happy new year!

It is hard to believe that 2008 is almost over. For sure this has been a year of many ups and downs, and more excitement and change than we ever could have imagined. But thanks to our friends and family - new and old, in person and in the blogosphere - we will look back on this year with some of the fondest memories of our lives. And we cannot wait to see what adventures the new year will bring!

We hope you've all been enjoying a happy, merry, jolly, joyous, and fun holiday season, and we wish you all a happy, healthy, and peaceful start to 2009!!

- M & R & S & EJ

for ethiopia

As you all know, we spent much of late 2007 and 2008 completing mountains of paperwork, fighting with bank officers, befriending notaries, having what felt like 1000 fingerprints taken, experiencing moments of crazy excitement and sometimes also shedding quite a few tears. On September 14, 2008, we held Simon Alemayehu in our arms and knew without a doubt that every last second of it was completely worth it.

Many have commented on how lucky Simon is to have been adopted by us, and we hope that this will prove true. We do know how lucky we are to have been able to welcome this amazing little boy into our lives. We also feel extraordinarily lucky to have been able to experience Ethiopia - culture and country, now also an integral part of our lives.

Unfortunately, many in Ethiopia are not as lucky as we are. Approximately 1.5 million people are infected with HIV/AIDS. Ongoing periods of drought have drastically reduced food supplies. Ethiopia has one of the highest child malnutrition rates worldwide, as well as one of the highest child mortality rates in the world. There are 6 million orphans in Ethiopia.

Like many of you, we became keenly aware of these statistics while we researched and pursued our adoption. And we have known for a long time that we wanted to try, even in some small way, to do something to give back to Ethiopia, a country that has given us so much - given us a family. These feelings only increased during our visit.

We spoke several times with our new friends at Gladney, our adoption agency, about ways to help. Gladney's humanitarian aid efforts in Ethiopia are far reaching - they provide basic needs (food, shelter, clothing, care) for children in their foster care facilities, cover medical expenses for other children in urgent need of assistance, raise funds when natural disasters strike, and help fund transitional programs (literacy, employment training, etc.) for teenagers leaving foster or institutional care.

Gladney is lucky to have a network of devoted friends and family who help fund these and many other initiatives, but right now Gladney is in need of funds to help cover the cost of the foster care homes they operate in Ethiopia.

Currently, Gladney operates 10 foster homes throughout Ethiopia. I believe that Gladney only operated 3 homes when we started our adoption. As need for help has grown, Gladney has stepped in; additional homes have been opened in Addis Ababa and in rural areas of Ethiopia to ensure that as many orphans as possible receive good care and a chance at finding a forever home. When we met Simon he was being cared for in one of the four homes that are located in Addis. The love and kindness the caregivers showed for Simon and the other children who were living in the foster homes was incredible. Just read the posts of other Gladney families who have returned home; Gladney's in-country staff are truly special.

So we are embarking on an ambitious effort to help Gladney raise $30,000 to support Simon’s foster home in Ethiopia for one year. There are still 26 beautiful children at Simon’s foster home waiting for their forever families. Please watch the following short clip to learn about the challenges of the orphans in Ethiopia and what Gladney is doing to make a difference in the lives of these wonderful children.

If you would like to join us in supporting this mission that is so close to our hearts, please help us spread the word about our efforts and consider financial support of this work through the Gladney Center. A gift of $25 could provide drinking water for one child for 3 months; $100 could pay the monthly wages for one of the 25 caregivers that work in the foster home; or a gift of $1,000 could provide all the food and medical supplies for the home for the entire month. Every dollar helps.

To make a gift please use this link and in the "in honor of" section write “Simon’s Foster Home” - Support Ethiopia.

You can also make a donation by check. Just send your donation to the Gladney Center for Adoption, 6300 John Ryan Drive, Fort Worth, TX 76132, and put "Simon's Foster Home" in the memo section.

...and ps... don't forget to check your companies' matching gift programs; the Gladney Fund is a 501(c)(3) organization...

Thank you so much for your consideration - we are sincerely grateful for any help you can give. And a very, very happy holidays to you all!

*The Gladney Center for Adoption is a not-for-profit organization governed by a volunteer board of directors. The institution derives its primary operating income from adoption fees, and charitable gifts via The Gladney Fund. All contributions support the efforts of the agency and are made payable to the Gladney Fund, a 501(c) (3) support organization founded in 1992.

the mobile, the ghost... and other happenings

So I think we might have a ghost. A friendly ghost... but a ghost nonetheless. We have this really great mobile in Simon's room. It plays lullabies and projects moving stars and wave patterns on the ceiling. Simon loves it. It operates on batteries and is turned on either via a remote control or by pressing a button on the side of the mobile. Or by ghost. You see, sometimes the mobile just turns on. Out of the blue. When no one is in Simon's room. When the remote control is lying still. Just goes on. Very strange. So I think we have a ghost. A ghost that likes lullabies. Or light shows.... hmmm....

