Tek and I were in the pool with the sun beating down on us. Tek's caramel skin made me look translucent. I need to go to the beach! Which is exactly what I am planning to do today. Alas, my skin will never be as beautiful as my Ethiopian prince's. He will forever put me to shame. 

Stay tuned for a recapping of Tek's first time to the beach. I am certain he will love it as much as we do. 

Vacuuming Forbidden

My dog, Riley, is a 90 lb certified coward. All who have met him know he is afraid of all moving objects. Example: a box you pick up, a blanket you move, a camera you hold, etc. But the object he is MOST afraid of is the vacuum. When you pull the vacuum out of the closet he will run terrified to the other room. If you want to block off any area of the house from Riley, just simply set the vacuum in front of it and he will stay far away. 

His fear has always been a bit of a nuisance. You see, vacuuming is my favorite chore, actually its the only chore I enjoy doing. Also, my house really should be vacuumed every day due to my ever shedding dog. I haven't really cut back on my amount of vacuuming, but it is irritating when I go from room to room vacuuming and Riley is knocking me over trying to get out of the way.  But I survive, more importantly Riley survives, though I am certain that the vacuum will cause him to die of a heart attack one day. How much fear can one dog handle?

However, today the vacuum has officially become outlawed in my household. Why? Well because the newest boy in my family, Mr. Teketel Blair, is terrified of the vacuum. Yes you read right. He is just as terrified as Riley except he is not able to run away and hide. Instead he SCREAMS at the top of lungs until I turn it off. This is a recent development, I have vacuumed several times since we have been home without any vocal accompaniment from Tek. But today is the day Tek decided he hates the vacuum. Riley was thrilled, if he didn't love Tek before he loves him now!

You may say, "Well at least you have Andy." But as I think back at the four years of married life I don't remember Andy turning on the vacuum, so he may be terrified also. Thats okay, because I am terrified of washing the dishes. : )

Well, I must put Tek down for a nap before another black lab

 forms in the dog hair on my carpet. 

Look who is sitting up!

During our trip to Ohio, Tek learned how to sit up. I am SOOOO PROUD!! 

He is catching up developmentally in leaps and bounds!

(Thanks for the pics Kristen.)

He also met his cousins for the first time! 

Andy's brother has three boys, an almost 2 yr. old and twins that are six months. 

Cash to the left and Slade to the right.

 

All the Blair Boys... Jagger to the far right. 

We had a blast in Ohio. Tek loved meeting all of his family. When someone sends me pictures from Cleveland I will share that part of the trip. Hopefully I will have a camera soon, then all of my posts won't be so delayed... okay I lie. I am going back to work in two weeks and moving to a new apartment... life is going to get VERY CRAZY... very soon!

Day Five: Monday

Kate:
Okay, back on track... Monday was a long awaited day. We couldn't sleep the night before because we were so anxious for the day to come. It was the day that we were able to bring our children back to the guest house for a half-day visit. They do this so that the children have an opportunity to transition slowly, rather than handing the children over to us the first day. This is especially important for older children that are being adopted. The agency wants them first to become accustomed to their adoptive parents through several visits to the care center and then they want them to become accustomed to the place they will be staying for a few days before the long plane ride. This can be a very traumatic experience for some children. Fortunately, our travel group was all infants and one 2 1/2 year old. The 2 1/2 year old handled the transition better than anticipated and did not want to go back to the care center. He adored his adoptive parents from the beginning.
Anyway, at first I was disappointed that I was not allowed to take Tek the first day, but then after the week was over I saw the wisdom in that. We had time to bond and learn from other adoptive parents at our guest house and we were able to shop and learn about Ethiopian culture. Monday came quickly though and all of us were ready an hour beforehand to see our child. We just sat around the guest house hoping that the van would be on time today. It was! And around 9 am we picked up our children and brought them back to the guest house. The first thing I did with Tek was take him out of his care center clothes. You can see in the picture they must have known that he was getting the Scottish name Blair, because they put him in some great plaid pants :) Next we fed him and tried the bottle for the first time. He would have NONE of that! He had been cup fed in the care center for so long he forgot how to suck. So we had to give him sippy cups instead. (We still do... but that means no pacifiers!) When I say cup feed I don't mean that they gave him a sippy cup. They actually used small tin cups the size of bathroom paper cups. They did not have lids. They start all infants on this almost as soon as they arrive. It is a little tough to watch, but we understand that it is a necessity. They switched to cup feeding a while back because they are unable to clean the bottles properly, thus passing along bacteria with
each feeding. As soon as they switched to the cups the childrens'
health increased significantly.
The morning ended quickly and after lunch we had to take him back to the care center. But not before I took over a hundred pictures! (This was the last day my camera worked... stupid camera.) After we took the children back we went on a few tours of the different projects our adoption agency is working on. We went to a school they built, a hospital for mothers and children, and to multiple care centers. Much of our adoption costs goes to fund these projects. Ethiopian adoption is relatively low in cost compared to many other, but our agency not only keeps their costs
low but also uses the dollars to do more than we could have imagined.
After seeing what they do, I would have paid double! Andy and I will continue to sponsor their work there and will use this agency in future adoption(s).

