Todd Family Blog

Month 11, Part 3 - Christmas in Florida!

2012-01-24T13:22:00.000-08:00

Christmas in Florida and Levi's first trip to see Nanny and Papa! Levi and I were able to take an extra long vacation, almost two weeks, and Brad was able to join for the second week. This meant flying by myself with Levi on the way down. (Both of us in one seat! I woke up in the middle of the night wondering how I was going to keep my wiggly boy in one tiny airplane seat for two flights!) He was an angle though, and even slept the entire second flight. Thank you, Lord.

Obviously, Levi's wheeling carryon from Nanny and Papa (which I so stylishly wore as a backpack) was a huge hit.

Thank you, thank you to the kind flight attendant who found us a free seat for Levi on the second flight. I was struggling to hold his very tall body on my lap while he slept!

Levi loves Nanny and Papa's big tub! We weren't sure how this was going to go, but it was one of his favorite parts of every day.

Well, he loves it until I tell him he absolutely can't stand up in it. (Very slippery.) Not happy about that instruction at all.

Levi loved the beginning of our visit, but missed Dada a lot. This picture was after picking Brad up at the airport. Levi immediately fell asleep using Brad's sweater as a pillow. He looked quite content to have us all together again.

Thank you Nanny and Papa for having a basketball hoop!

This trip was Levi's first experience with a "Big Boy Bed"! It went well, though was beyond strange to see him stagger out of his room on his own now and then. What little boy doesn't want a race car bed though?

Levi's first walk to the beach and first time seeing the ocean! Going up the ramp with Papa...

He started out a bit too brave for his own good, as you'll see in the video. The rest of the visit he stayed very close or in my arms while at the beach. A healthy respect.

First moments and hence the reason he learned his lesson....

It was unseasonably warm the first week and we went to the pool four times. Levi was ready for anything with his getup.

Christmas Eve. Levi wore his first tie and vest and then spent the whole service in the "Cry Room" with me. I decided the "Cry Room" is really more like the "Wiggle/Play/Babble/Eat Room" and it was packed with little wigglers, all dressed up, like us.

Dinner at the club. Levi was a perfect little gentleman. Brad and Jenny came in that day and it was very exciting to have the whole family together for the first time ever.

Levi's first Christmas morning was much like his first birthday, if you remember that picture. As always, he wasn't sleeping well, and this particular morning he had been up since 4:30. (Thank you, molars.) By the time we started opening presents at 10:00 a.m. he wasn't interested in anything but a nap.

We tried valiantly to get through some Santa presents (in the Santa paper!) first. Still tearstained, Levi was nevertheless pleased to see a Wonder Pets book.

After an early two hour nap (the prefect amount of time for us to open our grownup presents), Levi was able to enjoy the wonderful gifts from Nanny, Papa and Aunt Jenny.

Here we go....This is when I know my Dad grew up in Kentucky. A cork gun for Levi, who was obviously well-pleased.

Aunt Jenny found a truly wonderful and special present during her time in Berlin this fall. When we were little we played with a very similar toy of my Grandma's (also Nanny!). And our favorite movie was Babes in Toyland. Jenny found this nostalgic toy which is also a music box playing Toyland. Levi was enthralled, especially since he always wants to know how things work. The best part of this video is towards the end when he quickly looks back to see if it twirls when he isn't looking. He still plays with it every day here at home.

Watching out the window with Dada on the flight home. So nice to all be together with two laps to share!

Month 11 with Levi, Part 2 - Everything before Christmas!

2012-01-20T17:26:00.000-08:00

When I look at all the pictures from this month I think, "No wonder everyone is always exhausted in December!" As I mentioned in my Month 10 post, Levi has officially become a little boy. Month 11 saw more and more evidence of that. First of all, what is it with boys and trains/trucks!? Goodness knows, this is not something I introduced on purpose. And Levi didn't watch any TV or read books before coming home to us, so it can't be early association with boy activities vs. girl activities. Once he got home he was practicing the Verdi Requiem with me, reading books and watching shows primarily about animals, and Brad certainly isn't working on cars in his down time. It is truly amazing how they latch on to these things. The bigger the truck he sees on the road, the louder he screams. Mom and Dad went ahead and got him the requisite train table since he loves it at Barnes and Noble, the Children's Museum, and every library. (And he's still never even seen the Thomas the Train cartoon! Just loves trains anyway.) So, yes, definitely a little boy instead of a baby.

More firsts: Loves pointing to toes and ears any time he hears them mentioned; has no problem learning sounds: Grrr, Buzz, Vroom, Quack (just still refuses to say most words - sigh); Can point to each of our dogs in pictures by name; Now attempts to do rhythmic or tonal patterns after every music class song we listen to, and has even done some for the teacher in class!; Consistently finds middle C (somewhat exactly, haha) on the piano; Opened the car door from the inside - oh no; Eating more on his own with utensils; Pointing, pointing, pointing at everything; Obsessive sometimes about cleaning up - books need to be stacked after being read, bath toys put in their holder, etc.

Sleep? Same old, same old. Enjoying my "No Hope" mentality and starting to treasure the fact that he cuddles with me still. Hard to be mad when the only thing that will make him feel better is winding his little arms as tightly around my neck as possible. Now, when he starts kicking me in the head or climbing out of bed at 2, 3, 5:00 a.m., etc. I have to take my deep breaths and count my wonderful blessings (which really isn't that hard either). So, turns out we weren't ever going to change his sleep, but I was going to have to change my mindset. Go figure. Note to self....

The best thing about having the world's biggest Children's Museum 30 minutes away? It keeps growing with him. I still haven't seen the whole thing and every time we go (about once/week) he tries out something new. The Indy race care is his latest obsession. (Shocking, I know.)

And a whole play area of rubber mulch. Genius.

First time playing with the boats/water in the Science Works.

The atrium all decked out for the holidays with the famous Yule Slide. (No, we didn't do it this year.)

Playing with our dear friends, Elias and Isaiah. They all love the train displays and the actual tool car you can get in. There is a video outside the window, so it looks like you are moving.

Fun downtown at the Eiteljorg's amazing annual Jingle Rails exhibit. More trains! Levi got to go twice - once with us and once with Nana and Grandpa, lucky boy.

And I didn't even know they have a whole kids' section downstairs! Maybe we'll be frequenting that more this year too.

As you can imagine, when Levi is attached to something - like his baby bathtub and bath time in general - we take change very slowly around our house. I figure, he's been through more than I probably will experience in my lifetime, so let's hang on to the baby bathtub as long as we need to. But this day, totally spontaneously, he put a leg outside of it. There was no turning back. He, himself, picked up the baby bathtub and pushed it out of the way against the back wall. Kind of a bittersweet moment, actually. An era had ended.

(Naked baby butt! Sorry, future teenage Levi!)

Great thing about the 21st Century is you always have a camera ready to capture the little moments.

Fun around the house.....

Levi LOVES riding on our backs, thanks to a funny song from music class. (Sung to a vaguely Middle Eastern tune: "I like riding...riding on the back...riding on the bay of a Mommy yak....")

But the best thing about this picture is that bird on the TV. What!?

He likes to get in his chair with a book now and then. Here he is pointing to the letters for "Levi" in an inscription! (Thanks, Browns!)

Reading Grouchy Ladybug with Grandpa

Fun with Dada

Every kid loves a box. Not sure Levi realizes how big he has become though.

A precious visit from our dear friend, Amanda Crisel. She, Nate and their new babe, James, now live in Tokyo! We miss them so much, and it was a very special moment to have our boys together for the first time.

Chair picture, Month 11. His vest and tie from Christmas Eve (next post!). Truly, my little man.

This game was big this month. Levi thought it was hilarious to put the tie of a sweatshirt hood, a necklace, something, in our mouths, we would then make a funny face and spit it out. Hilarity ensued.

Levi has a very unique wave that he has done for a long time now. He tucks a hand under his chin and gives the cutest little look. He now waves in a more normal way now and then, but this is still his go-to. I had to get it on video. You know one day it will disappear for good.

Month 11, Part 1 - Levi and his Doggers

2012-01-15T18:48:00.000-08:00

I got so overwhelmed when I saw all that happened in Month 11 that I decided it needed to be broken down. For once, the dogs are getting their own entry. There's nothing more to say about these pictures other than Levi had a lot of fun with his dogs this month (Thanksgiving to Christmas) and I took a lot of pictures. We just love those dogs so much for being great "brothers" and a "sister" to Levi. I truly think they would do anything for him.

Almost every day I look over and see Levi lounging on his doggie, Luke. Luke, our once hyper and nervous rescue, has found his calling in life.

Even Princess Gracie has become submissive with Levi. Of course, it helps that he can now toss her a ball and a treat.

One afternoon we had quite the party with the dogs in the kitchen. You'd think Levi was getting trampled, but he loves crawling under them. They are so gentle and careful not to step on him.

Trying to pull all the dogs together for a group hug.

Giving his Cal a treat and Cal saying thank you.

God bless the dogs for putting up with everything - being jumped on, ridden, hit, fur/ears/eyes grabbed.

Cuddling with Mom and Dad's Schnauzer, Mollie, in Florida.

Levi, Month 10

2012-01-14T14:00:00.000-08:00

Well, Month 10 was it. Early this month (sometime around the end of Oct./beginning of Nov.) he officially became a little boy. All of the sudden, somewhere around the end of 19 months-old the baby was gone. It's hard to know exactly why or how you know that, but I always knew that one day we would wake up and find a boy instead of a baby. Something about how he understands everything, even things you haven't taught him yet, kneels to play with his toys with no wobbling, starts to test out walking up stairs like a big boy, reaches up to hold your hand. We only got about 10 months of babyhood, but I'm grateful for every day of it.

