Family Day...

Quite appropriately, our 9 month 'Meron Day' celebration fell on Memorial Day. We went to the cemetery where my ancestors are buried and introduced Meron to her great great great grandparents. I wonder what they would have thought of her. I imagine they would definitely have been surprised. Mer has been with us for 9 months now. I am now the mother she has known the longest. I know I say this all the time, but I am continually amazed at how much she is changing and how much more she is trusting us. Tonight we went to a small town near here so Nathan could test some of his taekwondo students. After the test (during which Mer yelled with all of the kids, laughed whenever someone couldn't remember something and said 'Sir!' when all of the kids did), I was chasing her around the gym. It was lots of fun, because it was such a big space. She was laughing so hard she was almost crying! It struck me that I had never heard her laugh that hard for that long before. She laughs so much more now. It is just amazing to think that for the first three months we knew her we never got a laugh out of her. Then, it was only what we called her 'fake laugh.' It was very forced. She finally really started truly laughing when we tickled her after she had been home about 4 months, but she still didn't laugh much or for long. I am so happy that she is blossoming into such a happy little girl with such an infectious laugh. I am so glad that she isn't scared all the time any more. I am so grateful that she is starting to trust me to be her mom.

Sweetness

You'll notice that most of the pictures lately occur outside. That is because even though it is almost 90 degrees outside, it is much cooler than the inside of our house. And heat makes Miss M CRANKY! It is okay, though. I'm turning redder, she's turning browner, we're not mad at each other, and I've been getting at least a little weeding done. It isn't that easy, because she thinks it is fun to try to sneak out of the yard. That means I spend a lot of time chasing her. We even ate lunch outside yesterday, because I couldn't face the thought of her yelling at me while I cooked. So, we had crackers, cheese and apples outside. We both had a wonderful time.

Because Meg wouldn't stop bugging me about needing to post...

Okay, I don't mean to brag... I mean, we all know my daughter is gorgeous.... but COME ON! I love these pictures so much! I also love that I took some 'spring pictures' of our house and yard last year, (click here) but I think it looks much better with the addition of a little person to sniff all of the flowers. If you look very closely at the last picture, you can see Meron drawing on the porch with sidewalk chalk. Although... I guess I notice a lot fewer weeds in the pictures from last year, and the grass doesn't seem to be quite as long. I should take before and after pictures of the inside of our house!! Naw... we'll stick with the before and I'll pretend that is what it still looks like... Nathan and I have a great deal of sympathy for single parents now. We are both essentially single parents at this point because of the way we have our schedules worked out (to avoid daycare). We are never both home at the same time except for between the hours of 11:45pm and 6:15am. So, when are we supposed to mow the lawn? I could shovel when I got home from work all winter, but I somehow don't think our neighbors would appreciate lawn mowing at midnight... I keep thinking maybe it is time for Meron to start going to daycare a couple of times per week... but then I think about how much I would miss getting to spend all day with her!

Noro Noro :: ኖሮ ኖሮ

Noro Noro :: ኖሮ ኖሮ from munit mesfin on Vimeo.

Munit Mesfin was born in Ethiopia. Mer LOVES this song. Enjoy!

In which Meron has some fun on the farm and Mama makes a heart felt, though possibly not wise, decision.

We had a fun day with Grandma and Grandpa again- I mean, who doesn't love to chase chickens? Sometimes I'm sad that Mer won't grow up on a farm like I did. It really is a pretty nice thing to walk out your door and see nothing but green. When she goes to the farm, she has chickens to chase, eggs to collect, kitties to chase and unlimited space to run around. She has a blast.

The pergola she is standing on is the one that my dad built for Nathan and I to stand on at our wedding. It is still in the same place, and it kind of shocked me to see Mer on it. Five years ago, when we were standing on that hill being married, I would never have imagined where our life was headed. How could I think up anything as good as Meron? Her language is really taking off lately. She is talking all the time and singing and repeating everything we say. Time to take the no swearing thing seriously, I guess. I mean, I always attempt, but I'm going to have to try harder.

In honor of my first mother's day (which I actually spent working) I got a tattoo. It is the amharic word for mother - enat and is written in the Ge'ez script. It is in a rather visible place... which kind of freaks me out. I got it in brown ink so that Mer and I would both have a little bit of brown, and I want her to know that I'm proud of my little bit of brown skin. Besides, I can always wear my hair down, and my Grandma will never know... oops... grandma reads my blog. Don't freak out Grandma.

Love that sunshine...

Mer's first swim suit experience. Pretty darn cute.

Today it is World Aids Orphan Day. After visiting Ethiopia, this has become an issue very dear to my heart. It is one thing to read the statistics, but another to see all of those faces that the statistics represent. Please take a moment to visit Erin's blog, (click here) read about HIV facts, and join her 'Tell Two" campaingn. Just tell two people what you have learned. You can also read about two of her children who were adopted from Ethiopia and are HIV+.

I can't wait until I can understand everything she says...

At the Zoo with Grandma and Grandpa

We went to the little zoo in a city near where we live for a little Grandma and Grandpa time. It was seriously fun. Those who know me well know that I actually hate zoos. I love to look at the animals, but I feel so bad for them. This zoo is worse than many because they try hard but don't have much room. The animals are a little bit cramped. It is interesting, though, because you can get SO close to the animals. Like, the Siberian tiger. There is just a small fence that i could easily climb over, about 3 feet of ground, and then the tiger's cage. If I wanted to, and was stupid, I could stick my fingers in and pet him. Plus, there are birds wandering all over the place. Mer had tons of fun chasing the ducks around a tree. Best of all, Meron got to see the penguins. She is known for her love of the movie "Happy Feet" and was SO EXCITED to see the penguins. You can see how close she was to them in the pictures. In the ones where she is hanging over the water, the penguins are just out of frame. Maybe 4 feet away from her, swimming around trying to get their lunch. After all of the excitement and Meron learning how to make a peacock sound, we had a picnic on the lawn in front of the zoo. I was a little stunned when I looked over at Meron and watched her eating an egg salad sandwich. I mean, just holding a sandwich and eating it. How did she get that big already? I didn't get many pictures, because while I did remember my camera, the batteries died on and off. Ooops.