Heellloooo!!

I'm still here! Took a little blogging break for a while. Stay tuned for a Desi-centric blog post about wrapping up our first year home!

I just wanted to show you something that I've been working on! You may remember from this post that I've begun to fancy myself a bit of a furniture-restorer-type. I'm falling in love with reupholstering old treasures and turning them into something new, fresh and wonderful. Well, I'm broadening my horizons! Here's what I took on...

I found this not-so-little treasure at the Goodwill Store by my office...

Awfully pretty as-is wouldn't you say? Look at the original hardware!!! Seriously!

But I wanted more for this piece. It needed a makeover. So I downloaded an ebook from a wonderful blog that I happened upon called Perfectly Imperfect.

(I believe I discovered it through Pinterest...have you heard of it? My new addiction!)

So, with a little bit of elbow grease and a lot of sweat (it's hotter than Hades here in Indiana) I managed to transform this piece into this.....

Drum Roll Please!

I picked the color, Roycroft Pewter, from my favorite paint place, Sherwin Williams...LOVE my SW!

I'm telling you, I feel like a proud mama. I think it really turned out nice. I'm selling it by the way...on Craig's. You might wonder why I wouldn't keep it for myself? It was never my intention. I'll be sad to see her go, but it's meant to be. I have nowhere in my house for her anyway!

So that's it! That's what I've been doing while not-blogging. I do promise to give you a recap of our first year with Desi...soon.

Love,

S

PS: stay tuned because there's a new blog in my future...less about the Poe Fam and more about design, refurbs, yada, yada, yada. I hope you'll follow it!

One Year Can Make A Big Difference....

Today marks the 1 year anniversary since we saw this sweet little face.....

Of course, looking at this picture brings up some strange feelings. We knew nothing of her except for the small amount of information that our referral offered. A beautiful tiny little girl, just 14 months old. She weighed less than 17 pounds and was 28" tall. She was a bit older than we were expecting for our referral, but we prayed and talked about it and decided that we accept the referral and make her ours!

For the next 3 months we could only imagine about what she was like. We really knew so little. We only received one update on her the whole time we waited!

So what kind of difference can a year make??? Well, she saw Dr. O. yesterday for her 2yr. Well Baby Check-Up and all I can say is...this girls is definitely getting adequate nutrition!!! She now weighs 30lbs!! That 75th percentile, people! She wasn't even on the chart when we took her in for her first visit in August! She is now 34" tall, which is 25th percentile, so she's a shorty.

So here she is today...a sweet, cheerful and LOVING little girl! And her new birth certificate arrived too with her new official name!

You gotta love the fro!

Oh Joy! We Have New Friends!

The world has a funny way of getting really small sometimes. And of course, the internet and sites like Facebook [which I love and am obsessed with] keep my world nice and small and I like it that way! But this post is not about social networking...

Another world-shrinker would have to be adoption. I mean, before we adopted I felt like we knew very few people who had done it and now? It's like everyone we know is adopting! We also know a lot of families who are doing Ethiopian and African adoptions which is great since we really want Desi to have friends who she can relate to and share her adoption experience with. And it looks like she's going to have plenty of friends just like that! [not to mention a couple of solid prospects for a future husband!]

I think it's incredibly amazing that Desi's crib-mate at the orphanage in Addis was adopted by our good friends, the Fousts! And now she gets to grow up with this little cutie!

This week we made a new friend...make that, new friends. This new friendship came about after my world started shrinking and shrinking and shrinking! Here's how it went...

After we were about a year into our adoption process I found out that one of my good friends, Ali, from my hometown in Missouri was also adopting from Ethiopia. We were using Bethany Christian Services, they were using Holt. We traveled to get Desi in late July, they traveled to get their little guy in late August. At some point Ali had told me that there was a family from our area that was in her travel group....

Well, not long after I got home I got a message from a work colleague who knew of our adoption. He said that his wife had a friend who had recently returned from picking up her son from Ethiopia and he wanted to pass along my info...I said, sure! All I knew was that her name was Joy and she had my info.

The wheels in my brain started turning and I wondered..."what if this could be the same person that Ali knows?" so I emailed Ali and asked if her travel cohort was named Joy. Wouldn't you know? It was! This had to be the same person. Small world, eh? I still didn't have Joy's info but I was hoping that she would contact me. What a crazy coincidence!

