One Step Closer????

A new place to surf the net

....to Alina Jayne sleeping in her own room????

Her BIG reason for not sleeping in her room was that there was no computer in there. "I can't stay in there with no computer!" She occasionally says she also needs a TV, but the computer was the deal breaker. We happen to have an old computer that is fine for for internet use (so she can play on PBS Kids Play & Noggin) and an old computer desk. We were going to wait to set up her "workstation" until Matt had a chance to paint the desk and get a flat panel monitor, but he decided tonight he would just set up what we have on hand for the time being. After all, he spent months renovating and decorating a nursery for her before she came home from China, and she STILL has never slept in there!

After he finished setting things up, we called her upstairs. She squealed with excitement, sat down and said "OH MY GOODNESS, THIS IS SOOOOOO EXCITING!" She then proceeded to ask her Dad and I to close the door and go downstairs so she could have "privacy."


"OH MY GOODNESS THIS IS SOOOOOO EXCITING!!"


They *THINK* I'm really going to sleep in here!



Uh oh, they really do expect me to sleep in here!

The view from her bed......

Even if we don't end up putting a TV in there, she could watch a DVD on her computer from her bed. It's a pretty sweet set-up if I may say so myself. From an oldest child who ALWAYS had to share a bedroom with one or both of my sisters, I have decided if Alina Jayne does not want to use her room, I will move in!





One day closer to only two people in our bed??? We shall see :O)

Like Daddy Like Daughter..............

What? I should be in BED??

As I have mentioned before, my hubby is very handy around the house. Seems Alina Jayne is just like her Daddy. Whenever he works on a project here, she is right beside him trying to help out. She spends a great deal of time in his workshop, playing with the tools, etc.

The other night, Matt decided to rearrange our washer and dryer. Alina Jayne was *supposed* to be in bed, but she "needed to help her Daddy." Of course, I got the camera out and snapped away-and then it hit me. She was helping her Daddy install the washer and dryer in 2006, and I took pics then too. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Enjoy....................

Oh, by the way, did I mention that on 2/14, we have been waiting for our baby's referral for THREE months? Not that anyone is keeping track ;O)


I have tools and I know how to use them!




Let me adjust this here


Just one more minor tweak


All fixed Mama, I can go to bed now


Handy with the tools (before she was 2)!


Working on the washer in 2006


Helping Daddy in 2006

A precious gift from China.............................

We received a most wonderful gift from Alina Jayne's SWI (orphanage) today!

About a week or so ago, a member of the Yuanling Yahoo Group that we belong to posted a message to let everyone know that the director of the SWI (Director Zhao) had sent a box of Chinese New Year cards to her to distribute to families with children from Yuanling in the USA. We were so thrilled to be able to receive such a wonderful gift from the woman who not only gave our daughter a last name in China (Zhao), but was also responsible for starting the Foster Care program that allowed Alina Jayne to live in a loving foster home from the time she was one month old until we adopted her at age 15 mos.

The card is beautiful! Most of the text is in Chinese, so we will have to e-mail a copy to our WONDERFUL translator, Stephen So (http://ssotranslations.tripod.com) to find out what it says!

(Front)

(Back)

(Inside)

(Envelope)

Too wiped out to surf..................

Just had to post this!

Alina Jayne LOVES to use the computer to play games. She turns it on, logs on and goes to the two sites she loves- & then logs off and shuts it down when she is finished-all this and we only showed her how to do this once. About a month or so ago, she brought a full color picture of Curious George to us when we she was finished playing. Her Dad and I were shocked, and asked her how in the heck she got that, to which she replied "Mom, Dad, it is REALLY easy, you just click print!" Well duh!

Tonight after she was ready for bed, she pleaded with us to let her play "one more game." We knew she was getting tired, but we decided it was okay. After telling her to turn the volume down 2 or 100 times (yes, we sound like *our* parents yelling for us to turn our music down when we were teenagers), it got *very* quiet. We went to the kitchen to check on her and this is what we found........

ZZZZZZZZZZ



Guess she got tired waiting for her page to load!

Yes, she is tucked snugly in bed (ours of course) as I post this!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! ALINA JAYNE IS 4!!!

This was a special day around here-Alina Jayne is 4 today!

