Aug 18

8/18/13

We wonder how God could make such a perfect little creature as Saryn.  She reminds us of a little lap dog- she loves to just sit in our laps or be held, for hours at a time.  It is so precious!  And her little face is so innocent and sweet and… perfect. 

She doesn’t even crawl yet, at 11 months!  I think she’s been so coddled by all the caretakers and kids at the foster care center that she hasn’t had any need to crawl to get anything.  So Reece is giving her crawling lessons J sooo cute. She tries to get in position for crawling, then will move her hand forward for one “step”, then give up. She can’t figure out why her legs are tied up under her!  So Christian says we are putting her in Baby Boot Camp.  I have mixed feelings about it, because she’s pretty easy to take care of, being basically immobile- we don’t have to worry about her getting into things she shouldn’t- but we know she needs to learn to crawl for her body and brain development. But for now, we are enjoying having a baby who seems younger than she really is.

I had put her down for a nap, and fell asleep with her up in our room at the guest house.  Reece and Christian were downstairs, giving us some quiet time.  After I fell asleep, Reece came in and said “This is for you” and handed me three pieces of popcorn from his fist, then left. He is such a little angel. 

Today we visited Entoto mountain and enjoyed the view. Reece chased a goat, we toured the Ethiopian Orthodox church museum, and other buildings in the cloister.  At the end of the day, we all got to share our favorite thing of the day.

Ally: The little path that led to the monks’ quarters, with its fence made of sticks and living trees; it reminded me of The Secret Garden!

Christian: The view of the city on top of the mountain

Reece: the popcorn

Reece is sooooo sweet with Saryn. He will often anticipate her needs and say things like “shouldn’t we change her diaper?” He calls her “baby saster”, the same thing he’s been calling her since she was just an idea, back when he was 3 years old. He used to complain, “It’s taking for too long to get my baby saster!!!”  Now he keeps loving on her, and helping her sit up, and asking her what’s wrong each time she whimpers. He says his favorite thing about her is when she wakes up in the morning and tries to stand up in her crib, holding onto the bars.

Napping here is glorious.  It will often rain in the afternoon, and with the window open to our room we get a nice cool breeze. With baby girl angelically asleep by my side, it’s just so easy to sleep.

Christian’s favorite thing about Saryn is her “dive-bombing”. She will be sitting on your lap and then just suddenly collapse onto his chest. A few seconds later, she will gather her wits and sit back up, and take in more of the world. When that gets overwhelming (after about 10 seconds) she might dive bomb again. 

She is making little sounds including “mama” J but she doesn’t know that’s me yet.  It’s so cute when she cries, because she will say things like “yeah yeah yeah” between her little cries.

Reece Gehman, on poverty

We really wanted to bring Reece back to his homeland for a visit when he was, say, in middle school or later, so that he’d be sure and remember all that he saw, felt, and experienced.  However, circumstances dictated it differently, and we find ourselves here with him at age six.

I couldn’t be more delighted. He is absorbing his surroundings and commenting on many things he sees, and we all process it together. The first day he said, “Did this place used to be nice?” and “Why is everyone here homeless?” and a little later, “Why does that man have a huge hole in his shirt? It looks like he got attacked by a tiger and he shredded it to pieces.”  (All of this within earshot of our taxi driver, and I was a little embarrassed at the thought that those comments may have embarrassed our driver.)  I was trying to explain to him that in Ethiopia, there are not enough jobs for all the people. So a lot of people barely survive, and all the money they have gets used on food and shelter, and a hole in their shirt is not a high priority.  Reece said, “I know someone who can fix their shirts- you, Mama.”  And that’s exactly what I plan to do- I plan on going to the government orphanage and mending a lot of the tattered clothes there. I hope they will let me in, and let me do it.

