My 37th Birthday ~ ¡a la española!

Before I get too far into this post, I need to introduce you to Rebeca. I met "Beca" 8 years ago while I was living in Spain. She was just 10 years old at the time. Now she is nearly 19, and she's about to start her second year of university. She contacted me a few months ago to see if I knew of any families who might like a summer nanny, and I told her that I did happen to know of one...MINE!

Rebeca has been so wonderful to have here for the past month, and we're thrilled that she'll be with us through early September! She's great with the boys, and they just ADORE her! And of course, this Mama is very happy to have had some free time on my hands to do things like complete our 2010 family photo album, etc!

Since Rebeca has been with us, it's been so much fun to reminisce about my time in Spain, and we decided one night that to celebrate my birthday, we would prepare a traditional Spanish dinner, complete with red and yellow (Spanish flag colors) streamers and balloons!

My extended family came over for a tapas style dinner of gazpacho, sangria, tortilla de patata, olives, salad and Spanish rice pudding for dessert. ¡Delicioso!

When it was all over, we had a balloon launch! FUN!

One Year Ago Today: Meeting our Boys!

One year ago today, we were in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia meeting our sons for the first time! It was one of the most JOYFUL moments in my life! 

Zachary was so laid-back and sweet. He warmed right up and then fell asleep!

Poor Jeremy was so upset! He had been taken out of his room where he was having fun, and he was not so happy about being introduced to Mommy! Eventually, he wore himself out with the crying and then he fell asleep. Then Mommy cried tears of joy to be holding my son!

We are so thankful to God for entrusting these boys to us to raise and love. They are wonderful sons!

April Vacation in Florida

Back in April, both grandmothers came and stayed with the boys so that Brian and I could go on a vacation together. It was the first time we both had been away from the boys since we adopted them, and it was really nice to reconnect a bit.  :)

Brian grew up in Florida, so he wanted to take me to his hometown to show me his roots! He grew up on the Gulf of Mexico, so it was a GREAT place to go for our vacation!

Clearwater Beach:

Dinner at Burn's, home of one of the world's largest wine cellars. This was just one aisle of many!

All in all, it was a relaxing and rejuvenating getaway!

Virginia Vacation!

We spent last week in Virginia visiting Brian's side of the family, and had a great time introducing the boys to their extended family. Here is Zachary hanging out with his Great Uncle Graham and his doggies:

Jeremy with Great Uncle Graham:

Zachary with his Great Aunt Anne:

Zachary and Monica:

Zach with Aunt Jennifer:

Jeremy enjoying a cupcake for brekkies! Hey, we were on vacation, right?!

I'm not sure why I don't have any of the boys with their Grandma Jo-Jo. Hmmm...I think they might be on Brian's camera.  :)  We love you, Jo!

A Word of Encouragement

Yesterday, I went out to take a walk with the boys in our double stroller. Along the way, Jeremy spotted a dog and said, "Puppy!". As we got closer, it was, indeed, a Jack Russell Terrier puppy. He was on a leash and was acting crazy and wired, as Jack Russells are prone to do.

"My son loves dogs," I told the puppy's owners, as we slowed to a stop for Jeremy to admire the pooch.

My son. My son! It rolled ever so naturally off my tongue, as if I'd been saying it for years!

"Don't let him get too close," the dog owners, said, "He's a crazy dog!"

"I understand. My father had several Jack Russells!"

"They never get better!", said one of the dog's owners.

"No! They're always crazy!", I yelled back to them, as we continued on our way.

"Thanks for saying that..." she replied, sounding somewhat disappointed.

I thought that was an odd final reply to an otherwise pleasant exchange, but as I continued walking on, I realized that she didn't actually say, "They never get better!" Instead, she must have asked me, "Do they ever get better?"

Whoops! She asked me if it ever gets better, and I told her "No!" Poor woman!

