Sweet baby Biruk....

I had a super long post and now it doesn't seem at all significant. Poor Biruk just woke up after only an hour and a half of sleeping and he was hysterical. We finally calmed him by turning on the water in the tub (an old trick from when Conner was a baby). We gave him gas drops because he kept farting but I felt so bad for the little fella. He seemed so traumatized by whatever was going on and talking to him or looking at us was not helping. I really hope the little guy gets a good night sleep and is more relaxed in the morning. I have definitely decided the hardest part of this adoption is not understanding what Biruk needs. With Conner I understood most of it. It was stressful, overwhelming and crazy at times but I could figure most things out. He had colic and screamed from 5-10 every night. That was predictable. We figured out what helped to calm him and I also figured out what foods to not eat (breastfeeding). He slept through the nights, only to get up to eat (sometimes 3-5 times but he always snuggled up and went right back to sleep). With Biruk it's different. Instead I wonder if he's missing his nannies, his old language, smells, his crib, everything. It worries me. Definitely during the day he's our little champ. He loves to laugh and smile and I'm falling in love with him more and more every day. Conner has really taken a shine to him and I love listening to him talk to Biruk. Tonight at dinner he said "Hi Biruk, my little chunk". Then he told Nathan he was chunky. But, back to Biruk, he's such a little ham during the day and seems so peaceful. Then at night he seems to be struggling. Maybe he's teething, maybe it's gas, but maybe he's just sad. I've really been trying to take all of this into consideration because it does help with my patience and reminds me of how much I thought and prayed about this little guy before I even met him or knew he was ours. I hope the next week brings improvements and peace for Biruk.

I know after that story I shouldn't follow with something like this but I will. Today Nater had made us a big plate of nacho's and it looked so scrumptious. Well 2 bites into it and I have another one of my coughing fits (yes, it's gotten worse). I sprint to the bathroom (bladder control issues, more about that later) and next thing I know I puke all over the damn bathroom. I called for Nater and he is standing at the doorway looking at me with pity and all of the sudden I just start laughing. It must have been such a sight. Please let this god awful cough pass soon. It's been 2 weeks in the making and from what I've heard it may linger for a while. YUCK.

I'd better get some rest while I can. Happy Saturday to everyone. I promise this blog will become upbeat and humorous again. It just may take some time.
Sincerely,
Chatter

It's FRIDAY!!!!

I love Fridays!! Mainly because hubby will call it a day by 5:00 and we will have him through the weekend. Woohoo!! And I'm super happy today because this is the best I've felt in 2 weeks. I still can't believe the fact that I made it through 9 days of travel, including 7 days in Ethiopia without getting sick and then I come home to America and catch a nasty virus. What the ????
But aside from a yucky cough and sore throat I feel tons better. I don't know if it's the amoxicillin (spell?) or the Wellness Formula hubby picked up at the health food store. Regardless, I'm thankful for both.

Conner has really made great strides. He ate jelly toast and yogurt for breakfast and had half a grill cheese and veggie soup for lunch. Yeah!! And we are working on the liquids again. One sippy of liquids down so far, hopefully another by bed time.

Biruk is still doing pretty good. Last night he had us up from 3:30-5:30 after Nathan finally got him to pass out for good. He's such a stinker. We'll get up, get him to sleep and lay him back down and within 5-10 minutes he wakes up crying again. So we do it all over again. So please let this phase pass quickly. If anyone has any sleeping tips for a 6 month old I'd greatly appreciate them.

Today is laundry/cleaning day and hopefully we can get some R&R this weekend although I have a feeling instead our time will be spent at the farmhouse get it ready to list on the market. I called 3 surveyors who were going to "call me back" on Wednesday and yet again SW Missouri has not failed me - no one called back. It's amazing what kind of work ethic exist down here. I'm usually so thankful for someone that actually answers there phone and calls me back on the same day that we'll hire them on the spot. So for any SW Missouri employers out there - CALL ME BACK. Grrr....