New obsessions for the month: He can reach some light switches (which apparently only get more fun the more you turn them on/off - ah, blown fuses), puzzles and figuring out more advanced shapes, started waving bye without being asked, does small slides all by himself, points to lots of body parts, learned to ask for things by saying "Mama" instead of grunting or whining, strings a couple "words" together (like "umama" for "Up Mama"), can reach onto counters (sigh), very particular about turning books one page at a time and looking for his favorite pages, makes a dog noise like his German Shepherds ("Aroorooroo!"), bangs on the window (just like Mom does) to tell the dogs to stop barking. Ha!

Language is still tricky for Levi, but he's coming along well. It's going to take him more time than other little boys to verbalize the sounds for English thanks to not hearing it for his first 10 months, but he understands it all and adds more sounds/words all the time.

I discovered in our seemingly never-ending sleep, um, battle, that giving up hope can be it's own kind of hope. So, that is what I did in Month 10. I stopped trying to figure out what I could do to fix it, and gave in to milk during the night, his need to sleep with one of us in the twin bed in his room, the babbling at 5 a.m. (though I'm still not getting out of bed before 6:00), the thrashing, the wanting to get up and play at 2 a.m., etc. He's such a sweet and lovey boy, I'm trying to just enjoy the fact he wants to cuddle with us all night. Someday when he can communicate better we'll work on breaking any habits we've created. But at least we will know for sure that we have replaced every negative brain synapsed caused by every time someone wasn't there for him as an infant. I'll take that option.

The Month in Pictures:

First Halloween! The only obvious choice for a costume was a dog, of course. We had three events - Carmel Library, St. Luke's Trunk or Treat where we visited the Rawe's amazing display, and trick or treating at a few houses in Bob and Bonnie's neighborhoods.

First time wearing his costume, Carmel Library.

Then at St. Luke's Trunk or Treat with Maggie Rawe.

First time going up to doors. He was disappointed he didn't get to actually go inside.

We had to make a stop at the Smith's in downtown Zionsville to see baby Truman bundled for his first Halloween too!

Still lots of fun at the Children's Museum, especially when friends like Lincoln Hoskins join us!

We broke down and got a generic Pillow Pet. This smile is why those things are so ridiculously popular.

Brad's birthday! Celebrated with Paula Dean's recipe for carrot cake. The only way to go. Also tried a Sardinian lasagna made with polenta noodles! A keeper.

Pumpkin Fest at the Country Market! Amazing and creative display for the kiddos. We went twice.

This is a whole play area of dried corn! Genius!

Hay rides!

Picking out the perfect pie pumpkin

The beautiful fall weather continued and we kept enjoying all the gorgeous parks in the area.

Independent boy...sometimes, that is.

As some of you heard, I'm continuing the Searles' tradition of wrapping all Santa gifts in the same exact paper every year as long as possible. (My parents used the same paper for 15 years!) This means 40 rolls were bought for Levi at Target this year. That should last a while. (I guess I can't let him read this post, huh? Can't give away the secret!!)

Levi wearing his traditional Ethiopian shirt (and a Colts bib, of course) and enjoying Ethiopian food at the Ethiopian church's annual cultural celebration. We look forward to it every year.

Levi's first Thanksgiving! He had no problem understanding that the mission is to enjoy the food. But the best part was all four grandparents together at the same time.

First bites of Thanksgiving turkey. Love at first bite.

Levi's first taste of his dad's famous pumpkin pie - truly the best ever.

Reading with Papa

All the grandparents!

Working on our letters!

Chair Picture, Month 10

Levi eating his first orange slice. It was a huge hit, as you can see. Not sure why I didn't think of that before!

Singing an Ethiopian worship song at the cultural celebration at Grace Ethiopian Church. I'm always amazed by the crowd! Congrats to our friend, Chris Bell, for doing such a great job helping to organize it.

Eating Thanksgiving leftovers with the Todds, Bob couldn't get through his meal. Levi kept insisting we all pause for group hugs. What better way to celebrate being thankful this year?

For all you BU fans - the unveiling of the 2011 National Finalist tournament banner in Hinkle. We've been enjoying splitting season tickets with Bob this season.

Month 9 with Levi

2011-11-20T08:00:00.000-08:00

During Month 9 Levi became quite the little comedian. Like most little kids, he gets funny ideas and has a lot of initiative. I love seeing him come up with his own plans instead of what I expect or, yes, suggest. (So often my ideas are significantly inferior to what he has planned.) I mean, it is now obvious that toy boxes are for sitting in with dogs (stuffed, not real), hats/curtains/chairs/the side of the tub/strollers are all for peek-a-boo, saying "ssssss" is much more fun than saying "snake", and most obvious of all, basketball goals are for hugging....Oh, and peek-a-boo, too. But that goes without saying. And his favorite? Why should we all stand a few feet apart from each other when we could stand side by side and have group hugs? Pulling us into group hugs is his is best idea of all.

It was a strange month in a way too. We had two 18 month apt.'s with both his pediatrician and the international adoption clinic. They all do a great job, but it feels he is very under the microscope. Everyone is so afraid they are going to miss something due to his harder start in life. So, after two long checkups (he's now in the 5% for weight and 90% for height - big progress!!!), we are then sent to the eye doctor (NOT fun to dialate a 19 mo-old's eyes!!! He's very strong and pinning him down is just no fun. Turns out his left eye is a bit weak, but should fix itself. Now we know.), had First Steps come out to evaluate his speech (They think he is just fine for a baby who hadn't heard English until he was 10 months-old, and that he is even ahead in some cognitive aspects. Check that one off.), and we are still supposed to see a hearing specialist. (Really, really, really don't think that one is necessary considering he hears dogs in the distance, sings all sorts of pitches, does all his consonants, etc. Sigh.) For one seriously happy, healthy child he is getting a lot of attention.

Brad had a lot of fun during this month on his dad's annual week-long fishing trip in Minnesota. That meant that my mom, "Nanny", came to stay for a week. A week with Nanny is always a blast! Levi was spoiled with attention from both his grandma's, Nana AND Nanny, that week.

Every month includes the sleep update. This month, just see Month 8, but add complete regression. Levi had a fitful month with lots of thrashing and twirling during the night, for some reason all against my head. (Once even dropping his full weight right on to my cheekbone!) And not only does he still sleep with me (or Brad on the weekend, or Nanny when she visits) from 11:00-ish on, but is now also getting milk in the middle of the night again. He's so, so, so active (NEVER stops moving) and growing all day, he just really needs the extra calories, I guess. So there we have it....Back where we started in month one. Oh well.

Fun firsts for the month:

Funny new "wave" where he tucks his hand under his chin and smiles; has started using Legos correctly (yes!); jumped in leaves; can point to almost any animal in his books; caught a ball a few times in a row!; got off the ground more when jumping; used some of his words a bit more (up, cat), but "A dog!" is still his favorite; strung a couple words together with "Mama, A Car!" (sounds like "Mama, A Da!"); Said his first animal noise: Ba for a sheep; can hold a squeezable snack and not squirt it all over himself, me and the car. (Again, it's the little things.....)

First big bubble bath.

The correct way to play with his Butler Bulldog, he informs me.

Note the toes peeking out from the curtain

Fun with our best church buddies, Elias, Isaiah, and Jennifer. Elias and Levi are 5 days apart in age!

While Brad was gone Mom, Levi and I took a trip to Tennessee to see Great (Great!) Aunt AnaMay and (Great!) Aunt Jennifer. This one's a little blurry, but just so, so sweet.

Running around the front yard with mom and Cindy.

It's just been a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful fall. Lots and lots of fun. I'm discovering all the gorgeous parks that are only minutes away. How did I not know about these things before Levi came home?

Fun at Coxhall Gardens with Mom.

We had a fantastic day up in Crown Point with Elizabeth and Keith. They were kind enough to recreate their Oktoberfest feast for us since we, along with Tim and Steve, had to miss it.

Can't stand how cute this hat is - a gift from a student. Thank you McLean family!

I couldn't help snapping this - and they didn't even wake up, flash and all.

This is generally what Levi looks like - constant motion.

Chair pictures, Month 10!This is almost what our chair picture was. Convincing him to pose in a chair is just not part of his plan.

Levi loves Aunt Jenny! He has a picture of her in his room and likes to carry it around.

If there is a basketball goal nearby, Levi will be running to it...and eventually hugging it.

Levi was just a piece of work one night while mom and I were cooking dinner. He put on quite the show for us.

Levi's Greatest Hits - Peek-a-boo with a hat, stomping, twirling and jumping. (Sorry I have to set the camera down a couple times. Takes two hands to put on his hat, apparently.)

I know I've mentioned a couple times that Levi's favorite thing is a group hug. I don't know how many times he did this with mom and me in the kitchen that night. He would pull us together and then herd us up. So weird, but very cute.

Month 8 with Levi – Opinions, Opinions

2011-10-14T11:43:00.000-07:00

Ah, month 8. It made me nostalgic for the days when it was my way all day every day after we brought him home. I know it’s good and normal development and all, but he has SO MANY opinions! Opinions about what he’d like to eat, do, where the dogs should be, where he should be, if his booster seat is acceptable or not, how his toys should be played with, which books we should read, where he’d like to sleep, who should hold him, and on and on.

On the harder days we’ve been know to have 10 “Time In’s” (we can’t do time out due to orphanage stuff, so we hold him in a boring place under the stairs for a minute and talk about what went wrong) before 9:30 in the morning. (It’s possible that after that morning I cried through his bath. Sigh. Otherwise, I have somewhat maintained my composure.) Throwing food and toys or pulling mom’s hair are usually the big offenses. Tantrums have become a bit more frequent, though certainly don’t rule the day. But there are definite glimmers of the 2’s to come. I will say, “Time In” seems to be working as I’ve noticed a significant improvement in the throwing of toys over the month. So, there is some small victory.

We end “Time In” by saying (well, me saying for him) “Say, 'Aznalo – I’m sorry, Mommy' ”, and then we give a kiss. Of course, now he tries to end “Time In” by giving me a kiss right away. I manage a straight face 90% of the time, I would say. Another small victory.

