There and Back Again

Birthday Boy

2012-02-11T09:50:00.000-08:00

Yonas celebrated his 4th birthday with family and friends last week. Here are a few pictures for the big days!

Singing

Everyone helping to open the gifts!

Celebrating at pre-school with his pink crown!

Four

2012-01-23T18:38:00.000-08:00

Dear little Sophonias, you would have been 4 years old today. How I wish you were here to be playing with Yonas and Meheretab!

Another First

2012-01-22T20:11:00.000-08:00

We had our first trip to Emergicare this week with Yonas, thanks to a smack in the head with a stethoscope at pre-school. Meheretab felt a few sympathy pains as well!

A First

2012-01-16T19:04:00.000-08:00

Meheretab said his first 3 word sentence today...

"Oni (Yoni) did it!" He is learning how to deal with his brother!

A Win-Win

2012-01-12T20:31:00.000-08:00

A new sofa is a win for Chris and I, much bigger and much more comfy, and a win for the boys, big boxes! Everyone was thrilled!

Chris 'testing out' the new sofa.

A fun addition to their bedroom!

Christmas 2012

2012-01-08T05:28:00.000-08:00

Here's a little recap of our holiday....

The six hour trip to Durango, loaded to the gills. We obviously don't travel anywhere without Chris' bike!

My boys adore their cousins!

Getting serious trying to put Yoni's new crane together with his drill.

Meheretab taking care of his new little baby. He is such a lover!

Life...

2011-12-22T15:09:00.000-08:00

Here is what we've been up to over the past month...

A visit from Yoni's favorite people, his cousins!

A holiday get together with our local Ethiopian group.

'Helping' mom do some Christmas baking.

Playinig in the snow!

Groove

2011-11-14T18:08:00.001-08:00

After 14 months of being a family of 4, I feel that we are finally hitting our groove. With all of Meheretab's health issues, Yoni getting used to having a brother and new jobs for both Chris and I, it has been a crazy time in our lives where I felt like I was in a fog for most of the time. I'm happy to have this period behind us, excited about our little family and where we're headed!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T16:59:00.000-07:00

As the boys get older, the holidays get so much more exciting! Here are a few pictures from our Halloween!

Here they are, half-way around Manitou! (Yes, Meheretab is already eating:)

Birthday Boy

2011-10-22T08:01:00.000-07:00

Our little peanut is two today! We celebrated last week and here are a few pics from our little party. Happy birthday sweet cheeks!

One Year

2011-09-25T17:11:00.000-07:00

Early this month it was our one year anniversary of Meheretab coming home. Wow, what a year this was, definitely not for the faint of heart! Our little pea has had 4 surgeries, tubes put into his eyes and was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea. On top of all of this, we lost our dear social worker in August who played such a pivotal role in bring Meheretab home and helping with his adjustment this year. We are hoping for a much smoother ride from this point on. Just look at that sweet little face!

Camping...Round Two

2011-08-03T18:53:00.000-07:00

We tried camping again with the boys and had much more success our second go around. Yoni biked and biked, and Meheretab pushed his popper round and round. I love Meheretab in this picture demolishing his s'more!

One Month

2011-07-16T12:55:00.000-07:00

So...it's been almost a month since my last post and I just now feel that I am catching up on life. Between having 3 solid weeks of visitors and trying to get my bearings in my new job, the blog has taken a back seat. We are doing really well here! The boys have LOVED all of the visitors, extra attention and special treats that they've been getting, and Chris and I are adjusting to all of the new changes. We wouldn't want things any other way!Stacey came to visit and it had been almost 10 years since we've seen each other. We haven't changed a bit:)We went to the Ethiopian restaurant and got lots of attention!

Number Five!!!!!

2011-06-18T16:50:00.000-07:00

We have had a sighting of Meheretab's 5th tooth!!! Finally!!! At almost 20 months, we were starting to wonder if Meheretab would be going through life with only 4 teeth. This is cause to celebrate:)

Camping

2011-06-09T18:48:00.000-07:00

Chris has been talking about taking the boys camping for months. I must be honest and say that my enthusiasm didn't quite match his. We decided to stay close to home and chose a beautiful site only about 25 minutes away. The boys LOVED it during the daylight hours, but Meheretab did not understand why we all were sleeping together on the ground. So we got very little sleep to say the least, and night #2 of camping consisted of Chris and Yoni camping and Meheretab and mom sleeping at home. I wasn't complaining and either was Chris. Perfection!The Hansons never leave home without their Peanut butter.

