More Thanksgiving Pics

Feeding the squirrels
Grandpa with T
Cousins
S with "yucky hands"
The eldest
My brother with the girls
My younger son and his cousin

Thanksgiving

There were a lot of "firsts" for the girls this Thanksgiving. They slept away from home, met my father and my brother, went to Oregon, saw their first movie at the theater, they had their first Thanksgiving day, saw their first live wild turkeys, fed the squirrels, walked in the woods, and threw rocks in the river. We had a good Thanksgiving.

Kreativ Blogger Award

I was given this blog award by Kerri at 1 Crazy Family and by Leslie at Esperanza del Alma. First of all, I can not say enough about both of these ladies. Leslie coached me all the way through the HIV waiver and was so helpful during the whole stressful process. She IS Project Hopeful to me. Kerri was one of the first people to reach out to me in the adoption community, and is so supportive of many other people in the process. Both of these great single parents have 2 daughters, both adopting an older girl from Ethiopia(and Kerri one from Guatamala and Leslie one from Haiti). Such beautiful girls, all of them. I love reading about their adventures.

These are the blog award "rules."
1. Thank the person who awarded me the award, and link that person's blog on my blog.
2. Identify seven things about myself.
3. Award seven bloggers with the "Kreativ Blogger Award," post links to their blogs, and leave a comment on each of their blogs, to let them know of the honor. I don't really know what a "Kreativ blogger" is, so you can just give it to whoever you like!

Seven things about myself
1) I am a twin who adopted twins. I have a twin brother, Jim, who is a veterinarian in Oregon. Twins rock.
2) When I adopted my two older boys domestically I originally only wanted one child. When I sent in my application to adopt from Ethiopia I originally only wanted one child. Good things come in two's for me apparently.
3) I first became interested in HIV when I went to an "AIDS Ward" twenty years ago. The patients, all of whom had obvious AIDS, sitting around a table and eating popcorn from a communal bowl. The popcorn was offered to me and I hesitated due to fear. I ended up eating the popcorn and feeling very foolish for thinking I could get HIV from sharing food with the patients.
4) I never ever watch scary or violent movies. I do not know why "Dexter" on Showtime is one of my favorite shows. Maybe because he only kills bad people?
5) I have a BA in Child Development and used to be a preschool teacher. Then I needed to make a living wage.
6) I love to sing. I will sing in the store and at work and in the car. I am not a talented singer.
7) I had severe endometriosis. So severe that when the doctors opened me up they thought I had cancer. It was everywhere. I had four surgeries ending with a total abdominal hysterectomy a few years ago.

Here are the 7 bloggers I am giving this award to:
1) Yadey Abeba-Fellow single mom. Her daughter and my girls were together in Ethiopia. We bonded over sputum.
2) Spears Family Nebraska-fellow mother of identical twin girls and older children. We have so much in common.
3) A Brother for Roma-Another single mom waiting TOO LONG for a court date for her little boy in Ethiopia.
4) Mother Paradox-She writes so beautifully, especially about her sweet boy.
5) Rooted in Love-she and her husband adopted 2 older boys, who are deaf, from Ethiopia. She is an ASL teacher and also has 2 beautiful little girls and one on the way. She has such insight into the minds of her boys, who have been through so much.
6) Adventures North-a private blog. A mom who also has 4 children, 2 from Ethiopia. She met my girls before I did when she brought home her baby girl.
7) Love Endures All Things-she adopted 2 children from Ethiopia and is starting the adoption of another! She also has 2 older children like I do.

Playing the HIV card

Is it wrong to play the HIV card? I took the girls in to get their 2nd seasonal flu shot at the pediatrican's office and they told me they had run out of the H1N1 shot and that it was on order. I didn't believe them. I said, "I think my girls have priority as they are HIV positive. The Dr. said they would be able to get both". Really, the doctor did say that. She said she would check with the doctor. When she came back she said they would be able to get both shots. Hmmmm......I thought they had run out? Now I feel a little guilty because I know other children were turned away and we weren't. The poor girls screamed bloody murder, but were greatly appeased with the milkshakes we picked up on the way home.