This all said, he is really one happy boy. He is a big snuggler and his happiest moments are when we do a group family hug. In his best world of worlds we would all three move in unison, joined at the hip, all day long. Though he still wants Mommy he has become almost equally a Daddy’s boy. When he isn’t feeling well he ping-pongs between the two of us, not sure where to settle.

As for sleep…Well, I must admit some regression. As he has become more and more attached to us he just can’t stand to stay in his crib all night after waking up scared, teething, wondering if we're still there, etc. The only way we both are going to get any sleep at all is for him to spend half the night with me in the twin bed in his room. The only other option would be to soothe him literally all night long or let him throw a tantrum for hours while I stand by the crib (and he tries to propel himself out of it). At some point, we both just have to lie down and sleep. Any chance I get, if I happen to wake up, I try to return him to his crib while he sleeps. But honestly, I just don’t wake up that often once he is finally back asleep.

So, there you have it! Here are the firsts he LOVES this month: lots more dancing, brushing his own teeth, almost jumping (got off the ground once!), understanding pretty much everything, finding our car, stomping, the sign for "Touchdown!", eating with a fork, getting in containers, throwing balls or treats to the dogs, putting things away, Sandra Boynton books, bringing us his favorite books to read and finding his favorite pages in them.

Fun at the beautiful Cox Hall Gardens down the street. They have a mini village, tunnels, a giant sand "stream" for the kids. I would have died for this place when I was little!

Greeting Dexter the Boxer on our way in to the Metzings for brunch with Monique.

First time taking Nana to the Children's Museum with us

Trying out some sunglasses

Fun at the zoo with Elizabeth Mott and her twins. Thanks for taking us, guys!

Levi went crazy chasing the tiger, who was DEFINITELY chasing us too.

One day I blocked off the kitchen in order to clean a bit and keep the dogs out of my way. It became very obvious on which side of that baracade Levi would prefer to be. I see where I rank.

This was cute. We had a great time at the Greek Festival with Levi. He thought the children dressed to do their traditional dances were very cool. They were so sweet and came over to play.

One of the more important things Levi learned this month - how to signal a touchdown. Now if only the Colts could score one or two more a game!

The adorable and delicious cake Bob and Bonnie brought to celebrate Levi's 18 months on Sept. 11. (Same day as Ethiopian New Year, the Sunday of football, obviously the 10th anniversary of 9/11 - whew! Crazy day.)

Throwing an impressive tantrum at the park simply because I asked him to walk to me. Sigh. I sat down nearby and waited it out (can't do the walk away and ignore with a child who has spent time in an orphanage, so I do the sit down and look bored technique), but the houses behind the park must have thought someone was killing him.

Finally deciding the tantrum was less fun than he thought and he would walk the 10 feet to me.

We always enjoy our almost weekly visits to Connor Prairie, especially as the weather has cooled off and the fall has been so beautiful.

Our month ended with our first trip to urgent care (naturally when Brad and I were all dressed up and ready to walk out of the house to go to Elizabeth and Keith's Oktoberfest party)! Poor little guy - he had a fever of 103 and was literally screaming and doubled over in pain (thankfully, just stomach cramps from the fever). Over the next week he broke out in a terrible scabby rash from the fever as well, but has since made a full recovery. Scary, but a right of passage, right?

Chair picture, Month 8! So close to being a little boy instead of a baby.

Levi is working hard on his vocab, seeing that English is his second language. (I mean, when he came home he didn't even know "Mommy" and "Daddy", so he has come far!) This is his first animal sound, right as we are leaving Connor Prairie and seeing the animals. So fun to see it all start to click!

Month 7 with Levi (And some fun sans bebe too!)

2011-09-17T19:14:00.000-07:00

Month 7! How time is flying. As I write this month 8 is almost in the books too. At some point I guess I will have to stop doing posts that are themed, "Month Whatever with Levi." (If when he is 21 I'm saying "Month 240 with Levi" we can all say I've gone too far.) But for now, each month seems to separate itself with its own identity and firsts.

Levi's firsts for the month included: Actually started playing WITH other kids, not just beside them; opened the back door!; brings us things we ask for; knows which car is ours; pointed to my nose; built our first blanket forts; started saying "mamamama" and said "cat"; slept all the way through the night 2 nights in a row (hasn't happened since....sigh); hugs us tight around the neck A LOT; picked his own raspberries to eat in the garden; throws balls for the dogs; started rolling trains/cars; tried to do Itsy Bitsy Spider, loves to sweep and Swiffer; can use a fork pretty well!

Everyone always asks for the sleep update and there is really no new news. He's now slept through the night only 4 times total. Otherwise, I would say he wakes me up about 4 times a night, though it isn't infrequent for it to be as many as 7. Now and then he stays up for a couple hours here and there crying, or just dozes all night, thrashing around. Those nights I don't remember sleeping at all, though it must have happened at some point? His one nap runs from 1 - 2 hours, in general. We still need to answer every need, and when I think of all he has been through it isn't surprising he's still adjusting. He's one happy boy during the day though!

Enjoying his first "fort" experience

He also loves sitting in his chair like a big boy.

How our group has grown! We had a fun dinner at the Hoskins with the Metzings and Browns. Lots of kiddos!

Going to watch Grandpa Bob clog at the Boone County State Fair! Levi was determined to run up to the stage and join in.

Such fun to hide behind things and pop out at me.

At Tyler and Adrianne's annual cookout - Levi's first chocolate chip cookie. Obviously, a new love. A boy after my own heart.

Obsessed with Zoe the dog.

"What is this thing for?"

One morning we were lucky enough to have the splash park at West Park all to ourselves.

Holding his own cheese. Such simple things are such a big deal!

And no more tray - pulled up to the table like a big boy.

Saying goodbye to my dear student, Kirstin, before she heads to college.

Loving on Nanny, who came to help while Brad was gone on a guys' trip.

Taking Dad to The Children's Museum.

First time sitting on his own horse on the carousel.

So many uses for bowls and tupperware!

A play date with Polly, Adelaide, and Oliver! So great to see them as they passed through on their way to Louisville. Thank you, Ali and Wilson, for hosting!

First time at the lake and on a boat!

And on the tube!

The advantage to being the first ones up? Beautiful views of the lake. (I'm sure that is what prompted Levi to get up at 5:30. Not that it was light then.)

Early morning story with Great Aunt Judy. The older kiddos - Hayden and Mandy - seem to be enjoying too. Who doesn't love Dr. Suess?

Maybe I'll get some help with cleaning?

Brad's right - we've got to just get that saddle for Luke.

Chair pictures, Month 7! He's on to my tricks to make him smile. Very serious this time.

We've only been out without Levi (at night) 3 times, but one of those just HAD to be the State Fair with Tyler and Adrianne - our annual tradition. How can I turn down a night that ends with a fried brownie!?Amazing Lego displays of Lucas Oil Stadium, complete with the retracting roof....

....and The Speedway.

Our absolute favorite things are the oddities that have been judged. These identical alligators (?) in the collectible exhibit must be different somehow!

How do you judge bails of hay? This is completely fascinating to me. I've got to read the rule book.

Our dear friends, Keith and Kim, were in town from Canada and came over for a night. So great to catch up in person!

I had my first time away this month! I went to Chicago for about 36 hours for the bachelorette party of our friend, Alice (At 2nd City, on the far left in the first picture). It was a great time and Brad did just fine with LT in my absence. It was actually only AFTER I returned that Levi got fussy and seemed to realize that I had been away. It was like, "Where were you!?"

Food! I make a lot of pies during the summer - this one was to take on our lake weekend. Peach, because it's Bob Todd's favorite!

And THIS is what a tomato should look like. The glory of the Indiana summer: tomatoes out of your backyard that are red all the way through and taste so unlike any tomato you've had anywhere else that you wonder if you've ever even had a real tomato before. How I love them. My mom practically plans her summer visits around when the tomatoes ripen!

A couple more cute moments:
At the lake Judy brought Levi a balloon from the grocery store. Big excitement, followed by the somewhat predictable loosing of the balloon in the high ceiling, and the brave rescue by Bob.

There is no shortage of love between the boys - Luke, Cal and Levi. What those dogs will put up with! And when Luke has finally had enough he is even gentle about getting up and leaving, God bless, him.

Levi has many ways to let us know he is all done eating - the correct sign for "All Done", but also his own improvisation. This usually entails ripping his bib off. If there is no bib, he'll pull at his shirt. If there's no shirt, his skin will do just fine. He may not have many words yet, but he is still determined to communicate!

Month 6 with Levi

2011-08-13T19:19:00.000-07:00

Six months in! It was a big month of traveling firsts, 4th of July, and meeting lots of friends. Some of Levi's firsts included climbing out of his crib (Yikes! Thankfully, we could lower it one more level), swam in a pool, became obsessed with fans and lights, started waving (which looks more like a salute), threw his first (and thankfully only - so far) big tantrum. Books and dogs are still tops, sleep is still a challenge (though there is a good night here and there, which gives us a ray of hope), and 6-7 meals a day are still a requirement. He's definitely growing like a weed and seems somewhere between a baby and a boy, as you'll see. Of course, I choose to ere on the side of him being a baby so he doesn't grow up too fast on us!

Way back when, Ashley, Megan, Miriam and I were roommates in Alpha Phi at Butler. It's just like old times when we all get together, and we took the opportunity to celebrate Ashley and Pat's soon to be arriving baby boy!

The same day as our gathering above we flew out to Vermont for Levi's first visit to Nanny and Papa's. (That would be my parents!) We had a FANTASTIC week with gorgeous weather, hiking, cheese tasting, ice cream, rivers, animals, and general fun. We always love our time in Vermont.

Fun at the park. Levi became obsessed immediately with basketball! Every park we went to walked right up to the goal and tried to throw grass or mulch at it. And swinging is always a hit too!