Taking a break from biking for s'mores.

Naps

2011-05-27T05:53:00.000-07:00

At almost 3 and a half, Yoni's naps are sadly getting a bit sporadic. The only sure fire way of getting him to sleep is laying down with him. Of course the danger with that is that you end up sleeping as well. Here are my boys the other day napping on the sofa! (Love how Yonas is all cuddled up:)

Little Face

2011-05-15T11:13:00.000-07:00

How can you not love this little face? This is what he looks like less than a week after getting his tonsils and adenoids out AND getting the tube yanked out of his eye! Tough little peanut!

Four

2011-05-09T07:15:00.000-07:00

Little Meheretab has had a bit of a rough road since coming home. On Thursday, he had his 4th medical procedure in the 8 months that we have been home! He was in the 'hostible' overnight and has been doing well until last night when one of the tubes in his eyes, from a previous procedure, was pulled out. As you can see from the picture, he is still our happy little guy! (notice the tube coming out of his eye)

Almost Impossible

2011-04-30T11:09:00.000-07:00

We had a busy Easter weekend consisting of dinner one night, brunch the next day and lunch on Sunday, all with different friends. The boys had 2 egg hunts and got the hang of that pretty quickly, especially once they discovered the chocolate inside of the eggs. I tried to get some pictures of the boys when they were both somewhat clean, but as you can see if one is sitting still and smiling, the other isn't. I guess this will be the way our pictures look for the next year or so:)

The Boys

2011-04-11T06:32:00.001-07:00

We got to hang out with our favorite Ethiopian friends this weekend. Fun, fun, fun!

Signs of Spring

2011-04-03T09:27:00.001-07:00

Trial run in the Burley

Early morning work on the bikes!

Family bike rides, with Yonas falling asleep:)

On the swing

Bike rides

Exhausted

2011-03-27T16:13:00.001-07:00

Here is where Yonas napped for 2.5 hours today! We just got back from our spring break in Durango yesterday and the boys are whipped! They loved every minute of playing with their cousins and hanging out with their Busia and T-pa. It was a wonderful getaway for all of us!

Check Mate

2011-03-11T16:15:00.000-08:00

Chris is teaching Yoni to play chess. Some days go better than others! When they first started to play Yonas said that he needed to be black because 'he is from Epeepia'. Makes sense to me!

Hand-Me-Downs

2011-02-27T06:23:00.000-08:00

We love, love, love hand-me-downs in this family! Here are my boys sporting my favorite little hat. I think they are about the same age in both pics.

Three!

2011-02-12T11:58:00.001-08:00

Yonas turned 3 last weekend! Here are a few pics from his little party.

My little party animals!

Yoni said his favorite part of his birthday was his cake. Bless his soul, since I made it:)

Painting on his new easel.

His first scooter.Who needs party games when you have balloons?????

Ethiopian School

2011-01-30T11:54:00.000-08:00

Yonas is now going to an Ethiopian culture class once a week! An Ethiopian woman who has an ET restaurant in town has started it, and I love it! She is so gracious and truly loves these kiddos, and I feel like I am back in Ethiopia while we are there. The music, the language, the love, it makes me teary every week.

Watching a video of Ethiopian dancing.

Little One

2011-01-23T06:48:00.001-08:00

Thinking of you today little Sophonias!

My Steeler Boys

2011-01-21T16:02:00.000-08:00

Here we are after the Steeler win last week. Loving the Steelers, just like their mama! You all better be cheering for our Steelers on Sunday!

Meheretab's Movie

2011-01-15T12:12:00.000-08:00

Yoni loves, loves, loves our home videos! He sits and laughs at himself and his brother, and it is pretty darn cute. His latest fave is what he calls 'Meheretab's movie' which is the video of us in Ethiopia, bringing Meheretab home. The other day I asked him what his favorite part of the video was, thinking he'd say seeing Ethiopia or the orphanage or all of the kids, but I wasn't even close. His answer...'Welp (new favorite word) I liked when Meheretab blew out of his diaper in Amsterdam and you put his pjs in the trash." No lie!