Happy weekend to all!
Chatter

Noooooooooooo.....

Well I woke up today with an achy neck, nasty sore throat, head pressure and fever. I honestly don't know how much longer I can deal with all of this. I was able to get a prescription called in and hopefully that will get me feeling better. Nater came home at lunch to help and then went down to his office to try and make some phone calls. When I put Biruk down for his afternoon nap I passed out in Conner's bed and this is what I woke up to (my little mama's boy). Thankfully Nater snapped some pics because this just cracks me up.


Biruk is doing well, especially during the day. At night he is still getting up about 3 times and is sometimes not really keen on laying back down so it'll take me three or four attempts. It's all a little overwhelming but we are doing our best. I hope I can get feeling better and actually get some of my energy back. Hubby is out with the boys right now running a couple errands so I've had a quiet house the last couple hours. I should be sleeping but I'm enjoying the peace.

Hopefully my next post will be more upbeat and full of good news. More later,
Chatter

Finally, we have answers!

Today started with another sick day for Conner (fever in the 102's/103's) so we decided to call the doctor since 6-7 days had passed and still no progress. They gave us an apt for 2:00. As a mother of two and home by myself I was hoping the time would pass quickly before we had to leave since I had two demanding boys. Well at 10:45 I started getting ready and we barely made it out the door by 12:15 and I still hadn't eaten lunch. Wheww....

But we made it to the doctor and after doing the basic checkover she told us one ear was really red and the other a nasty ear infection. Why didn't we find this out at our last visit? She said usually after being sick that long the ear infection will show up on day 6 or 7 and that is what has caused his fevers to stay high. She then had a prescription called in for him and we were on our way. Biruk wasn't digging the carseat on the way home so we had to pull over twice for some play time. He's such a fun little guy so we just smiled, laughed and talked. Then we'd try again and finally he fell asleep the last half hour. Success.

The evening went quickly as usual. I'm going to finish cleaning the kitchen and call it a night. Hopefully my cough cooperates and does not keep me awake. Hopefully Conner's health will start to improve and by next week we will be a healthy family again.

G'night.

One day at a time...

I had posted earlier today and realized it was a tad whiney so I deleted it. I'll try again. Conner and I are getting are butts kicked by a nasty virus so that's the reason for the negativity. But this afternoon we set out in the sun for a little bit so that lifted my spirits. But not Little Man's. He's currently on day 8 of the fevers, cough and runny nose. We feel so bad for him. Hopefully this wicked virus will be gone soon. I don't have the fever, but a constant wheeze in my chest and throat that leads to ridiculous coughing spasms. I realized today that if I stay busy it seems to distract me enough to take away from the coughing. So I've done some laundry, swiftered the floors, vacuumed and changed our bedding. The house is now nice and tidy. Biruk is taking a really long nap right now so that is how I've managed to get all of this done. Conner has been glued to the tube (we are making exceptions since he's sick) and he's dozed in and out a couple times. Hubby is out working at the old house finishing the last of the trim. We hope to put a for sale sign in the yard this week or next. Most likely we'll need a realtor but we'll try by owner first.

Good news, I just took Conner's temp and it's 98 degrees. It hasn't been this low in a long time and usually around five o'clock (right now) is when he peaks and really takes a turn for the worse. I don't want to jinx anything but I hope this is a good sign. And he keeps complaining that he doesn't feel good. So maybe the fact that he has energy to complain is a good sign. Yeah!

Biruk has been great. The first few days were pretty rough. He wasn't sleeping much and would get upset when I layed him down. Then a couple days ago he started trusting that I wasn't going anywhere and began to relax a little bit. He's sleeping through the night a little better. He still gets up 2-3 times to eat but he'll let us put him back in the crib at least. All around we are making great improvements. He still spits out his rice cereal when we try to feed him so we are strictly on bottles. Maybe we will try introducing baby food in a little while. He is very ticklish and in certain spots we can get him laughing. It's pretty funny. He gives us big grins a lot and is overall a very happy baby. I'm happy we made it through the past week and I look forward to what lies ahead. Hopefully we can kick these cooties and be on the road to recovery soon.