I don’t want to be that kind of Mom who rubs it in Reece’s face…so I have to handle all these poverty comments delicately.  We have told Reece from day one that his Mama Wagaye had to give him up because she was so poor, that she didn’t have enough money to buy food for them, and she was afraid he would die.  I know that later in life Reece might wrestle with the fear of abandonment, so I am glad that he is seeing now, firsthand, what true poverty really looks like. And how much his birth mother loves him, that she gave up a perfect, beautiful child so that he would have a better chance to live.  Speaking of Wagaye, we have asked our agency to try and locate her so that we can meet with her again.  It’s a very loaded idea: does she even want to see us/him? Would it be too painful for her? I know she loves him, but Christian pointed out that seeing him again may open many wounds afresh for her and she may prefer leaving them alone. How will Reece react?  Will it be incredibly awkward for him, being in a room with both Mamas? Will it stir up in him these rejection feelings that are probably latent within his little soul?  We don’t even know if the agency will be able to locate her.  But we have sought it out.  I personally would LOVE to see her again- I want her to see how happy, beautiful, and bright is this child she bore- and how incredibly blessed our lives have become with him in it. I also would LOVE to help her find a stable job- she may already have one- but I’d love to hook her up with Adera, the non-profit I have been working with in making diapers for kids and selling jewelry that the Ethiopian ladies make.

In other news, I love being here during rainy season. I took a nap yesterday with the door slightly open, and the sound of softly falling rain on the Eucalyptus trees lulled me into a nostalgic sleep that reminded me of innocent days of childhood. It’s hard to explain but it was just dreamy. I know most people don’t like rain but I do- it reminds me that God is up there, doing something. It cleans the air and brightens up everything. The sound is calming and I love the smell of rain.

One more juxtaposition- jet lag should be more aptly called “jet psychosis”. Someone in our family has been waking up anywhere from 1am to 5 am, every night, and not falling back to sleep.  Last night it was me. It’s quite dreadful wanting desperately to sleep but not being able to. And knowing you have a full day ahead, and could fall asleep in one second if it were in the afternoon rainy time… knowing I will have to push through all day feeling like a zombie with a massive headache.  I try to focus on the good (of which, there is an abundance) and I get frustrated at my own “flesh” and its weakness.

We go to the Gladney Foster care every day (that’s where Saryn is staying) but for all practical purposes it’s an orphanage, so that’s what we call it to Reece.  Reece made fast friends with several children there, even though they don’t speak any English. It gives me so much joy to see him happy and playing, and it’s amazing that kids can just play by chasing each other around, jumping on cushions, throwing balls, etc. I asked Reece his favorite thing about Ethiopia, and he said “Playing with my friends.”  Sad to say, these friends are being transferred to another orphanage far away next week, so Reece will need to make some new friends.  He is keeping a little journal about his trip, and today he wrote “my friends don’t have a mom and dad”.  They were having so much fun, I was a little worried that Reece would think that being an orphan was a wonderful thing, because you get to live in a big house with lots of other kids. I need to subtly remind him of the benefits of having parents J

I asked Reece the other day, “Did you notice everyone here has brown skin like you?” and he said, “No”.  (Parenting FAIL)  I was trying to get him in touch with some of his culture, letting him know that his skin looks like his birth mom’s.  He said, “I still love you guys, but it’s not really fun having white parents.”  OUCH. I wonder if my comment provoked that, or if was from his heart. I suppose this is all part of the wrestling that comes with inter-racial adoption.

Gotcha, Girl!

We arrived in Addis on Thursday, August 8th, around 1:30 pm local time (to be exact, it was 12/3/2005 at 7:30 am local time, as Ethiopia follows a calendar roughly seven years and 8 months behind the Gregorian calendar, as well has having decided to have the day roll over at what for the rest of the world is 6 am). The head of Gladney adoption here, Dereje, picked us up and took us to our guest house (Yeka Guest House, $55/night), where we quickly dumped our bags before heading to Gladney's foster care center to get our hands on our little princess-in-waiting.

