One of my favorite fotos of my boys!

Am I Just Cheap?

I don't think so, though I love a good bargain. I LOVE finding a steal. But when I came across shorts at Ann Taylor Loft (one of my favorite mall stores) and they cost nearly $50, I felt a bit of sticker shock. Maybe I don't value shorts. For me, they're what I bum around in over the weekend or throw on after work. So, they get a lot of wear but I just can't imagine spending $50 on one pair of shorts, something I can only wear for part of the year...dress pants for $50? Sure. A dress for $50? Sure. (Though, I reguarly find cute dresses and nice pants that are well below $50 on sale at Loft.) And lest I do sound like a cheap skate, I definitely splurge from time to time. Like last summer in Europe...I bought Zeke some REALLY CUTE outfits, including a Catimini outfit in Brussels. It just so happened that the Catimini boutique was right next door to our hotel. Anyway, back to the $50 shorts...is it just me or does that seem a bit steep to anyone else?

A Fresh Look

We're LONG overdue for a face lift. So, I finally got my act together and figured out how to use fancy templates. I think it looks nice. You'll find all the same things are here though they might be in different places: the archive, feedjit, Brad's tweets, etc. Enjoy!

Zeke went to bed without any protests tonight. I suspect after his early morning, he's quite tired (like mom). So, I'm heading off to bed sooner rather than later.

This marks the start of a fun week for us. We're headed toward the hills that are our home to see family. We're very happy that we get to make this trip and we hope that Zeke does ok on the long car ride. He did fine at Christmas...so we'll see!

UPDATE: Brad just got home and he's not too fond of this design because of the "blank space" in the top graphic so I'll try something else...stay tuned!

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: I think I fixed it!

Long summer nights

Here it is 5:41 in the AM and I have been up since before 4AM with crying, fussing Zeke. This is par for the course when he's sick but we have no reason to believe he's sick right now. No fever, no runny nose, no obvious signs of an ear infection. What gives, little man? When I turned on a light to change his diaper, he saw his bus and wanted to play with it. When I said, "No. It's night-night time," a 30+ minute fit erupted. I'm not sure how we get through these. He knows a "regular" meltdown won't work because we walk away and ignore it. But a prolonged crying fit...well, we can't ignore that.

On a much happier note, we had a wonderful time last night visiting with families who either have adopted a child/children from Ethiopia or are in process. What a nice group of people! Honestly, everyone was so friendly. I enjoyed learning where people are in the process, what agency they're using, etc. It was so nice to meet Roger and Abby who are due to get their referral from Ethiopia any day now. (I "met" them via email and blog when I ordered this shirt for Brad for Father's Day.) Zeke met a new buddy, a 14 month old boy name Diesel who was adopted from Ethiopia. And we didn't get to meet a couple with whom we have a mutual friend because they're in Ethiopia right now getting their beautiful baby girl. (Yes, you need to click on the link and check it out!) We look forward to meeting all three of them in person at a future gathering of Ethiopia adoption families. We had connected with them by email quite a while ago before Vietnam shut down when they were considering adopting from there. When things got sticky in Vietnam, they decided to pursue an adoption in Ethiopia. We're so happy for them!

Ok...I've got to find some toothpicks so I can prop my eyelids open while I sing in three services at church this morning.

Goodbye, Michael, Farrah, and Ed

Perhaps you've heard that celebrity deaths come in 3's. It often holds true, though in some cases, you'll find that 1 or 2 of the "celebrities" were lesser known because they were producers, directors or some other kind of behind-the-scenes professional in the film or TV industry. But this latest round is amazing in terms of the prominence of the 3 individuals.

Perhaps it's growing up when I did but I never had any real connection to Farrah Fawcett. I remember Ed McMahon on Johnny Carson's show, which I often watched with my mom. Who could forget that famous line: "Herrrreee's Johnny!" And Michael Jackson. Well, Brad should write his own remembrance of him. I love Michael's early, early stuff with the Jackson 5: ABC, I'll Be There, I Want You Back. I also like to jam to some of his other stuff: Black or White, Billie Jean, Man In the Mirror. I really liked him The Whiz. Who can forget his show-stopping version of Ease on Down the Road? He changed music and he helped break the race barrier in mainstream music. I suppose that's why I really love his song Black or White and the music video for it, where you see smiling faces of people of all different ethnicities morphing into each other. Of course, any remembrance of Michael Jackson has to touch on the substance abuse, the child molestation charges, and just his bizarre lifestyle. Watching clips from previous interviews with him yesterday, he just seemed like a sad person off-stage and he even said as much. It's too bad because his music made so many people happy.

Brad's the best husband ever. I have a dozen "just because" roses on my desk to prove it.

Advocacy Day

RESOLVE, a national advocacy group for couples dealing with infertility, is holding its annual advocacy day Thursday. You can read more about it here. I really appreciate the mission of the organization--helping couples dealing with infertility find some sort of resolution...whether that means adoption, medically assisted reproductive procedures or choosing to move forward as a family of two. Before we chose our path to adoption, the lack of resolution was one of the hardest parts emotionally. There was the ongoing question of "what now?" Of course, once we chose adoption, it brought a new set of "what now?" questions but at least we had chosen our path. It made a huge difference in our lives. Please say a prayer this week for couples that are experiencing infertility, many of them suffer (yes, suffer) in silence.