Christmas Rewind

2010-12-29T16:36:00.001-08:00

The boys were in Heaven with all of the love and attention they received in Durango. My sweet little Ethiopian!Christmas morning with Busia and his new laptop. Too much fun = two exhausted boys!

Christmas Wish

2010-12-23T13:23:00.000-08:00

We received our Christmas wish 2 days ago. A sibling group of 3, from Meheretab's orphanage, who stole our hearts in August, have been matched with a family! This little threesome have been weighing heavily on our hearts and minds for the past few months. Merry Christmas!

Don't getfor

2010-12-16T12:51:00.000-08:00

Yoni has, by far, the best memory of anyone in the Hanson house. This boy can remember things from a year ago and tells us in detail who, what, when, where and why something happened. For some reason, he thinks that the word forget is getfor. So he is now telling us, "Don't getfor the milk" or "Don't getfor Meheretab". It is pretty stinkin' cute!

It's starting to look a lot like Christmas.....

2010-12-04T14:46:00.001-08:00

We are in full Christmas mode here and Yonas is loving every minute of it. Here are our outside decorations......guess whose idea this was???

Thanksgiving Recap

2010-11-28T18:36:00.000-08:00

Here are a few highlights from our Thanksgiving with my family. The boys LOVED all of the extra attention and Yoni got up from his nap yesterday saying, "I miss my cousins!
Brotherly love on Thanksgiving day!

Snuggling with Anna:)

Morning at the Hansons!

A Big Week

2010-11-10T16:12:00.000-08:00

A BIG week around here....Meheretab's first tooth broke through and he took his first steps. Plus, look at how much his hair has grown in a week! This boy is amazing!

Halloween Fun

2010-11-04T13:45:00.001-07:00

We had a weekend of Halloween fun here. It started on Friday with some in-town trick-or-treating on main street, carved pumpkins on Saturday and went to a fabulous Halloween party on Sunday. The best part...Yoni has already forgotten about all of his candy:)

Our sweet little lion!

Birthday Boy

2010-10-30T13:50:00.000-07:00

Here is our peanut who turned one last week. I don't know who enjoyed the party and gifts more...Yoni or Meheretab. Check out my cake

More Sweet Surprises

2010-10-21T13:11:00.000-07:00

One of my 80 year old students brought me these hats that she had made for the boys yesterday. Aren't they sweet? Love how my boys are holding hands:)

Look....

2010-10-10T08:32:00.000-07:00

What Meheretab received in the mail this week. Dave and Darice you know me too well! Love, love, love it and so does our boy! Now I'm just waiting for some Polamalu hair to grow in:)

Before...and...After

2010-10-02T09:30:00.001-07:00

Yoni loves to 'help' get his brother up. Here is the before and after from yesterday! (I know rule #1 of parenting is never wake a sleeping baby, but this boy will sleep and sleep. He sleeps 11 hours at night and two 2-3 hours naps during the day, and we almost always have to wake him up after each:)

A Sweet Saturday

2010-09-18T14:29:00.001-07:00

Simply hanging out with my boy and catching up on life. Yoni and Chris are off socializing and we are holding down the fort. Love it!

Birthday Boy

2010-09-14T13:02:00.000-07:00

Today is Chris' birthday, but we celebrated last night since I have to work today:( Yoni is quite obsessed with the cake, looking in the fridge at it whenever we aren't watching, constantly asking for a piece and I found little hand prints on the top as I went to put the icing on it yesterday afternoon. First thing this morning, Yonas came down and asked for more birthday cake. The boy loves his cake, just like his momma:)

'Brudders'

2010-09-08T19:12:00.000-07:00

We are home and Yonas is loving being a big 'brudder'. He tells everyone that we meet, 'This is my new brudder, Heretab'. It is pretty sweet! (More on our trip soon:)

6 Days

2010-08-21T14:21:00.000-07:00

We leave for Ethiopia in six days. Wow! I have a list of things to do a mile long, that includes making curtains, packing, shopping, packing, cleaning, packing, cooking, packing, selecting paint colors for the house, packing, running a 1/2 marathon to the top of Pikes Peak, packing, finishing decorating Meheretab's room, packing, working at my new job, packing, and loving on Yonas. Am I worried about Meheretab? No, not really since he loves his nannies and they LOVE him. Just check out this picture!

