We are so thankful that Sunshine and Brandon were able to see Z and give him love for us. Sunshine said he was content and alert to what was going on around him, and very sweet! They are exhausted from their trip and dealing with jet-lagged toddler twins (seriously, could you think of a more difficult combination?) and have not gone through all their photos yet, but they assure us they got plenty of footage of the care center. There are strict rules regarding photos so they weren't allowed to take photos of him, but we're hoping they got a picture of his bed or something :) We're still waiting for a court date and updates from our agency with new pictures but this news was enough to keep us going for now.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
New info
We are lucky enough to live just down the street from another family who is adopting from Ethiopia through our agency! Brandon and Sunshine just got back from picking up their twin boys who are a year old. They were able to visit Z in the care center, and brought back the good news that he has been moved up to the facility in Addis! This means that he is with fewer kids and in the facility that we're going to pick him up in, hopefully in just a couple of months!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Lucy Exhibit
We were able to go up to Seattle on Monday to visit Stefan's sister and her family, and to see the "Lucy Exhibit" at the Pacific Science Center.
The exhibit was partially about Lucy (the 3 million year-old hominid fossil that was found in Ethiopia in the 70's), but also about the "Treasures of Ethiopia", detailing the history of the country and culture. It was so wonderful and completely worth the trip to see all these amazing artifacts from a country we feel very connected to.
We were able to see some beautiful artwork, basketry, ancient weapons and tools, as well as see Lucy's skeleton and learn a ton about her and how she fits into our history. I have read a lot about Ethiopia, so I knew a lot of the history and had read about the culture extensively, but seeing everything was incredible and I learned a lot.
I didn't know much about Lucy, so that part was also fascinating. In Ethiopia her name is Dinkenesh, which means "wonderful thing", and she really has been very important for the country.
This exhibit was intended to educate people about Lucy, but also to make people more aware of Ethiopia's culture. I think that it does both very well, but unfortunately it hasn't been as popular as the museum had hoped. This is probably due in large part to the economy, but it has been discouraging for the museum and other museums have opted out of the exhibit because of that. All that to say . . . go see it! It's only in Seattle until March 8th so you don't have much time, but it's definitely worth the trip if you're within a few hours drive.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Famine
We know that Z is in Holt's intake facility in Durame, which is in southern Ethiopia. They have mentioned before that there are a lot of children coming into care because of the current famine, but right now the Sr. Vice President of Holt is over in Ethiopia visiting the care centers and giving update on their blog.
He went down to the intake facility and was astounded at the number of children (over 50!) and the fact that there are infants being abandoned on a regular basis (he guessed that there was a new baby or toddler coming in almost every day).
Holt really wants families to stay together, so if a child is brought in and the parent just can't provide enough food, Holt provides them with food and a tries to help them get back on their feet so they can keep their children. Sometimes there just is no way to do this, or if the child is abandoned, Holt can't do much to help the family.
The fact that there are that many children coming into care means that the situation in that area is very, very serious and they need our help. At this point it sounds like the intake facility is somewhat overwhelmed and has huge needs as far as beds, formula, etc. Can you imagine 50 infants and toddlers? If you feel called to do so, Holt has a link to a place that you can donated to help with these needs (the blog has the link).
We are selfishly hoping that Z is moved up to the facility in Addis soon, and that we get a court date so that we can go get him, but I'm also so glad that the children who are at the intake facility are being cared for and fed, even if they are crowded! Unfortunately, that is the reality of orphanage life, and that's why it's so important for these kids to get out of that situation and into a home and a family.
He went down to the intake facility and was astounded at the number of children (over 50!) and the fact that there are infants being abandoned on a regular basis (he guessed that there was a new baby or toddler coming in almost every day).
Holt really wants families to stay together, so if a child is brought in and the parent just can't provide enough food, Holt provides them with food and a tries to help them get back on their feet so they can keep their children. Sometimes there just is no way to do this, or if the child is abandoned, Holt can't do much to help the family.
The fact that there are that many children coming into care means that the situation in that area is very, very serious and they need our help. At this point it sounds like the intake facility is somewhat overwhelmed and has huge needs as far as beds, formula, etc. Can you imagine 50 infants and toddlers? If you feel called to do so, Holt has a link to a place that you can donated to help with these needs (the blog has the link).