Allyson had seen her three times already in June, but this was the first time for Reece and I to meet her. Reece was a bit shy at first and she a bit subdued suffering a cold. Still, we all got on splendidly as we loved on her and the other, older kids in the foster care center. Reece soon warmed up and was gleefully running around with them language barriers notwithstanding. There were two sibling groups (two sisters and then two sisters and a brother), which was encouraging as we know sibling adoptions have gone very slowly. They were fun-loving and sweet and we enjoyed being with Saryn and all of them. After a brief meeting with Dereje to discuss the details of our court date the next day, we headed to the guest house and were in bed by 8 or so, pretty exhausted.

Jet lag has been quite a hiccup to Reece's normally stellar sleeping. He's woken up at 1 am and 2 am on our first two nights overseas, so that's made for some tired mornings. Allyson was completely drained this morning after staying up with him from about 2 am onwards, all while fighting a cold. Suffice it to say that Christian gets tonight's shift!

In the early afternoon, we headed to court, stopping at a pretty unassuming high-rise except for the machine-gunned-armed soldiers standing outside. Dereje met us there and accompanied us up a few floors to a waiting room packed with ferengi (foreigners). All of the men were carbon copies of each other: white, wearing business casual with a fleece or Gortex jacket and backpack. We had barely sat down when our name was called. We marched into the judge's office, answered a series of checkbox-style questions and literally three minutes later were declared Saryn's parents and marched right back out. WHHHHAAAT? Four years of waiting, yearning, striving conluded like that? It was a bit surreal and quite bewildering, enough to make Allyson upset with Christian for his apparent non-reaction to the whole affair during lunch.

Slowly, though, things sank in and we picked up some spring in our step as we headed back to the foster center to love on her some more. She is now officially ours and we could have taken her home tonight. For several reasons, we will keep her with the foster care for a few more days, but we finally, finally have got her. So thankful, so amazed. WOOHOO!

We Knew it Would be Short Notice, but wow...

When we first got matched with Saryn in May, we knew it would be a tight schedule for us to travel before the courts close in Ethiopia for six weeks in mid-August. We really wanted to travel before the court closure so as not to have two months pass without seeing her. Plus, if we can make that first court date, then the process can continue (after Ethiopian court, her case is passed for visa processing to the US Embassy, which does not close for Ethiopia's "rainy season.")

We've spent all summer scheduling only a few weeks at a time as we kept getting updates of our progress suggesting we MIGHT travel before August. We got the notice in late June that the Ethiopian court announced their last day of business as Tuesday, August 6th. We figured we'd have to hear by early July in order to travel in August. As we resigned ourselves to an October-November date in mid-July, our caseworker mentioned that we might still get squeezed in, after a last procedural on July 30th. July 30th came and went and we again prepared for a later travel date.

On our way to visit Christian's mom on Friday, August 2nd, our caseworker called to say that our court date was to be Friday, August 9th! We were elated, but didn't think they could make the window that short. Adding to our stress was that, contrary to what many families do, we would remain in Ethiopia for the 7-12 weeks between this court date and our US Embassy appointment, which grants Saryn the visa to travel to the US with us. In other words, we had about 3 days to plan for a 2-3 month trip, as we were headed the wrong way!

We actually continued on to Mom's in Springfield to see her and my sister and family, taking the long stretches in the car to make endless lists, book flights, and plan what we could. It was a quick but enjoyable 36 hours in Springfield, then a long haul back to Fort Worth via a very needed pit stop in Tulsa where Wes and Joan graciously hooked us up with a bunch of things we needed for the trip. Then it was basically non-stop packing from Mon morning on until we boarded the plane Tuesday afternoon.

We flew to Addis Ababa through Dubai on Emirates, highly recommended to anyone making a similar trek. Beyond Emirates' stellar service, they put us in a hotel for the 22-hour layover in Dubai, giving us the chance to arrive not completely exhausted (a shout out to Clayton and Margo Faulkner for telling us about traveling to Ethiopia with this airline). Ally used the afternoon for a fat nap, but Reece and I took the Metro to the Burj Khalifa, currently the tallest building in the world. The next day, it was a short 3-hr flight to land us in Addis on a Thursday afternoon.