It reminded me of our first week or two home from Ethiopia, when we were more tired than we'd ever been, jet lagged, and still getting to know our children. It was a stage of life that I refer to as "the post-adoption haze". We were walking around like semi-zombies doing the best we could. When people would tell us that we looked like we were doing great, Brian would humorously reply, "We're just faking it!"

Occasionally, when someone would ask how we were doing, and our reply was "tired", their response would often be, "Well, get ready... It will be like that for the next 18 years!" Hearing that would make me want to throw up a little.

While I still don't feel as well-rested as I'd like to be, I feel much better than I did during that first jet lagged week or two, when we were muddling through "the haze".

I'm writing this for all of the adoptive families that are about to travel to Ethiopia to bring your children home (and also for my own encouragement, because we still have some really hard days): When you are home with your kids and you're tired and it's hard because you're in the haze of post-adoption and that stinkin' jet lag just won't stop, remember that you read on some blog that it does get easier!!!

And one day you won't be quite so tired, and you'll be on a walk of your own, or at the grocery store, or at church, and you'll say "my son" or "my daughter" in passing, and you'll be amazed at how naturally it rolled off your tongue, and just how far you've come.

Home Sweet Home!

After a brief night's sleep in Dubai, we boarded our airplane and began the 16 hour flight to Houston. It was loooooooooooooooooooong. At least my baby got to fly in style! Emirates Airlines has bassinets available for families traveling with babies. We loved flying Emirates!

The boys did really well on the flight. We were exhausted by the time we reached Houston. One of the flight attendants was so excited for our boys' homecoming that she and another flight attendant lent their hats to our mothers for a photo op when we had landed!

It felt great to be back in Houston!

We made it through passport control, and then Brian and I and the boys had to go through immigration. That's when things got rough. There were about 30 people waiting for their visas to be processed when we walked in the room. It took over an hour for them to get to us. Normally, waiting that time wouldn't have been so bad, but given that we had been traveling for such a long time on very little sleep, I hit a proverbial wall, and I couldn't hold it together anymore. It was a level of exhaustion that I had never experienced before, and I just sat there sobbing, holding my baby as I was dealing with nausea from the exhaustion, waiting for them to get to us. It wasn't pretty. Brian was holding Jeremy, who suddenly got a bloody nose (altitude change, maybe?). Poor Brian yelled, "Does somebody have some tissue? My son has a bloody nose!" Not long after that, we got our visas and were on our way.

I was soooooooo happy to finally walk out through the big doors and see my sweet sister, who had been waiting there for almost three hours!

My friend Cissy was also there waiting to meet us with balloons, ice cold bottles of water, and her big SUV to load up our luggage. Thank you, C!

I changed clothes to feel a little fresher, because there was a wonderful group of friends waiting for us at our house to welcome us home! They were so awesome--they had balloons, American flags, groceries, and two huge chocolate chip cookie cakes, which we feasted on for days!!!!

After our friends left, we went inside and Aunt Jilly got to love on little Zachary.

We showed the boys around the house and introduced them to their new room.

It was great to be home! I had hit a point with the exhaustion that I had to go bed, so I did just that...and slept for 19 hours! Thankfully, Brian and both of our moms were here to care for the boys while this Mama caught up on some much needed sleep!

Our Final Day in Ethiopia

Throughout the adoption process, there was one event that I knew would likely happen, and I simply had no idea how to prepare for it: meeting my childrens' b1rthm0ther. One of the great things about adopting through Gladney's Ethiopia program is that if a birth family member is still living, a meeting arranged for that birth family member and the adoptive family to meet each other. It provides an opportunity for (in our case) the boys' b1rthm0ther to get some of the closure she needs--a chance to meet us, to ask us any questions she wants, an opportunity to say her goodbyes. And of course, it was also the one opportunity we had to meet her, gather information from her and about her that the boys might want to know one day, and to take some photos of her for the boys.

I wish I could show you her photograph here, but to protect her privacy, we've chosen not to do that. I will say that she is an absolutely beautiful woman who clearly loves her sons, and I respect her so very much.