We are selfishly hoping that Z is moved up to the facility in Addis soon, and that we get a court date so that we can go get him, but I'm also so glad that the children who are at the intake facility are being cared for and fed, even if they are crowded! Unfortunately, that is the reality of orphanage life, and that's why it's so important for these kids to get out of that situation and into a home and a family.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Referral!
We got our referral today - a darling two month old baby boy!
We'll call him Baby Z for now, and we can't share pictures online yet, until he's legally ours. Suffice it to say we can't wait to kiss those chubby cheeks! He is very healthy and a happy baby, according to the caretakers.
I got the call just as I was getting ready to take Aidan to preschool. Of course, it happened to be his day for snack and show-and-tell so I ended up running up to check the computer a million times for the email with pictures, while I cut up apples and found Playmobil pieces that he wanted to take. The great thing was that the pictures came through just in time for me to print one so Aidan could show it for show-and-tell!
We're being careful with pictures and are happy to show people in person, but we aren't really sending them out until we pass court, just to be safe. We are thrilled and so excited for these next few months - pray that we get a court date soon! Once we can pass court we will be able to travel. Realistically speaking, we wouldn't travel until May or June because of how long it takes to get a court date and there is always the possibility that it will take a couple of times to pass . . . but we won't think that way!!!
Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts - keep them coming!
We'll call him Baby Z for now, and we can't share pictures online yet, until he's legally ours. Suffice it to say we can't wait to kiss those chubby cheeks! He is very healthy and a happy baby, according to the caretakers.
I got the call just as I was getting ready to take Aidan to preschool. Of course, it happened to be his day for snack and show-and-tell so I ended up running up to check the computer a million times for the email with pictures, while I cut up apples and found Playmobil pieces that he wanted to take. The great thing was that the pictures came through just in time for me to print one so Aidan could show it for show-and-tell!
We're being careful with pictures and are happy to show people in person, but we aren't really sending them out until we pass court, just to be safe. We are thrilled and so excited for these next few months - pray that we get a court date soon! Once we can pass court we will be able to travel. Realistically speaking, we wouldn't travel until May or June because of how long it takes to get a court date and there is always the possibility that it will take a couple of times to pass . . . but we won't think that way!!!
Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts - keep them coming!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Nourishing a baby . . .
Since we're still just waiting for our referral, I figured I may as well post on what's been on my mind lately, in case anyone is interested :)
I've been obsessing over what to feed the baby when he comes, and this is all new territory for me. I breastfed Aidan and Bridget for 14 months each, and though they occasionally had formula when being babysat, they basically went from exclusive breastfeeding to solid food and never really relied on formula for any nutrition. As I've researched commercial formulas I am now so thankful that they didn't have to! I hadn't realized that most formulas contain corn syrup and soy (even non-soy formulas have soybean oil), both of which I think are unhealthy.
Some adoptive mothers are able to induce lactation and breastfeed, but not exclusively - without pregnancy it's really impossible to make enough milk to sustain a baby. I haven't ruled out doing some breastfeeding to help with attachment but if the baby is more than a couple months old, it will probably be too late for him to learn to nurse. We'll make that decision when we know about his age and whether he was breastfed by his birth mother. That brings me to the decision of how to find a formula that I think is nutritious, does not contain corn syrup or soy, comes as close as possible to breastmilk, and is available. I think I know what I'm going to do, but it requires some explanation of my nutrition philosophy.
I have a somewhat controversial opinion on the proper nutrition for my family. I don't agree with the idea of a low-fat diet, which is so pervasive in our society. I also don't believe that vegetarianism is healthy, though if commercial meat is the only thing available, it probably is a better choice. Basically, I believe in a "traditional diet" (not a paleolithic diet, though). That means that those things that were available and eaten by traditional cultures around the world are the healthiest choices for us.