First time in a river

Ice cream with Nanny

Meeting Oscar the Calf at one of our favorite cheese makers'.

Levi's first hike! He also went up the mountain with Nanny a couple times.

Not sure about this look....

We always stop at Dan and Whits General Store, where their motto is, "If We Don't Have It You Don't Need It."

My Boys!

This was so sweet and sad. Mom and I randomly started singing a goodbye song from one of Levi's shows coincidentally while Brad was going upstairs at mom and dad's. Levi apparently understands what the song means and his little face just crumpled as he watched Brad go. Brad had to come down and convince him he wasn't going anywhere. Attachment is definitely not an issue with Levi!

On the porch with Nanny and Molly. And I just realized that I don't have a picture with Papa! He was working hard on the Children's Choir Festival he arranged in Canterbury, England for this summer (which was a huge success!), but still found time to have lots of fun with us.

This was about 4:30 a.m. in a hotel room before our very early flight. Brad and Levi were so cute I just had to snap a picture.

Levi's first 4th of July! We started a tradition when we moved back to Indy of going to Symphony on the Prairie for the 4th. We always enjoy the Indianapolis Symphony's performance and the atmosphere at Connor Prairie. I think it may be thanks to our weekly music class, but Levi thought the music was fantastic and we did a lot of dancing. This year we were joined by the Yancey family and had a wonderful time in a shady spot right by the kids' park. It was especially sweet celebrating with Levi, one of the most recent US citizens!

Here, everyone is standing as the flag passes through the crowd.

Isaac enjoying his ice cream

All our boys stayed awake for fireworks. Levi loved them!

The weekend after we returned from Vermont and celebrating the 4th we took off for Chicago. Our wonderful agency, Children's Hope International (www.childrenshopeint.org), was having their annual reunion. We also have quite a few friends in Chicago and were able to get all the kids together for the first time. It was a wonderful weekend.

Walking along the river downtown where we stayed. I will say, it was challenging having a one year-old downtown. I felt like he had to stay strapped in all the time to keep him safe. But he enjoyed the pigeons, traffic, river and buildings!

While at the reunion we were able to finally introduce Levi to the woman who heads the Ethiopia program and who worked so hard to help us bring him home, Sharon Turner. She will always have a special place in our hearts!

The Chicago police brought a couple police horses for the kids to meet. They kindly stayed for a long time in the heat and the kids just loved it.

We had one tired boy after such an afternoon (dressed in his traditional Ethiopian wear)!

We tried to think of a dinner option out, perhaps with Levi sleeping in his stroller, but didn't want to risk a tired, grumpy baby. So, we had an elegant evening of Gino's East pizza and a movie at the hotel. (Don't worry - we put a serious amount of towels under that big deep dish on the white bedding, haha!)

Levi has had a very funny habit since we brought him home. We call it Baby Fish Mouth. (Call that movie, anyone?) He goes, as we like to say, dead behind the eyes, grabs our heads/hair and attempts to put our noses in his mouth. Very, very, very strange. He is a quirky one. It always makes me die laughing and I can't seem to fight him off.

The following day we had a wonderful impromptu brunch with the Schupperts and Mays at the May home. Thank you for hosting, Jeff and Ali!

Levi having fun with his new friends, Lucy, Haley, and baby Sydney (pictured below), and also baby Connor! Our group has grown!

A surprise visit from our friend Chad Brummett!

"I see you!" Peekaboo has evolved as the opening and closing of doors has become big.

Uh-oh. "Look what I can do now." And then his reaction below when I informed him that we would not be going outside at that moment. Ah, the drama. Thankfully, it doesn't last very long.

Preparing to climb over the arm of the couch, which he will do for long periods of time, over and over. At least it gets some energy out.

Dressed for his first time in a pool! Thank you, Browns, for inviting us and giving us the cool swimwear.

It was so kind when Brad's coworkers at Roche offered to throw us a shower. We were overwhelmed by everyone who attended and their generousity in time and gifts. Roche has given Brad so much support through this long, crazy process.

It had been a while since we'd been to the Metzings'. Levi loved playing with their Boxer, Dexter, and daughter, Lucy (who is going to be quite the babysitter in a few years). And I had to laugh when I walked in. I swear that Monique and I did not arrange our outfits before we arrived.

Chair Picture, Month 6. He was in a lounging mood that day and refused to sit up straight for me. But he still looks so grown up!

Looking back....So, that husband of mine, God bless him, had these pictures on his phone for six months and I didn't know it! These were taken moments after we arrived home with Levi 6 months ago (and right before we both fell asleep on the couch as if we were in a coma - Oy, that 29 hour trip!). Seemed appropriate to share them for Levi's 6 month anniversary home.

One night at Mom and Dad's Levi figured out how to sit on a riding toy all by himself. This got lots of applause, so the trip off and on the toy got shorter and shorter, so as to get to the applause faster.

A normal morning with Levi. His favorite activity other than jumping on the dogs or reading books.

Levi at Home, Month 5

2011-07-19T10:42:00.000-07:00

Me and my boy. We do have a lot of fun all day every day! I already feel it going too fast and am trying to soak up every little moment. It's hard to believe that all too soon he won't want me to hold him all day every day, tickle him, give him kisses, and snuggle at night. (Yes, sleep continued to be a trial in month 5. I was still sleeping in his room every night and he always ended up in bed with me for at least a chunk of the night. Some transition issues still, but mostly teething.) At only 5 months home he already seemed somewhere between a baby and a little boy. So, I'm definitely making the most of it while it lasts. Below is more of my babbling and this month's pictures....Month 6 coming soon, as it is now almost over. Yikes!

Working in the garden with me. We set up a pool with sand in it, but he would much rather pull up plants. I'm looking forward to the day when I can explain what is a vegetable and what is a weed!

Our first feverish sick day. Other than one cold, Levi has been very healthy since he got home. Then in the middle of the night one night I woke up to find him very hot. His fever was around 102, but there was nothing to worry about. Just a 24-hour fever going around with the babies, the doctor said. Sure enough, later that day he was fine. But it was the first time he wanted to lay on the couch for hours on end. That was strange to see! He LITERALLY never stops moving on a normal day! So, I snapped this with my phone as we watched some Yo Gabba Gabba.

Miriam and Brian came over to witness Levi's new walking skills and then (more importantly) for some grownup time. Yum, Delullo's pizza followed by a bourbon tasting. (Well, Miriam and I stuck to wine. The boys enjoyed their bourbon, at least.)

Best decision since we brought Levi home? Joining the Children's Museum. To have the largest one in the world in our own backyard is such a life saver on rainy or hot days. We go about once a week and Levi has the best time!

Posing in front of an actual transformer from the movies. (I'm always surprised the kids aren't scare of it as it turns around and around.)

Climbing in the under 2 play area.

Saying hi to Diego with our friend, Wilson, from music class.

Levi's first ride on the museum's famous historic carousel. I loved riding it when I was little!

Dining with bears.

My first spontaneous gift shop purchase: a dog puppet. There is a similar one used in our (completely unrelated) weekly music class, and there was no way Levi was leaving the museum without one of his own once he saw it.

Now that we are members we get to bring two guests with us any time we want! That means fun outings with friends, like Elizabeth Mott and her sweet twins, Caleb and Noah.

Levi loves the splash park! We have one just minutes away and since the weather is so warm we go a few times a week. He also loves the walking path where they've painted shapes, colors and letters.

We are now proud members of Connor Praire, a historic farm and museum. Levi loves playing in their indoor exploring area for kiddos, their jungle gym (where he organizes mulch), and they always have farm animals roaming around to pet. We go about once a week now. His favorite thing, of course, is organizing hay and offering it to the animals. And he insists that every four-legged animal is a dog. The boy is obsessed.

We've started taking Levi out to people's homes in the evenings with the intention of him sleeping in his pack 'n play after dinner. This particular night after dinner at the Smith's he stayed awake for our walk down to Dairy Queen. Who could blame him?

Ah, the climbing began in Month 5. There was about a two week period when he could walk well and didn't need a spotter, but wasn't climbing yet. Those were a great two weeks. Then one day I turned around and saw him sitting on the couch like it was no big deal. And I'm back to spotting all day...

Tupperware is still a hit and his towers are becoming more complex. Levi is very concentrated and exact when he works on his creations. Very funny. And apparently he needs every piece of tupperware I have in order to be inspired.

As you can tell, Levi's love affair with Luke continues. And the dogs have begun coming to the park with us too. They each get a day out now and then and Levi loves the company in the car.

Growing, growing! Chair picture, Month 5. Levi is very tall, though still lanky. But he's now "on the chart" weight-wise, even if it is just the one percentile. So, those 7 meals a day are paying off!

Books are still the biggest obsession (besides dogs, of course) and we continue to read a lot in the high chair (he's still). Dr. Suess's There's a Wocket in My Pocket is top 3, at the moment, and always gets great reactions.

Levi, Month 4! Time is flying.

2011-06-01T12:30:00.000-07:00

Month 4 Recap (Levi at about 14 months-old): It's hard to believe that as I write this, Month 5 with Levi is already full steam ahead. Month 4 had some significant firsts, walking being at the top of the list. Just as Levi began his 4th month home he took off. At first just a couple steps that he didn't even realize happened, but by May 3rd he had left crawling mostly behind. It is especially exciting as it shows how strong he has become. His weight and muscle tone have improved significantly and he is quite the strong little guy. (Watch out if he grabs anything you don't want him to grab.) However, I still have people comment on how "tiny" (or, in one case, "scrawny" - whatever!) he is. But he now weighs over 20 lbs and his height and head circumference are both well in the normal range. All that whole milk and olive oil paid off!

Other big firsts included meeting my dad (a.k.a. Papa!), his first Easter (when he also saw me perform for the first time), being baptized and having a party, traveling to TN to meet my mom's family, he started turning pages in books (Books are by far his very favorite things, aside from the dogs. Brown Bear, Brown Bear is at the top of the list.), wore tennis shoes (and had his first untied shoelace), can tell the difference between the dogs and started calling them "Dag!"

