And the Band Played On

Our First Christmas

One week before Christmas I attended a meeting with a co-worker who coughed and sneezed through the entire three hours. He admitted to having a fever and seemed unconcerned by our worries that he was going to infect us all for Christmas.

Bah humbug.

Sure enough, on the first of my scheduled vacation days, I woke up with a cough and a fever.

Get-togethers were cancelled...

Cookies were not baked...

And this momma, who was so looking forward to a couple extra days of fun with her boys, spent the next two days in bed.

It was hard not to wish for a lump of coal for my co-worker!

On Friday morning, Christmas Eve, I was feeling a little better and the three boys weren’t showing any signs of illness, so we ventured north to Grandma’s house for our annual celebration. We had a great time and appreciated the welcome in spite of the risk of getting everyone sick (really hope you guys don't get sick!!!).

By the time we got home the boys weren't feeling well but that didn't dampen their excitement about leaving cookies and carrots for Santa and his reindeer.

Upstairs in bed, as he snuggled into my neck, Dash said, "Mommy yummy" and just before drifting off to sleep Taye said, "Mommy, Taye happy." Now if that doesn't just say it all :-)

Unfortunately the rest of the night didn't go as well. On a night when most children are tossing and turning with excitement, mine were tossing and turning with fevers.

They were really sick by morning but magic was still in the air. The look on their faces when they saw what Santa brought them was priceless.

They have been asking for big boy bikes since they saw our neighbor riding one in September and they couldn't believe that Santa really brought them one. They can barely reach the peddles but at the rate they are growing they will fit just fine by spring.

Santa left them notes telling them what good boys they have been this year and how proud and happy they make their Mommy and Daddy.

They are still talking about the fact that Santa and the reindeer ate the cookies and carrots they left!

Discovering the rest of Santa's presents was almost as much fun. We won't have to wait until spring to put these into action!

Trying hard to have fun but feeling pretty yucky...until some Children's Tylenol and a move to the couch, plus a few more presents, helped them find a second wind. Dash kept saying, "Momma, too much!", meaning too many presents, but really he loved it!

In spite of the fact that there was a lot of this...

And a ton of this...

I have never had a more wonderful Christmas!



Third Time's a Charm

Quote of the day: "Santa is vewy cool!"

Six Months Home - The Spirit of Christmas

Two years ago today we celebrated the end of six months of paperwork and the official first day on the wait list to adopt. Our agency was predicting referrals in 3 to 5 months. It was a season filled with hope and excitement.

Last year we were still waiting on pins and needles to find out who our children would be. It was a season full of anticipation and weariness.

This year our holiday season is filled with love and joy--enough of it to make up for all those other years--and it's full of firsts. Lots of magical firsts!

First visit to Santa

First time decorating a Christmas Tree

These sweet boys, who have not yet caught on to the materialism of it all, get more excited about the empty cardboard boxs that mail ordered gifts arrive in.

First time tasting hot chocolate



We even had a surprise visit to our neighborhood from Santa himself! He arrived on a fire truck, which was almost as exciting as meeting Santa again, and he hand delivered their first ever Santa presents. That is Taye in the first picture. Dash preferred the arms of a parent, which was fine with us!

"That's when the Spirit of Christmas smiled.

'Remember, this all began with a child.
Because it took nothing but love to begin it,
it's not really Christmas if love isn't in it.'

Your tree may be large as the room will allow
with a big yellow star on the uppermost bough,
but of one thing I'm certain,
I'm sure of one thing.

It's love that makes the angels sing.

And that's when I got it.
That's when I knew!
The thing that was missing
from Christmas was you!"

~Excerpt from The Spirit of Christmas by Nancy Tillman

Curls, Beautiful Curls

Whenever I post a picture that shows a close up of the boys hair I get comments about how lovely it is. Much of this can be attributed to nature, not nurture, but I still thought some of you might find it helpful to know how I care for their hair, plus I'd love to get some advice.

When we were waiting for our referral I read a lot about hair and skin care. I joined the Yahoo Group called adoptionhair_skincare and it's affiliated Facebook page. I read blog entries on Happy Girl Hair. I collected links to all the various recommended hair product lines (if you scroll down, you will see those links on the right). I also asked friends with similar hair requirements for advice.

When we finally got to Ethiopia I had a large arsenal of hair and skin products. Organic this and all natural that, all labels scrutinized for hidden drying ingredients and cancer causing agents. I slathered conditioners, lotions, creams and oils into their skin and beautiful, but dry and frizzy, curls. The skin lotions seemed to be working ok, but nothing in my arsenal was helping with the hair. Then, after a week of these products, not only did their hair still look dry and frizzy, but the boys proceeded to break out in pimples and an itchy rash from head to toe! Worse still, Taye's scalp erupted in multiple, painful welts! It was awful, and I felt terribly.

For the next few months while we got these symptoms under control, the only products I could use on them were Aveeno Daily Moisture lotion and Aveeno Moisture Wash. Our doctor told me to use Vaseline in their hair but it just made their curls greasy without adding any moisture so I stopped that pretty quickly and just started rubbing handfuls of the body lotion into their curls. When finally their skin and scalp issues were healed, I cautiously introduced a new hair product thinking that would be a better option than body lotion, but their hair went from soft manageable locks back to dry frizzy curls that needed more and more product to keep them looking good. I experimented with a few other products but either saw the return of skin and scalp problems, or dry, frizzy curls. Finally I said forget it and went back to the body lotion.

With the onset of winter I have also started using Cetaphil lotion and cleansers, which are more moisturizing than Aveeno but still ok for sensitive skin. I rinse their hair really well with water a couple times a week and use the Cetaphil lotion like you would a cream rinse, and then again like a leave in conditioner. Sometimes on those days I need to add more later in the day to add even more moisture (even just rinsing with water is very drying). Once a week or so I wash their scalps with Aveeno Moisture Wash. On the mornings I don't rinse or wash their hair I just add lotion. I know this probably sounds crazy to some of you, and I will admit, the lotion dulls the shine of their curls, but otherwise this is really working for us.

Hope this helps some of you. If anyone out there has experience with eczema I would love to hear from you. I think that this is the underlying culprit to their skin and scalp issues, which are even more sensitive now that the dry winter air is here. The Cetaphil is keeping it at bay but I wonder if there is more I could be doing...

 *I was not paid or compensated in any way for the review of these products!

Wordless Wednesday

Six Months Ago

Waiting to board the plane home
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, May 31, 2010