Some time passed and I hadn't yet heard from this Joy. So one day I show up at my dentist appointment and my friend, Shannon, is there. She just stopped by to see her mom who works in the dentist's office. We are chatting for several minutes before the receptionist interrupts us and asks me if I think that I have an appointment. I'm like, "uh, yeah." She checks....I'm a week early!! I'm not suppose to be there. Before I go, Shannon tells me that she has a friend in her Bible study who recently adopted from Ethiopia and that she told her about me. I say, "Is her name Joy?" and she tells me it is! I'm like, "seriously! This girl just keeps dropping on my radar! I have to meet her! I think it's meant to be!"

When I got home I emailed Ali and told her I needed Joy's info because I was going to contact her! I had to! Well, I got in touch with her and found out that she had been having the same situation where people were telling her about this girl named Shannon who adopted a little girl from Ethiopia....isn't it hilarious?!

We finally got to get together last week and it was so fun! Since it was the snow week from hell I had to take all 3 of my kids to her house! [I was a little worried that we might not get invited back! after a whole week stuck in the house together the kids were starting to act like wild animals! They did great, by the way] Turns out that Joy has 3 kids herself and they were each one perfectly matched to my kids so everyone had a playmate for the play date!

[side note: Joy has an awesome play room! My kids were in Heaven!]

Her little guy is so sweet and handsome!

I'm looking forward to lots of fun dates with this crew!

I think I might be going crazy!

...like thinking about doing something that will surely get me in big trouble with myself!

I got this idea in my head. An idea that I have already promised myself I should not and would not entertain! But here I am...thinking about it and I've already acted on it! I want to say, "stop it!! just don't ever do it again! Let it go!" And yet, I can't.

The idea?? The horrible horrible idea???

[I'd love to know what you THINK it is....]

Well here it is..."hey, I think that I might be able to potty train Desi. I mean, sure, she's only just turned 2 (so we think) and according to adoption professionals she really more like a 6 month old to us...and she can't speak English, and I don't actually know how much English she understands, and there are those other issues [the ones that haven't made it to the blog yet...]. But she's smart and I think that if she would just go on the potty a couple of times she'd really get it! Yes, I think I can and should attempt to potty train Desi..."

Go ahead and say it...."what are you thinking, Shannon?!" Ryan has already tried to convince me that it is a bad idea. I don't actually need convincing that the idea itself is bad. I know this. I need convincing to STOP TRYING TO POTTY TRAIN HER!

So, if you know me, then you know that I am not a potty trainer. I tried to train Jake and it was a disaster. I gave up and waited. He figured it out on his own and he wasn't 5 or anything. [39 months in case you were wondering and I can count on 1 hand how many poop-in-the-underpants moments I've had to endure.] So I'm not really much for the try-it-before-they're-ready method. In fact, I follow more in the school of "I'd rather just change a diaper a few times a day than have to worry about my furniture, carpet, clothes, etc. getting pooped and pee'd on."

I didn't potty train Emily either. She learned it on her own, or maybe big brother inspired her. She was barely more than 2 when she figured it out! So, I've had it pretty good. Maybe that is why I'm being such a fool about this...I don't really know how bad potty trainging can be! Maybe I'm in denial.

I have myself convinced that if I can just get her to poop on the potty a couple of times then she'll just figure it out and start doing it on her own. But in order for her to poop on the potty, I have to get her on there at just the right time. And how on earth do I know when she's about to poop? The best clue I have is that after she poops she grabs her diaper and says, "stinky". But it's too late by then. So what do I do??? I stalk her. For the last 2 days I've been following her around hounding her about not pooping in her diaper and asking her if she needs to "make a stinky??" I've also tried sitting her on the potty in the morning and after nap to hopefully catch her at just the right moment...which really means that the poor kid has to sit on the potty when she doesn't have to go...

Here's the other problem...she's super stealthy about pooping. She makes no faces, no "going off by herself" no grunting, NOTHING. She's just playing and carrying on as usual and then BAM, your nose lets you know that she's done it. This is something I am not used to. Jake and Em made epic drama every time they pooped! Case-In-Point...

Just look at this adorable picture of Emily. Awww....how cute! She's doing a push up! Is she trying to crawl??

No! She is pooping! They would cry and grunt and push for like 30 minutes [and believe me, I'm kicking myself for not buying stock in Miralax when she was born...] I had tons of time to get them to the potty, no problem!

