What....??

Cut the boy's hair today. Sam wanted his picture taken. Looks like he is accusing me of scalping him...

All things Ethiopia.....

When the boys first came home, Charlie was very reluctant to talk about Ethiopia. Even the mention of the word, sent him running to another room. He didn't want to look at pictures or talk about anything that had to do with Ethiopia. It was like he had totally shut that part of his life out of his memory. It made me a little sad, but we never, ever pushed the issue and knew when and if he wanted to talk about it, we would.

Six months go by...

Now, anything that reminds him of something that happen while he lived in Ethiopia, he tells us about it. And today at lunch he basically spilled his guts. Well, as much guts as you can spill when your English language is only at say, 65%. He told me all about him and Sam having chicken pox (I knew he was talking about chicken pox because they had the scars to prove it when we picked them up) and staying home from school and taking pink medicine.

He told me about sleeping and bunk beds and how Sam fell off and then he had to sleep on the bottom. (Thank the Lord for no head injuries!)



He told me about eating breakfast, lunch and dinner, but having "yummy milk and tea" for a snack. Hopefully, it wasn't this stuff...



He told me each and every toy and item that Kenny and I ever sent over to him in their little care packages and that he knew they were from his Mommy and Daddy. Then he told me that someone took them all away and he didn't get to play with his new toys anymore...that someone just better be glad they live in Ethiopia, 'cause I'm 'liable to put a butt whoopin' on 'em for takin' my kids toys away! Sorry. I think Redneck Jana came out... (And yeah, that's Lesley and baby Eli, giving the boys their first gifts from us...)


He told me about going to school in the morning at the "other house" and taking a nap when he came home. Up until this point, he has told me he never went to school, but I guess he changed his mind.


He also said Sam cried a lot. This I can believe, which was probably a result of not getting his way. Did I ever tell you that when we picked the boys up at the orphanage the staff laughed at us when we told them we were Edaso's parents? They would say, "Oh, no!" and just laugh and say things in Amharic to each other that we didn't understand. We just decided he must be a handful and they were probably glad to have them off their hands. I can see where they might have thought that...but I just like to think of him as strong willed and now that we have control and consistency, it's usually not a problem!


He also talked about his friends, but can't remember any of their names, even after looking at pictures of them together.


Sam's friendships consisted of guarding the potty so you could have dibs next go round...


I'm not sure if his hesitancy was because he really didn't want to talk about it or because he didn't have the words to express what he wanted to say. I'm sure it was probably a little bit of both. Either way, I'm glad he's talking!

And just a little bonus material I've never made you privy to...you know, like the deleted scenes from a DVD...here is the link to ALL of the pictures I collected from the boys time at the orphanage. Enjoy. There's a lot!

More good readin' coming your way...

Since I think two of the three and a half people who read the blog may go to church with us, I'm shamelessly plugging two new blogs from Highview.

So, first... Highview's new Adoption Blog, which will be all things adoption...new information, adoption events from the church and around town, family testimonies, and more. If you have any info that may be adoption blog worthy, send it my way. Go check it out, save it as a favorite and tell your friends. Yeah, it's that important.


And next... Highview's Spencer County Campus Children's Ministry Blog. Here, you can get all information concerning our kids at Spencer County...and more. Because let's be honest, Nicole knows a lot about everything and you know she's gonna fill us in on all the current events! Again, save it, tell your friends and check it often if you want to know what's going on at Spencer County Campus!

I've added both to my list of blogs I stalk on the right hand side of the blog, so if you forget to save them (Shame on you!), you can always find them close at hand...

Highview Adoption Ministry

Spencer County Campus Children's Ministry

And just because I can and because my favorite color is green...


Want to know a super disgusting fact? Have your tonsils taken out and your mouth will turn green, too. Not a nice shade, like Charlie and Sam's...think more along the lines of rotting, dying flesh. Too much information?? I digress.

Get yo fitness on!!

We take physical fitness seriously here in the Cook household.

I'll give you a minute to quit laughing before I continue............

Ok, so while I wouldn't consider us couch potatoes, I'm also not going to rank us up there as the most health conscious people in the world either. But last week after our Saturday morning routine of cartoons on PBS, an exercise show came on. The boys jumped up and immediately started following the commands of an instructor who was giving directions to people I can only assume he thought were totally incompetent..."Now, raise you left hand. That's the thing attached to your arm...You are doing a great job!! Keep it up!!"

It was like they were mesmerized by this Richard Simmons wanna be! They completed almost the whole show and Kenny & I got a great workout just laughing at them...

Monkey Batman (aka Curious George)

To say that Charlie is obsessed with super heroes would be a slight understatement. Super heroes and Curious George. Weird combination, I know, but those are his two loves. So, earlier he brings me Smile Monkey (that's what his Curious George's name is...to distinguish it from Sam's monkey), who has been decked out in a cape and mask and now dubbed Monkey Batman. I bet Curious George didn't know he had an alter-ego super hero named Monkey Batman!

Birthday Weekend via Pictures

We celebrated the boys birthday ALL weekend and a lot of our family from Alabama and friends from church joined us! Enjoy the overload of pictures...



GUESS WHAT??? We are 3 and 7!!



Super excited about the cookie cake Gran and Papa John brought us!



Hanging with Papa John & Gran after birthday dinner out with the whole family!



Swimming at the Gammy & Papa's hotel pool...I think this might have been the highlight of the weekend for Charlie!



Daddy & Sam being silly!



Sam digging into those presents...



Charlie following suit...