Sleep was about the same, and I think I had a mini breakdown halfway through this month, but what can you do about teething? The pressure to make sure he never feels a lack of our presence or has a true need (which would therefore reinforce negative brain development from the orphanage) feels weighty in the middle of the night. Nothing like jumping out of bed thinking, "He can't form a negative synapse! Hurry!", haha. On the flip side, we pretty much switched to one nap during this month and he naps for a bit longer now. That gives us a bit of a break in the day from trying to chase him down!

Easter dinner at Nana and Grandpa's house. Learning how to negotiate stairs with Grandpa.

Sitting in Brad's old highchair! So retro. Love it.

Bubbles on the porch!

Visiting the Beckendorfs in TN! Levi got to meet my aunt Jennifer, Great Aunt Anna May (who in her 90's still lives on her own and danced us under the table at our wedding), and Aunt Molly. We started our fun at our favorite BBQ spot, Witts!

Aunt Jen, who has a close Ethiopian friend and even experienced her Ethiopian wedding! Jealous!

Playing with Mom and Dad's dogs, Odie and Mollie

Chatting with Anna May

Fun with Aunt Molly. Thanks for making the long drive to see us, Molly!

Eating at Pancake Pantry in Nashville. Always a line (unless you get there crazy early like us!) rain, snow, or shine.

All the grandparents together for the first time! Spontaneous picture after lunch near Zionsville.

We all went to that month's adoption gathering at the Ethiopian church here in Indy. Afterwards, the church treated us to a wonderful meal. This is us waiting in line to eat.

Levi's baptism at Zionsville United Methodist Church on Mother's Day, May 8th. He wore his traditional Ethiopian outfit, which we bought on our trip. He looked very handsome and VERY Ethiopian.

All of the family were invited to come up

We joke that Levi actually was baptized about 5 times. He couldn't stop playing in the water! The whole congregation was chuckling.

Rev. Linda Johnson, who married us at Zionsville Methiodist 7 1/2 years ago and worked with Brad all through his days in youth group, performed the baptism. So special to have her do it.

That afternoon we had a cookout to celebrate Levi's baptism, but also just to have our first big party since he's been home. (We all remember the 1st birthday picture. Big parties weren't a good idea in the beginning.) I was amazed that about 35 friends, family and kids were able to join us on Mother's Day. It may have to become an annual event.

Maggie Rawe and Hudson Bell were fast friends. Here they are twirling around the backyard.

Sammie Rawe making use of the giant chalk.

Taryn and Steve

The Bell family (Who will soon be welcoming their twin girls home from Ethiopia!!!)

The Yancey family

Connor Sowinski

Jen and Maggie Rawe

Picture with "Aunt" Elizabeth

Hanging out with Papa

Brad recently had a business trip back to our old stomping ground, San Francisco. While there he met up with our dear friend, Meghan Boots and her husband (then fiancé - congrats, guys!), Lew. Meghan sent home some fantastic gifts including this T-shirt. Adorable. Incase you can't read it, it says, "I Hella Love SF".

We have a new tradition going. We discovered that Roche has quite a nice park on their campus. On nice days when Brad is available we meet him for lunch there and have a picnic. These pictures are from our first lunch. Levi was obviously thrilled with the new plans. (Much better than a high chair in a restaurant!)

Levi's first time wearing tennis shoes! Thank you, Bells, for the fantastic hand-me-downs.

Bob and Bonnie watched Levi for a couple hours one night so that Brad and I could take Gracie to a charity event. The event benefited the organization through which we do our therapy dog work and Gracie was in their doggie fashion show! She modeled a blinged out collar and leash. Ha!

Lunch with Heidi and Kirstin Brueckmann, family friends and Kirstin is also a voice student. We'll miss them as they go to college next year!

Mid-May was a very big month of singing for me as I did the soprano solo in the Verdi Requiem with Hendricks Symphony. Maybe the most difficult singing I've ever done. After practicing it for six months (almost all with Levi crawling all over me - hence the video from Levi month one!), it turned out to be a lot of fun. Thanks to Mom and Brad for doing lots of night duty that week so I would be well-rested!
Singing with Andrew Lunsford, my dear friend, Elizabeth, and Cody Medina, in my senior year prom dress. Ha!

Celebrating after the second performance with our favorite pizza - our neighborhood spot, Delullo's! (It burned down last summer and had just reopened. Great way to celebrate. Oh, how I missed that fantastic, made from scratch pizza.)

Lots of playing with the dogs in the yard these days.

While Levi was getting used to walking and crawling was no longer cool, the "crab walk", as we called it, served him well.

After seeing Mom and me watering plants with the watering can it became his favorite object for a few days. However, instead of watering he would just throw it onto the plants. Not quite the idea.

I realized I never posted pictures of Levi's room! I painted Ethiopia above his crib, there's a needlepoint prayer from Brad's childhood, and canvas photos of our first time meeting him. It all had to be done in quite a hurry! And thank God we kept the twin bed in there for us. Thankfully, it is pretty comfy.

It's truly comical trying to get a 14 month-old to stay still in a chair to take a picture, especially as the chair has lately been a new favorite object to explore.

Couple videos this month:
Levi walking to Dada shortly after being able to cross entire rooms. Mollie, mom's schnauzer, really wanted to help.

And one of Levi sitting in his favorite spot, on Luke's bed with Luke. When we took this we were trying to capture Levi taking some of his first steps. We were hoping we could get him to walk to Luke. Levi wouldn't humor us, hence the video ending. Sigh.

Levi at Home, Month 3 / Spring 2011

2011-05-23T18:19:00.000-07:00

Levi's 4th month at home JUST ended yesterday and I'm JUST now getting up Month 3! Oh well. Hopefully, Month 4 will follow shortly.

Month 3 was pretty great. Levi continued to adjust extremely well. Some of his Month 3 firsts included standing all by himself, eating mostly table food, going to his first event in a stadium (pep rally at Hinkle - was a bit overwhelming for him), took his first car trip, learned to drink from a straw and how to climb stairs, and started going to church! Sleep was difficult thanks to teething and also still just some basic adjustment. We continued to average just about 2-4 hours a night, but our days were very cheerful and fun, as you'll be able to see below!

March Madness Fun! We had a great time rooting Butler on to yet another championship game this year! Viewing parties with friends, pep rallies at Butler, Levi in his Butler gear. It was another memorable season.

Will Brown having a meal in Levi's seat during a game.

All the kids and future kids watching a game!

Fun on campus

Where I lived for three years at Butler, the Alpha Phi house.

Thanking the team for another amazing season at the thank you rally in Hinkle!

Levi still loves Cal perhaps best, but Luke is now tied or a very close second. Levi loves to crawl all over him and especially enjoys sitting on his bed with him. Luke is an angel and calmly lets him pounce on him.

The fun of eating with Levi. Lauren Brown gave us a baby cereal bar, which he loved, and which also ended up all over him, as well as some cheese on his head. Great fun.

The Browns also gave him two of his favorite books, Brown Bear and Green Eggs and Ham. This is his face as I read him Green Eggs and Ham. Also a fun video. Books are just about his favorite thing now. To think, four months ago he had never seen one!

Just love this picture. Took it while playing in the front yard.

Levi discovered our big mirror. It was a huge hit, as you can see. He loved giving baby Levi kisses (he was very big on giving everyone kisses constantly for a while there) and looking to see if that baby was behind the mirror. Since then he has figured the whole thing out and the mirror isn't "cool" anymore. (That was SO Month 3.) I'm really glad I snapped these while he was still fascinated.

Fun at the Metzings! We got to meet their new addition, Dexter the Boxer, and Lilly and Lucy got to meet Levi for the first time.

Levi's first out of town trip! We went to Hinkley, IL, where Brad's mom's family is all from, for a family wedding. It was such a wonderful celebration and a great chance for everyone to meet Levi.
Fun at the reception with Nana and Grandpa

We stayed with Brad's cousin, Erin, her husband Nate, and their son, Graham. What a blast! Graham and Levi were fast friends and the adults enjoyed having time to catch up. Looking forward to future visits already.

Is there anything better than a little kid dancing? Graham has MOVES! I think Levi was impressed. Now, about Brad's moves....

Nap time at Great Aunt Judy's between the wedding and reception. The comfy carpet works as well as a crib for our heavy sleeper!

Special pictures at the family farm (where the reception was held). Brad spent a lot of his childhood here and this is the house where Bonnie grew up!

One way to keep Levi busy in a restaurant - give him a to-go lid. Great for teething, apparently.

Welcome to the Midwest, Levi! Nothing like a tornado warning sending all six of us to the cellar for the night. Levi thought it was a fantastic adventure.

We meet Brad a lot for lunches. Apparently Levi was very happy to see him this day. He would take a bite and then hug Brad's arm through the whole lunch. All together now: "Awwwwww!"

What happens with a one year-old and a white table cloth (family date night!): Peek-a-boo.

When he gets wiggly we usually end up taking out Brown Bear and reading.

Aw...was supposed to go somewhere when I took this picture, but just couldn't bring myself wake him up.

Levi's Chair Picture, Month 3!

The Butler Way

2011-04-05T17:06:00.000-07:00

I can't lie. I talked to God before, during, and after Butler's championship game last night. I know it's always the joke - should you pray that your team wins? But it really wasn't that I wanted them to "win". It was that I really wanted the way they do things to be rewarded. I also won't lie about the fact that I thought it would be good for college sports if Butler won. Not that the UCONN players aren't exceptional young men, but just to prove that a school that conducts itself in an exemplary manner, with a small budget, and no frills can win the obvious prize that everyone, "good or bad", covets.

After Butler lost I was confused. Why didn't the best outcome happen? And why had the loss occurred in such a strange, uncharacteristic way?