For example, traditional cultures included a lot of fat in their diets, but they chose things like butter, olive oil and animal fat, which are natural, rather than vegetable oils or hydrogenated fats, which are created with very damaging chemical processes. They always ate fats with protein, and protein and fat occur in nature together for that very reason. Traditional cultures also consumed seafood in some fashion, even if they were nowhere near the coast. They would trade for dried fish or fish oils and include them in their diet because they are so packed with nutrients. For us this means that we need to include cod liver oil in our diet because it's the most efficient way to get those nutrients.
We do eat grains, but try to only use whole grains, and I soak them for the maximum nutrition. We make kombucha tea and during the summer I made kefir and used it in smoothies (Bridget loves it just straight with some honey in it!) We try to eliminate white sugar and only use raw local honey, real maple syrup, and Rapadura (naturally dehydrated sugar cane that still has all the vitamins in it - it looks kinda like dirt but you can subsitute it for white sugar in recipes).
Our vegetables are basically all organic, either from our CSA share or garden, and we basically just use seasonal vegetables. That means that this time of year it's pretty much just root vegetables, cooking greens and squash!
As far as meat, we eat only grass-fed beef and pastured chicken (with exceptions for eating out of course). This is more expensive, but we not only avoid all the hormones and antibiotics in commercial meat, we also get all the nutrients from the grass that the animals consumed. We drink raw milk from a small farm where I can talk to the woman who milks the cow and see the barn and the animals and how healthy they are. Nothing has been heated to a point of destroying all the valuable nutrients, and the benefits of drinking raw milk are amazing (see www.realmilk.com). This is probably the most controversial thing we do, and brings me to my question - what will I feed the baby?
I found a formula recipe in the book Nourishing Traditions (basically the cookbook/resource that changed my life!) that takes either raw milk or cultured pasteurized milk and adds a bunch of vitamins and fats to it to bring it really close to breast milk nutritionally. It was developed by Mary Enig, who is the lipids expert who first pointed out the dangers of trans fats and has been a huge proponent of traditional nutrition. This recipe has been used by many, many people and has been tremendously successful, with healthy kids who don't have issues with cavities, obesity, ear infections, etc. It's very complicated in some ways, but totally worth it if it helps our baby's health. I feel that it's even more important for him than it might be for an infant born in America who had a great start to life - he probably will have been malnourished at some point and will need as much nutrition as he can get in order to regain his health.
We do plan to just buy the formula they've been using at the care center for the time we're in Ethiopia and on the trip home, just to minimize the number of changes to his system until we're home and can handle them. We're also probably going to use cultured milk, rather than raw just to be extra careful (though I freeze my milk so that by the time I use it, the farmer has already used it and would have notified me if there were any issues with it). We're dealing with vaccination questions as well, which I'll probably post on (I'm not anti-vaccination, but do have concerns).
If you want more information on all this, visit the Weston A. Price Foundation or read Nourishing Traditions - I promise it will be interesting, even if you don't agree! And I won't be offended by any questions, either!
I've been obsessing over what to feed the baby when he comes, and this is all new territory for me. I breastfed Aidan and Bridget for 14 months each, and though they occasionally had formula when being babysat, they basically went from exclusive breastfeeding to solid food and never really relied on formula for any nutrition. As I've researched commercial formulas I am now so thankful that they didn't have to! I hadn't realized that most formulas contain corn syrup and soy (even non-soy formulas have soybean oil), both of which I think are unhealthy.
Some adoptive mothers are able to induce lactation and breastfeed, but not exclusively - without pregnancy it's really impossible to make enough milk to sustain a baby. I haven't ruled out doing some breastfeeding to help with attachment but if the baby is more than a couple months old, it will probably be too late for him to learn to nurse. We'll make that decision when we know about his age and whether he was breastfed by his birth mother. That brings me to the decision of how to find a formula that I think is nutritious, does not contain corn syrup or soy, comes as close as possible to breastmilk, and is available. I think I know what I'm going to do, but it requires some explanation of my nutrition philosophy.
I have a somewhat controversial opinion on the proper nutrition for my family. I don't agree with the idea of a low-fat diet, which is so pervasive in our society. I also don't believe that vegetarianism is healthy, though if commercial meat is the only thing available, it probably is a better choice. Basically, I believe in a "traditional diet" (not a paleolithic diet, though). That means that those things that were available and eaten by traditional cultures around the world are the healthiest choices for us.
