Molly

We asked and we asked "Eva, what do you want for your birthday?" She never could decide. This is our slightly, eccentric child. any other child would give us a list a mile long of wants and desires as far as birthday gifts. We asked for weeks, as we have been trying to plan her birthday party (which we still have not gotten nailed down). She never knew what she wanted. So, we decided to surprise Eva with a gift picked out especially for her. I took a little convincing, and I still cannot believe that I was the one who came up with this idea. It was all too perfect for Eva!We gladly introduce our newest addition to our family....Molly Ann West (name chosen spontaneously and with out the planned coaching I had practiced, by Eva herself). she is a welcomed addition. She is very fun-loving, feisty, laid-back and sweet kitten. Eva is smitten as are most all of us.

While Lila (our Queen kitty) was not a fan at all, in the beginning, staying hidden for weeks under the beds and on the top bunks of the kids' beds, she has since warmed up to Molly. They have fast become friends and sparring partners.

Welcome to the family, Molly!

Sweet Relief

Forgive me that I have not posted sooner, for we have been celebrating! We received some much-awaited, positive news regarding international adoptions in Ethiopia at the end of January. Here is a letter from our Family Coordinator.

Dear Marcus & Alecia,

We are thrilled to share positive news from Ethiopia.  Earlier today Minister Zenebu, along with other high level MOWCYA officials, met with agency network representatives.  In this meeting it was clearly expressed by Minister Zenebu that she does not plan to work to stop adoptions, but desires to focus on eliminating bad practice and continue to invest in good practice of Ethiopia adoptions.  She reiterated that neither MOWCYA nor the Ethiopian Government plan to shut down adoptions within Ethiopia, and went on to encourage agencies to continue their work as normal.

We know this news comes as relief for many adoptive families in process.  America World will continue to work on behalf of Ethiopia’s orphans and vulnerable children to place them into Christian homes.  We expect MOWCYA will likely hold more meetings in the weeks to come and will continue to keep families updated with any new information.  We are seeing several regions issue clearances for children to be adopted and are hopeful more will start soon.

America World is in full support of improvements to uphold the most ethical practices in adoption. We care deeply about adoptions operating with integrity and transparency.  We will continue to support MOWCYA in their efforts to implement better parameters around adoption processes and safeguards against fraudulent practice.

We are glad to hear this news today, and know it has been a long few weeks for families since Ethiopia’s first statement about adoptions. Thank you for your perseverance throughout this month. Please feel free to contact me with any follow-up questions about this. 

Praising His mighty name! He heard the floods of prayers on behalf of the precious littles waiting for families. We are thankful for His mercies. We continue our wait with renewed hope. A referral could come at any time! In the meantime, we still have t-shirts for sale and we are hoping to hear news this month concerning a grant we have applied for. Please keep us and all of these children, in Ethiopia and around the world, who need homes, in your prayers.

Little Lady: 18 months

Seems like she grew up over night. I know, I know....she is still our baby! She is becoming more and more independent, needing me less and less. She is on to the world of discovery! She is in the midst of a vocabulary EXPLOSION! She breaks out a new word almost daily, that I did not know she knew. If I do not pay attention quick enough to her whines and grunts, she will tell me exactly what she is wanting. Her newest word was bubbles. I was running water to wash dishes and she could see the dishwater bubbling. She wanted a handful of bubbles! "Whine, Whine, grunt, grunt....BUBBLES!" It certainly got my attention! She says all of her sibling's names, Lila (We are working on Molly.), mine, no, yeah, nose, mouth, ear, toes, baby, go, hi, hot, out, in, shoe, boo, "beela" (belly), pea-pie, bye-bye, night-night, amen, snack, cookie, cracker, "beena" (banana), "ont in" (want in), "ont up" (wants up), "I got it." "Get down, Lila."She still has 10 teeth. She has the spunkiest personality thus far. Not a morning person! Gives us a mean face to show us she means business, but we are mostly greeted with the biggest smile! She is stubborn about some things (Hates to sit down in her high chair!). Loves shoes and wears everyone's! Loves to eat! Plays pat-a-cake and chase. Likes to put away the silverware from the dishwasher while the "bigs" help with chores. Likes to explore...mainly inside cabinets. LOVES the outdoors! Rubs her nose with the tip of her bear's hat (comfort measure), each night I lay her in her crib. Still has her binky. Such a funny girl! Wild haired and will not be coaxed into wearing a bow or barrette.