"The Butler Way" isn't just a motto or cliche. I've seen it and lived it. So did my mom and sister. I'm not sure I knew that was what I was experiencing at the time, but I can cite too many times that a professor went out of their way for me, other students were supportive instead of competitive, and the general happiness that tends to permeate that campus. As always, you don't know what you had until your hindsight kicks in. It was the only school to which I applied and I was never sure if that was smart until about 10 years after I graduated. I appreciate so much my time there, the friends I made, the knowledge I gained, and the professors I had.

Last year, as I watched in person as Gordon Hayward's shot bounced off the rim, I was devastated along with about 70,000 other people in the stadium. That lasted until I attended the thank you rally the next day. I couldn't stop a few tears as I stood with 5,000 other people in Hinkle Fieldhouse who wouldn't stop clapping. The ovation lasted until the players finally cracked a smile, an almost uncomfortable long time. It wasn't planned. The crowd simply had to let them know that they were proud of everything, no matter the outcome. I had never seen anything like it, especially in the age of boosters slipping players money, illegal recruiting phone calls, and debates about whether or not college athletes should receive formal payment. It went against everything that cutting down the nets says is important. We were cheering not about a victory, but about conducting yourself on the biggest stage to make yourself, your family, your friends, and your community proud, against all the odds. They had given us the ride of a lifetime as a sports fan, but more importantly made us proud to be associated with them in any way.

With all that said, you must read the article below, if you haven't already. It says the rest of what I'm thinking. Last year I wondered if the thank you rally would have been as poignant if they had won. I had to admit, I didn't think so. And maybe what is said in this article is the reason things have happened as they have. I still wish Butler could have that "W", but not because it would make things right. Just because it's what I want for people that work that hard and care that much. However, what they gave everyone in America who recognizes it could not possibly compare to a victory. And yes, Levi and I will be at this year's thank you rally to cheer for all the best reasons. Thank you, Butler Bulldogs, and congratulations to Brad Stevens and his staff on an exceptional job well-done.

Read it and pass it on:
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=dw-wetzel_final_four_butler_goes_down_its_way_040511

Levi, Month 2

2011-04-01T18:32:00.000-07:00

Our second month has continued to be full of firsts! We definitely know little Levi well and he knows us. I feel like the language barrier is almost completely gone and he now knows all sorts of words and actions. We think he's even said "Dada"! During the day he is pretty much your normal American boy, save the Amharic vocab flying around. (I have signs posted everywhere. Takes me a couple days to remember the words I'm learning!) We've even begun baby music classes, which are a huge hit.

Nighttime is still very difficult. Pretty much as soon as he turned 1 he adopted the typical 1 year-old "I must fight sleep and stay awake" mentality. Pair that with teething, tummy trouble from new foods, anxiety from orphanage baggage, typical separation anxiety, and who knows what else, and we still aren't getting much sleep. Lately, with a few exceptions, he wakes around 1 a.m and is up and down until we get up around 7. Whew! During the day he's still only napping about 1/2 hour - 45 min. a couple times a day, but sometimes I am lucky enough to score an hour and a half nap. Thank you, Lord.

The pictures should say the rest. Someday I'm sure we will have pictures of my and Brad's adventures again. We still haven't been able to use a babysitter or even someone else changing a diaper, but I think it's right around the corner!!!

Levi's first birthday! After our trip to the zoo the Todds came over for presents and cake. Here Levi is opening his present from Jan Stevens - a couple Butler shirts! We also need to thank her for the blue tissue paper, which kept him busy for the next 10 minutes.

This would be why we didn't have a big party. Having people stare at him and sing was still a bit much, as you can tell. He smashed the cupcake in protest but refused to eat it!

We love you, Dawgs! This is Levi in his first Butler shirt. (Thank you, Jan, for the great first birthday present!) I can't wait to take him to games next year.

I know there aren't any animals in this shot, but I just love this picture. It's during Levi's first trip to the zoo! It scared him a bit at first, but then he really enjoyed it, especially the stingrays and meerkats.

Fun with the dogs. When Levi first came home he couldn't have cared less about the dogs. After a couple weeks he was amused by them. Now they are his absolute favorite thing. Every morning arms are waving and there's a giant smile when we open his bedroom door and see those three ridiculous faces. He thinks they are great walking practice, fun to crawl over, great for getting kisses, and even more fun to treat.

This is what I saw when I turned around while cooking at the stove.

Loving on sweet Luke. Luke is very stoic with Levi. Calmly (shocking - he used to be our most hyper dog) guarding and watching all day long.

Kisses from Cal. Cal almost obsessively kisses Levi. He follows him all day sneaking kisses on his cheeks. Cal is by far Levi's favorite dog.

Cal and Levi playing with tupperware while I cook.

Would you mess with this child while he has his CIA around him?

A video of Levi's joy at seeing his dogs. Gracie stands by politely waiting for crumbs, Cal mostly wants love and is putting up with tons of abuse (Levi digs his fingers into Cal's gums and receives only love in return - we are working on the concept of "gentle") and Luke is getting brazen about licking Levi's tray. Since this video the dogs now have to lay on their beds during mealtimes as Levi just gets way too distracted, as you will see. But I'm glad I got this moment before they were banished.

One of my favorite firsts of the past month: I think this is the very first time he felt grass, at least that he could remember. He was completely amazed by it. Loved throwing it in the air.

And his first time at a park, on a swing, playing in the mulch....

And our first stroller outing! His first time in a stroller ever! Great walk on the Monon.

Just a bit of silliness.

And I happened to get the hardest we have seen him laugh yet. All I was doing was tossing a remote control in the air and catching it. Apparently that is hilarious.

Another fun first - Levi's first visit to Purdue. We paused by Brad's old house for a picture and got him a tee that says "My First Purdue T-shirt". First of many, I'm sure.

Levi met so many friends in his second month!
Aunt Jenny came for a weekend. He immediately was giving her hugs and kisses. Think he can tell we are related?

Gathering with a bunch of friends and their kids at Granite City while Jenny was visiting. So fun to have all the kids together for the first time! There's Alli Webber Yancey, her husband Kyle and sons Eli and Isaac, Megan Roy Greek and son Owen, and Emily Webber White. Her daughter, Libby, was born just a few days later!

Louis and Heather came all the way down from the Detroit area to meet Levi. We had such a fun weekend hanging out and catching up.

Louis and Heather's son, Connor, and Levi watching Yo Gabba Gabba. Connor had never seen the wonder that is Gabba.

A play date with Elizabeth Mott's twins, Noah (here) and Caleb. So fun!

One Sunday we met Elizabeth and Keith in Lafayette for dinner. Thanks for driving down, guys!

Our dear friend, Andrew Jones, was in town for a conference and came for lunch. It took us a while to get a picture where Levi had stopped wiggling. Ah, trying to keep a one year-old still.

Amanda and Nate Crisel, who in the near future are heading to Tokyo for a couple years!, came down for one last visit. I surprised Brad with tickets to the Big Ten Championship downtown so he and Nate could go have guy time. Amanda and I had fun chatting all day and playing with Levi. We'll miss the Crisels!!!

Brad's shot before the championship game started:

Meeting Tim and Steve while having soul food at Kountry Kitchen Fine Foods downtown. Oh my. Highly recommend.

So many new foods tried! He has gone from eating almost only formula and cereal two months ago to eating mostly table food now. We're still trying to fatten him up. He's getting longer, but not wider, haha. We often finish meals with whole milk yogurt topped with baby food topped with olive oil. Goodness!
First teething biscuit!

Out to eat at the Ethiopian restaurant, Abyssinia (which is fantastic by the way). His first Ethiopian food! He loved it - even the spicy beef.

After feeding himself for the first time.

First frozen yogurt. (Mmmm...Huddles...highly recommend.) Big hit.

Like most kids, after a while he gets fussy from being in his high chair. He eats so much, we spend a lot of time there! He gets these crocodile tears going and looks at me with his best "big brown eyes". Hard to resist.

I love bath time!

After bath I sing a silly song, "Baby in a sack, baby in a sack, I've got me a baby in a sack..." as I wrap him up in a towel and lift him by the corners of the towel. He waits for it every time now.

End of month 2!

So, we are getting out at least a bit. I got to go to Monique's surprise 30th birthday at Matteo's. Quite the party. Ryan, you did a great job planning!

Monique surprised

Her beautiful cake made by the fabulous Molly. (She's opening a bakery in Noblesville. Can't wait!)

The girls - Miriam, Lauren, Abby, Monique, and me

Any party with the Metzings needs to turn into a jam session at the end. Jason gets the crowd going.

The impromptu combo

Getting in a couple songs before I leave

Levi, Month 1

2011-03-03T18:57:00.000-08:00

Okay...here are my reflections on the first month. Don't worry. I'm sure I won't have so many thoughts in the months to come. But, the first one is the biggest adjustment! Sorry it's long, but I wanted to record all my thoughts for posterity. Soooooo...here we go:

It's only after a month that I'm starting to realize how overwhelming all this has been! That's probably because it has been going very, very well and we already love little Levi so much. After you do all the training required to bring home a child from a 3rd world orphanage you expect the worst. When none of that happens - no developmental problems, no parasites, no bad test results, no attachment problems - you would think it is life with a normal 10-11 month-old.

Ha! That's when I realized that we brought home a 10 month-old who could crawl and almost walk (therefore requiring a spotter all day) who is also teething (as you all know, that means wild mood swings, biting, drooling, waking in the night) who is quite a bit underweight (which means eating every 2 hours, sometimes as much as 3 jars of baby food and huge mounds of whole milk yogurt) who will then need a diaper change every 1-2 hours (and who had never had a bowel movement before you fed him baby food - yikes!) who has never slept in a quiet room by himself and also needs a feeding once or twice a night (which means I sleep in a twin bed in the nursery and haven't slept through the night in a month either). Thank God all the doctors, physical therapist, and developmental therapist say he is above and beyond where he should be! After a day at Riley at the end of the month we found out that he gained over 2 lbs in just the first month and also grew a couple inches!