Then we went to AHOPE, there is a link for this organization on the left side of this blog. AHOPE is a care center for HIV+ children. They truly care for these children. The children are adoptable but are obviously hard to place because of their disease. All of the children are given healthcare and are on life saving medications. These children are just a few of the lucky ones, many children throughout Africa are infected and do not have access to these medications or healthcare. But AHOPE is making a difference and are helping more children everyday. If you ever feel that you would like to do something about the AIDS epidemic facing Africa, this is a great place to start. Andy and I saw this organization firsthand and endorse it wholeheartedly. All organizations that I have listed on this blog are organizations that we endorse. After research on each of these organizations we feel very confidently that they use donated funds wisely and we give confidently to them.

After the tours we went to the museum that houses "Lucy." It was a small museum and not as nice as museums you find in more developed countries. But it was interesting nonetheless.

Then we went back to the guest house for dinner. Dinner was always wonderful at the guest house. They cooked American and Ethiopian dishes for us. (The Ethiopian was my favorite.) Then we tried to pass the evening and get some sleep. It was our last night of sleeping as a couple without children. The next day Tek would be ours forever!

Andy... you're up!

Our trip south

On Sunday we had to be ready to leave at 5 a.m. for the 4 hr. trip south to the town of Hosanna. This is where the care center that most of the children are dropped off at before they are brought to Addis and the main care center. We were headed there for two reasons. To see the area of the country where Tek was born, and to meet the birth mother. The agency knows that this is an intense experience and couples need to be able to talk about it with each other so each family had their own landrover to ride in. It was sort of strange to be in this caravan of landrovers with people looking at you as you drove by. It was like we were part of some important UN delegation or something. Some how there was one vehicle that didn't show up, so we ended up sharing with another couple which was OK because the conversation helped pass the time. (and we ended up getting half of our money back) The drive down had some amazing views. There were tons of areas that looked like post cards. It was really beautiful.

I am not going to talk much about the meeting, but it was very intense and we are really glad that we did it. After the meeting we had a coffee ceremony and took a tour of the care center. It was a great facility. Everything was really clean and the kids seemed happy and well cared for. We had one person in our group that nearly started a riot by handing out suckers to the local kids. She had fun at the beginning, but I think there was a moment that she feared for her safety :)

On the way back to Addis we stopped and toured one of the traditional huts that they live in in this region. I was amazed at how much it felt like a home when you walked in.

Two of the landrovers had breakdowns on the way back, but we all eventually made it safe and tired. Everyone wanted to go to sleep right away, but we got to bring the children back to the guest house for half a day the next day so not many moms were able to go to sleep.

Day Three

Kate:
On Saturday we spent the morning in Team Meetings. A team meeting consisted of our social worker, our child's doctor, and one of the nannies. First, the doctor went over his health history. The doctor told us that he has had an ear infection, tonsillitis, and pneumonia twice. His last bout of pneumonia was only two weeks prior to us arriving. It was a good thing the doctor had such a strong accent that I couldn't understand anything she said, otherwise I may have freaked out at that point. :) The pneumonia explained the rattling in his chest and the lingering cough.