 teeth

nose

 eyes

 mouth, mouth, mouth (we have to say it 3 times)

 ears

 pretty hair

 please

 more...

 bubbles!

Love her to pieces! She is so much fun!

Break from break

I have finally recovered from the longest four-week break from homeschool known to man! After shoveling heaping piles of structure back into our day, I am reflecting back on our time. Man did we have fun! Although, I have realized an important lesson....4 weeks without routine is disastrous for this family of 7! By the end of our break, I needed another break. I have been scraping together, tiny breaks here in there in hopes of a cumulative effect. I have also found that my children (I cannot speak for others) have an addictive personality where electronics are concerned. Give them an inch and they will take a mile. I wish I had a nickle for every time I heard "Can I play on the computer?" "Can we watch a movie?" "Dad, can I play on your phone?" ARGH!! Mom removed any and all child-friendly apps from her phone! Although the pessimist in me seems to have emerged a bit, it was not nearly all bad. It was lovely for all to sleep late, stay in our jammies until noon and look at learning with a different attitude. We watched Christmas movies with big bowls of popcorn. The little ladies learned a lot about cooking, not only from me, but from Dad as well. I consider Dad the baker of the family. He has an admittedly strong sweet tooth! As Christmas neared and passed we made homemade ornaments, finished out our Advent devotions and began new ones, made gifts for loved ones, and enjoyed some gifts of our own. Christmas brought princesses, LEGOs, books, and action heroes! We are tremendously blessed! In keeping in our simplistic fashion, we tried to limit travel and enjoy time together. It is certainly refreshing to pause from normal hustle and bustle of daily life (we are certainly hustlers over here) and enjoy some down time. And, by down time, I mean singing, dancing, comic relief, art, cooking, make-believe, glow sticks in bed and plenty of smiles and giggles. Here are the highlights of our break!  

 

Christmas 2014

Feeling Domestic

I have been feeling domestic lately, especially where the old Singer (or Nanny's OLD Singer) is concerned. I had a vacation to-do list a mile long, that I planned to get accomplished over the Christmas break. Don't bother asking if I completed it. Let's be real. I set my goals high. I accomplish a ot this way, yet suffer much disappointment as well. It's kind of a love-hate relationship. Although, I am learning to extend myself grace. At the top of said to-do list was to refresh my cloth diapers. There is nothing like a fresh, clean cloth diaper, but this refreshing as nothing to do with cleanliness or scent. We use BumGenius 3.0 and 4.0 diapers, both of which use Velcro tabs. Moms, I am still on the fence as to which are better, snaps or velro...whole different topic. So, BumGenius developed a refresher kit which includes replacement elastic and replacement velcro, all for a buck each!! I bought enough to refresh my first stash of diapers. I bought them while pregnant with Eva. They have diapered 3 babies and had gotten a bit tired. This task called for me to put my very limited sewing skills to work.

 I refreshed a total of twelve diapers.

Then while I was at it, I made 10 cloth wipes.

 

Love them so much, I made another set of 10 and wipes solution. Earth friendly, but more important, baby tush friendly!!! 

And that is such a cute tush, right!!??

I would ABSOLUTELY LOVE to have an updated model sewing machine. It would help if I wasn't working with a machine as old and stubborn I am!! Although, I am very grateful for the one I have (Mom). After all, I got a wild hair and made new throw pillows for my couch (which I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE)...

 ...loved them so much I made two for my bedroom....thinking about drapes now...SOMEBODY STOP ME!!!

