yes and as Jennifer said- when Maddie was two she had the Red Sox Line up memorized...:)
Friday, October 26, 2007
Proof we are Sox fans...
Here is Cal for Halloween in 2004...classic Damon....Cal was 7 when he first saw the Sox win the series...now we have many more Sox fans...and one Matt Holiday Fan (see Dorothy...)
yes and as Jennifer said- when Maddie was two she had the Red Sox Line up memorized...:)
yes and as Jennifer said- when Maddie was two she had the Red Sox Line up memorized...:)
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Friday, October 05, 2007
My 100th Post
Well you can see that when I got to my post back on June 28th...I kind of just stopped. Partly because I was afraid of coming up with 100 things about me...and partly because I had heard yet a few more things that the agency we used to bring our boys home had done. And these were the worst. Pretty much the king of the bad things you can hear about an agency. And what I wanted to do was come on here and just go off...and we all know I am capable of speaking my mind...but instead I focused on the summer, trying to sell the house, helping to plan my mom's 70th birthday party, a long anticipated camping trip to Yellowstone where we would hang out with some of my closest friends from CWA, and continue to work very hard at the clinic here in Denver. So, I owe you all some pictures from the summer...but I also owe you the list....and later we can talk about the ethical practices of ethiopian adoptions...
100 things about me:
1. I have 5 kids
2. I gave birth at home to two of my 5 kids
3. I was taken to the hospital just minutes before my Cal was born
4. My youngest two boys were born in Ethiopia and came home in June 2006
5. I have witnessed open heart surgery on a 2 year old. I saw her heart beating, then stopped while on bypass and then restarted
6. A year later my 2 1/2 year old had open heart surgery - I could picture the whole thing in my head while I waited in the waiting room, having just seen it done year earlier.
7. I am a Midwife and I have caught 40 babies and helped over a hundred moms labor and birth their children
8. I used to love being on stage
9. Now I would hate it
10. I met my husband in High School – we were in the play Cyrano De Bergerac.
11. We became close friends- but I told him (or warned him) that I would marry him one day
12. I really like beanie babies. And it’s my mom’s fault.
13. I love cappuccino chip ice cream
14. I have a beagle
15. We used to have a guinea pig and he died when we came home from Ethiopia. He was on the porch too long. And he was also very old.
16. I love Sunrye Ale. It only comes out in the summer.
17. I started my undergraduate education at The College of the Holy Cross. I was premed. I wanted to be an Obstetrician.
18. I took Russian in college
19. But learned French in middle and high school
20. I spent a summer in France. It was the summer Geraldine Ferraro was running for Vice president. I remember having political discussions in French with my host father.
21. I finished my undergraduate degree at Cornell University.
22. I got a degree in Communications
23. I spent a year and a half in California after graduation
24. I lived in San Francisco
25. We got our dog, Egg, there. (I loved him)
26. I love Pepsi
27. I decided to be a Nurse Practitioner after I left California.
28. I wanted to work with Kids with HIV and this seemed to be the best way to do it.
29. But I still wanted to deliver babies.
30. Mark and I were married when I was 23 and he was 25.
31. We had known each other for 8 years.
32. But had dated for only about 3.
33. We had Maddie in an old farmhouse in the fingerlakes in upstate New York.
34. I was 24.
35. We then moved to Connecticut where I went to the Yale School of Nursing and became a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner who specializes in kids and families with HIV.
36. I love my mother-in-law’s chocolate chip cookies- there is nothing like them in the world.
37. I hate driving. Really hate it.
38. I love watching TV.
39. I don’t have a new favorite fall TV show yet…its very disappointing.
40. I can’t wait for LOST to start again.
41. I went online after the episode where Walt is appearing dripping wet to find out what he was saying. He was talking Backwards. Its really creepy. When I listened to it it was very late and I got really scared. You can listen here: Walt talking Backwards
42. I have been watching survivor since season 1.
43. I met my favorite Survivor- Jeff from Survivor Australia- we took a picture together and I made fun of him because of the million dollar bite of peanut butter.
