Movin and groovin

Having fun on a rainy Sunday at home.

Aliyah's Village

Nick and Noah are on the far left on the couch and Aliyah is next to them between her two buddies.

We are fortunate to live in an area with a large adoption community. We have met a few other families near us with Ethiopian children and the moms and youngest kiddos try to get together for playdates as often as we can. Our last playdate was on Veteran's Day and since all of the schools were closed, we all had all of our older children with us as well for a total of 17 kids. My favorite part about seeing all these kids together is seeing how the older siblings look after all of the Ethiopian children, not just their own brothers and sisters. It is great for our kids to see other families like their own.

Sibling Love

One year ago on November 13, we arrived back in the US from our second trip to Ethiopia and Nick and Noah met Aliyah for the first time. When the boys woke up the next morning, they wanted to have their "baby sister" sit on their laps. I think they were little surprised that she wasn't really that much of a baby!

And now one year later, I would say the sibling bond is pretty strong. Aliyah copies Noah which drives him crazy, just the way that Noah has always copied Nick and driven him crazy. They all play and push each others buttons in only the way that siblings can.

I just asked Noah how he feels about Aliyah. He looked at me funny and said "She's my sister" in a "duh mom" kinda voice. That pretty much sums it up.

Halloween

This was Aliyah's first Halloween and she loved all of it.

Grandma Kathy came over on Halloween night to pass out candy so that both Pete and I could take the kids trick or treating.

Aliyah had thought the costume was pretty cool but then when she found out that you go to houses and they GIVE you candy, well, she took to it like a kid to candy :)

Half the people who saw Nick said "cool, fear the beard!" and the other half said, "Um, a Giants player with a beard?"

And since grandma was with us we got a rare family picture (just wish the lighting was a bit better.)

Trucks

Pete and I both feel pretty strongly about trying to steer Aliyah away from the whole princess craze. However, this morning as she was pushing a toy truck around the kitchen in Noah's handmedown firetruck pajamas, it occured to me that we might be swinging too far in the other direction :)

Aliyahversary

One year ago, Pete and I flew to Ethiopia to meet our little girl. When I look at pictures and videos of that first trip, I think of her as Mesi which I guess makes sense since it is as if she really is a different child than the one who sits on my lap now making up songs about socks and pizza. On October 18 we went before the judge and she told us two words that changed our family "She's Yours!"

Some people call the adoption day "Gotcha Day" but we don't really like that term so we borrowed from another family and came up with "Aliyahversary".

What a difference a year makes!

Yarn Braids

I know, I know, another post about hair.  A few months ago my friend who also has an Ethiopian daughter demonstrated some hair styles for me.  After a few weeks of learning new techniques I decided to try something a little more challenging with the yarn braids.  Basically, each one of these braids is one strand of hair and two strands of yarn finished off with beads.  It took me a little while to get the hang off and it and for the first hour, it took both Pete and I working together to figure out how to get the yarn to stay in tight at the beginning of the each braid.  Then I did a little more research and watched a few video demonstrations and I was able to finish the rest by myself.  It was a big project but we worked on it over two days and it should last awhile.  From what I've read, yarn braids can last several weeks but for our first try I'll be happy if we get two weeks. 

The boys like it when I do Aliyah's hair because it means a little extra t.v. time.  They've also gotten to be very helpful with loading the beads on the threader.  Nick commented once I was done that he liked it, but it's maybe too many beads (such polite critiques from my 7 year old!)  I told him I agree and I have some ideas on how to do it better next time.  It's a learning curve but we're getting there!