Bruuuuuuuce!

Stefan and I unexpectedly got tickets to see Bruce Springsteen on Friday! We got a last-minute baby-sitter (thanks Katie!) and had a great night out! Unbelievably, the kids were still awake when we got back at 11:30 . . . no, they have not recovered yet. Bruce was as awesome as ever, and some of the people down in front on the floor were even more entertaining than him! Here are some really, really bad pictures off my phone (cameras weren't allowed) just to prove we were there.

Easter, etc.

We tried to keep things simple and a little more healthy this Easter . . . and failed miserably! We didn't give Aidan too much candy, but of course he got some from Grandma and Grandpa (mostly Grandpa) and Omi and Poppop, plus toys from Uncle Chris and Aunt Mary. Bridget didn't get any candy from us, but did get it from the others . . . and she would like everyone to know that she is definitely a fan! She had never had any before and it basically took about 30 seconds for candy to become her new favorite thing.

This is Easter morning before Bridget discovered candy, when she was happy with the books she had gotten.

Aidan got sunglasses and quickly used them to develop a new superhero . . . as you will see below.

He's a robot and his name is . . . Baghead . . . so clever.

It's not easy bein' a baghead!

Homestudy

Our first homestudy interview is tomorrow! I'm not really sure what to expect - we've already answered 16 pages of questions . . . and she said it would be 2 hours! I know part of it is going over everything that could possibly happen as far as a referral goes, and what we would be comfortable with when it comes to medical conditions, background, etc.

I'm hoping we get a better sense of how many kids they have in care right now, ages, medical issues and more. I'm really anxious for information, not because our child might be there (I doubt he is, considering the age we've requested but it's a possibility) but because there are others from our agency that I am in contact with (via the web) who are eagerly waiting for their referral. It's really exciting to sort of wait with them and learn from their experiences.

I think that the paperwork part of things is probably easier than the waiting so I'm glad we're not rushing through this. By the time we get to the referral stage our agency should have had several families go through the entire process and I'm hoping that means it will go fairly smoothly. At this point some of the families who got referrals in December are still waiting to travel, which is a really long wait when your child is in an orphanage halfway around the world! Normally the wait is more like 3 months from referral to travel.

There are basically two things that can delay travel and they both have to do with court appearances. Once you have a referral you get a court date which is when your agency appears in the Ethiopian courts will all the necessary paperwork so that they can make you the legal parents of that child. Here are the possibilities:
1) You pass! The courts feel that they have all the necessary documentation and that every effort has been made to confirm that this child is indeed an orphan and there are no better options for him/her than adoption. This is where having a good, ethical agency is most important because they need to do everything they can to find living relatives who can sign relinquishment papers to satisfy the courts. If the child was abandoned this is not necessary, but they require that he/she be in care for 3 months before adoption to make sure someone doesn't come back for him/her.
2) The courts ask for more information. This could be paperwork, more effort to find a living relative, more information on the adoptive parents, etc.
3) Court is closed. The courts close in the late summer/early fall, I think for the festival season. If you got a referral just before that you will have to wait until they reopen, and then there is a backlog of cases so it will be a while. That could significantly delay things.

The good thing is that I feel confident in the care that these children are getting through our agency so at least if we have to wait a while to bring him home we won't worry about his treatment.

In closing, I want to ask for prayers for Stefan's grandmother who has been struggling with her health lately. Please pray for her and for Stefan's family as they care for her, especially his mom. Thank you!

Grandpa vs. God

On our way to McMinnville on Tuesday Aidan and I had the following conversation:

Aidan: Mommy, is God really strong?
Me: Yes, God is stronger than anything else.
Aidan: Except Grandpa.
Me: Well, actually he's stronger than Grandpa.
Aidan: Nope, Grandpa's really strong, Mommy.
Me: Yes, I know but God gave Grandpa his strength so God is stronger.
Aidan: How did God do that?
Me: God can do anything.
Aidan: I guess he can make Grandpa stronger, right?
Me (in my head): Crap.
Me out loud: Let's listen to the radio!

Nourishing Traditions

I just have to mention this book I've been reading, Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. It's absolutely amazing - I haven't been able to put it down! It's a combination of a cookbook and textbook about traditional nutrition and cooking.

A lot of it is based on the research of Weston A. Price who traveled throughout the world studying native groups who had excellent health, and documenting what they ate. The idea is that before processed food and the development of processed sugar, groups who ate "traditionally" (meaning animal products, raw dairy and soaked and fermented grains) had excellent health with virtually no cancer, birth defects, or chronic illness.

At this point, Americans are eating less saturated fat, dairy, and animal products than ever before and yet our cancer and heart disease rates are growing. As recently as 50 years ago heart disease was uncommon and now it is a leading killer. Why? According to this book animal products and saturated fats are necessary for your body to function and have antioxidant and anticarcinogenic properties. The problem is in vegetable oils, especially hydrogenated oils. These are extremely toxic to the body and they believe are one of the leading causes of heart disease. The fact that American's consumption of saturated fats has gone down while the incidence of heart disease has gone up should be reason enough to consider this theory!

These are not this one woman's ideas - there are excerpts throughout the book from many, many articles and other books on the same subject. I loved the way the book was organized as well, with some major articles in the front but a lot of the content is spread through out the "cookbook" part (which is huge) in sidebars. I was absolutely fascinated by the idea of fermentation and the necessity of it in order for us to digest things properly. I was unaware of the extent to which this was (and is) used throughout the world in every culture. I've already made whey and a batch of apple butter through fermentation (which uses whey) and I'm excited to try some other things.

Stefan is totally on-board with it, which is amazing and wonderful. He is actively helping me get rid of plastic in our lives (more on that later), stop using the microwave, and start having a more traditional diet. Hooray for great husbands!

Favorite

This morning Aidan came into our room to snuggle before Bridget woke up. He cuddled up to me after a minute and said, "My favorite part of the day is when I'm with you, Mommy." Has anything more wonderful ever been said?

Boring, Boring

This blog is looking very "wordy" so I had to add some pictures. We're just not very good about taking pictures of the kids on a regular basis, because the camera is always at school with Stefan but here are a few recent ones. Bridget and Aidan were at school with Stefan for an after school hacky-sack club and then we took some pics of Bridget on Saturday morning so everyone could see just how much hair she really has! It seriously covers her eyes and I have to pin it back as soon as she wakes up just so she doesn't run into things :)