44. I could write 100 things about Emily and TV- easily. (maybe another post?)
45. I have 2 brothers and one sister.
46. One brother lives in NY and the other in LA.
47. I have 4 nephews and 3 nieces. They are all amazing.
48. My dad lives near us.
49. My mom lives far away.
50. I want a puppy. (Mark says I am crazy)
51. All three of my birth children have a midline defect.
52. Maddie had a heart defect
53. Cal has two uvulas
54. Phoebe had ear tags
55. My Ethiopian born baby had an extra finger
56. My Ethiopian born boy has many scars. I have never counted them- because I think it would be depressing to know the number.
57. I asked CWA if the kids had any scars or unusual features. They said no. 11 fingers is really fairly common in Southern Ethiopia. So its not unusual for them. I guess neither are the scars.
58. I have never had surgery.
59. I have never spent the night in a hospital.
60. Cal was born at 12:35 and I went home first thing in the morning – so I don’t count that.
61. I am a Red Sox fan.
62. I love Halloween.
63. I grew up in upstate NY
64. One of my favorite regions is New England- camping on Cape Cod, going to Tanglewood, enjoying Northhampton, watching the Red Sox at Fenway.
65. I marched in China in the spring of 1989 – on Tianemen Square. A week after I came home was the massacre. It was amazing.
66. I have been to film festivals in Hong Kong, New York, Telluride, Sundance, High Falls, Ithaca, San Francisco and Denver.
67. Did I already say how much I Love DOTS?
68. and gummy bears?
69. and Doritoes?
70. I broke my foot in college
71. I draw blood several times a week on kids and adults with HIV. I am not bad at it. Pretty good actually!
72. I have had to give people very bad news
73. and very good news
74. and I have been able to help people through both.
75. I am a Christian and have been since I was a little girl
76. We home schooled until we moved to Colorado
77. Now I have 5 kids at 4 different schools
78. My favorite Broadway show was “True West”
79. I saw “On Golden Pond” 15 times in the theatre. Sometimes I saw it twice in a row.
80. I love the movie “Once Around”
81. I have many favorite movies- you can find some of them on my “profile”. Have you ever seen “A Room With a View”?
82. I stitched up a guys hand my first night in Romania where I was for a mission trip.
83. Before that I had only stitched up women after childbirth. (and not many of those)
84. I fell in love with a little girl in an orphanage in Romania. I still pray for her and think about her.
85. In the year that I was 21 and 22 I experienced more about life and death than in most other years of my life combined.
86. I also learned how to milk cows that year.
87. If I had not miscarried my babies in the fall of 2005 I might not have my Maren and Yasbera right now.
88. Their court date fell on the due date of the babies I lost. It was God’s way of saying, “This is right.”
89. I still miss those babies.
90. I love watching Madeline act.
91. I love watching Cal play ball
92. I love watching Phoebe play by herself in the yard
93. I love watching Michael in the rear view mirror when he is singing in a language he no longer understands
94. I love watching Yabsera play at school in the few moments before he knows I am there and drops everything to yell, “MAMA!” and come running to hug me.
95. I love watching my husband do just about everything.
96. I can’t take my eyes off of him sometimes
97. I love my Mom, Dad, Sister, brothers, mother-in-law, Sister and Brother in laws, nieces and nephews more than anything in the world. Its best watching them laugh.
98. My sister is one of God’s greatest gifts to me
99. Cal not having any homework this year because his teacher doesn’t believe in it is another one of God’s greatest gifts to me
100. I am so blessed to be able to do what I do- its the greatest gift after my family.
100 things about me:
1. I have 5 kids
2. I gave birth at home to two of my 5 kids
3. I was taken to the hospital just minutes before my Cal was born
4. My youngest two boys were born in Ethiopia and came home in June 2006
5. I have witnessed open heart surgery on a 2 year old. I saw her heart beating, then stopped while on bypass and then restarted
6. A year later my 2 1/2 year old had open heart surgery - I could picture the whole thing in my head while I waited in the waiting room, having just seen it done year earlier.