Now to go get that girl!

Reece enjoying the hookup of kids goodies from Emirates.

Reece eating a cream-cheese laden bagel we got from DFW before taking off. The picture doesn't capture it, but he was basically a wreck waiting to happen, squirming constantly in his seat with that weaponized cream cheese!

Try as I might, I couldn't get a pic of the Burj Khalifa and Reece with light on his face. Well, there you go: the world's tallest building and Reece in silhouette.

Cruising through the palatial Dubai airport.

Epiphanies in Ethiopia

I just returned from the most amazing trip to Ethiopia.  I went with several wonderful ladies through the Adera Foundation. Check out all their projects at www.aderafoundation.org. 
I really struggled in my decision to go on this trip... not for lack of desire.  I very much wanted to go; it was the cost that I struggled with. I was telling Christian "the money for the plane ticket alone could pay several months' salary for the orphanage workers...it could feed hundreds of kids a meal...I just think the money could be much-better used elsewhere."  And he replied, "We have already been giving money to those causes for years. YOU really want to go, and I think you should do it!"  The conversation wasn't actually that short :) but that was the gist of it.  I haven't been on a mission trip in 10 years; I have been on several throughout my life, serving as a nurse on many of them... yet this gnawing thing inside me kept saying that the money could be better spent elsewhere.  And while there's truth in that statement, I think he knew that it would do my heart an abundance of good to travel to the place and work with the foundation that I have been making diapers for and sending money to.
I work as a school nurse in a Title 1 elementary school-meaning more than 75% of our kids are on free/reduced lunch.  It's one of the poorer areas of the DFW metroplex. I have found myself continually drawn to the "underdogs" for my entire life, and have sought to help the poor as a general life-aim. Yet I have found myself increasingly put-out and kind of disgusted with American "poverty", since I have seen third-world poverty first-hand.  I have done many things throughout the years to help the kids at my school (as anyone would, who had my job), and have been repeatedly frustrated with parents who tell me things like, "We can't afford glasses for our son- can you help us?"  And I round up my resources and give the parent a free eyeglasses voucher- then she reaches into her purse for her iPhone with her manicured hands.  I mention all of this as a preface to my biggest revelation while in Ethiopia...
I was working at the day care helping to give the kids a bath.  They were a bunch of squirming, giggling 4 year old boys...as I rubbed lotion on one little boy's legs, I was thinking, "this feels just the same as when I'm putting a band-aid on a kid in Texas..." I had thought I might have a Mother Teresa-like beatific moment where the clouds parted, and glory of heaven would shine down on me.  I had even made sure that these were the POOREST of all the kids in Ethiopia- I knew they were the poorest in Addis, the capital city- but I asked our Ethiopian driver Solomon if they were the poorest in the whole country, and he said they were. He said people in the countryside have land, and they can farm and sustain themselves- but these people, have barely anything.  I was honestly expecting to feel something like "my life is now complete, I have helped the poorest of the poor."  But I had nothing like that. I had the feeling of how SIMILAR it was to when I help someone, just a regular person, not someone in great "need"... honestly it was kind of disappointing.  Yet in the long run, I think it's quite encouraging.  To help ANYONE, even if I don't determine that their need is that great, is a blessed thing to do.  I think Aesop wrote, "No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted."
I think the best thing to happen overall on my trip, was that it renewed my desire to give to these people. It gave faces and personalities to the statistics. I found out that Ethiopia's greatest need seems to be employment opportunities- the official statistic says 30% are unemployed- but I heard from a well-educated man there, who says that it's actually much higher than that- the government is embarrassed to release a more accurate statistic.  I took over a sewing machine, and hoped to teach a woman there how to do some basic mending- and I found that one of the caregivers at the daycare had been through a complete sewing course. I asked her why she didn't work in that area, and she says there are no jobs.
And to my great distress, I heard several first-hand stories of women who were lured to Arab countries to serve as maids- yet when they arrived, the man of the house raped them and treated them as slaves.  Their passports were taken by the man of  the house, and when the wife found out that the man and the "maid" were having sex, then the wife hated the maid as well.  The "lucky" ones get out alive, if they can find someone in the Arab country who is kind enough to help them get back to Ethiopia.  One story is that the family sold their only cow, to pay for their daughter's plane ticket to the Arab country- and then when she finally returned, she had been traumatized, and the family had nothing. It's a horrible story that I heard over and over again, in my short 10 days there.
So my brain is in constant motion. I am trying to figure out how to help these women, these people. I know nothing about economics...I was trying to figure out how we could get an au pair service started for some of these young women- it would be a wonderful opportunity- but the logistics would be insane.  The flight from Ethipia to the US is about 28 hours total, on average, including layovers.
So for now, I am going to support Adera's IGA (Income Generating Activity) initiative. They have hired 4 ladies to work full time making beads from paper, and then making necklaces out of them. I plan on starting an Etsy shop soon so that we can sell the beads and reroute the money back to the ladies, in hopes that they can hire even more women and give them a job, and dignity.  Even though they don't make much money by our standards, the money they make can help them get fresh food for their children instead of digging for waste food from the local dump.