After the doctor had finished talking with us they played Tek's birth history video. It was very emotional to hear his story and to see where he was born. It will be a great resource to show him when he is older and those questions inevitably come. Our adoption agency was amazing in so many ways, but the video lifebook is where they stand out. I do not know of any other adoption agencies that provide this gift. I realize by sharing this causes many questions to arise. "Is his birth family alive?" "Why was he placed in adoption?", "What is his birth family like?" etc. I am sorry, but that is not our story to share. One day after Tek knows his complete story he will make the choice to share his history, but until then we will not speak of it, so please respect his history by refraining from asking questions. However, we are sharing that his birthmother is still alive and we did meet her. That is on Day Four... so stay tuned. We are sharing this because we believe in adoptive children knowing their history and forever being connected to their birth family and birth country. Even though it is impossible for us to stay in contact with her (it is against Ethiopian law,) we will remind Tek of her often and speak openly about her to him. We will frame the picture we have of her in his room so that he can look at her when he feels lonely and out of place. She gave us the greatest gift, this beautiful little boy and we hope that we can hold a place in his heart for her.

After the video the Nanny spoke and asked if I have any questions. Yeah right, after sobbing through the video I have questions about his bowel movements. So, the meeting ended pretty quickly after that.

Following the team meeting we were able to go see our children again. We only had a couple of hours, but we will take it! This particular day was a special day. It was dad's turn to feed him. Now, first I need to say that the nannies are amazing. They move with such confidence and speed. They feed and change the children before they children even know what is going on. So picture our room. We had three babies being adopted in this room the size of my spare bedroom. That means six Americans, our three babies, about 6 more babies, and one nanny all crammed in there. The nanny started handing out their cereal. It was a huge bowl, much more than you would think a child would eat. But believe me, they eat it! I have seen it! Andy holds Tek in his arms and then tries to feed him. Well, Tek would have none of that, he started fussing. Andy couldn't get him to eat. Than the nanny took him and just started shoveling it in and Tek was fine. But then she handed him back and he fussed some more. Andy was starting to get embarrassed. I was trying to reassure him that he is a first time dad and it takes practice, not to mention another first time mom was across the room having a similar experience accept the nanny actually shook her head at her as if to say "stupid american." Despite my assurances, Andy was defeated and he handed Tek to me. It turned out Tek was just very tired. He fell asleep in my arms in a few minutes without eating his lunch. So, it wasn't Dad, just lack of sleep! Andy wouldn't feed him again until we were back in the states. Poor Dad!

Well, one last thing about Andy at the Care Center, Tek shared his crib with another boy that was starting to fuss. Andy, being the kind person he is, picked him up to show him a little attention. Well, he was wearing a cloth diaper that wasn't on very tight and he had a blow out as soon as Andy picked him up. Baby poo all over the front of Andy's shirt. The nanny just laughed at him! :) Quite the day for Andy!

The rest of the day was lunch, shopping, and a traditional Ethiopian dinner at the Crown Hotel. I guess I could write about that but the post is too long as is, so I may write about some of that later.

A new mom bursting with pride!!

So, I have to interrupt the recaping of our time in Ethiopia with a bit of new mom bragging...
My son is the most amazing creature in the world! He has now officially adapted to US time. He slept through the night yesterday (with the exception of waking up for formula and falling back to sleep.) I slept 10 GLORIOUS hours last night. Maybe I will finally catch up on sleep.

His legs are getting so strong! We have put him in his jumper seat every day (thank you Duane & Tracy for that great gift) and it has really helped him to learn to support himself. Before he would not put any weight on his legs and would barely straighten them, but now he is standing up with our help with straight legs and a huge smile on his face. Oh, and he has figured out how to press the buttons on his jumper so that will sing to him. SO SMART! Its amazing. He was a bit behind because he didn't have opportunities like this at the orphanage... but he is catching up in leaps and bounds.

Yesterday was a wonderfully fuss-free day. He doesn't normally fuss anyway, but Monday was a rough day. I think he was just having trouble adjusting to the time. Ethiopia is a seven hour time difference and he did not understand why he could not go to bed at 1:00 p.m. for the night. Or why mom kept waking him up from his naps.

He made me laugh so hard yesterday twice. The first time is when Riley barked at something. He practically jumped out of his clothes! The second time was when I gave him applesauce for the first time. He did NOT like it. He just spit it out (like a fountain) and gave me a look of "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!" Auntie Liza was here to witness that face... priceless... MAN I wished my camera worked!