7. I am a Midwife and I have caught 40 babies and helped over a hundred moms labor and birth their children
8. I used to love being on stage
9. Now I would hate it
10. I met my husband in High School – we were in the play Cyrano De Bergerac.
11. We became close friends- but I told him (or warned him) that I would marry him one day
12. I really like beanie babies. And it’s my mom’s fault.
13. I love cappuccino chip ice cream
14. I have a beagle
15. We used to have a guinea pig and he died when we came home from Ethiopia. He was on the porch too long. And he was also very old.
16. I love Sunrye Ale. It only comes out in the summer.
17. I started my undergraduate education at The College of the Holy Cross. I was premed. I wanted to be an Obstetrician.
18. I took Russian in college
19. But learned French in middle and high school
20. I spent a summer in France. It was the summer Geraldine Ferraro was running for Vice president. I remember having political discussions in French with my host father.
21. I finished my undergraduate degree at Cornell University.
22. I got a degree in Communications
23. I spent a year and a half in California after graduation
24. I lived in San Francisco
25. We got our dog, Egg, there. (I loved him)
26. I love Pepsi
27. I decided to be a Nurse Practitioner after I left California.
28. I wanted to work with Kids with HIV and this seemed to be the best way to do it.
29. But I still wanted to deliver babies.
30. Mark and I were married when I was 23 and he was 25.
31. We had known each other for 8 years.
32. But had dated for only about 3.
33. We had Maddie in an old farmhouse in the fingerlakes in upstate New York.
34. I was 24.
35. We then moved to Connecticut where I went to the Yale School of Nursing and became a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner who specializes in kids and families with HIV.
36. I love my mother-in-law’s chocolate chip cookies- there is nothing like them in the world.
37. I hate driving. Really hate it.
38. I love watching TV.
39. I don’t have a new favorite fall TV show yet…its very disappointing.
40. I can’t wait for LOST to start again.
41. I went online after the episode where Walt is appearing dripping wet to find out what he was saying. He was talking Backwards. Its really creepy. When I listened to it it was very late and I got really scared. You can listen here: Walt talking Backwards
42. I have been watching survivor since season 1.
43. I met my favorite Survivor- Jeff from Survivor Australia- we took a picture together and I made fun of him because of the million dollar bite of peanut butter.
44. I could write 100 things about Emily and TV- easily. (maybe another post?)
45. I have 2 brothers and one sister.
46. One brother lives in NY and the other in LA.
47. I have 4 nephews and 3 nieces. They are all amazing.
48. My dad lives near us.
49. My mom lives far away.
50. I want a puppy. (Mark says I am crazy)
51. All three of my birth children have a midline defect.
52. Maddie had a heart defect
53. Cal has two uvulas
54. Phoebe had ear tags
55. My Ethiopian born baby had an extra finger
56. My Ethiopian born boy has many scars. I have never counted them- because I think it would be depressing to know the number.
57. I asked CWA if the kids had any scars or unusual features. They said no. 11 fingers is really fairly common in Southern Ethiopia. So its not unusual for them. I guess neither are the scars.
58. I have never had surgery.
59. I have never spent the night in a hospital.
60. Cal was born at 12:35 and I went home first thing in the morning – so I don’t count that.
61. I am a Red Sox fan.
62. I love Halloween.
63. I grew up in upstate NY
64. One of my favorite regions is New England- camping on Cape Cod, going to Tanglewood, enjoying Northhampton, watching the Red Sox at Fenway.
65. I marched in China in the spring of 1989 – on Tianemen Square. A week after I came home was the massacre. It was amazing.
66. I have been to film festivals in Hong Kong, New York, Telluride, Sundance, High Falls, Ithaca, San Francisco and Denver.
67. Did I already say how much I Love DOTS?
68. and gummy bears?
69. and Doritoes?