Yearly Update!

Our big boy is a kindergartner now!!!

He's still full of life- I don't need to tell you that.

Nana and Papa and Reece have a mutual admiration society.

Waffle House date with Mama

He painted this picture and mailed it to Nana with a kiss!

He looks so big!!!!!

a little family photo

This is our favorite kid!

 OH Reece, your eyes continue to amaze me on a daily basis.

Soccer socks pulled way up, with Mama's boots on the wrong feet, make for quite the fashion statement.

He's just so big!

 We couldn't wait for Christmas, so we decorated this Halloween haunted house!

 Spring Break hiking at Robber's Cave state park in Oklahoma!

 I am now playing soccer at the YMCA!

Here's an attempt for a family photo Christmas 2011.

tidbits

I wanted to write a few little fun things about Eece, because he changes every day and I don't want to forget the details!
Reece will not go to bed without socks.  We do our nighttime ritual of brushing teeth, reading 2 books, I tell him a story then he tells me a story, we sing one song, and then he begs for me to go night night with him, he asks to give me hugs and kisses, he wants to tell me something by the door, he says he wants more hugs and kisses, he asks for his baba (bottle), he asks for a bandaid for the slightest boo-boo, he begs for just ONE more story, he says, "Mama, whach are WE gonna do tomorrow?", ETC.! So anyway after I finally tear myself away, he can be heard climbing up on his dresser to pull the top drawer open and getting some socks. In the morning, I ask him why he always puts socks on, and he says, "Because my feet were bery cold and they were almost freezing."

Reece just asked me, "Mama, why aren't we going anywhere? Why are we staying in the house?" (he loves to just get out.. go to McDonald's playland, only to sit by me or play with his trucks, but at least he gets his beloved french fries!) He also loves to go to Michael's (craft store!)...perhaps that's because I let him buy one candy when we go.  He also loves all the little kid crafts there, and the little dollar cars.

Reece and I are currently hanging out for a few weeks this summer before I go to work for 2 weeks teaching crafts to my elementary kids.  Then Reece will be hanging out with Dada!  Yesterday we went swimming and he loved it...

Now, can you imagine a cuter ad for watermelon than this one?!!  LOVE THIS LITTLE GUY!
OH I almost forgot... out of the blue, he said, "Mama, I like you, I think you're beau-ful!"  He just melted my heart!!!

my little boy

Reece does not get the title "Big Boy" until he goes potty on the potty chair every day for a week!  We are working on it, but he seems especially resistant!!!  Here are just a few little photos of our daily life together...
Reece fell off the bed, busted his lip, and he cried for approximately 2 seconds, then said, "I need a band aid".  So I handed him one, and this is what he did with it...