Father's Day

Just Hanging Out

Zeke to the Rescue!

Mom was stuck in a long line at the Old Navy and Zeke had to commandeer the Rescue Squad vehicle to save her!

On his way to the scene, Zeke got pulled over by Daddy who said, "Mom's right there! She escaped the long line!"

Zeke said, "Oh! Thank goodness. I wasn't sure how I was going to maneuver this thing around the clothes racks anyway."

Zeke gets some advice from Daddy on how to drive such a monstrous vehicle.

On the mend...

Zeke had a better night last night except Brad said he had the jimmy legs Yesterday evening, he finally began drinking on his own (a little) from his sippy cup. Please keep saying prayers for the little guy because he has been miserable. Since he has been home all week, he has wanted to go outside. He knows the baby sign for please (an open hand rubbed in a circular motion on your chest). He goes to the door and signs please. It breaks my heart. Yesterday afternoon, I let him walk out on the deck for about 3 minutes. His fever is gone but it's now HOT here so we couldn't stay out very long with him still being sick.

It seems I (Missy) may be getting this virus. I have canker sores in my mouth and a little blister on my thumb. I feel ok (just exhausted!) so we'll see what happens. Ugg.

If you have a chance, there's lots of cool Ethiopia adoption stuff on etsy.com Just go there and search "ethiopia adoption." Neat!

A teaspoon at a time

There are all these awful sores in Zeke's mouth and on his tongue. He's miserable. We've had him home most of this week from daycare. He can barely stand to eat and drink. We've had to give him fluid a teaspoon at a time using a syringe. Poor baby! Say prayers that these sores will go away SOON!

The Call

Earlier today, I got the call at work from Miss Jan at Zeke's daycare. My stomach dropped. They never call. I knew something was wrong. She told me Zeke was not himself and was running a fever. I told her I would be right there. Zeke was lethargic and feverish and he refused to eat lunch and drink. As I was leaving the daycare, the director said three kids had Hand, Foot and Mouth. A trip to the urgent care confirmed Zeke had it too. I took him to urgent care (his regular doc couldn't see him) because he was so warm and he wasn't drinking. That worried me. He's getting over an ear infection and that created added concern. Could he have the dreaded MRSA that a very small number of kids get in their ears? UGG! I was worried. Suddenly, Hand, Foot and Mouth didn't sound so bad. Apparently, it's very common. The doc said most adults are immune because almost everyone gets it at some point. Anyway, it's a virus so they just let it run its course while treating the fever. We doped him up on ibuprofen. By the time we got home, Zeke was pretty much back to his old self. I was hoping he might want to lie down with me (no such luck!). Instead, he played, drank tons of milk and water and then ate some dinner.

Back Home

We went to KC yesterday morning. We came back this afternoon. We had a lovely time. We went so Brad could go to an awards banquet for his station last night. They did quite well and I'm happy he had a chance to go. Zeke and I shopped the Plaza and hit the hotel pool while Brad was at the dinner.

Things are moving along with our paper chase. I had my physical last week. Our birth certificates and marriage certificate arrived. We got our police clearance letters and our employment letters. We also have one of our reference letters for the dossier in hand. It's so great to know we're getting things taken care of. I've decided that when we submit our dossier, I'm going to celebrate by buying this doll for Quilla:



It's a Bla Bla doll. Zeke has one he got as a gift and it's one of his favorite "babies" at bedtime. They are so soft and are the perfect size for babies/toddlers.

Yay capitalism!

And she wrapped him in a swaddling towel and laid him in his crib.

Z and the b-ball...not quite ready to palm it.

Z and his pocket kitty.

Yeah, I've got my hat brim flipped up...Jealous?

The Home Study Begins Tomorrow!

Prayers please as we begin our home study tomorrow. There are many things to be done and to keep organized.

We're looking forward to heading to the Lake this weekend. We're planning to enjoy the pool with Zeke. I took him to a local indoor pool yesterday. We had a blast! Although, he may have had more fun in the little changing room before and after...it had a high ceiling and he got a kick out of yelling and hearing the echo! Too funny!

We have our family coordinator!

We got an email this afternoon from our family coordinator and it included a slew of attachments that will guide us as we complete our dossier. So exciting!

Orphan Movie-Don't Go!

I am not one to jump on to the boycott bandwagon. But I don't plan to see the Warner Brothers movie coming out this summer called "Orphan." It is a horror flick that centers around an older adopted child. While there can be serious issues and concerns with adopting older children, this movie leaves people with a very bad impression of what it means to adopt an older child. But the worst part? The movie's trailer included this line:

"It must be hard to love an adopted child as much as your own."

Are you kidding me? I can't BELIEVE anyone would think of marketing a movie with such an offensive and UNTRUE line. I can't imagine loving any child more than I love Zeke (and Quilla). Thanks to pressure from adoptive parents and foster parents, the studio re-cut the trailer and took the line out. I'm not sure if it's still in the movie or not.