4boys2girls

Deep Thoughts......thanks Jill, for reminding me, and a special adoption day.

2012-01-24T20:43:00.000-08:00

I have been reading "real" blog posts of REAL bloggers lately and i hafta say.......i am rather motivated (although did you notice that my capitalizing my letters started to lack even with the first sentence?)....so let's pretend i'm still super-motivated anyway. :0) i'll share some pictures so you won't be bored. :0)

today we "re-finalized" Aregash's adoption in U.S. court

i have decided that changing my picture on my blog and the new background will entice me to write more....kinda like moving your furniture around makes you wanna clean more....or maybe play with your kids more.......or how a new outfit turns a frown upside-down. and i think i need to write more for me (sorry, this is purely selfish) and i'm not even sure how many readers i have left after i slowed down with adoption updates a year ago. i had decided that things were soo sticky that maybe not everyone wanted to hear about it, so i laid off the blogging. wellllllll.....i am here now to say that i have a LOT to talk about. i have a LOT on my mind. i am really feeling the need to get it out, so i'm gonna take it up again. i'm one of "those" people who maybe has ADD but was never diagnosed and believes that maybe it's really too late for me now, so i just have to deal. so my mind races and my heart beats out of my chest and i wake up thinking about the adoption video that i've spent 8 million hours on and it's STILL not perfect. or the frames (from last post) that STILL don't have a picture of our newest child included, but rather some stranger that Aregash points to and asks who "this" is) that really need to be full of all FOUR happy-smiling faces of our children before another group of people walk through my house and give me grief about it. anyway....it needs to come out. all out.

i finished the video of our adoption journey a couple of nights ago, turned it into a DVD, and watched it with my husband......all the while critiquing and wishing i had changed "this" and "that" (there are still some things i need perfect). dic (my hubby) told me to "step away from the video". the next day i remembered that i hadn't added a very important family to the video. oh, and the music cut off too fast. so i started at it again last night. then all hell broke loose. i was fixing away at the kitchen island while my boys were digging into their salads and one of them (they hate when i tell their stories here) pulled the lid off the salad dressing and it left drops ALL over my keyboard. i was a little panicking and i frantically started wiping the keys off, but wasn't paying attention that i still had the video up. everything. changed. music gone. text. gone. pictures messed up. and this is where i got ugly.

waiting for court with our Haggerty friends-Nolan is reminding himself to be quiet.

i knew it was an accident so i tried my hardest to keep from blaming. i looked like a giant 2 year old throwing a tantrum (no screaming though, and i did refrain from rolling on the floor). i think there was a little bit of crying involved and the phrase "oh my gosh" repeated over and over, with my hands thrown over my face and the desire to pull my hair out. and i may have even asked the boys if they could just go to bed now. and i went to my room.....closed my door, sat on my bed, and started again. it wasn't as bad as i thought. it just looked bad. and in the end, the video runs more smoothly than it did the first time. fits are good for something, right? i'm such a great role model. see why i have anxiety? or maybe i act this stupid BECAUSE of the anxiety. nevertheless. epic failure. i tend to do that a lot.

Aregash and her new buddies...her lawyer and presiding judge

on the video note........i know many are just on the edge of their seats waiting for it to be revealed. :0). i'm keeping it "secret" until aregash's "family day" party happens on saturday and then for her dedication on sunday. and THEN i will post it here. if my pastor at church wouldn't have said "most people have a 4 minute attention span", it would have been hours long with all of the amazing pictures and video i have from ethiopia and the last year home with aregash. but i kept it down to 10 minutes (guess there will be some people dozing off if the 4 minute thing is true). :0) it tells our story, in a nutshell, of the last year and few months. i hope it's received well. now i know why videographers make some big bucks. i won't likely be taking up this particular hobby anytime soon.


oh HAPPY DAY!!!!!......could we maybe add some paint to that wall?


with her little friend Temesgen (Mason) whom she toted around in Ethiopia when they were both much smaller.


Aunt Kathy, cousins Danielle & Karsyn, & Gma/Gpa Chiolis came to celebrate

and cousin Missy too! love her!

this day was just one of the big days we have planned to celebrate our sweet girl and the happiness she has brought to our family. she doesn't even realize what's going on, but she knows she's loved. sooo grateful for our friends and family who came to join us on this special day.


there's the happy girl

her name is now forever changed from Aregash Dejene or Aregash George Chiolis (as so states on her visa) to

Aregash Faith Dejene Chiolis

final.

feeling very blessed to be her mama.

slacking.....

2012-01-22T13:18:00.000-08:00

I haven't been soo good about keeping up my writing. Lots of coals on the fire and it's taken a back burner. We are nearing the end of our first year home with Aregash and I have lots planned to celebrate. So coming soon....VERY soon......is a video from the last year. Yay!!!! I did it! And even ahead of schedule (well, someone's schedule)!! Tuesday we are finalizing her adoption (she is already "ours", but this is a technicality to receiving a US birth certificate). Saturday (our FAMILY DAY--the day we stepped foot on US soil with her) we are having a little get-together with our close friends who have supported our adoption, past and present. Then Sunday we are having her dedicated in church where we will show her video. So I am a ~~little~~ lot overwhelmed at the moment.

I have to admit that I haven't been the best at keeping up with anything.......her life book, sorting, filing, and printing pictures. In fact, I told myself that BEFORE Christmas I would get a picture of Aregash on the wall with her brothers. One day, finally, about a couple of months ago she looked up at the 4 frames hanging on the wall, pointed at the lady in HER frame, and said "who dat mommy?" You woulda thought that would have done it for me. I feel like somewhat of a failure.

BUT.....I am taking care of it THIS week......before our friends come to help us celebrate this wee one. Seems like the right thing to do. I'll post a picture soon. I got a lot of grief from people when I hadn't changed my blog family picture to include Aregash. It took me awhile to get my family together. I surely don't love her any less!!

I have a new computer, which I have kind of (very slowly) learned how to maneuver, and that makes all the difference when it comes to accomplishing things that involve a computer. Which includes just about everything nowadays. So I vow to be better at keeping things up-to-date.

ONWARD!!

HOME....month 11

2011-12-28T08:07:00.000-08:00

for 11 months.......

she has been in our home,

in our family,

part of our daily lives.

her first birthday,
first easter,
first christmas.....
all of them celebrated
together.

but she has ALWAYS been with us..........

in our hearts.

we love and adore you
Aregash Faith Dejene!!

sleeping. or not.

2011-12-09T18:28:00.001-08:00

aregash's first night home

we are in the midst of a power struggle right now.

and she has chosen sleep to try to control.

things are off-kilter and this is what she does.

it doesn't matter how tired she is.....

she won't do it.

i lay her down for a nap and 2-3 hours later i return to find her

with black, baggy bags under her eyes.

we've been through this before.

eventually she will wear down.

or will i?

soon after returning home-in dreamland

when she's on she's on

and she will sleep 12 hours through the night

and take a 2-4 hour nap.

she's a good sleeper.

i can't remember how long this lasted the last time.

i'm tired for her.

just sleep.

just do it.