We're Coming....

2010-08-11T05:44:00.000-07:00

We just found out that we have our appointment with the US Embassy in Addis at the end of August. So, instead of waiting 6-8 weeks to get our peanut, we are going back in less than 4, August 27th! Wow, are the adoption gods finally smiling on us??????

The Newest Hanson

2010-08-04T21:22:00.001-07:00

We made it home yesterday after 34 long hours of travel. We had an amazing trip, very different than our first trip to Addis 2 years ago. We were able to spend a lot of time with our little guy - getting to know him, his nannies and the other kids in the orphanage. It was a very special time! The reason that we went, our court hearing, lasted approximately 2 minutes, and we were told that we had a new son. So..............here is our sweet little man, Meheretab Hanson.Love that sweet smile!

One Week...

2010-07-21T20:02:00.000-07:00

One week from today and we'll be in Ethiopia holding our boy. Wow, how did we get here? The last few months have been the busiest of our lives with lots of new job opportunities and trying to keep up with a 2 year old. I have yet to pack and am receiving packages daily from families that want us to love on their little ones that are waiting in the orphanages. I just can't believe we are going. Below is one of the first pictures of us as a family with Yoni's caregiver who was devastated when we left. We will be visiting his old orphanage and I am hoping we'll be able to see her and give her a picture of Yonas now. I will try and post updates while we are away.

The Joys of Potty Training

2010-07-10T15:45:00.001-07:00

Mr. Independent is doing amazing on the potty! We are pretty much, dare I say it, in the clear aside from sleeping. Not bad for our little 2.5 year old! Here he was after a recent trip to the loo:)

4th of July S'more

2010-07-06T19:41:00.000-07:00

Yonas had his first s'more on the 4th. It was a hit, to say the least!

(Leaving for Ethiopia in 3 weeks from today....I have SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much to do!)

Court...Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

2010-07-01T16:31:00.000-07:00

We received our court date on Monday for July 30th! This means that we will need to be in Addis for that day to be present in court, which should be interesting. We have finally found tickets, it's the busiest time to fly to ET of course, and are leaving on the 27th. I just can't believe we will be holding our pea in 27 days! WOW!!! The only bad part is that we will have to leave him in Ethiopia until we get an embassy date, either 6 or 8 weeks later. I am trying not to think of that now:)

Gotta Support the Team

2010-06-26T10:54:00.000-07:00

World Cup fever has hit the Hanson household yet again. Here are my boys ready to go support their team. (If you have never experienced watching an Enlish soccer game with Chris, it is about 100 times worse than watching a Steelers game with me:)

Visitors

2010-06-17T19:25:00.000-07:00

The Hansons are in town from England for a few weeks. Yoni is in heaven!!! (more people to talk to:)

Raid

2010-06-12T14:49:00.000-07:00

Guess who I found raiding the fridge at 6 am??? Little stinker!

Fun....Fun...Fun

2010-06-05T18:24:00.000-07:00

We spent Memorial Day weekend in Durango with my family. Chris and John rode in a bike race, Yoni loved running around after his cousins, and I was able to hang-out with my parents and sister. Pretty great all around!A little bit of cousin love!Look at those thrilled faces waiting for the racers!
They made it!!!

Finally

2010-06-01T20:24:00.000-07:00

After a month of discussions and consultations, we finally, finally, finally, accepted a referral for a little boy, M, in Ethiopia. The uncertainty and indecision was really beginning to weigh on me, but we have made it. I don't know what it is with us and international adoption, but it never goes smoothly. Luckily, we seem to make amazing contacts, an Ethiopian doctor here in the states who knew M's doctor in Addis Ababa who gave us first hand information about our little guy, to help get us through this crazy journey. M is 7 months old and his first few pictures remind me a lot of Yoni's first few pictures. We have already gotten about 15 pictures of him, plus a video, so it is very real. We are sending off this little bee to him tomorrow with a family that is travelling in a few weeks. Here is Yoni with the little bee that is going to ET and the monkey that we sent to him while we were waiting to travel. Next step, a court date BEFORE the courts close. We'll keep hoping!