Maybe Tomorrow

Every night after reading books (or watching a movie on the weekend days), I lay in the middle of their bed with an arm under each girl's head and stay until they fall asleep. My favorite (obsessive) thing to do is play with their curls. I can't resist it. It drives them crazy. Usually I try to wait until they fall asleep before I start messing with their hair, but tonight I couldn't stop myself for some reason. S grabbed my hand and put it down around her. She did it again. Finally, she said, "Mommy, don't do that!". Up my hand goes again (what is wrong with me?). "Mommy don't do that. I don't like it". She must have thought about it and was afraid maybe she hurt my feelings because then she said, "Maybe tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow you can do it, Mommy". (Little does she know that as soon as she and T fell asleep I started messing with their curls to my heart's content).

Day at the Races

Ready, Set, Go!

Happy Girl Hair

We just ordered and received these great sleep caps from Nadia in Canada. The girls' hair is getting to a length were it can get tangled and sometimes I attempt some flat twists in the front that I would like to last more then one day. The sleep caps help prevent tangling and frizzing and help maintain they style you have put in. We had some shower cap style nylon sleep caps before this, and they tend to fall off in the middle of the night. Nadia's caps are fitted, kind of like a swim cap but with a little extra room for more hair. They are nice quality and fit very well. One set of two is $12 only, including shipping. You can e-mail Nadia at: nadiassleepcaps@yahoo.ca (Canada).
I found out about the sleep caps on the site Happy Girl Hair: Natural HairCare for Kids , which is a site created by an adoptive mother of twin girls, who have very different hair types. She reviews hair care items and also talks about her girls' hair care routine and styles. This site also reviewed satin-lined hats, two of which I have ordered on Etsty.com from Mustard Seed Creations. They are very reasonably priced and you can email her to get special orders. I saw a hat I liked on her store,but it was for infants so I emailed her and she will be making me two similar hats in the girls' size for about $8 each. I am already very tired of picking fuzz out of the girls' hair from regular fleece hats and hoodies. I will be happy to get these hats just in time for the colder weather here.

Give Water

Flashback Friday

First week home. August 2009.

Wordless Wednesday

Language Explosion

I asked S, "Where is T?". Just over a week ago she would have said,"T books pick it up". Today she said, "T is picking up the books". No joke. She woke up last Thursday and began using "I" instead of "S" in sentences. Just like that. "I want to do that" instead of "Me S want it". She is also now using tenses like "I am going.." and "I saw..." instead of "S go school" or "S see it". She also says, "I don't like...", "Don't push me", and per the teacher at school, "Leave me alone". I am sure T will follow suit soon as is the usual case. Of course S doesn't always use correct sentence structure and is obviously still an English learner, but they both are making a lot of progress. They have been home just over 3 months now-3 months and one week to be exact.
It is just amazing to me to listen to how they pick up words and sentence structure that is SO different then Amharic. The other day T said to her older brother, "Ante!" ("Hey you" (m) in Amharic). We all just stopped and looked at her and then started laughing. It had just been so long since she had said that term that it shocked us. Now when I hear them talking Amharic to each other it is on rare circumstances. I need to make a concerted effort to play more Amharic music and videos. I would love for them to be able to keep their original language. I am sure that will not be enough, and at some point would like to find an Amharic class or group they can join, perhaps through the local Ethiopian church.

Then and Now

A reminder to myself just how fast time goes by.

Meow

Just picked this kitty cat up at preschool today. She is S, the one on the left in the photo below.

Flashback Friday

April 2009, AHOPE

Twinless

S went back to preschool today after her lone pox (pi? pock?) healed. She was proud to be a big girl and go to school all by herself. The staff will be calling me if she forgets about being a big girl. T, whose pox are still healing, is home alone with me. The duo has been separated for more than an hour or so for the first time that I know of. It is early yet, only 9:15 am. We will see how this separation goes.