Her party was supposed to be Saturday, but unfortunately, Great Grandma called a couple of hours before the party and said she was not feeling well. Mama went to check on her and decided she needed to go to the ER. We delayed the party from 4:00 to 5:30, but then re-scheduled it for today when she was admitted for testing. She was devastated to have missed all of the fun, but she is where she needs to be, having testing and observation.

Waiting for her party to start.....

This was only a small party anyway-just Grandparents, so it was easy to re-schedule it for today. We had Papa, Grammy and Grandpa, Aunt Nonna and cousin Claudie came along with Papa.

Aunt Nonna

Grandpa

Grammy Patty

Daddy & Papa

Cousin Claudia

Alina Jayne got sooo many cool gifts-Aunt Nonna brought some cool stuff from Japan (where her Grandkids are from) and she got a ton of clothes. Aunt Nonna also got Alina Jayne an African baby doll, which the women passed around to snuggle like it was a *real* baby!

We had pizza, Chinese dumplings, lettuce wraps, shrimp, Chinese sugar doughnuts, and cupcakes. We also had the traditional oranges, but Mama forgot to put them out! Call me a knuckle head!

We all had so much fun visiting, we almost forgot to sing happy birthday! When we finally did, Alina Jayne asked us to do it over-she did not have her birthday tiara on! So of course, we did!

"Oh no, something's not right-where is my tiara?"

"Whew, that's better!"

We sent some cupcakes with Papa to give to the Grandkids who weren't here, along with a Hong Bao (red envelope) with "lucky money" for each of them. We cannot wait to finally be able to celebrate ETHIOPIAN HOLIDAYS too!

One other big event occurred-Alina Jayne got a BIG GIRL BED! Daddy finished making the bed frame a few days ago, and Santa brought her new big girl bedding. So for her 4th b-day, we re-did her room. Of course, she has NEVER slept in there! She has had a crib, toddler bed and now a big girl bed. Hoping the third try is a charm!

The Big Girl Room!

Enjoy the photos. Off to watch the Superbowl!

 

(CLICK ON THE COLLAGE TO SEE THE PICS LARGER)

恭喜发财 Gong Xi Fa Cai!

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!



January 26th, 2009 begins the Year of the Ox. The Ox symbolizes prosperity through fortitude and hard work. Those born under the influence of the Ox are fortunate to be stable and persevering. The typical Ox is a tolerant person with strong character. Not many people could equal the resolution and fearlessness that the Ox exhibits when deciding to accomplish a task. Ox people work hard without complaints at work or at home.

Chinese New Year, also known as the Chinese Lunar New Year or the Chinese Spring Festival, is one of the traditional Chinese holidays. Gong Xi Fa Cai is the most popular greeting this time of the year, which means "Congratulations and be prosperous."

Unlike the Western New Year, whereby the year always beings on January 1st, China uses the lunisolar Chinese calendar to determine Chinese New Year dates. The calendar is also used in countries that have adopted or have been influenced by Han culture (i.e. Vietnam, Japan and Korea). In the Gregorian calendar, Chinese New Year falls on different dates each year, a date between January 21 and February 20. This means that the holiday usually falls on the second (or rarely third) new moon after the winter solstice. In traditional Chinese Culture, lichun is a solar term marking the start of spring, which occurs about February 4.

The Chinese New Year is celebrated internationally, and is considered to be the most important holiday for the Chinese, as well as other ethnic groups (i.e. the Mongolians, Koreans, the Miao and the Vietnamese) who were influenced by Chinese culture in terms of religion, philosophy, language and culture. Chinese New Year is also the time of year when the largest human migration takes place-Chinese in China and around the world return home on Chinese New Year Eve.

Before the New Year comes, people typically clean inside and outside of their homes, as well as their clothes, pajamas and all their utensils. Door panels are pasted with Spring Festival couplets (with black Chinese calligraphy on red paper). Wishes for a bright future or good luck for the New Year are common themes. Pictures of the god of doors and wealth are often posted on front doors to ward off evil spirits and welcome peace and abundance.

A common character seen on door couplets it the Chinese character “fu” (meaning blessing or happiness). The character is typically hung upside down-the reason being that in Chinese, the “reversed fu” is synonymous with “fu comes," both being pronounced as “fudaole.” It is also common to see large red lanterns on each side of front doors.