The Turtle

2010-05-25T17:27:00.000-07:00

My sister graciously donated their turtle sandbox to fill the sandbox void in Yoni's life. He was very excited, but decided that he had to take off his shorts and BIG BOY UNDIES so they didn't get dirty. (Where does he get this?) One more fun thing to do outside:)

After-School Snack

2010-05-19T18:31:00.000-07:00

Yoni and Chris came home from school today and needed a little pick-me-up cup of hot chocolate. Yoni and Chris love hot chocolate in all weather. Chris' last day with students is tomorrow and then it is the summer off! I can't wait!!!!!

Crazy Busy

2010-05-14T08:50:00.001-07:00

I know that I have been a pretty poor blogger the last few weeks. Life is going faster than I am able to keep up with, and we have some huge life decisions to make. So, hopefully things will start to slow down a bit over the next few weeks and I can fill you in on it all. (Here is my boy having a snack on our new stools.)

Pool's Open

2010-05-08T12:11:00.000-07:00

Yoni has been begging to get the pool out, so this was the week. I think the build-up was more exciting than the very cold water that filled the pool. We talked with some friends from Summit, where we were living a year ago, and they had snow this week. No thanks, I'll stick to my pool!

Childproof.......Ha, Ha

2010-05-02T17:02:00.000-07:00

Ok, Yonas has figured out all of the child locks in our house. You need proof? He walked into our bedroom at 5:30 saying he was awake (he has a childproof door handle in his room). Chris walked into the kitchen and Yoni was eating straight out of the hot chocolate container (we have cabinet locks). I took out one of my power bars from another childproofed cabinet, and there was a bite out of it, through the wrapper! He is still a child, right?

Our Saturday Morning

2010-04-26T07:45:00.000-07:00

My boys working hard!

Things I Love About My Two Year Old

2010-04-23T07:50:00.000-07:00

Yes, you read that right. I know two is much, much tougher than one, but there are some bright spots as well.

1. Yonas can dress himself. (Yes, it takes about 10 times longer than when I do it, but he is so proud:)

2. I know exactly what he wants to eat, to do, to wear...no more guessing. (Even if I hear it over, and over, and over.)

3. He understand what I ask him to do, and actually does it about half the time.

4. He is getting funnier and funnier by the day. (Our neighbor was here the other day with her 3 month old who was crying and crying. Yoni went up to the new mom and said, "Chloe, wants to go home." Obviously Yonas understood what Chloe was saying.)

5. Yoni likes to clean. (even though sometimes when he is finished it is messier than when he started) He vacuumed for me this morning.

Our Music Man

2010-04-19T05:27:00.000-07:00

Yonas loves to sing, dance and listen to all types of music. At the moment, his favorite is Hey, Soul Sister which is a special treat to listen to on his dad's i-pod before bed. We hear a lot of, "Hey, Soul Sister, dad's i-pod?"

Like Father...Like Son

2010-04-15T07:59:00.000-07:00

Guess where Yonas learned this from.

Hello Spring......

2010-04-12T15:53:00.000-07:00

We are so happy to see you again! After 5 years of living at over 11,000 feet, we have truly missed you. Yoni and I have been enjoying walks to the park, hanging out in the yard and gardening. We are loving these 60 degree sunny days with flowers coming up, and we even saw our first hummingbird today. Thank you for visiting Spring, you look great!

Helpful

2010-04-09T14:12:00.000-07:00

It seems the more "helpful" Yonas is, the more work it is for me. He now loves to "do the dishes". Do you think he'll feel the same in 10 years?
Please excuse the no pants look, we are still working on going to the potty:)

Easter Eggs

2010-04-05T11:23:00.000-07:00

We had our first attempt at living up to our family tradition of dying Easter Eggs last week. As kids we would spend every Easter in Pittsburgh, and we would dye eggs with my Uncle Walter. This was a very serious affair and my uncle had very specific techniques that were to always be strictly followed. Well, we didn't quite follow said techniques but Yoni loved it and has asked to dye eggs every day since.

My Little Chatterbox

2010-03-31T18:04:00.000-07:00

After spending a bit of time with Yonas, people almost always comment, "Boy, he's a talker!" From the moment he opens his eyes to the moment that they are closed, words, sentences, questions, demands are flowing from his lips. There isn't a quiet moment around here anymore! Here are a few of my favorites...

-No Busia like the mouse. (Busia is my mom and she HATES mice:)

-Yoni no like lotion. (He screams and runs when I get the lotion out.)