For example, traditional cultures included a lot of fat in their diets, but they chose things like butter, olive oil and animal fat, which are natural, rather than vegetable oils or hydrogenated fats, which are created with very damaging chemical processes. They always ate fats with protein, and protein and fat occur in nature together for that very reason. Traditional cultures also consumed seafood in some fashion, even if they were nowhere near the coast. They would trade for dried fish or fish oils and include them in their diet because they are so packed with nutrients. For us this means that we need to include cod liver oil in our diet because it's the most efficient way to get those nutrients.
We do eat grains, but try to only use whole grains, and I soak them for the maximum nutrition. We make kombucha tea and during the summer I made kefir and used it in smoothies (Bridget loves it just straight with some honey in it!) We try to eliminate white sugar and only use raw local honey, real maple syrup, and Rapadura (naturally dehydrated sugar cane that still has all the vitamins in it - it looks kinda like dirt but you can subsitute it for white sugar in recipes).
Our vegetables are basically all organic, either from our CSA share or garden, and we basically just use seasonal vegetables. That means that this time of year it's pretty much just root vegetables, cooking greens and squash!
As far as meat, we eat only grass-fed beef and pastured chicken (with exceptions for eating out of course). This is more expensive, but we not only avoid all the hormones and antibiotics in commercial meat, we also get all the nutrients from the grass that the animals consumed. We drink raw milk from a small farm where I can talk to the woman who milks the cow and see the barn and the animals and how healthy they are. Nothing has been heated to a point of destroying all the valuable nutrients, and the benefits of drinking raw milk are amazing (see www.realmilk.com). This is probably the most controversial thing we do, and brings me to my question - what will I feed the baby?
I found a formula recipe in the book Nourishing Traditions (basically the cookbook/resource that changed my life!) that takes either raw milk or cultured pasteurized milk and adds a bunch of vitamins and fats to it to bring it really close to breast milk nutritionally. It was developed by Mary Enig, who is the lipids expert who first pointed out the dangers of trans fats and has been a huge proponent of traditional nutrition. This recipe has been used by many, many people and has been tremendously successful, with healthy kids who don't have issues with cavities, obesity, ear infections, etc. It's very complicated in some ways, but totally worth it if it helps our baby's health. I feel that it's even more important for him than it might be for an infant born in America who had a great start to life - he probably will have been malnourished at some point and will need as much nutrition as he can get in order to regain his health.
We do plan to just buy the formula they've been using at the care center for the time we're in Ethiopia and on the trip home, just to minimize the number of changes to his system until we're home and can handle them. We're also probably going to use cultured milk, rather than raw just to be extra careful (though I freeze my milk so that by the time I use it, the farmer has already used it and would have notified me if there were any issues with it). We're dealing with vaccination questions as well, which I'll probably post on (I'm not anti-vaccination, but do have concerns).
If you want more information on all this, visit the Weston A. Price Foundation or read Nourishing Traditions - I promise it will be interesting, even if you don't agree! And I won't be offended by any questions, either!
Monday, January 5, 2009
They're off!
This morning, at 6 am, my little sister Lisby left for India! She's going with two friends (one is my "sister" Vicky) to a girl's home to work and live for 6 months. We'll miss her a ton (and there were lots of tears last night) but we're so proud of her for taking this huge leap of faith and going where she can be used and can give to everyone around her. Thank you to everyone who is praying for them - I know there are lots of you! You can follow Lisby, Vicky and Kara's adventures at http://nfcindia.wordpress.com/
Lisby and Aidan
Lisby and Vicky
Again . . .
Lisby and the kids before the wedding this summer
Lisby and Aidan
Lisby and Vicky
Again . . .
Lisby and the kids before the wedding this summerTuesday, December 30, 2008
Christmas 2008
Bridget with her new stroller
Bridget with her new slippers at Grandma and Grandpa's (with Uncle Cole)
Lisby, Conner and Vicky on Christmas morning
New sword and hilt
Stefan's sister Sonja and her husband Eric
Poppop with Bridget and Sage . . . there have never been two cuter girls!
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