I'm back!

I survived the great tooth extraction. I am trying not to take pain medication today so I can drive tomorrow. I should be able to eat crunchy foods tomorrow! I cannot wait.

NY trip update

We had a great time traveling to New York. We took many forms of transportation during our trip. We drove, took the train, the subway and ferry! Igor loved it all, especially the train and ferry rides. We went to the zoo, the children's museum and hung out with Rob's sister. A good time was had by all.

The zoo in Staten Island is small but perfect for our family. Igor is always asking to go to the zoo so he was very excited. We've been reading books about porcupines, peacocks, peahens, bears and so on. We were able to see almost every animal we have been reading about. When we walked into the zoo we saw peacocks and peahens walking around the grounds.

The great extraction

We had a great time in New York. I will upload photos and details soon.


I'm a little distracted, I am dealing with the pesky tooth again! Yep, it is up to its old tricks. They have moved up my surgery to Thursday afternoon because it needs to come out now. The surgery should take about 2 hours-ugh. Please say a prayer for Rob, Igor and me. There are a ton of little details that need to come together before the surgery. I know that Rob can manage the household for several days but I feel the urge to make him lists. So, I have started several lists- What to pack in Igor's lunch, a list of the pre-made meals in the refrig & freezer, my medication times, and so on.... If you are a list maker, you know what I am talking about. If you know Rob, do you think he will read my lists?
I hope to be back in Blog-land soon!

Going private

I've been thinking a lot about our blog, the information on it and who stops by to visit. We have tried to be careful by limiting the information we post. We don't list our last names, the city/state we live in or other personal items that might disclose our location or very personal issues as it relates to Igor's development.

In many ways, I am not concerned about who reads our blog. I want to be transparent so people who are considering adoption have a place to read about an adoptive family. I also want people to know that adoption is God's desire for many.

I read Melodie's blog last night and I knew that I needed to deal with the issue. My friend, Carine's voice was whispering in my ear all night... protect your little ones for they cannot protect themselves.
I want to protect Igor and BOC. I don't want people to download their pictures and do creepy things with their photos. I don't want strangers who are dangerous to have information about our beloved sons.

I can go two ways... I can delete all the photos and videos of Igor and in the future not post pictures of BOC or we can go private, restricting the access to our blog. I am leaning towards restricting access. I want friends and family to be able to pop in and see Igor and our future son in action. We'll want to share pictures of son #2 when he all ours. But if we restrict access, will we also be closing ourselves off from families who are researching adoption? For me, it's a tricky balance. We've met some wonderful families researching adoption through our blog.
Please stay tuned for our decision.

Baby chicks, ducklings and a wagon

Igor's nursery school has baby chicks again this year! They also have ducklings. They are all so cute. Igor and his friends at nursery school, feed, water and care for the new additions. It's so sweet to see the children caring for each chick and duckling. Caring for the ducklings and chicks is teaching the children responsibility, gentleness, and respect for nature and other living beings. Igor has been asking to have chickens in the back yard for a while now. I am waiting for the duckling request.


At nursery school Igor loves to load up a wagon with sand, bricks, logs or children and pulls them across the property. Yep, he is really strong enough to haul all I have listed. The first time I saw him hauling around two kiddos, I was in awe.
We thought Igor would enjoy a wagon here at home. I found a brand new wagon on CraigsList that was in our price range so we bought it. I thought Igor would load the wagon up with large landscaping rocks. I was wrong. He grabbed the compost shovel and started to dig up the mulch... hmmmm... that wasn't what I had in mind. I like the mulch where it is. So, I suggested he pick up the weeds I was pulling and haul them them to the street for the yard waste pick up. Here's Igor digging up the mulch and taking the first load of weeds to the street.

Old fashion play, school interviews, NY, dentist

Last week Igor's nursery school teacher handed out an NPR article for us to read about old fashion play. I was fascinated by how play has changed over the last 40 years. I'm also interested to see how long Igor can stand without moving (a self regulation test). Check it out!

This weekend I had the stomach flu so I'm really behind in just about everything. (I think tomorrow I will be in freak out mode). In a few days we will be going to New York to visit Rob's sister. We will drive half way and take the train the rest of the way. Igor is sooo excited about taking the train. He is sharing the news with anyone who will listen.