I am done interrupting the posts. I should be back later with Day 3 of our journey.
-Kate
P.S. Do you know how difficult it is to take a picture of a moving baby with Photo Booth on a Mac?? I am buying a camera TODAY!

The Day We Met

Friday morning was extremely tense at the guest house as everyone was only an hour or so from meeting their child. Luckily they changed the schedule and moved the orientation to after the meeting as opposed to before it. I think they knew no one would care about anything until we met the kids. We were all assembled in the conference room when they came in and called out for the families of three kids. Everyone thought they were going first, but they followed up by saying "you are not going to met your children this morning." Our heart sank for them yet at the same time we were bursting at the seams to meet Tek. (they would meet their kids that afternoon) I think Kate might have literally exploded if they would have delayed our meeting. They finally called our name and led us toward Tek's room. After all the work and time waiting, it was very difficult to process that we were getting to meet him. When we walked in the room they held him up and he was even more beautiful than we could have imagined. I was smiling from ear to ear and Kate couldn't hold back the tears. At first we didn't know what to do, we just stood there and looked at him before, after what seemed like forever, Kate asked to hold him. If I ever had her heart, it was mine no longer. This little guy from half way around the world immediately had full possession of it. We got to spend about two hours with him before they made us give him back, and I think it was the greatest two hours of our life together. The rest of the day was little more than a countdown to the next morning when we would get to see him again. I have no idea what it is like to experience welcoming a child at a hospital after birth, but I can't imagine that it could have been any greater of a moment.

Day One: Thursday

Kate:
We arrived in Addis Ababa (the capital of Ethiopia) on Thursday at 11:35 a.m. It was a great time to arrive, the airport was pretty empty. If you have traveled to a third world country before than you completely understand how much of a blessing it is to arrive to an empty airport. We arranged to have a couple (Cindy & Paul from Indiana) from our travel group (our travel group consisted of 8 families adopting 7 infants and one toddler) pick us up at the airport. We rented a van for the afternoon and dropped off all of our bags at the guest house. Then we were off to explore.
My first impression of Addis was how overwhelmingly poor it was. We have been to several third world countries before, but never have I even seen such poverty. It was heart-wrenching. We first went to Ethiopia Reads, it is an organization that builds libraries throughout Ethiopia. They even have traveling libraries that, and I am not joking, are pulled by donkeys through the villages. It is a great organization and I plan on supporting them in the future. I will find their website later and post it on this site.
Next we went shopping. Shopping in such cities is always a little overwhelming. Basically you will be followed by a crowd of people trying to convince you to buy from them and then a crowd of children and/or disabled people begging for change. I had to keep my eyes forward just to emotionally handle the situation. Andy loves to barter, I do not. So we had a agreement, I pick out what I want, he barters for it. We didn't quite master that our first time out, but by the end of the week we mastered it! Following shopping we ate dinner and then went to the guest house.
Arriving at the guest house we were welcomed by our first power outage. Andy and I went to our room only to discover that we had no outside window. After finding lamps and candles we unpacked and then heard stirring in the halls. Our next members of the travel group arrived. Carrie & T, the scientists from Wisconsin arrived. We brought out some more candles and got to know them better. We took a tour of the guest house, and at 8:30 p.m. the lights came on. We sat around until around 10:30 p.m. waiting for the rest of our travel group, but then finally gave up... it had been a long day of traveling and we are meeting our babies the next day, sleep sounded much better!

Back on Track

Now that we are back in the states, we are going to pick up where we left off in the trip. So starting tomorrow we will enter a post every day as if we were still on the trip. But for now I will give you a picture to hold you over.

UPDATE!!!

I know everyone has been anxious for an update, sorry to keep you waiting. We have been without power for about a third of the time here, and when we have had power we couldn't connect to the internet. (dial-up in Africa...who would have guessed) We have Tek and he is AMAZING!! I can't even begin to describe the feelings of all of this. We met the birth mother which was absolutly gut wrenching.

There are lots of people wanting to use the computer so I must be breif. We get home friday evening and we will give a detailed post an put up lots of pictures.