Chinese New Year Eve is a very important date to the Chinese. On this night, families gather to visit and have dinner to celebrate the holiday. Dishes such as chicken, fish and noodles are commonly served, as well as tangerines and oranges. A whole chicken represents family unity, fish (especially one served whole) represents abundance and prosperity, noodles represent longevity, and tangerines and oranges offer luck and wealth. After dinner, families visit, most staying up to see in the New Year.

Traditional New Year’s Day breakfast in northern China consist of jiaozi (dumplings) for breakfast, as they think “jiaozi” in sound means “bidding farewell to the old and ushering in the new”. Also, the shape of the dumpling is like gold ingot from ancient China- people eat them and wish for money and treasure. A typical breakfast in Southern China consists of niangao (New Year cake made of glutinous rice flour), as in sound, niangao means “higher and higher, one year after another.” The first five days after the Spring Festival is a time for relatives, friends, classmates and colleagues to exchange greetings and gifts.

On New Year’s Day, it is common for children and unmarried members of the family to receive money as a New Year gift, wrapped up in red paper (Hong Bao). Burning fireworks is the most typical custom on the Spring Festival. It is thought that the loud, banging sounds of the firecrackers help drive away evil spirits. Other customary festivities include dragon and lion dancing, and festivals. The Chinese New Year or Spring Festival comes to an end with a lantern festival.

We will be celebrating CNY in conjunction with Alina Jayne’s 4th birthday party on January 31st, and you can bet my camera will be smoking! This year it will be a casual event-a combination pizza party with the grandparents for Alina Jayne’s birthday, and CNY-with some appetizers of dumplings, shrimp, Chinese sugar donuts and oranges. So while we will not have all of the traditional CNY foods, we will have some. It is important to acknowledge as many Chinese holidays as we can, especially the big ones. Luckily, Alina Jayne’s b-day is always close to CNY. We can’t wait until we can start celebrating ETHIOPIAN holidays too!

Adoption Timeline OOOPS! New DTE........

Today we found out that our dossier was *not* sent to Ethiopia on 11/13/08 as we originally thought. The last Fed Ex pick-up at our agency's office is 4:15PM, so it was actually sent on 11/14/08 instead! No biggie in the big picture of International Adoption, but it was good to know this info-I'll want to have the right date in our new baby's Lifebook!

Our adoption agency welcomes monthly phone calls from families who are waiting for referrals-just to see where the families might be in terms of the waiting list. We did not call in December, and we were not going to call this month either, since we know we still have quite a wait. Well, I caved and sent an e-mail. Having been through an International Adoption before, we know they cannot give us a definite timeline. They have no way to predict when a given waiting family will be matched with a child. So, we found out today that our dossier was technically sent to Ethiopia on 11/14/08, and that, you guessed it, we still have a long way to go!





Stay tuned.......................

Sunday Snow Fun!

Making a snow angel in her sandbox


We had a hefty winter blast in our area that started on Friday evening. For the first time in I don't know how long, the forecasters were right! Between Friday evening and Saturday night, our area received a nice "dusting" of snow. It was the light, powdery type, so there was a lot of blowing and drifting. I received a call on Friday night letting me know that our office would be closed on Saturday (woo hoo! I miss my childhood snow days)!

We tried to get Alina Jayne to play outside on Saturday, but she informed us "no thanks guys, it is too deep out there, that is not fun snow." Finally today we talked her into going outside for a while. We got well over a foot of snow, although it is hard to tell in the pics after our German Shepherds had a great time running around the yard flattening the snow out! I have to say, Alina Jayne was right. It wasn't the "fun snow." It was too powdery to make snowballs or a snowman-but it was nice to spend some time outside anyway! The hot cocoa afterward was even better :O)

Let's make a snowman!!!

Alina Jayne with Heidi & Rommel

I told you this wasn't good snow-can't make a snowman, can we go in now?

January 7th, 2009-MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Melkam Gena & Timkat!

Nope. I have not lost my mind-it is Christmas time in Ethiopia!

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church's celebration of Christ's birth is called Ganna. Since Ethiopia recognizes the ancient Julian calendar, Ethiopians celebrate Christmas on January 7th, the Feast of the Epiphany, instead of December 25th.

Christmas is a major holiday in Ethiopia, where more than half of the population is Orthodox Christian. It is a day when families attend church. The day before Ganna, people fast all day, and then attend an early morning Mass on January 7th. Around the time of Ganna, the men and boys play a game that is also called ganna. It is somewhat like the game of hockey played here, except it is played with a curved stick and a round wooden ball.