But not with Desi. The other evening I had spent quite some time sitting in the bathroom with her on the potty. We played peek-a-boo and patty cake until I was bored to tears and my bum wa numb from sitting on the side of the tub. Finally I had to make dinner so I got her down. We would try again after dinner. I hadn't even cleared the dishes before Ryan's telling me that at some point during the meal she pooped her diaper! What??? Are you kidding me??? All that time in the bathroom and she poops in her diaper at the dinner table!! NO WAY.

We did a couple of small victories. When I got her up from her nap and her diaper was dry I put her on the potty and after a while [by the way, she doesn't seem to mind being on the potty....I think I could leave her there for hours and she wouldn't fuss...don't worry, that's not the plan.] she pee'd! I clapped and cheered. And a couple of days ago she was on there long enough to get a little poopoo out! [claps and cheers again]....although about an hour or so later she finished that one in the diaper...sigh.

So here I am. I feel like on one shoulder is a little mini-shan saying, "just stop. It's too early. it's not going to work! You are going to get yourself in trouble! NOT WORTH IT!" But on the other shoulder is another mini-me saying "she's smart. she'll get it. just try for a little longer. It will be SO worth it!"

What to do? WHAT. TO. DO?

Hair! Not sure I'm ready for this!

So, during the months before we left for Ethiopia to get Desi, I spent a lot of time thinking about her hair. ...did a little research, but mostly just felt like I was going to be totally inadequate with her hair! Now, you may not know this, but I am not a fussy mommy. I will ALWAYS choose comfort and ease over frilly and fussy. Emily hates for me to even touch her hair, so even if I wanted to put bows and pretties in it, she wouldn't let me! I suppose I'm the reason she got that way....I digress.

So, back to Desi and wondering what I would do with her hair...well, when we got to Ethiopia the point became moot [or at least delayed] because here's how she looked.....

One one hand..."whoa! they shaved her head! Was that really necessary? How will anyone tell that she's a girl?"

[the answer is, yes, it was necessary...she had ringworm on her scalp. ew.]

On the other hand..."well, at least I don't have to cross that bridge right now!"

So we started from scratch.

6 months later we have a HAIR DO! It's not much, but it's the first time I've gone beyond a hair band!

I know this is just the beginning....pray for me!

[by the way...it's really hard to photograph little afros! these are the best of about 15 shots I took! ]

First Steps...

....when we went to Ethiopia we didn't know if Desi could walk. It was kind of crazy. Luckily, I got to see her "first steps" in Ethiopia. What a relief![not technically her actual first steps, but the first steps she would take in front of me to prove that she could walk. Sadly, Ryan missed it because she was being a major booger at the time, which was understandable....]

But this post isn't about that kind of first steps. It's about Indiana First Steps. Our state's early childhood intervention program to get little one with developmental delays help. Our pediatrician recommended we have little D evaluated right away, which would have been a huge mistake, but within my adoption community I was encouraged to wait and give her a little time to adjust and get more comfy with her new environment. Since I am a fantastical procrastinator, I chose the latter advice and put off the eval until after the holidays.

On Monday morning a couple of really nice and helpful ladies stopped by the house to do the evaluation. They played and interacted with Des to see how she was doing developmentally. I was kind of worried about how D would do...she tends to go stone cold around strangers. But to my surprise she seemed very at ease with these ladies and did really well! Yay Des!

Really, my only concern about her development has been her language delay. I know I'm not suppose to be comparing her to other kids, but I was starting to get pretty worried that she wasn't picking up more English...I'm still not sure that she's where she could or should be. But my real motivation to have her evaluated was to see if we could get her some low cost speech therapy. After the evaluation I had this gut feeling that they weren't going to qualify her....they seemed a little befuddled by her.

The outcome of the evaluation was that she is really doing very well! They had no major concerns at all! Even though I really wasn't worried, it was very nice to hear them say it! Puts my mind at ease.

Oh! and by Wednesday I got the call that she qualified!!! [hands clapping!] So we are going to get to take advantage fo some sessions with a professional! I think it will be excellent to have a 3rd and impartial party work with her. Takes a lot of pressure off of Ryan and I, I think.

...to completely bring you up-to-date, [since I'm struggling to get 2 blog posts out in 1 month...sorry!] I also filed the paperwork to finalize our adoption here in the states and legally change Desi's name. I'm waiting for the official documents to come back so I can get her a SSN and be DONE DONE DONE with paperwork!