Here are a few pics of the past couple days - enjoy!

I

Picture Time!!

I forgot last night that I had some pics from Ethiopia on Nathan's computer so I'll get them posted. Before that here are a few updates - Biruk slept nearly 12 hours last night (6pm-5:30) and woke up for only one bottle. I was so happy. Then he's been so content playing since he woke up this morning. We are making beautiful progress and the little peanut is becoming more comfortable in his new home. I'm so happy for him and happy to have gotten some sleep. Hubby and little man came home from the ER before midnight with no news. They finally left after waiting 2 hours. His fever climbed up again through the night (in the 103's). He just seems so miserable at night. I really hope we get him feeling better b/c this will be day four of fevers.

I started this post nearly ten hours ago. Since then we made it to the doctor and after looking over Little Man she said there is a nasty virus that is going around that may last for another week or more. She said in the mean time dose him up when the fever climbs up over 102. So this afternoon at five is got up in the 103's and had some motrin. We'll probably have to give it to him again through the night. He's lying in bed right now watching Baby Einstein on his new portable DVD player from his g'ma. Yeah for that! He's sucking in air from the vaporizer that will hopefully loosen things up. Even though I lasted nine days in Ethiopia without a single bug I've come home and caught this "funk" and have been coughing like crazy and waking up with a sore throat. Hubby is indestructible and will somehow be missed which is a good thing. Biruk was down for the night at 6:00 and will hopefully sleep through until morning with one feeding again. I have his bottles and diaper ready for when he wakes up.

Thanks for all he warm wishes! Today was a great day with Biruk with lots of smiling and talking for mom and dad! Conner is sharing his toys with him and seems to like him. More soon since I'm finally figuring out this "mother of two" thing.

Here are pics of the new guy and some photo's from Ethiopia. Enjoy!

Running on empty...

Running low...
Whew.... it's been a whirlwind since I posted last (hence the delay). We are home safely and Biruk is doing well. Ethiopia was beautiful and very busy but we missed home terribly. It was hard being away from Little Man for so long and by the end I just wanted to be back here with him. We had a great time in country and we were so happy to finally be with Biruk. He took to us well but we are having some sleeping issues. He's such an alert little baby and would much rather be checking everything out verses sleeping.

The plane ride home was exhausting and we were so happy to finally be in the car headed home. Little man gave us quite the welcome home memories. We walked into the front door (or should I say ran) and into the dining room where he was eating. He just stared at us with almost a sad expression and then grinned. I swooped him up and he just kept touching my face and hair with his hands. Then he reached over to Nathan and did the same thing. That was followed by the biggest, tightest hugs. I had tears in my eyes and was overjoyed to be with him again. Needless to say we will not be leaving him again for a long time. For the first 48 hours he just kept saying "Mom, I missed you so much. I love you so much!" and we've had lots of snuggling. He was excited to meet Biruk and he has been a great big brother.

Saturday/Sunday are a haze. Little man was sick with a fever and by Sunday night it had gotten so high and his breathing sounded terrible so we took him to the urgent care. They tested for pnemonia, RSV, and strep which all came back negative. But his fever was 105.1 when we arrived so they recommended we take him to the ER for further testing. By the time we got there and waited an hour Little Man was running around and very energetic. So we opted to come home. The fever came back up through the night and today but we've managed it some with some fever reducer. Tonight he sounded terrible yet again, fever in the 103's and a very rapid heart rate. It was breaking our heart and off to the ER him and hubby headed. I'm sitting at home hoping everything is going to be okay. Please think of our little man and send warm wishes and prayers his way. He's a sick little guy. I feel helpless at home but I did not want to take Biruk out too.