-I'm ready to go home now. (This week at the doctor's office, the doctor loved that.)

- I want cake/jelly/a vitamin/pineapple/you name it.

-Yoni from Eeeeeeeeepa. (Ethiopia:)

Spring Break 2010

2010-03-25T14:50:00.000-07:00

We spent the past few days in Durango, enjoying family and just taking a break from our lives. Yoni was on a constant high with all of the attention and time with his cousins. Chris did a lot of riding and I had time to sew. Perfect!

Snoozing during the 5.5 hour trip.

Chris said that Anna and Yoni are like an old married couple, loving eachother one minute and fighting the next!

First time on a trampoline took some getting used to!Loving the sand pile and all of the trucks.

Time Out

2010-03-19T13:26:00.003-07:00

Look who I found in time-out this morning. Rumor has it that she was "hitting kids."

Cursed?

2010-03-16T21:02:00.000-07:00

Remember a few months back when I asked if the third time would be a charm for us in this next adoption? Well.........it's not. We learned last week that Ethiopia is changing their rules for international adoption and now families have to make 2, yes that's right, 2 trips to Ethiopia to finalize their adoption. So, not only do we have to find thousands of more dollars, but these sweeping changes make me nervous. Yes, I completely understand why they have made this decision, but it still is very worrying to me. I am a HUGE advocate for adoption, but this is really testing me. Anyone out there want to go to Ethiopia with me????????

Little Chef

2010-03-14T14:29:00.000-07:00

This is Yoni's favorite new place to hang-out. What a great helper (ha, ha;)!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-03-10T12:06:00.001-08:00

Progress

2010-03-07T15:23:00.000-08:00

We are making progress on the potty front in the Hanson household. Yonas is now only wearing diapers during his nap and at night. Yeah!!! He has even gone potty this week at a friend's house, at the university and at H&R Block. However we are now faced with a new issue, frequent changing of the Big Boy Undies (BBUs). Yoni loves his BBUs so much, that he wants to wear a different pair every hour or so. As you can see from the pic, they are pretty fun:)

Down hill from here

2010-03-04T09:18:00.001-08:00

We are teachers in this house and love, love, love polite, respectful students. So of course, we want our child to be this way as well. We try and be careful of what we say around him and encourage him to use his manners. Well, until Yoni started going to "school", he would say yes to whatever we asked him. After a few times at school, he started answering us with a big YEAH. Now, we have moved on to YEP, which Yoni thinks is hilarious. So good-bye manners, hello reality:(

Who needs a tv?

2010-03-01T16:34:00.001-08:00

Yonas hanging out with his favorite girl this past week:)

I'm in TROUBLE

2010-02-25T12:03:00.001-08:00

My son has just turned 2 and he has already figured out how to work the system. We have started giving treats, an M&M, for going potty, since that is what happens at "school", and Yonas is back into going on the potty. The problem is that he can squirt a little drop out, expect a treat, 2 minutes later squirt another drop out, expect a treat, and on and on. You can see how I am spending my days. So now it has come down to a science of trying to determine how much pee deserves a treat. Oh my, I can't wait until he's a teenager:(

Move over Martha....

2010-02-22T06:03:00.000-08:00

Here we come! After watching Julie and Julia, Netflix it if you haven't seen it, Chris and I were inspired. Chris decided he is going to learn to bake bread, and I decided that I need to try and sew at least every other day. So here is Chris' first loaf of bread and a pillow I recovered yesterday. Chris said that we need to move to the country:)

Stranded

2010-02-20T11:35:00.000-08:00

My parents came up to celebrate Yoni's birthday with us, and then were stranded here for an extra 2 days because of a winter storm in Durango. Yoni and I were thrilled! Yonas is on a high when his T-Pa and Busia are here. He wants to show off his new toys and dance moves and doesn't want to miss a minute with them by taking a nap. His favorite new words that he picked up from Busia and T-Pa are yuck and hanky. Now he only wants to use a hanky to blow his nose (Where the heck do you buy hankies in 2010?).

Childproofed???

2010-02-18T06:02:00.001-08:00

How do you childproof this? Chichi is such a trooper:)

Welcome Home

2010-02-14T13:15:00.000-08:00

Yonas' newest little Ethiopian friend came home a few weeks ago, and we were able to meet him on Friday. The best part about it is that Bekila lives only about 15 minutes WALKING from our house. Yeah!! Welcome to the neighborhood Bekila, we are so happy that you are home!