Also, since I'm on a roll with the up-to-date stuff...check this out....
I actually sold her a few weeks ago. It felt good to see her go to a good home! I'm on to a couple of new projects....one is a sweet little Craigs List treasure that I'm very excited about! Maybe I'll show you sometime soon.

Okay! That's it. You are pretty much caught up! Maybe I will try harder to not wait until I have a pile of random thoughts to post...maybe. Let me treat you to a few pics from January 2011. I can't believe that it's almost February! What??? And we are almost to the 6 month anniversary of being home with Desi! This blows my mind. Crazy! Where is the time going?

Here are a couple of shots of Desi reunited with her little ET friend, Amaya. Desi was kind of a dud at the playdate. I think that she is somehow confused by Amaya. I'm sure she'll become more comfortable with time. The second picture really captures her demeanor....

Little flowers....

Bath time fun...bubble beards...this pic of Em cracks me up.

Had to edit this one just a bit to make it more G rated...but seriously the best part of the pic is under the heart.... I feel I must apologize for the lack of Jake pics in this post...I'll try to get more shots of his cuteness to share. He really is so handsome.

2010 Wrap Up!

Well I'm exhausted!

In fact, I've been working on this blog post for a while and kept getting sidetracked! Latest obstacle...the nasty flu! Blast You, flu germs!!

We certainly ended 2010 with a bang! What a year! It's hard to believe that the excitement started all the way back in April when we received our referral for a sweet little 14 month old girl. We decided to make her ours and by the end of the year we were celebrating her First Christmas and her 2nd birthday!

Des has really grown and changed so much since we stepped off the plane in early August. She's put on a ton of weight [maybe setting some sort of record.] and grown a head full of hair! [One of my new years resolutions should have something to do with learning how to style her fro! ] Plus she's really letting her personality blossom as well! The only thing we wish we were gaining more ground on is speech. But we're getting her evaluated for Indiana First Steps and hoping she'll qualify for some speech therapy.

I hadn't written about it before, but in October we ended up hiring a friend of ours, Emily, to nanny for us for 2 half days per week when I went back to work. We thought it would be best for Desi to be at home when I'm at work and we kept Emily home with her. It's been so good and the girls adore Miss Emily! She is a huge blessing!

Des got home just in time for a whirlwind of holidays including Emily's 3rd Birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and her own birthday! She's probably thinking that all we do is celebrate and party around here!

December ended up being quite the month! I did a lot of baking, which is one of my favorite parts of Christmas! As usual, the Christmas shopping got me really stressed out. I swear that every year the shopping is "this close" to ruining my Christmas! There must be a better way! I also loved having Jake home on Christmas break. I've missed having him around during the day this year. Big 1st grader. One positive of him being at school is that it's given me, Em, and Des some girl time! I think that only having each other to play with has been good for both Emily and Desi.

Here are some pics of our Christmas Celebrations and Desi's birthday! If you're my facebook friend you can check out more pics over there on my page!

The kids all dressed up before the Christmas Eve worship gathering....

Emily in her new leotard and tutus... Jake's favorite...wii games.

Desi did great with all the presents!

On the 26th we loaded up the van and drove to Missouri to spend time with my family. The kids had a great time with their MO cousins!

[and by great I mean LOUD.]

Em and Desi with Papaw Whitten

Hanging out in the TV room. Des and Hay were like peas and carrots all week!

Opening presents...

Em and Papaw Vinny.

That's a pretty crazy look that Des is shootin' at Cody!

Desi getting snuggles from Papaw Vinny.
We also got to go visit some good friends who also adopted from Ethiopia this year! The world really can be rather smallish. This is Ade. If long distance relationships work, this might be the beginning of something beautiful!

And this is the face that I refer to as the "stinky face". It makes frequent appearances..especially when cameras are involved. While you can't see it in photos....the right eye actually twitches during "stinky face"....nice.
Desi's birthday is December 31st. We spent it in the van...oops. We did have a pre-birthday celebration in MO with my family and a post-birthday celebration back home with our Indiana people.

I made the cake...kind of ghetto, no? It's not that I didn't try...

Desi with Papaw Sonny.

Another highlight of the year was when our good friends, The Fousts, brought their little girl home from Ethiopia. [I told you the world gets small-ish sometimes.] I'm sure in previous posts I mentioned that their daughter, Amaya, was Desi's bedmate at the orphanage in Ethiopia? Yes, super cool, I know! I can't wait for our first playdate! [which would have been TODAY had it not been for the blasted flu!!]

So that's the wrap up on 2010! On to 2011!