EE-I-EE-I-O

Some of my friends and I spent Friday together in what I will call "Up North" - not sure if it actually is that direction, but it has that type of feel. Lots of exciting new things happening with these ladies, from starting new businesses to a potential European move, so it was nice to have time to share and suport one another.

The rain stopped us from boating but we enjoyed sitting outside amidst the farmer's fields and a variety of animals. We learned that one of our friends, Jamie, has the gift of being a "Pet Whisperer"!

Speaking of animals, I ran across a cute piece of information on somebody else's blog. It seems that in Ethiopia, the animals may also speak a different language (or more likely the people imitating them do). So if you plan on singing "Old McDonald" to a toddler in Ethiopia make sure you use the right sounds! Here is a quick tutorial...


Cow – Ehmbwahhhh
Sheep - Ehmbahh
Goat - Mehh Mehhhhh
Chicken - Back Back Back
Rooster - Coo Coo Looooooo
Frog - Quahck Quahck
Horse - Meeee ee eee eeee
Donkey - ah HEE ah HEE ah HEE
Dog - WOW wow wow
Cat - Meow
Snake - Tss Tss Tss
Mouse - Tss Tss Tss
Pig - Wehnk Wehnk

Michael & Michele in Ethiopia (sorta)

Another one of the fun things we have gotten to do, while waiting to pick up Mehandis, is put together a care package for him. Our agency is very specific on what we can send... and we followed most of all their rules (oops, guess I am more of a rule bender though). So Michael and I got to pick out about 6 pictures of ourselves, which we put in a "mouthable" photo album. This way Mehandis can begin recognizing his parents-to-be! We also sent an framed 8X10 that the nannies will hang over our sons crib... we sent kind of a silly picture, but it is actually the first family picture of the 3 of us - since we are holding his referral photo (taken about an hour after receiving "the call"). The rule breaking involves sending a little teddy bear that was a gift from his Grandma and Grandpa Wolaver. I guess you aren't supposed to send stuffed animals, but they let it slip by anyway. We UPS'ed the package to Minnesota and CHSFS sent the gift with a family who has recently left for Ethiopia. Mehandis may be looking into our eyes for the first time... this week!

Other updates...

Michael sat in on a phone conference, from CHSFS, about the trip to Hosanna. This is an option for us the first full day we arrive in Ethiopia. It is about a 4 hour drive and takes us to one of the satellite centers where Mehandis may have spent some time at. We also have the possibility of meeting some of his relatives on this trip. This trip is something that we definitely plan on doing.

We have not had any word about Mehandis getting to court. "Getting to Court" means us becoming Mehandis's legal mom & dad. The courts close on July 31st, until mid-September. If he does not make it through court by the end of this month, we will most likely be traveling around Thanksgiving. Hmmm. Can't think about that too much right now.

Thanks again to everyone for their prayers, words of congratulations and loving support!

Score Cards

So many fun things to share about this summer!



Michael and I were treated to a Wrigleyville lunch and Cub's game, by his parents last weekend. The weather was perfect, lunch (and Bloody's) fantastic and I was able to keep interest in the game until the end! Cubs win!!!



I have been to more than a handful of Cub's games before, but was blown away by the fans once again. The best was when an over-70 year old usher was full swing in engaging the crowd to join in the YMCA. Although the Cub's 7th inning stretch still pales in comparison to Milwaukee's.



Here Michael,Mom, Dad and I are at Vineland (?) kiddy-corner from Wrigley. Just a hop (drive from Tosa) skip (L ride from Evanston) and jump (few block walk off the L) from home.

Who knows what the score actually was at this point. All that matters is we were ahead of the Astros the whole game, after the first inning or so. And no, the Astros mascot is unfortunately not from the Jetsons. Maybe I will start a campaign.

Michael & I had a great time... thanks Mom & Dad!!!

Speaking of being thankful... I didn't think I would get an update on Mehandis so quickly. Above is his latest "score card" from July 13th. Just got it today and was proud of our little guy for all of his speech milestones! Looks like he is making lots of sounds and enjoying interaction. Hooray Mehandis!!!

Tale from the Other Side...

BEFORE

&

AFTER

Michele has done a great job of telling the story and posting pictures of our referral. The only thing I have to add is regarding our floors.

As some of you know, Michele has been wanting to get our downstairs wooden floors redone for a LONG time. Many people told me to get it done before we have our kid because it will likely not happen afterwards. So I finally gave in to the pressure in early June and they floor were refinished on July 2nd. I felt that by refinishing the floors, we were telling the world, sending our signals, that we were now ready to accept our referral. I have been listening to The Secret lately, which is about the law of attraction. Ask for what you want and live like you already have it and you shall receive. Well we got our floors done in anticipation of a referral and the day that I sent in the check to pay for the floors, we received our referral! Coincidence, I think not. Or maybe so. I do not know. Just make sure you look at the wooden floors in the pictures in our house in previous posts and tell Michele that they look great.