So this is why you've not heard from me. I tried to post from Ethiopia by emailing my blog but I must have been doing something wrong. Thanks to everyone for thinking about us. I'll hopefully figure out being a mother of two soon and my life will regain some order again. I will post pictures soon! Biruk is absolutely beautiful!! He LOVES to smile and is very loving.
love, C

6 hours until we leave...

WOW! What to tell you? Well, I'll start with the fact that it's been over a year since we started the process (nearly 2 since I started researching) and it's crazy to think it's finally happening. The last few days I've been in "prep" mode so it hasn't set in that I'm actually going to be holding our baby very, very soon. Until NOW. I just officially finished our taxes and I can now take a deep breath and know that I am 'ready to go'. It feels good. The past few days I've been extremely calm. Even today. It's been almost creepy. Hopefully I'll be able to sleep tonight but it's not likely. Because as soon as my head hits the pillow my mind will not turn off. I'm going to grab little man and bring him to bed with us so I can hold him tight and try to get as much in as possible before I leave. The hardest part from here is leaving our little man. He is in wonderful hands but he'll be dearly missed by dad and myself.

I'll try to update while in Ethiopia but I'm not making any promises. Thanks to everyone for your support and sorry to my siblings I didn't get called back today. I'll have downtime in the airport tomorrow if you want to call.

To my little man, mama and dad are going to miss you soooooooo much and we love you lots! Your baby brother will be home soon to meet you. Be good for G'ma & G'pa.

love, mama & dad

Less than 3 days to go!!!!

That's right - in 57 hours we will be heading to the airport to get on a plane to DC, then Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to pick up our little guy. I can't wait!!!! I am about to get started on my tax return but I wanted to post some update pics I received on Friday of our little guy. He's too precious for words and I can't wait to touch his sweet skin and to see his hair! I love it! From our social update we learned that he LOVES to suck on his fingers, is a happy baby and is cooing and smiling when visiting with the nannies. I am filled with emotions and I know the time until we leave is going to FLY by. We still have so much to do. Wish US luck :)

Hubby's parents got into town today so they came over to visit with Little Man. He will be in great hands while we are away. He is looking forward to his visit with G'ma & G'pa and he will definitely be keeping them busy while we are away. I will try to update from Ethiopia, but if not I will post many pics when we return.

More soon!
Love, C

Bathtub Conversation

I was picking up the house listening to Little Man talking to hubby while he gives him a bath. This conversation was initiated by Conner.

Conner: We gonna go pick up baby Biruk dad

Dad: Well mom & I are going to go

Conner: Me too dad.

Dad: I wish buddy.

Conner: I wish too dad.

Ahhh.... makes my heart melt. He keeps talking about picking up Biruk in Ethiopia and Africa. We keep reminding him that he gets to stay with G'ma & G'pa but he's not convinced yet.

Here's a few pictures of Conner playing out in the mud today. The deck wasn't good enough, he needed to get nice and dirty.






























































































And here our some photo's of him making coffee for dad and running through the kitchen in his little roo's.

We leave in 15 days!!!

That's right, we got the call at 1:15 that we will be leaving on the 19th for Ethiopia. We will be leaving two weeks from tomorrow. It doesn't seem possible but it is really going to happen. And I'm sure these next couple weeks will go by quickly. Just wanted to let you all know the wonderful news!! Here we come Biruk! Your big brother can't wait to meet you. Today we talked about how he's going to help feed you, change your diaper and he said "Biruk can have my cars, and Biruk can have my tricycle". He then informed that he will be singing you songs. We can't wait to meet you and have you home!!

So much to be thankful for...

• 70 degrees today and sunny
• watched little man play for an hour and took in some sun
  
• good food
• a new week tomorrow which hopefully equals a TRAVEL DATE
• my laptop and speedy internet
• a cozy bed
• family
• a visit from my cousin Em
• my handy and handsome hubby. Little Man. and sweet Biruk

Life is good