And you thought Reece's eyes were big before!  I took Reece to Toys R Us for the first time... he was a little overwhelmed.  He just found the first rack and started pulling all the toys off... I kept having to distract him and show him around the whole place!  I wanted him to find some super toys so we could use them as prizes for when he goes on the potty chair every day!  He wanted this one.. a $300 "Lightning the Queen" car. He looks so excited in it!!!!  I remember as a kid I would have looooved a little car... but I just don't want him to get spoiled!

If you look closely, you will see that Reece turned all the trains on their sides, because they were tired and wanted to go night night.  I took this picture at midnight while he was sleeping.

winter fun times

It actually SNOWED in Texas! Actual SNOW that stuck to the ground... maybe 6 inches of it! I was sooooooo excited! Reece said he didn't want to wear his mittens because they were "too cold".
Reece and Mama had a super fun date at Waffle House. When we sat down, he said, "Mama, let's talk about a owl." (which is his favorite book for the present... "Owl at Home", which is a book I used to have when I was a kid!) So he proceeded to tell me the WHOLE story about the owl... his detail was incredible. Then, I was trying to take a little video of him telling the story about the owl, but I was taking video with my phone, and he thought I was taking his picture, so he kept cheezing it up with a huge smile, and he wouldn't talk anymore! It was hi-larious!!! I don't know how to upload videos or I'd show you. Anyway this little guy is the most delightful little thing. I think he's the best, ever.
And the last photo is Dada and Eece "guabbing" each other. Yes, it's a little word we made up that basically means, cuddling/hugging/playing/wrestling etc. Reece is the smiliest kid I've ever seen! It's awesome to be his Mama! :)

Reece is 3!!!

Our sweet angel turned 3 years old this weekend! We had a "Word World" themed party for him (since that's his fave TV show). I made him a Duck cake and his Nana, Auntie M, and cousin Boo were the guests of honor. He got lots of new clothes (yay!!!) and even some new toys. We were also blessed with gifts from the mail from his Aunties/Uncles/Cousins up in Minnesota!

soomebody comment! or no more photos!!!!

Eece ran into my room this morning and said "Happy Birthday Mama!!! What a little sweetie. I say, "Reece, are you Mama's beauty?" and he says, "No, I Dada's muneca!" (Yeah, we call him muneca, which is the Spanish word for "doll".)


Okay, I posed Reece for this shot because he has the cutest way of trying to charm us into giving him what he wants. If we say no to him for some reason, he turns his head sideways and cuts his eyes at us, and gets a big smile and makes this little sing-songy noisy that is totally irresistable! We call it "being skunky".

Reece found all my knitted items and decided to take them for a spin. What a blast- sliding all over the kitchen floor!! Reece is almost 3 now! Wow... he'll be 3 the day before Halloween.
Okay people you need to please leave comments!!! I wonder if I'm posting in vain!!!

supa cute

I love how this photo shows Reece's enthusiasm! Nana always cooks eggs for Eece when we visit in Tulsa. This time Nana let Eece help!!
Me and my BFF Jill del Rio! In just 2 short weeks she delivered a healthy baby boy Benjamin! :) We visited them in Las Vegas for a week. We had three 2-year-old boys running around. We had a blast!
OOOH that smile!! Those dimples! Both Dada and Eece!
Eece does love his Mama. Awwww.
What would summer be like without a slip-n-slide??? Reece loved it (except for the mean ants who somehow bit his little toes).

Blog Union VIdeo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMbywycuiWg&feature=player_embedded

I don' t know how to embed things into this blog but if you can somehow get to the above YouTube video, you'll see lots of beautiful children adopted from Ethiopia! This video was taken last summer at the Blog Union (wasn't a "reunion" because most of us hadn't officially met in person yet!) And yes Reece is in the video!