Today I went to an open house for a private school just outside of town. Yes, I know we bought a house in town for the wonderful and highly rated school district.... but I have been thinking about Igor and what he really needs to be successful in school. The more time I spend at the elementary school on speech days, the more I wonder if the school is the best place for Igor. So, I am on the fence. Rob is awesome about my exploration of schools and fence sitting. He listens and lets me sit on the fence looking at the different grass on each side. This is a process for me so he is letting me process it in my mind before we talk about it. I'm sure the decision is set in his mind but he knows I need to think about it for a while. Okay, no time to ponder this any further today, I need to start working on my list of things to do!

I have a consult with another dentist this week. I hope this will be the dentist I will have a long term relationship with (you know, a tooth relationship)! I really want to cross this off my list.

Fundraiser, adoption timeline, bear, the boy's room & paintings

Fundraiser:
Last night our church hosted a fundraising dinner for our adoption! It was so sweet to see so many come out to support our adoption. A BIG thanks to Faye for making the event happen and for a wonderful meal.
I made caramel corn for each person to take home as a favor. We also printed up cards with adoption prayer requests and Ethiopian statistics. Here are the statics we shared:
Total population: 77 million

The average income in Ethiopia is US$100 a year. Almost 82% of the population lives on less than $1 a day.

Malnutrition levels are among the highest in the world.

The average life expectancy is 43 years.

Ethiopia is home to 4 million orphans, or 12% of all children. More than half a million of these were orphaned as a result of AIDS.

Literacy rate: 42.7% age 15 and over can read and write.

Only 18 percent of children reach grade five.

Ethiopia's neonatal mortality rate is one of the highest in the world - 49/1000 births with tetanus infection being the second major cause of infant/neonatal death.

Statistics are from the CIA, Save the children, WHO and UNICEF websites



Adoption timeline
Our Family Coordinator and I were able to touch base this week. She was able to clear up our questions that resulted from the conference call. The only restriction we fall under is our Ethiopian child most be 2 years younger than Igor. Duni encouraged us to think outside our age range of 22-48 months since there are fewer children in this age range. She stated the wait is longer for a toddler than an infant. The toddler wait is 7-9 months. Rob and I agree that we will stay with a toddler request for now. We are entering our 6th month of waiting so we have more waiting to do!

Bear & the boy's room
Igor and I found this adorable bear for $2.50. (I LOVE a great sale.) We thought it would be a perfect stuffed animal to send to BOC (Igor's name for his brother) when we receive his referral. We are taking turns sleeping with bear so it will smell like us.


Bear is sitting on the new bedspread purchased for Igor and BOC's bunk beds. Igor did some paintings to help tie the colors of his dresser, walls, curtains and bedspreads together. I need to touch up the wall paint in the boy's room and we'll be done!

Nana and Babushka requested paintings. Babushka's painting (left) is simple and bright. Nana's painting (right) is deep and moody.

Referrals, new orphanage, Babushka

Big adoption news- Our agency has issued 9 referrals! Congratulations to each family who received a referral. It's been so exiting to share the journey with so many wonderful families.


We learned that our agency has signed on with an additional orphanage Kingdom Vision International.


Today, I was wondering what (BOC) son #2 will call Rob's mom. Igor has always called Rob's mom Babushka. Babushka is called Me-Ma by her other grandchildren. Can you see our Ethiopian son calling his grandmother Babushka? I cannot see. Well, I can see it but it makes me laugh... it's quite a sight in my mind. Maybe it will make perfect sense when BOC gets here but right now it doesn't. Rob thinks it will look/sound a little funny at first but Babushka will stay Babushka.


Tooth update: Thursday I met with the periodontist. The I periodontist confirmed that I have significant bone loss due to the infection. I will need a bone graft. heavy sigh. The entire process, including a new tooth, will take 6-8 months. The bone graft and tooth extraction is scheduled on May 6 unless they get a cancellation. Yep, it's a long time away. If the infection flairs up again he'll get me in on a emergency basis.
I've decided to find another dentist. The periodontist and dentist will work closely together over the next few months. I've seen my current dentist 3 times and we just don't click. So, the dentist search is on! I will have to find one quickly in case I have more tooth troubles.