So the moral of the story is that if you want to get something and it is taking a long time to receive it, first complete what your wife wants done, then,and only then, you will receive what you want.

Fun with a Scanner

The last time Michael and I registered was in 1998/99 for our wedding. At that time picking the china patterns was the most overwhelming choice to be made. If we knew then what we are learning now!

Friday, Michael took the afternoon off so we could start registering for Mehandis. We gave ourselves two hours... and Michael will tell you that I spent about a quarter of that time trying to figure out which bottle/nipples/liners/sterilizers would be best! After some "gentle" prodding from my husband we moved on and were pretty successful at starting the foundation for our registry. Although, last night all my dreams included baby gear - booster seats, pack & plays, diaper bags...

The Day of Our Referral

So now that we are starting to see straight again... I would love to share more about the events that took place on our referral day!

As many of you have heard, we have been told several times that due to the summer court closure in Ethiopia... the cut-off for giving referrals would be made in early summer. This date was first June 15th, then June 29th, then July 6th and the latest was today - July 13th. So we have been on a thrilling ride of seeming "close-calls" and patience as of late. Last Friday, Michael called our social worker to find out if that day, July 6th, was the end of referral-giving... and that we should expect a match in the fall instead. Once again, CHSFS encouraged us that they expected to give referrals the next week and that the staff in Ethiopia felt confident that the children would still be able to make it through court - before closures at the end of July. This news was positive but we weren't totally convinced, so we began the week with more a patient versus "optimistic" heart.

This takes us to Monday, a day that I didn't have any work (one of about 3 so far this summer!) I went about the day working out, running errands, painting , cleaning and then putting lots of new family (but old photos!) pictures out. By 4 in the afternoon, I hadn't even changed out of my work out clothes and had left my phone out of ear shot several times. I saw that my work called at 4... but let it go to voicemail. About 10 minutes later the phone rang again - I thought it was once again work. Nope!!! It said CHSFS on the caller ID. I told myself that they could be calling to tell us that it there will be no more referrals given until fall, but I hoped otherwise.

When I answered the phone, Alexa, our social worker asked if it was a good time. Yes!!! She then let me know that she had a referral for us :) She told me that it was for a baby boy... and that the rest of the information she would share also would be sent via email, so I could write notes if I wanted to but it wasn't necessary. Thank goodness the details were emailed because my note taking skills were hysterical. I wrote down part of his name on one line, the rest on another, half words, and then just gave up since my hands were shaking too hard to write (that will have to go in the scrapbook).

I then realized that I wasn't going to be able to get Michael on three-way, but I could do the next best thing. While still on the phone with Alexa, I threw on some flip flops, ran out the front door (keeping it open & unlocked) and sped down our street to Michael's office. Fortunately, his office is on the next block over! I ran up the steps and opened his door and saw him packing up to go. He saw me on the phone and my huge smile gave him a clue as to what was happening. After hanging up the phone, I was able to share with my husband that WE HAVE A SON!

We went to the computer in his office and looked together, for the first time, into the big beautiful eyes of Mehandis Awano. It was incredible to experience that together, I will never forget the emotions of that day!


After returning home, Michael opened the bottle of champagne we had been saving for that exact moment.

Mehandis Awano Wolaver

So we have some wonderful news to share... we received a referral for a 7 month old boy! His given name is Mehandis Awano, which we have decided is a perfect name for our son. We are absolutely ecstatic about the news and can't wait to share more of the referral story with anyone who is interested!

Here I am, telling my parents that they have a beautiful grandson!

Michael then shared the news with his whole family, as they were on vacation together standing on a pier in Mackinaw.

We went out for a great meal at an old favorite, Jake's, and fully celebrated our excitement of having Mehandis join our family!

Contrasts

During the past month I have been much more aware of what it means to get a referral. It obviously involves Michael & I gaining the titles of "Dad & Mom" ... but it also means that another family is experiencing a variety of losses. Somewhere in Ethiopia a family is struggling to make a decision about what is best for their child. Their decision may be driven by a recent death, poverty or a number of other factors which I would never have personally experienced. So as we wait, we keep in mind these families.

Our agency recently sent out some statistics that highlight the dramatic differences between our the US and Ethiopia. It answers some of the questions as to why adoptions plans are made for some of these kids.


Ethiopia & USA
Infant morality rate 109 / 6

GNI per capita (US$) 160 / 43,740

% under 5 suffering from
stunting, moderate & 47 / 1
severe malnutrition

Life Expectancy 48 / 78

Maternal mortality ratio/
lifetime risk of maternal 1 in 14 / 1 in 2500
death