Spring Break (now that it's summer)

Okay! I had to pull a photo up from the Archives!!! Is this not the cutest kid you've ever seen?!!! He's irresistible!!! This photo was taken 1 1/2 yrs ago... sigh! Reece talks all the time now... this little baby didn't have any words yet.
Oh darn, this one is tiny... but I just wanted to show you how much Christian and Reece delight in each other! Christian can't keep his hands off Reece- he loves to grab his belly, toes, and "hahms" (also known as his thighs). We call this guabbing. Yes, we have our own little silly family language that is nearly impossible to explain, however we find it endearing. When we were in Chile, they referred to babies as "guaguas" (pronounced wah-wahs). So we Anglicized the word and pronounced it Gwa-gwa. And then it evolved into a verb, known as guabbing. It's when you find your baby so irresistible that you have to run up and guab him! Pick him up, toss him around, let him ride on your back, squeeze his belly or legs, cuddle him, cradle him, kiss the brown sugar on his neck, etc. Or, if Reece is pretty tired, he will absentmindedly guab himself- like, while watching TV, he'll play with his own toes or rub his hand repeatedly on his toy elephant. That's guabbing.
Yes our little sweetie pie smiles all the time. Well, almost. He loves to help Mama and Dada on their computers. I'm sure he would squeal with delight if we ever allowed him to touch the buttons. Here, Reece is looking at a photo of himself on the internet. (I am on the design team for Creative Memories scrapbooking products, and I made a page with his picture on it! So I don't know if he realizes that maybe thousands of people have seen his picture online! go to http://projectcenter.creativememories.com/photos/discover_construction_zon/boys-and-their-toys-scrapbook-layout-2.html and you can see it!

I just love this little picture of my guys. We enjoyed camping at Turner Falls, OK. All day before we left, Reece ran around saying, "Go camping! Go camping!" even though he didn't know what camping was. Also, when we told him about the waterfall, he kept asking desperately to see it- even though he didn't know what a waterfall was, either.
Christian and I both felt amazed, and blessed that this beautiful little man has such complete trust in us. He didn't know where we were going, and he didn't know where we were when we arrived, and yet he was just as content as he could be, trusting in Mama and Dada to take care of him. He loved taking walks in the woods; he loved the tent; he loved the sticks and the dirt; he loved the waterfall; he loved our poor excuse for S'mores (there was a fire ban at the campground...we made s'mores over hot coals). This little guy is just as delightful as possible. We are soooooooo in love with him!

Missed you!

Reece really loved meeting little Ruthie Funderburk! He keeps saying "Baby Woothie"!! Perhaps he has already fallen in love with her?? We have so much enjoyed having Jana and Michael in our lives. We became friends through the Gladney Ethiopia adoption program.

Reece loves to watch "the Office" with us! I wonder how long that will last?

Reece is looking at the "Book of Eece", at pictures of me, him, and Wagaye (wuh-guy-a) who is his birth mother.

I lubba that belly!

Love those 80 degree January days in Texas!!!

Little Reece keeps me sooo busy that I don't have time to blog! Actually I spend my time making real (physical) scrapbook pages about him... so much, that he calls the scrapbook the "book of Eece". He is talking more and more every day!!!
I was showing him pictures of his birth mother, Wagaye... the woman to whom we are forever indebted. I was telling him about her...and now Reece goes around saying "Gaye belly" (becuase I told him he grew inside Wagaye's belly). It is so precious... we want him to know that he was adopted and that he has two moms who love him, and we want it all to seem very normal and natural.
In other news...I am partaking in Project 365... it is soooo cool! You take one photo every day. I've done a good job so far this year!!! 24 photos in 24 days... I am already surprised at the greater variety of photos I am getting.
I also just started another blog...(it's 3:50 am) It's my papercrafting blog! I do all sorts of paper arts and it's my way of relaxing and having fun. I make greeting cards, teach cardmaking classes, and have a personal scrapbooking service! Anyway that is at
http://ally-minimonkey.blogspot.com is that right???
So enjoy these photos of Reece!!! He is soooooooooo precious! He recently said a 4 word sentence: "Donkey look through window." That's what's happening in one of our favorite books by Richard Scarry. We LOVE him! Christian and I both read his books when we were kids, so we are so excited that his books are still available.