In other news (sorry, I can't think of a more natural segway between my mobile ghost and the rest of the going-ons in the m&r&s&ej household)... it's been a busy few weeks.

We continue to be a family of rotating (minor) ailments... Colds, stomach bugs, laryngitis... 'tis the season, I guess. Oh well, what can you do? Fortunately, nothing serious, but it does stink that it seems like one of us is always a bit under the weather these days. Hopefully, we can pull ourselves together in time to enjoy the holidays and have a great start to the new year.

I've been great at getting all my holiday shopping done early (not normally my strong suit), but we haven't done anything to decorate our apartment (guess that's what happens when one or more of us isn't feeling great on any given day). Admittedly, we don't really do a ton of decorating, so it's not like it will take too long to pull things together... but as Chanukah starts Sunday night and with Christmas Eve next Weds., I'm thinking we better get moving. We could use a little holiday spirit around here!!

I have only two more weeks of maternity leave. I can't really complain... my company has a pretty generous maternity leave policy and I've been very lucky to have so much time off to spend with Simon. But somehow it still feels like it's absolutely flown by. I dont think I accomplished even 10% of what I imagined I would do! And while I do think being a working mom is the right thing for me, it is hard to fathom going back to work right now. In a way, it feels like going back to work will be even more of a change that taking time off to bring home a baby. Such a strange mix of emotions bubbling up inside me....

Hmm... what else...

I think I've finally settled on a color and design for Simon's new room, so stay tuned for pictures. So much fun to be able to really do something special for him. Between the fact that we are currently renting our aparment and the fact that we knew we would not be staying here very long after bringing Simon home, it never made sense to go too crazy trying to prepare a nursery for him. His current room is cute, and it's not that I think Simon is actually lacking anything there now. But we never got to give him a really great little boy's room, and I want to give him a really great room, because he is a really great kid!

We had our first post placement home study visit about a month ago. Funny how much more relaxed we were this time around. And Simon was on his best behavior... happily entertaining our social worker with all his new sounds and noises. I think he literally babbled and sang his way through the entire visit. Our social worker was totally smitten with our cutie. Such a little flirt he is!! And talk about time flying - we got a copy of the report today and in just a few short weeks, it's a amazing how much has already changed. The report noted some of Simon's "dislikes," which at the time included tummy time. But no more. Now that someone has figured out that he can MOVE, he only wants to be on his tummy... because he always wants to be on the move!

And finally... what I think everyone really wants to see when they check in...

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

in a nutshell

So this time I'm not going to apologize for the lack of posts or promise to be better going forward. I've meant it every time I said it (or written it, as the case may be), but I am finally accepting reality: it just isn't going to happen and I don't want to make promises I can't keep. I haven't figured out where the time goes, but it goes. Fast.

We still intend to maintain guzo: ethiopia and to keep anyone still interested in reading up on the latest and greatest adventures in the lives of m&r&s&ej (& a zillion fish - remember this?), but the posts may not always come as frequently as they once did.

Anyway...

Since it has been so long, I've mostly got a lot of random thoughts to share. So in no particular order, I present the events, milestones, facts, and thoughts of the past few weeks:

• Simon got his first two teeth! He has been teething since the moment we picked him up and we have been waiting and waiting for that first tooth to break through and finally, we got not just one, but two! And I think the next 1-2 are going to break through any day. Of course, his smile is now cuter than ever (if I don't so say so myself).
• Since beginning maternity leave, I have discovered a whole new world of addictive reality TV (or, as Ryan likes to call it, TV that reduces the number of brain cells you have): John & Kate plus 8, My Fair Wedding, First Class All the Way....
• EJ has been instrumental in teaching Simon to crawl. Simon never really liked tummy time – he almost always wants to be standing - and so I thought that perhaps he would just skip the crawling phase... but then I noticed that he is really, really, really interested in all of EJ's toys (and unfortunately, EJ is also very, very interested in all of Simon's toys). Anyhow, by putting Simon on his tummy with an EJ toy just out of reach, we finally got Simon to crawl. He will do anything to get to an EJ toy.
• Simon is silly. Really, truly silly. And he knows it. It is so amazing to watch this little person develop and to see his personality emerge. Most of the early updates we got from Ethiopia before we met him seemed to indicate that he was a content, but fairly serious, little guy. It is so much fun to find out that that could not be farther from the truth.
• We bought a new apartment. After a three+ year search, we finally did it. Now if only I could decide what color to paint Simon's room.
• Simon is very vocal and enjoys testing out all the new sounds he can make. One of his favorites is growling. I’m pretty sure he is trying to imitate EJ, since he often “growls” at EJ when EJ is growling (which I assure you, in case you are worried about our “vicious” dog, only occurs when EJ is engaged in a game of tug-of-war or fetch). Simon even has a little clawing motion to go with the growling. It’s so cute.
• It's that time of year... check out here and here and here for holiday gifts that do good.

And, of course, no post would be complete without a couple of recent photos...