The foods enjoyed during the Christmas season may include doro wat- a thick, spicy stew of chicken and vegetables. The wat is traditionally served from a beautifully decorated watertight basket onto a "plate" of injera (the flat, spongy sourdough bread) which is used to both serve the food and as an edible “spoon” to scoop up the wat.

Twelve days after Ganna, on January 19, Ethiopians begin the three-day celebration called Timkat, which commemorates the baptism of Christ. Children and adults walk to church services in a procession. The priests wear red and white robes and carry embroidered fringed umbrellas.

The music of Ethiopian instruments makes the Timkat procession a very festive event. A percussion instrument called a sistrum (tinkling metal disks) and a long, T-shaped prayer stick called a makamiya, taps out the walking beat, and also serves as a support for the priest during the long church service that follows. Church officials (called dabtaras) study hard to learn the musical chants, known as melekets, for the ceremony. During Timkat, the Ethiopian men play another game called yeferas guks. During this game, they ride on horseback and throw ceremonial lances at each other.

Unlike Christmas in the United States, Ganna (as well as Timkat) are not occasions for giving gifts in Ethiopia. If an Ethiopian Child receives a gift at all, it is usually a small gift of simple clothing. Religious observances, feasting, and games are the focus of the season.


Hopefully next year we will be celebrating our *usual* Christmas, as well as Ethiopian Christmas. Since we are so early in the Ethiopia adoption process, we did not have an actual celebration this year. I tend to be very careful-not wanting to “jinx” anything. I did the same thing when we waited for Alina Jayne’s referral from China. I learned all about the culture, customs, and traditions, and of course, blogged about them. However, I did not feel comfortable celebrating the holidays until Alina Jayne was home. Yes, Matt thinks I am crazy! I still plan to practice some Ethiopian cooking while we wait.

Another holiday/celebration is fast approaching. Ms. Alina Jayne will be turning 4 on February 1st, and Chinese New Year is on January 26th this year. We will probably celebrate her birthday and CNY at the same time. We’ll post photos then.

A Girl & Her Papa

On Friday night as I got Alina Jayne out of the bathtub, she mentioned that she could not see any stars that night-we have a tradition of saying the whole "Star Light, Star Bright" poem every time we see the first star in the sky. She always proceeds to tell me what her wish is "I wish for my Papa."

Well, on Friday, when she told me she could not see any stars, I told her that was okay. She informed me "No Mama, I need the stars....I need to tell them thank you for my Papa. I love my Papa, he is sooooo good, I am sooooo thankful for my Papa."
Well kiddo, we are too!

When Alina Jayne came home from China, Papa was not at all happy that she was going to be going to daycare, and he made that perfectly clear to us. But there was a problem, since Matt and I both work full-time, we had no other choice. He volunteered to watch her (he was preparing to retire after working for GM for 42 years), but we were quite sure he had no idea what he was getting himself into. Sure, he had an 11 year old Granddaughter that he and my Mom helped raise, as well as 5 additional younger Grandkids-but a 15 month old child plucked from the only country, people, food, culture & language she had ever known, was a whole different story!

Well, guess what? Alina Jayne lasted exactly 3.5 hours in daycare (over the course of 3 days) and we knew she would never make it there. Papa INSISTED he watch her "for a few months-until she got adjusted." We agreed, and when few months passed, we started looking at daycare centers again. Papa refused to allow her to go "until she was old enough to tell us if she was unhappy there." We finally caved and enrolled her in pre-school this past September-and yes, he is still disappointed! If we would have let him have his way, she'd stay with him and he'd home school her!

However, to give credit where credit is due-anyone who truly who knows us and Alina Jayne, knows that the reason she is the loving, caring, adjusted, intuitive, intelligent,(albeit at times)feisty child she is today-is BECAUSE of Papa.

....if he had not decided that this child needed someone to give his undivided attention to; someone to meet her needs when she was unsure of everything around her-Alina Jayne would not be the Alina Jayne she is today............

"Thanks Papa" seems so insignificant.

Alina Jayne & Papa- the night he drove us home from the airport after we arrived from China

We found this note from Papa on our fridge after he brought us home from the airport (the cherries are a work of art from niece Claudia)