Bye-Bye Crib

2010-02-10T17:39:00.001-08:00

Yonas decided to give his parents a little present on his birthday...he showed us that he can crawl out of his crib, not just once, but twice. He was pretty darn proud of himself, so we knew that this was going to be a daily event and promptly went out and bought a bed rail. So our boy is now in his big-boy-bed, that is a queen size, and LOVES it. He has slept through the night every night since and is still taking his 2-3 hour naps. Whew, I was dreading this day, but it hasn't been too bad.
Yoni, proudly in his big-boy-bed! (Yes, I plan to do something about the pink duvet.)

Birthday Bash

2010-02-07T20:42:00.001-08:00

Yoni had his first birthday party yesterday with his nearest and dearest friends. He loved, loved, loved every minute of it, and so did we. I find his birthday a bittersweet time, when I think a lot of his birth mother, her loss and our journey to becoming a family. Here are a few pictures of his special day.

The finished product, not exactly perfect.

Chris putting together Yoni's new garage.

I think the cake was Yoni's favorite part of the day!

How old are you?

2010-02-03T11:49:00.001-08:00

Here Yoni is telling you how old he'll be on Saturday. I think we have to work some more on his numbers!

Third Time's a Charm?

2010-01-29T20:21:00.000-08:00

Our paperwork arrived in Ethiopia this week for the start of our 3rd adoption process. It is hard to believe that we started down this amazing, heart wrenching, frustrating, nerve wracking, exciting road of adoption in 2006 and have only one child in our family. Our first adoption, from China, began almost 4 years ago, and we are still officially waiting. Our second adoption, from Ethiopia, started with us losing Sophonias, being referred Yonas, waiting through an investigation and finally being able to bring him home. So, here we are on our third attempt, and we are hoping that the third time will be the charm that we need. In the next 5-7 months we hope to be seeing our little girl's sweet face and then making that wonderful trip back to Ethiopia. Here's to hope!

"School"

2010-01-27T18:09:00.000-08:00

Today was Yonas' first day of "school". Now, we all know that an almost two year old doesn't really go to "school", but that is what I call daycare to make myself feel a little better. This semester I am teaching a Practicum class so I have to go out in schools and watch my teachers teach. It is fabulous, but it means that Yonas has to go to his own "school" once a week, for the first time ever. Ever since we came home from Ethiopia, I have taught in the evenings and stayed home with Yonas during the day. Of course, I was more upset about Yoni going to "school" than he was and he LOVED it. When I picked him up, all he kept saying was french toast and nap. No wonder he loves school!
Ready for his first day of "school". Doesn't he look soooooooooooo old?

Baby Sophonias

2010-01-23T05:56:00.001-08:00

Today our little Sophonias would have been 2 years old. We have a framed picture of him in Yoni's room and Yoni walks around with it and says Baby Sophonias. We miss you little one and wish we were all together!

Now on to Cakes

2010-01-19T11:26:00.000-08:00

Thanks for all of the great feedback on parties! It's great to hear that I am not the only one with these feelings. Now, I have to decide on a cake. Growing up chosing a cake for my mom to make was a HUGE deal. She had a special birthday cake book, that I loved to look through to chose my cake for that year. I love to bake, but have never tried the big fancy kid cake. I am thinking about making either a train, police car or firetruck. Advice? (Here is a sweet little train that I found:)

Party Dilemma

2010-01-15T09:37:00.000-08:00

So Yoni's birthday is in a few short weeks, and I have been going back and forth on party plans for him. I have a really hard time with the excessiveness of so many kids parties and the ridiculous amounts of gifts that are given these days, and don't want to be a part of that. The problem is where to draw the line, without offending anyone. At the moment, I am thinking about having family and Yoni's closest friends and their parents, one family, over for a little lunch get together. Thoughts?
Yes, more pictures from our trip...this is one of my favorites. We were in the train station in London. Good times:)

Wordless Wednesday

2010-01-13T07:19:00.000-08:00

Yonas and his grandmum:) (Love his face!)

London

2010-01-11T05:18:00.000-08:00

Here are a few snaps from our time in London. It rained non-stop both days we were there, but I still love this city. I love being in a place where you rarely hear English while walking around!