Roadblock - Prayers Needed

Recent happenings throughout the Ethiopian government, concerning international adoption have our hearts breaking. We are requesting that you pray with us. Please pray for God to sway hearts of the Ethiopian government officials. Pray that positive adoption PR will flood Ethiopia. Pray God's will be done for these children without families and consequently, without hope.

This news article came from AllAfrica just one day after Christmas:

"The House of Peoples' Representatives and the Ministry of Women, Children and Youth urged stakeholders and the public to undertake integrated work to totally stop adoption of Ethiopian children by foreign families.
In a press conference, House Speaker Abadula Gemeda and the Minister Zenebu Tadesse told journalists that stakeholders should work closely to end foreign adoption.
Abadula urged the importance to give priority to use local means to raise orphaned children rather than giving them away to foreign families.
He suggested the importance to establish and support local NGOs which raise orphaned children with the close collaboration of the public.
He urged stakeholders and the public to support these initiatives and protect children from any kind of abuse.
The Minister Zenebu on her part said the government is working hard to end foreign adoption and facilitate situations to raise the children within their community.
Over 9,000 children were adopted by foreign families during the previous years, in a yearly basis, she said.
Through various activities carried out over the past years, number of children adopted by foreign families reduced to less than 1,000 in 2005EC.
She attributed the success to implementation of various laws and increasing knowledge of the public."

We were informed through EthioStork, an agency founded by Duni Zenaye, a native Ethiopian, that walks families through the adoption process and beyond, providing information about the Ethiopian culture, the adoption process as a whole, and assist families through the many challenges of trans-racial adoptions, of some follow-up information concerning a meeting held with parliament. 

Duni writes "I just spoke to folks back home. They have informed me that the meeting of the adoption network with parliament didn't go well. The minister of federal MOWCYA, Minister Zenebu had declared she wants to shut down adoption in the coming weeks. It was very political, "we have controlled the spread of AIDS, we have dared to build a dam at the Nile, surly we can put a stop to adoption as well". The speaker of Parliament agreed with her. The meeting was adjourned with the plan to create a committee that will present a "plan of action to end adoption" not poverty or orphaning, mind you, within 10 days. If this gets accepted by parliament then next will be getting the prime minister to sign it. Let's hope that doesn't happen."

We currently wait ten of the longest days since starting our adoption journey. We hope to hear positive news soon. Positive news would consist of adoption reform, new standards, new laws that do not include the shut off of international adoption. Protection of these precious children from child trafficking, abuse cases such as those like Hana Williams and more and financial corruption on the part of orphanages and even government, is so vitally important to the future of all orphans. Adoption can become a very politically and even culturally charged subject. The first priority that we share with many adoptive families INTACT. The primary family unit is of the highest importance. When that is no longer an option, children being kept in their own culture, raised by members of their native land would be preferred. In many cases this is not a viable option either. Many areas with concentrated numbers of orphans are many times areas that are extremely poverty stricken. Here is where opinions begin to differ. These children can be kept in their cultural land and be raised by various members of local villages or be raised in orphanages. We feel this is not ideal. The children never form attachments to parents that are their OWN. They do not develop trust and intimate relationships with adult figures. And so, we find ourselves at the mercy of the government, parliament, adoption advocates, local orphanage personnel, and the Prime Minister to make the right decision.

We have faith in the fact that our great God, Creator of all, knew this was coming. He knows the outcome as well. Please pray that He will intervene on behalf of the children of Ethiopia and those waiting to provide families to these little ones.

Five: Officially a Big Kid

Our curly haired, eccentric Eva Lou has reached the coveted milestone of becoming one of the "bigs". She turned FIVE YEARS OLD o December 30th! We had our own private celebration at home, complete with a pink, puppy cake! She is such a treasure. Her quirkiness brings a smile to our faces each and every day. She is kind, compassionate and very easily embarrassed. She loves to perform, but ONLY for us! We are very proud of our little lady!

We love you, Curly Shirley!!