And that is just the physical aspect. When you bring home an infant there is this idea, which granted you are somewhat cautioned against, that you get to start a bit more from scratch. Again, Ha! All the sudden I realized the gulf of the language barrier, even though Levi can't talk yet. A child born in America hears English from the moment they enter the world. They start to notice patterns in words and actions along the way, even if they don't yet know the meaning. To Levi words like "more?" "Bye Bye!" "No" and, oh yeah, "Levi", "Mommy" and "Daddy" were just random sounds until recently.

Everyone who brings home a child from an orphanage is concerned about attachment - will they know we are the parents? Well, Levi definitely knows I am mom and he isn't letting go. Ever. A moment in the pack 'n play, a swing, bouncer, highchair if I'm more than two feet away are all unacceptable to him. I have a 17 lb. attachment and he isn't letting go. (Well, unless there is a great toy or some crawling to do and I promise to stay right by him.) Lately, Levi says Dad is allowed to hold him too, but sometimes not. Or even better, if we could both hold him at the same time. (It's normal to have a child attach to one parent first and then the other. Easier for their brains to take in.) And then there is the fact that we can't accept any help. Not even from grandparents. Definitely no babysitters. And no one else can feed him or change him for quite a while so he learns we are the people that will care for him.

It has also been interesting getting to know his personality. Usually you see the baby's personality develop from birth and have a hand in it. (Actually, they learn a lot of their expressions from mirroring the parent, we learned. Cool!) Levi already had things that made him laugh, sounds and expressions that had meaning, a schedule and body clock, none of which did we know. They handed him to us with some food and medicine as soon as we arrived and then we were on our own! Now, after a month I know the cry for "I want to stand up, not sit in your lap" "My teeth hurt" "I'm tired", how he likes to be rocked to sleep, and on and on. Quite the learning curve.

So, we have a personality-filled, mobile, teething, 11 mo-old with the eating, sleeping, diaper habits of a newborn who won't let go of me and I couldn't let someone help even if we wanted (which I really don't right now anyway). Whew! But you know what? It really is great. He's worth every 11 p.m./2 a.m./5 a.m. wake-up, the 12 diapers a day, the food spit on me, the naps that almost always only last 30 min, the teething, the language practice in English AND Amharic, and everything else I can think of. He's a fabulous little guy as you'll see from the pictures and I wouldn't trade our adoption experience or time in Ethiopia for anything, literally. I highly recommend it. There are 5-6 million orphans in Ethiopia ALONE! If you, or anyone else is interested in this wild ride, check out our FABULOUS agency: www.childrenshopint.org

Enjoy the pictures.....(I'm biased, I know, but what a RIDICULOUSLY cute and SWEET baby. Lord, you picked us out a really, really good one!)

This was shortly after coming home. We were all very tired for that first week. The very night we got home I even "slept walked" - Woke up after passing out on the couch, looked at Brad and said, "I don't know where I am either." And went right back to sleep. Yikes.

Fist picture with Nanny, who came to do help us out a bit when we first returned.

Levi's first guest! Cindy, an dear family friend, was kind enough to have mom stay with her so that Levi could get used to just us in the house.

Getting to know the dogs! They adore him and will put up with just about anything - pounding toys on their heads, grabbing fur, ears, eyes, whatever. They frequently go in his room to check on him while he sleeps.

One of my favorite pictures so far:

Fun with the grandparents! They got to start holding him a few weeks ago, which is really fun. (For a while it could only be us and primarily still is.)

This looks sweet, but what is actually happening is Levi is chewing Bob's knee. Ah, teething.

We let Nanny snuggle with him some while he was sleeping right before she left.

Meeting Ryan and Monique, who brought us a very yummy dinner a couple weeks after we returned. I also wish I had taken pictures of Levi meeting some of our other friends for the first time, Tyler and Adrianne Smith, Jen, Miriam and Ellen. Next time!

We are very thankful that Levi, overall, likes his car seat.

While I practice Levi enjoys pulling my music off my shelves. Whatever works!

For a while Levi couldn't take in all that was outside. He would zone out when he saw the snow and bare trees. Then one day we had a bit of a blizzard and he actually enjoyed watching the snow fall. He didn't get to play in it this year, but that is something to look forward to next year.

I'm always amazed by what is going on in his brain. One day he looked through all three of his toy baskets, found his drum, walked directly over the the fireplace and started banging it there. Okay.

Levi meeting Abby, Bill and Lincoln for the first time. Lunch at Paradise.

His first balloon! He couldn't believe it.

I was inspired by some friends who each month take pictures of their kids in a chair to show their growth. It wasn't easy getting him to sit and look at me, but here is the end of month 1!

And here are some favorite videos from the first month.

Levi laughing and showing his new skills

What happens when Dad feeds Levi rice cereal

Not for the faint of heart...Levi working, um, very hard. We laughed until we cried.

Levi and his dogs days after we got home.

One of the first times Levi practiced with me. And the first time he gave me kisses!

Trip 2 - Bringing Levi Home and Ethiopia Sights and Sounds

2011-02-20T00:00:00.000-08:00

Well, after this post you will feel like you have been to Ethiopia and perhaps adopted Levi too! We’ve got a section of pictures of our time with Levi, pictures of sights around Ethiopia, pictures of food (naturally), pictures of animals (of course), and pictures of some of the wonderful people we met. I even threw in a couple videos for good measure.

When we arrived, we were THE parents. They handed us Levi, some food and his medicine, told us when he eats, and then we all moved into our room at the guest house. Jet lag, a sick, 10 month-old baby who doesn't know you and you don't know him, a week in a foreign country and a 29 hour trip home = baptism by fire. It all went really very well though. At least we all lived to tell about it!

It was great having the drum and lion that we first showed him when we met him in December. He seemed to remember them and therefore us.

Levi was really sick again when we arrived. The first night we stayed up listening to him breathe. It was the most awful sound. Scary to be alone in Ethiopia with a very sick child who you don’t know and no one to call in the middle of the night! It seemed to help him breathe if he was propped on me. Brad snapped this at 4 a.m. Thanks, Brad.

Um…Levi loves noses.

Riding in the van. No car seats!

One of Levi's wonderful nannies.

Hermella, our new friend. We were the only people staying at the guest house, so we got to know her very well as she coordinates everything during the week.

Our suite in the House of Hope Guest House.

And giving Levi his first bath with us. He loves it! Lots of splashing.

Our room looked out over the schoolyard next door. I loved watching the students during recess. So interesting to see how they interact. The little pink building is the bathroom with the sinks along the side.

About hour 4 in the Addis Ababa (the capitol of Ethiopia) airport. Levi took a nice nap around midnight before we boarded. That way he was well-rested to scream for the first half-hour of the flight. Fun. I flew out of that seat when the seatbelt sign went off to walk him around some. Things got a lot better after that, but that is one seriously long flight.

The moment we landed on American soil! The sweet girl next to us took it for us. Blurry, but still captures the moment. I couldn't believe that both governments allowed us to board a plane with Levi and fly into the U.S. It still boggles my mind and makes me tired to think of the amount of paperwork that required. So worth it though!

The other couple, Ben and Katie, that travelled with our agency that week to bring their son, Mesfin, home. We've stayed in touch and Mesfin is a very happy boy in Columbus, OH!

The grandparents waiting with cameras as we came out of the arrivals walkway at Indy airport (after flying through Washington, Dulles where Levi officially became a citizen)!

We all grabbed lunch at the Patachou (where this was taken) in the Indy airport before Brad, Levi and I returned to home by ourselves. When we got home we wanted it to be very, very low key and just the three of us. All of this was a lot for a little baby to take in! More to come on all of that in the next post....

Now on to some of the sights of Ethiopia, which I compiled from both trips....

The Sheraton, where we stayed in December, was all decked out for Christmas. A lot of the trees had Santas climbing them, which made me laugh.

There is a lot of building going on all over Addis Ababa. I am constantly amazed at the scaffolding, which becomes part of the interior of the building and surrounded by cement.

You can go from seeing a shack to seeing incredibly modern, brand new buildings. It's hard to take it all in sometimes.

There are many beautiful Ethiopian Orthodox churches.

This is a common home. Most are surrounded by scrap metal.

It's extremely common to see a home like that above right next to a wall like this, which surrounds a nice, new home, hotel or compound. They often put barbed wire or reuse broken glass bottles stuck in cement to discourage thieves.

It's also common to see these makeshift tents on the side of the road that are little stores. This man seemed to be selling shoes? Another common business in these roadside tents was a man and his sewing machine.

Shopping with Levi at the rows and rows of shops that line many streets in Addis.

Now this was interesting. They were building a new road, but allowed us to drive on it while it was still just rubble. No lanes, well there aren't lanes marked on most streets, pretty much a free for all, but you could still get where you needed. You can see the rows of homes at the top of the ledge.

Back at our agency's guest house, House of Hope, they prepared a wonderful traditional Ethiopian meal and coffee ceremony for us. Yum! We were extremely well-fed the whole time we were there.

We ate twice during our first trip at a wonderful Ethiopian restaurant, Dashen. It may have been surrounded by tin shacks, but inside it was elegent and served the most delicious food and tej (honey wine). We had both the fasting meal of fish and the meat meal. We were also invited to do traditional dances with the group below! Such kind, welcoming people.

Animals everywhere! From stray dogs to cows, donkeys and goats walking right through the heart of the city. Donkeys especially are used to carry just about everything. I even saw a goat skull lying casually on the road just outside our agency's transition house.

These were taken right beside the fancy resort you saw in the last post. Such little boys washing and herding huge cattle!

On one of the lakes we visited they were setting up for a beautiful wedding.

Views of some of the side streets by the agency's buildings and the Melkim guest house. The paved road gave way to rubble-like streets immediately, as you'll see in one of the videos.