70. I broke my foot in college
71. I draw blood several times a week on kids and adults with HIV. I am not bad at it. Pretty good actually!
72. I have had to give people very bad news
73. and very good news
74. and I have been able to help people through both.
75. I am a Christian and have been since I was a little girl
76. We home schooled until we moved to Colorado
77. Now I have 5 kids at 4 different schools
78. My favorite Broadway show was “True West”
79. I saw “On Golden Pond” 15 times in the theatre. Sometimes I saw it twice in a row.
80. I love the movie “Once Around”
81. I have many favorite movies- you can find some of them on my “profile”. Have you ever seen “A Room With a View”?
82. I stitched up a guys hand my first night in Romania where I was for a mission trip.
83. Before that I had only stitched up women after childbirth. (and not many of those)
84. I fell in love with a little girl in an orphanage in Romania. I still pray for her and think about her.
85. In the year that I was 21 and 22 I experienced more about life and death than in most other years of my life combined.
86. I also learned how to milk cows that year.
87. If I had not miscarried my babies in the fall of 2005 I might not have my Maren and Yasbera right now.
88. Their court date fell on the due date of the babies I lost. It was God’s way of saying, “This is right.”
89. I still miss those babies.
90. I love watching Madeline act.
91. I love watching Cal play ball
92. I love watching Phoebe play by herself in the yard
93. I love watching Michael in the rear view mirror when he is singing in a language he no longer understands
94. I love watching Yabsera play at school in the few moments before he knows I am there and drops everything to yell, “MAMA!” and come running to hug me.
95. I love watching my husband do just about everything.
96. I can’t take my eyes off of him sometimes
97. I love my Mom, Dad, Sister, brothers, mother-in-law, Sister and Brother in laws, nieces and nephews more than anything in the world. Its best watching them laugh.
98. My sister is one of God’s greatest gifts to me
99. Cal not having any homework this year because his teacher doesn’t believe in it is another one of God’s greatest gifts to me
100. I am so blessed to be able to do what I do- its the greatest gift after my family.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
What a year can make
This photo of Maren was taken in September of 2006 when he had been home in Colorado about 3 months.
This photo was taken of Maren about a year later. He has lost his two front teeth so I was taking pictures and then tonight I looked at the picture (taken about a month ago) and remembered this older "matching" picture (above).
I am amazed when I see pictures of him while he was still in Ethiopia or when he first came home. One thing I notice now but did not back then is how his body was somewhat out of proportion. His tiny legs and arms in comparison to his head and chest. It makes sense when you realize the deprivation he suffered. He remembers only eating potatoes and popcorn with his Uncle (Or grandpa or dad- who knows who the man was who cared for him before coming to CWA's care center in Sodo). But look at how he has grown. According to CWA records he is now just 4. But we are calling him 5 1/2 and we think he is closer to 7. But he fits very well in kindergarten, both with size and development. And Lord knows when he is nearly 40 he will be happy to be a younger age than he might really be! he really likes being 5! Note the length of his legs one year ago are about the length of just his calves now. The pants he was wearing a year ago - his 2 year old brother is now wearing!
This photo was taken of Maren about a year later. He has lost his two front teeth so I was taking pictures and then tonight I looked at the picture (taken about a month ago) and remembered this older "matching" picture (above).
I am amazed when I see pictures of him while he was still in Ethiopia or when he first came home. One thing I notice now but did not back then is how his body was somewhat out of proportion. His tiny legs and arms in comparison to his head and chest. It makes sense when you realize the deprivation he suffered. He remembers only eating potatoes and popcorn with his Uncle (Or grandpa or dad- who knows who the man was who cared for him before coming to CWA's care center in Sodo). But look at how he has grown. According to CWA records he is now just 4. But we are calling him 5 1/2 and we think he is closer to 7. But he fits very well in kindergarten, both with size and development. And Lord knows when he is nearly 40 he will be happy to be a younger age than he might really be! he really likes being 5! Note the length of his legs one year ago are about the length of just his calves now. The pants he was wearing a year ago - his 2 year old brother is now wearing!
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