The meeting took place at Gladney's offices, not far from our hotel. A social worker met Brian and me and the boys, and got us settled in a conference room, and said that the b1rthm0ther (whom I will call "N") was waiting at a cafe, and she would return with her shortly. I thought it would require a car ride to go pick her up, but apparently the cafe was in Gladney's office compound, because the two of them entered the room only a minute or two later.

Brian and I stood to greet her, each of us holding one of the boys in our arms. "N" walked right up to the boys and kissed each of them on the hand. We exchanged three kisses with her, as is the custom in Ethiopia, and we all sat down around the table. She spent time holding each of the boys during the meeting as we talked.

Travis and Joanna (Gladney staff) gave us some great advice about how to approach the meeting. We were so glad that we talked to them and took their advice! They counseled us to remember that this is very likely the one and only opportunity we would have to meet "N" and to ask her whatever questions we have for her. They said that it was not the time to beat around the bush--that Ethiopia is a straightforward culture and the questions should be asked directly.

Brian and I made a list of questions we wanted to ask her, including some that we were nervous about asking. But I will say that our honest questions got honest answers, and I'm so glad that we asked everything we did! Brian took notes during the entire meeting, so we have the information for the boys. (Also, we knew that emotions would be running so high during the meeting that if we didn't write it down, we would forget everything.) We asked her permission to video tape our meeting, but she said she didn't feel comfortable with that, but that photographs were fine.

After about thirty minutes or so of talking with her, we brought in our mothers, so that they could meet her and she could meet the grandmothers of her sons. We took photos of each individual boy with "N", one of "N" and me (Tracy) and both boys, then Brian jumped into the group, and then the social worker took a photo of all of us together, including the grandmothers.

After our quick photo session, the grandmothers said good-bye. (Brian's mother was so sweet and told "N" that she and my mom would help take care of them.) We asked "N" if she had any other questions for us, and she said "no", and then we said goodbye. I'm not going to lie. I held it together pretty well during our meeting, but as soon as Brian and I walked out of the building with the boys, I burst into tears. It was just so sad. My heart goes out to "N", and I think of her often. I hope she has peace in her heart knowing her boys are loved by us. She knows that we will be sending an annual letter to Gladney Ethiopia with photos of the boys (that she will have access to), so she can see them as they grow through the years.

I'm so glad we got to meet "N", so glad we got some information from her for the boys, and so glad we have some photos of her to show them.

Once I had regained my composure, we met with Belay. He is the head of Gladney in Ethiopia. He gave us the boys' passports, visas, original birth certificates and vaccination records, and we had everything we needed to bring the boys home!

While our moms went out and did a little bit of souvenir shopping...

...Brian and I and the boys went back to our guest house to get everything packed up for our journey home!

In the midst of our packing, I noticed that (without any coaxing) Jeremy was trying to feed Zachary his bottle. He's a very sweet big brother. When he hears the baby cry, he makes sure I know.

Just before we left, we discovered that our guest house has a rooftop with an amazing view, so we took a family picture!

Here's one with "Uncle Soli"!

Then we packed up the van and headed to the airport. We passed the beautiful Holy Savior Orthodox Church on the way.

And then we arrived at the airport:

Jeremy kissed Solomon goodbye. The rest of us said goodbye to our dear Solomon with tears in our eyes. He is such a sweet guy who we all just adore!

Once we got our bags checked and through security, my mom had fun entertaining Jeremy in a baggage cart!

We got to fly with another Gladney family from Addis Ababa to Dubai!

We even were seated on the same row, so that made the flight go by fast!

Once we arrived in Dubai, we went straight to our hotel room (we stayed at the hotel inside the airport again...best decision we could have made!), got showered and fell into bed for a whole four hours. Here's our little baby all freshly bathed and ready for bed!

Morning came waaaaaaaaaay too soon, but we had a flight to catch. Home was within our reach....