This is just a random median, but if you look closely you'll see someone has set up a small dwelling. This was very common. Medians, some much smaller and not fenced, were popular for this.

The busy streets of Addis. Notice no lanes on the roads. Merging onto another street was always an adventure.

The tiny taxis. Their minibuses and car taxis are all this same blue and white pattern.

During our second trip was the celebration of Epiphany, a huge holiday in Ethiopia. We went to see the procession, which was almost overwhelming in its size. We didn't stay long - it was hot and Levi was sick - but I'm so glad we got to see at least a bit of it.

This was during our first trip and just your average Sunday morning. Everywhere you looked people dressed in white were on their way to church.

I should have put this video on the the last post. This is the segment of our first meeting of Levi. He'll start bawling, just so you are warned. There are moments when he zones out a bit (means his brain can't process all that is happening) and then moments when he wakes up and starts crying. A very normal reaction and they train us to look for all of these things. It was actually quite awkward to have the nannies and our new friend George (behind the camera) all staring at us, but still a special (surprise! days earlier than we thought!) moment, nonetheless

I took this video for Levi. It is the drive we made many times to our agency's transition house, just after we turned off the main road. The street was mostly lined with mechanics, and you'll see a school go by quickly too. Then the walls of the compound begin and we eventually get to the big, green gates of the transition house.

The Biggest December Ever

2011-02-15T22:00:00.000-08:00

I bet you thought I gave up again! Never! I’m nothing if not stubborn. And there is so much to share. This post contains pictures from our first Ethiopia trip in December. I’ve already started another post with pictures from the second trip. And soon there will be one for Levi’s first month home. Obviously, a lot has happened around here with the holidays, trips to Ethiopia, meeting Levi for the first time…Whew! I’ll do my best to catch up. I hope you all have had a WONDERFUL start to 2011. Keep us posted on your news, too!

Getting ready for a new tradition – Christmas brunch instead of Christmas dinner! Thank you, Bonnie, for a fabulous meal.

Jenny couldn’t be with us this Christmas, so she sent her presents. She always finds the best things! This was funniest gift of the year – a birdhouse that is a cat with its mouth open.

This is the great thing about German Shepherds. They will keep an eye on anyone in your house. They patiently wait outside Mom and Dad’s room every time they go in there.

Christmas Party 2010! I cooked all month and with Mom and Bonnie’s help we did the party the week after we returned from Ethiopia. It was so great to see everyone who was able to come and catch up!

Ryan’s traditional Christmas sweater grew into…well…an ensemble? Wondering how this will grow next year. What more could he do? Should I even ask?

As always, every flat surface was covered in food. So fun to cook for all my friends!

What’s the Christmas party without Jason Brown? We missed him last year!

And how it always ends...2 a.m., sitting in the living room, chatting.

Ethiopia – Trip 1 to meet Levi.

Here are some highlights from our trip. I know that many of you received updates while we were there, so I’ll save all the details. I’ll also save sights of Ethiopia for the next post and compile them from both trips. To summarize, it is an amazing, historical, fascinating country. I highly recommend it as a vacation spot. Yes, a bit different from the norm, but I can guarantee great food, wonderful people and amazing sights.

The beautiful Sheraton where we stayed in Addis Ababa, the capitol of Ethiopia. (Thank you, Starwood Points!) Supposedly one of the nicest hotels on the continent. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay.

The view from our room. Another sunny day and beautiful flowering trees.

The beautiful pool, huge breakfast buffet, which I looked forward to every morning, and the amazing spa. I could have stayed there all day. It was lovely to go on our trip early, before the adoption process began, and just be tourists for a while.

Taking a daytrip to the Crater Lakes and enjoying the gorgeous Debre Zeyit resort, where for $15 you can have a never ending lunch buffet, use of kayaks, and the resort.

While violent crime isn't a concern as you travel in Ethiopia, theft certainly is. We carried our passports and money in a carrier under Brad's shirt. Worked well, but every time we paid he had to undress.

After the Sheraton we moved to the Melkim Guest House, which is a small hotel that works closely with our agency. The room was basic, but very comfortable. I loved the Ethiopian embroidered linens and bought some similar pillowcases while shopping.

Our view from our room at Melkim was a good example of Ethiopia. The compound of the hotel was very nice, and just behind us was a field full of trash where people and donkeys were scavenging at all hours. Contrast everywhere you look.

Pulling up to the compound gates (most nice homes are surrounded by walls and heavy gates) of our agency's wonderful transition home where Levi was living.

Inside the courtyard of the transition house, laundry hangs 24/7. You have to duck under it as you walk through. All those clothe diapers!!! And everything is washed in that little stone sink and tub you see below. The women who wash all day are truly amazing. The kids are always clean and well dressed.

By the way, there are no pictures of the kids because you can only take pictures of the child that is yours. But let me tell you, the happy, smart, endearing, beautiful children there completely stole our hearts. We loved playing with them and pray they all have found wonderful homes now. From the gate guards to the nannies, all the staff loved those children and they do amazing work. God bless them all.

This is the sign above Levi’s room and Levi in his little crib with our picture above. There are cribs lining three sides of the small room and a couple nannies who care for the 8, or so, babies in that room.

Brad reading in the courtyard of the agency's guest house where we had our AMAZING meals. The cook there completely spoils the visiting families. (More about that in the next post!)

Shopping at a bazaar at the International Church. We loved it because the prices were very fair, fixed (no haggling!), and all the money goes to charity. Lots of Christmas shopping and future presents for Levi!

Some of the wonderful people we met! Our dear friend, Bet, who lives with her husband, Erik, and now their baby, Zain, near Chicago. They, like us, lost their first referral in the same way and I think we will be lifelong friends. Below is the group with which we were having coffee when we got the call that we could go meet Levi! George and Christina took us there in their hired car. George even did our videotaping.

Highlights of our first meeting with Levi! He cried a bunch when he first met us (He had to think we looked pretty strange!) but as you can see he calmed down pretty quickly. Looking at the pictures now I can already see the personality I’ve come to know. Even at only 9 1/2 months there was so much to learn about him. All his cries and expressions already had a meaning that we didn’t know. But I certainly do now!

Oh, and did I mention that we were both really sick? Brad had a terrible cough on our way there, I caught the cold halfway through the trip, and Levi was really sick with a terrible cough when we met him. You can see how run down Brad and Levi were in one of the pictures below.

More Ethiopia highlights to come in the next post!

Wrapping Up 2010, Part 1

2011-01-03T12:58:00.000-08:00

Thinking back I thought that October and November were pretty low key, but it seems there was still plenty to report! More to come soon with Christmas and our recent trip to Ethiopia.

Girls' nights at Jen's have become a staple. Jen found us homemade marshmallows for s'mores recently at a farmers market. Highly recommend that move.

Always love seeing our friends, Ryan and Monique, sing at Birdy's. They addition of Molly's voice was great too. She and Monique blend really well!

Miriam and I received an alumnae invite from our old Alpha Phi house at Butler to celebrate their philantrhopy kickoff. Wow, was that funny to see. All the fratnerities performed and they had hilarious t-shirts on. Much more organized than I remember my days in the house.

Brad, Miriam, our friend, Doug, and I saw Anthony Bourdin and Eric Rippert speak at Clowes Hall here in Indy. So fun and interesting!

Elizabeth and Keith have begun a new Oktoberfest tradition. I wish I'd taken a picture of the piles of homemade pretzels and fabulous bratwurst. Believe me, we ate well that night!

Another new tradition - carving pumpkins at Tyler and Adrianne's! Brad had actually never carved one himself. (Well, still hasn't - after this picture I took over the actual carving.)

Pumpkin Class of 2010 - mine is second from the right with the goofy smile!

Louis came down to visit for a weekend. We ate our way through the city (FABULOUS meal at Recess) and had a grand ol' time, as always.

We were excited to help our great friends, Lauren and Jason Brown, celebrate their son, Will's, 1st birthday! Love everyone gathering below to watch the big cake moment. Could Will be any cuter? Looking forward to play dates very soon!

Our 7th Anniversary was in November. As is our tradition we have a "stay-cation" here in Indy and go to a Colts game.

During our anniversary weekend we also attended a wedding reception for a good high school friend, Emily Hayden. Wonderful to see old friends. Emily and her husband, Mathias, live in Boston, so we don't get to see them often.
Alli, Emily, Me, Stephanie

Right after Emily's reception we had a gathering with the Ethiopian adoption ministry at the Ethiopian church here in Indy. It was their end of the year cultural celebration and was a truly wonderful event for the packed house. The women of the church made all approximately 200 of us an amazing meal!

The head of the church, Pastor Yosef, singing a song with the children.

For Thanksgiving we had a wonderful vacation at my parents' in Florida for a week.
Brad, Dad and Mom at Mom and Dad's wonderful church. We really enjoyed R.C. Sproul's sermon.

All dressed up and at the club for their amazing buffet on Thanksgiving.

All week we have quite the house full with the five dogs. They are fun and really love each other.

Walking on the beach and eating at one of our favorite seafood shacks, Snack Jack's.

Out in St. Augustine, all decorated for the holidays.

Fun with Food
I conducted quite the cooking experiments this fall. Brad started calling it Meagan's Test Kitchen.
There was the Baby Back Rib Experiment

Brad's plate before and after. Ha!

The Chocolate Chip Cookie Experiment - 17 recipes tested to find our favorite.

Getting a system down for drying pasta.

The Baked Chicken Experiment

The new bread recipes - this is a new favorite, a rustic olive loaf

And this is what happens when you make so much bread that you have to buy your flour at Costco and you leave a 10 lb. bag out on the counter with three German Shepherds and run to the store for 20 minutes. Whoops. And guess what? There is NO good way to clean up 10 lbs. of flour except to throw everything away.

Gracie and I have been back to our therapy dog fun at a local elementary school. This is Gracie waiting for the door to open. She does this when we get in our room - stares at the door and waits for her friends to come in.

Gracie listening

Luke hogging beds.