How to make an American-Canadian-Ethiopian Family

Jacob is such a big boy!  He is experiencing a lot of firsts.

For instance, his first dental appointment.  He was a champ.  I am not sure that he loved it, but he did get to watch Monsters Inc. while having his teeth cleaned, so it went relatively well.

On Sunday, Jacob got his first stitches:o(  Yikes!  We went for a hike and he fell and landed forehead first on a rock.  To be honest, I am kind of shocked that we made it this long without them.



That brings us to today.  While going to school after having his stitches removed, we passed by one of the firehouses.  Jacob asked if we could see the engines.  We went to get a closer look and met several firemen.  They asked Jacob is he wanted to "drive" the truck.  He got to drive and they gave him a helmet and he got to ring the bell on the truck.  What a lucky duck!

Jacob is talking up a storm and here are a few of the pearls of wisdom or fabulous conversations we have recently had with him:

Jacob: Mommy, Daddy is brown and I am brown.

Me: That's right.  Who else is brown?

Jacob: Anna.  But you are not brown.

Me: That's true.  What color am I?

Jacob: Pink.  Mommy, we need to get you a new can of brown paint!

Me:  Well, it doesn't quite work like that.  I will always be pink.  I was born this way, just like you were born brown. But we have lots of things that are the same.  We both have two eyes, and two ears...

Jacob: and nipples.

Me: Uh, that is true...

Jacob: That's right.  We both have nipples.  Everybody on this street has nipples. (points at passers by on the street)  And Caly and Echo have nipples too.  We all have nipples... on our bodies.

Or this one:

Jacob: Daddy, are you going to bring Anna to Carter's with us?

Daddy: Yes.

Jacob: I sure hope that Carter doesn't get a hammer and hit her in the eye!

Daddy: Uh... I don't think he will.

(I would like to add that Carter has never shown any propensity for violence.)

I love this age!  He is SO funny.  His stream of consciousness conversation is amazing.

As an adoptive mom, I have had several experiences that are so poignant, words fall short when I try to explain them.  The first day that we met Jacob was one of those moments; the orphanage, the older children, the sweet babe in my arms, I will never be able to fully describe that moment. 

Certainly meeting Anna was another one of those moments.  The hospital would not allow Jacob into the room, so JF stayed downstairs while I met Anna.  I had such a flash of fear just before I entered the room.  I had not prepared myself for meeting E., Anna's birthmom.  I had no conversation worked out in my head, or any idea of the "right" thing to do or say.  Walking into the room, meeting E and Anna, is a moment that I will always reflect on; it is a moment that will be in my heart forever.

I was there when E said goodbye to Anna.  I asked E if she wanted me to leave, so that she could have the time alone.  She said no, she wanted me there.  She hugged Anna and kissed her.  She whispered sweet words in Anna's ears.  She cried and told Anna how much she loved her.  She hugged and kissed me and handed Anna to me and left the hospital.  I will never be able to describe that moment without the clumsy words.  I know as Anna gets older, she will want to hear about every second of that moment.  I am so grateful I was there, but I worry that I don't have the right words to paint the picture as it actually happened.  My words don't capture the marrow of the moment; the layout of the room, where E was standing, where I was standing.  How it was so achingly bittersweet.  This precious moment sits in my heart.  Like all of the others, I am so grateful I was there.

We spent Christmas in Atlanta.  In a Hilton Hotel.  It was an adventure.  We had Jacob with us; he was a rockstar.  Due to my sister's hard work in finding us the perfect place, we were at a hotel with a pool.  I was a godsend for us as we spent 10 days there.

Anna was born on a Wednesday.  She was released from the hospital to us on Friday. Christmas was on Sunday.  We had a wonderful time staying in and enjoying each other.  It was an amazing day and our hearts were so grateful.  The weather was very rainy when we were there.  In a way, it was for the best.  We had a reason to stay in and bond. 

We have been very quiet in 2011.  We had a very hard year.  We were victims of an adoption scam in January 2011.  It was devastating for us.  We really needed a lot of time to heal.  Luckily, we had Jacob to keep us grounded.  His sweetness was as salve for a difficult time.  And certainly, life continued.  Working full time and going to school part time kept me from blogging.  It is hard to juggle so much!  All of my energies went to family, school, and work.

We had another adoption fall through in November.  We learned to keep our mouths closed, but we still felt the pangs in our hearts.  And then, we were matched again in late November.  Our third time, we kept SO quiet.  We didn't share the news with our families.  It is hard to share the heartbreak.  Without a doubt, our families felt our sadness, but it is such a private mourning, we hated to even get their hopes up.

We were told that the baby was due January 17th.  About a week later, I got a text from E, the birth mom.  She said the due date had been moved up to December 31, 2011.  So we planned for a baby after Christmas.  We figured we would tell our parents after Christmas.  So on December 21, when we got a phone call at 6am, we were very surprised to learn that E was in labor and that Anna was on the way. AUGHHH!  We weren't ready!!!  We quickly packed.  Jacob had a half day at school that day.  We dropped him off and I went into work to try to wrap things up since I would be out for 3 months.  My sister helped us book our hotel.  We booked a flight and rented a car and we were off!  After the longest afternoon I can remember, we were in Atlanta and met Anna 5 hours after she was born.

We have a new member of the family!  We are over the moon to introduce Anna, our newest angel baby!