What we've been up to....

Thanks to all for the good wishes and words of support. We appreciated them so much. For those who are interested... here is what we've been up to....

And... just for the record... we call him "Dooter" not Duder. Because he says "Doot". A lot.

Pictures... Becoming a family of 5

So.... I don't really know where to start. The trip really did go as well as we could have hoped. Yenenesh was really excited to see us and took my hand right away to take me up the five flights of marble stairs to her room, where someone had hung a poster of our family above her bed. It said, "Congratulations Yenenesh and Melese on becoming part of the Schutz Family!" and they had Photo Shopped a picture of her and Melese into our family. We were buddies right away, and the only time she really got upset was when we got back to the guest house the first night. She cried for about 10 minutes while I held her, and then she wanted to play with the play dough I brought for her.

We were really worried about Melese, because he HATED Nathan the first time we went. He cried right away when he saw us and any time he felt like we were paying too much attention to him. He absolutely lost it when they put him in the van on Nathan's lap... but as soon as the van started moving he stopped. And from that moment on Melese and Nathan have been inseparable. That night, Melese had to sleep on Nathan's chest the whole night. And little man is heavy. Like, seriously heavy and compact. Nathan describes him as a sweaty medicine ball.

We did fine. Melese got a little better every day. The first day Nathan couldn't put him down at all. By the second day, Melese would grudgingly walk back and forth 'delivering things' between people. On the third day he was running around, kicking the ball and playing. He has been doing GREAT since we got home... although the airplane was a little awful for the half hour it took for everyone to board.

We had a great time staying at my parents' house. The kids got along really well and there was much squealing, running and playing. It was really lovely. When Mer woke up and saw Yenenesh, they just smiled and giggled at each other for about five minutes.

Now that we are home, things are okay. Hard. Crazy. Chaotic. Funny. Silly. Playful. Jealous. Yenenesh, who was incredibly well behaved, sweet and compliant the entire trip, has suddenly begun testing. Like, she won't wear any of her clothes, use her own things, etc. Whatever Mer has, Yeni wants. It is hard. Picking battles, choosing sides. She has been having 15-20 minutes crying fits for things such as wanting Meron's orange cup instead of her pink one (that she had picked out). But... that's getting better too. The first melt down was on the way home when she wanted pop and not water for lunch. That one lasted an hour and a half. The latest ones have been more like 10 minutes. Hopefully she is starting to understand that she can catch more flies with honey... than with whining and really really fake crying(the kind where they forget they are supposed to be crying... but then remember and start again).

Mer has been a champ, and I've told her a thousand times how proud I am of her. It is really hard to go from being Queen of All She Surveys to needing to share with a sister who can be extremely unreasonable and a brother who is really little and needs help with lots of things.

So... things are okay, and getting better fast. It is hard learning to be a family of five. Here's to hoping we're quick learners....

Home!!!

More later, because I am going to bed while I still have time to sleep before the kids (!) get up. Things went great. The kids are wonderful. Meron will meet them in the morning. Pictures tomorrow... I have some seriously pretty babies.

Day 4 Good Morning Mimi!

Day 3 Goodnight Mimi!

Mimi

Day 2 Good Night Mimi! (singing 'The Moon')

Mimi!

For Mimi!

For Mimi

In Amsterdam...

We're waiting for our flight to Kenya, from there on to Addis (I wish they would just let us parachute out when we go over Ethiopia... seems a shame to fly right over it and then have to fly back. We are excited. And nervous. And scared. And excited.
Hugs to Meron... We miss you so much! We'll be home soon with your brother and sister!

For Mimi... And nobody else.

Good Morning Mimi

Big news....

We really had decided that there was no way we were going to get to Ethiopia before February now. Until we got a call from our agency this morning advising us that the Embassy has confirmed our appointment for January 18th. Which meant we had 24 hours to pack, get tickets, get the house ready, get everything ready at work for us to be gone on leave for an extended period, drop Meron off with my parents and drive 6 hours to the airport. Ummm... yeah.
REALLY REALLY CRAZY AND EXCITING!!!
So, we got to my sister's house in St Paul at 2:30am and will be getting on a plane to New York at 1015am. From there we will go to Amsterdam and then to Nairobi before arriving in Ethiopia at 1240 in the morning on Monday.
Talk about roller coaster!!!
Barring disaster, next time you'll hear from us we'll be a united family of 5.

My mom and dad made some beds for the kids. Yeah, they're awesome. So for 3 nights now, our girl who ALWAYS slept with us for significant portions of the night has slept in her own bed. In her own room. All night long.
I miss her... but I'm so proud of her.
Sitting on the bed...

Practicing...

A little light reading...

And two more beds to fill up...


We are waiting for word on when we can go to Ethiopia... theoretically we should be leaving this weekend... but it is Wednesday and we haven't heard anything. Which.Is.CRAZY.
So... we wait with baited breath for the phone call and check our e-mail 1000 times a day.
We'll let ya'll know!