Too much sightseeing!

Eating out at a fun restaurant.

Much trickier traveling on the Underground with a toddler.

Covent Garden.

Firsts

2010-01-07T07:27:00.000-08:00

While spending our holiday in England, Yonas experienced many firsts. Here are a few....Met his only English cousin, Luke.

Rode the train to London.

Spent Christmas with his Grandad Hanson.

Was introduced to the infamous English cuisine.

Home

2010-01-05T09:41:00.001-08:00

After 24 long hours of traveling we have made our way back to Colorado. England was wonderful (and wet, of course), but the trip home was rough. With the added security measures, we were searched, questioned and scanned, I don't know how many times and Yonas had to stand in security line after security line. We got home last night just after midnight and Yonas was up this morning at 5 am. It is time for some detox, Yonas was spoiled rotten while we were gone:) (More details and pictures to come when I can think straight.)

Still here....

2009-12-20T11:31:00.000-08:00

Bad news, our flight yesterday to Manchester was cancelled due to that fact that we were connecting through Philadelphia, which was receiving one of their worst storms in years. So, we spent 8+ hours at the airport yesterday and didn't go anywhere. Trust me it was about as fun as it sounds, especially with a very busy 22 month old. The first flight that they can get us out on is Christmas Eve, so we are hoping for better weather then. The highlight of the day, believe it or not there was one, was meeting 2 Ethiopian men who work at DIA. They were amazing, and I love to hear Yonas' name with an Ethiopian accent. I need to get back to Ethiopia!

Leaving the airport after a VERY long day!

Packing Consultant

2009-12-18T08:43:00.001-08:00

Yonas was helping with the packing last night. You can just imagine how helpful it was:) We are getting ready to spend the holidays in England and are so excited! Now, if Yonas will just sleep on the plane.

Our Boys

2009-12-16T06:00:00.000-08:00

Aside from the sugary birthday party this weekend, we also were able to meet up with Yoni's Ethiopian buddies. I can't believe how big they all are! Where have our babies gone?

A Party Foul

2009-12-14T10:12:00.000-08:00

Now, I definitely have a sweet tooth, but even I would never subject a group of children, or worse their parents, to the birthday celebration that we attended this past weekend. Yoni was invited to a birthday party at 9:30 am on Saturday morning at an indoor bouncy castle type place. Well, at 10:30 they brought out the cake, ice-cream and donuts, all on one plate for our little angels to chow down on. And that is exactly what Yonas did. He was the last to leave the table and had eaten every bite on his plate. The rest of the day he kept saying, "Party, CAKE." Hmm, I think we need to lock up all the sweets in our house. (Here we are in front of the slide of death. Yoni climbed all the way up this and flew down the slide. It scared me!)

Kiki Mom!

2009-12-09T13:32:00.000-08:00

Since we are both teachers in this house, Chris and I are pretty big on manners. Nothing gets under my skin more than a disrespectful student, and of course I do not want Yonas to be THAT kid. So, we have been pushing Yonas for lots of pleases and thank-yous and at the moment he is following right along. For thank-you he says ki-ki, not sure where that came from, but it is pretty darn cute. So we are hearing a lot of, "Kiki mom water" or "Kiki dad cheese" or "Kiki mom kiss." It is so sweet, I hope it lasts forever!

Where is he?

2009-12-07T08:01:00.000-08:00

Yoni is a fabulous sleeper, normally 7 to 7. (Yes, I know how lucky I am:) But, the other morning it was almost 8am and I hadn't heard a peep. I was starting to imagine Yonas hanging from his crib or something else horrible, so I went in and this is what I found.....
Reading my Richard Scarry book, given to me by my godparents. Love it!

Ornaments

2009-12-03T05:53:00.001-08:00

Growing up I loved putting up the Christmas tree and looking through all of our ornaments. We weren't the family with the themed Christmas tree, but we were the family with the hodge podge of ornaments that were made, bought and given to us through the years. I loved going through the ornaments with our pictures on them and measuring my hand to the hand cutout I made in kindergarten. Chris and I are now trying to build this tradition with Yonas as well and here is his first little ornament. I found it on a blog, of course, and the proceeds go to a family trying to bring their baby home from Ethiopia. Perfect!