Getting Ready!

Two weeks from today my husband, two oldest sons, and my bro-in-law are going to boarding a plane bound for Ethiopia.
Our Embassy appointment is scheduled for July 15th and they are going to be arriving on the Sun. before and will be there for 8 days.

I am very sad that I will not be going this time. It was an extremely hard decision to make and I really wavered back and forth. It' s tough because I really, really wanted to experience my sons' country and to be by my husband's side the first time we ever lay eyes on them.
If I went with my heart I would be on a plane tomorrow, (which amazes me since I hate flying!), but in the end practicality has won.

There are a number of reasons why, but the biggest one is that Mikayla still nurses full time.
If she was a few months younger I wouldn't hesitate to bring her, but she is 9 months now, crawling, teething, and sticking every thing she comes in contact with into her mouth- I can just imagine the things she would find in a third-world country (parasites, anyone?). She is also not fully immunized so I would be a nervous wreck trying to shield her from every coughing person.

Leaving her isn't a much better option since I have never had much luck pumping and I'm pretty sure dealing with mastitis in Ethiopia is one experience I can live without. Weaning is out of the question, since it is very important to me to nurse for the first 2 years of my kids lives.

So I will stay, hold down the fort, and wait impatiently for Jerry to return with our sons. I am sure he will be more than ready to hand them off to me after his exhausting trip, and I will be rested and ready to deal with 2 very confused and frightened little boys who won't understand a word we say. Did I mention the giardia, scabies and lice yet? And let's not forget the internal parasites... did I really say I'm ready for this??

It does help ease the sadness when I see how excited my bro-in-law, Chad, is to be going. He is a very compassionate and patient person who has 6 kids himself.
I am going to try and make it easy on the guys by putting separate outfits together for the twins in ziplock bags when I pack.
Jerry and Chad are both wonderful, caring fathers, but somehow never seem to notice what a kid is wearing, or more often; not. Hopefully this way the twins will avoid showing up for the Embassy appointment in just a pull-up.

We are gathering donations from our church and friends and will try to take as much as we can over for some of the needier orphanages.
Jerry is planning on trying to visit Kechene, which is where Kidus and Biruk were up until a couple months ago. It was part of their life, and since we know so little of their past, we want to make every effort to connect with all that we do know.

Caleb and Damian are also really excited about the trip. I think it will be a life changing experience for them and hopefully develop within them a passion for the birth country of their brothers. I think it's especially great for them to be going at their ages, while their world views are still being formed and for them to see first hand how most of the world lives.

I'm knee-deep in paper work and packing lists, and I can't believe how much faster 3 weeks goes on this side of a court date! Two more weeks to go...woo hoo!!

Growing-up

I cannot believe Mikayla is already 9 months.
As usual, they grow way too quickly!

She is such a sweetheart...the smiliest baby I've ever had, loves to laugh, and tries with all her heart to keep up with all her brothers and sister.

"Bye, bye"

Getting into trouble.
Again.

She has 5 teeth now; 3 on the bottom and 2 on top.
Does it show that her mommy was reading Twilight while she was in utero?

Her mommy feeds her organic fruits and vegtables, organic brown rice cereal (with DHA, of course!), hormone-free goats milk, and lots of breast milk...
her older siblings keep her well stocked with sugar.

He loves me, he loves me not...

He LOVES me!

More pics!

Three and a half weeks until I kiss these sweet cheeks... It cannot come fast enough!

Awestruck

It's official!!!!!!!!!!!!

Meet my new sons!

Weeping with joy and praising our awesome Father for this miracle today!!

Kidus and Biruk, mommy and daddy can't wait to meet you!

Desert life

We took the kids to the desert botanical gardens today.
We've been talking about going again as it's been years since the last time we went, and thought it might be something that the kids would enjoy and hopefully get some education in too.
Best of all, it didn't cost anything, since I was lucky enough to pick up some free passes from our library.

I know not everyone appreciates the desert's unique beauty, but personally I find it fascinating!

The kids were feeling like they had seen more than enough after about the 10th cactus and were ready to head out.


Thankfully, there were plenty of wild life to keep them interested enough to keep going.

The kids thought learning about the way the natives used to live was pretty cool too.
To have been able to survive in such a harsh, dry climate is pretty amazing...
who knew so many cacti have edible parts?

I know they're a little pale, but I think these two would have made for some awfully cute little Native Americans.

Pounding the locust beans for our evening meal...

And here is the group, sooo ready to pack it up and head to grandpa's where they have a couple dozen cousins gathered, all playing, and eating, and having so much more fun than them.

At least the baby was still smiling.

Jerry and I thought we would try and see if could get a few passable pictures of us while the lighting was still good.

Not much luck.
Out of about 10 tries we had 2 that turned out o.k...

...and I am looking a bit choked up in this one.

So back to the kids it was, in a desperate attempt to get one, just one, picture of them where someone isn't moving, closing/crossing eyes, frowning, fighting, crying, hiding, etc...

*sigh*...maybe next time.