Being serenaded "Hill Style"...aka Happy Birthday sung at the top of your lungs, as loud and as annoying as you can make it! Sam is actually plugging his ears here...he's not a fan of the song...



Cousin Tristan enjoying cake and ice cream...sans our shirt to cut down on the mess!



Chowing down...



I wish I had the video we took of Sam eating his cake and ice cream. He literally licked top and bottom of plate and his hands, table, etc in his efforts to make sure he got every last drop of his birthday dessert!



Family Picture with the Birthday Boys!

Soon to return...

Sorry to the three and a half people who read the blog to have been somewhat MIA over the last week or so, but I ended a distraught relationship with my tonsils earlier in the week and let's just say their departure caused a minor pandemonium and life just hasn't quite gotten back on track yet. (Just be glad I haven't figured out how to take a picture of the inside of my mouth. It's quite impressive. And somewhat disgusting.)

I had hoped to get birthday pictures up this week, but if your doctor ever gives you liquid pain medicine, I wouldn't plan on getting anything at all done. So, birthday posts to follow, but here's some of the fun had at the park with Gammy while Mommy slept off some super duper pain meds...(A ridiculously big thanks to Gammy for being my personal nurse, babysitter and cook this week!! We love you and will miss you!)







Oh yeah, we lost another tooth this week. (We, being Charlie.) So, now we have a super snaggly smile. No mention of throwing the tooth on the roof this time. I asked him what he wanted to do with the tooth...but I think he likes the arrangement better that we have where he gets a little surprise under his pillow in exchange for the tooth!

March 11, 2008

Two years ago today, our little boys showed up at an orphanage in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We hadn't even made the decision to adopt yet, but God already had a plan laid out for Nuredin and Edaso.

Since actual birth dates were uncertain, they were both given the birthday of March 11th. I'm sure God smiled as He concocted this plan, as He knew that the boys soon-to-be great-grandfather also shared the same birthday. And that Nuredin and Edaso would soon bear the names of that man and his own father.

I love how God has intertwined the boy's history with the history of their forever family. We knew when we first saw that date of March 11th on their paperwork that it was no mistake that day was chosen for them.

Happy Birthday Charlie & Sam!



And you better believe that there are tons more pictures coming, especially since the state of Alabama has come up this weekend to celebrate......okay, so maybe not the whole state, but a good portion of it.

Bathing Beauties

These two would probably stay in the bathtub all night if the water would stay warm...and if mom didn't insist that they eventually don their jammies and go to bed. This particular night I think they were in there almost an hour before they declared it too cold and emerged from the soapy lagoon as wrinkled raisins.


We've also developed an underwater classroom of sorts, where Charlie takes the foam letters and numbers, sticks them to the wall and repeatedly asks Sam to identify it. I think he is copying me, since I have recently started to try and teach Sam to recognize the letters. But I don't think I'm this demanding. It goes a little like this...

Charlie: "What is this?"
Sam: "Ummmmmmmm....E!!!"
Charlie: "No....What is this?"
Sam: "Ummmmmmmm....E!!!"
Charlie: "No....What is this?"
Sam: "Ummmmmmmm....E!!!"
Charlie: "NO!" (He isn't the most patient of teachers...)

Well, you get the point...apparently the only letter we know is "E", except when "E" is shown, then it's probably likely to be labeled a "P", which is our second favorite letter. We do know the letter "A", but it is sometimes confused with a triangle...

Ruth

If you need a recommendation for a new study, our Ladies Group at church is currently going through a book study on Ruth, titled Ruth: Loss, Love & Legacy by Kelly Minter.

It's been a long time since I have gotten this into completing an actual book. But I think there is a chance that Kelly Minter and I may be long lost sisters or something...she writes like I talk!! A little bit of sarcasm, mixed with truth...I love it! Her writing style is great, but she is forcing us to dig deeper into the story of Ruth and dragging us all through the Old and New Testament in the mean time.

Seeing the story of Ruth & Boaz as an illustration of Christ's relationship with us...should we choose His redemption...And why wouldn't you??!!

OCD much?

I'm raising a super organized neat freak.

Not that I at all have a problem with this, but I think it's quite entertaining that a 6-year-old be so organized. I promise I'm not forcing my ways on Charlie, but this is just proof that environment shapes a child.

He can't stand to have the play room disorganized and insists on Sam cleaning up things he has played with...sometimes while he is still trying to play. He has all his art materials organized just the way he likes in his desk drawers and don't attempt to get anything...he will get it for you, so that you don't mess up what he has going on. He makes his bed each morning, most of the time without being asked. And we are working on getting a new shelf in the play room that Papa and Daddy built...I'm pretty sure that Charlie may be as excited as I am about the organizational possibilities a giant empty shelf holds!!

And my favorite...Charlie's new job while shopping, since he has sadly outgrown riding in the fun little car in the front of the cart, is to take the identified item from the shelf and place in shopping cart. Or buggy, as we call it in Alabama. (This means that I have to let go of my incessant need to organize the cart the way I feel it needs to be done and just accept that he will just haphazardly toss it in. I can do this. It will be fine...) So, today as Charlie is fully embracing his new role, I notice he is taking quite a long time to find a place for the box of granola bars he has just taken from the shelf. After further inspection, I discover he has created his own little system and totally has the cart organized in a Mommy-approved fashion! All boxes in one corner, cans in another, etc, etc...

I've got a couple of college professors that would flip right now since I'm killing their nature vs nurture arguments. He doesn't have my genes, but he sure has organized jeans! (I know. That was a bad joke...)

How many days?

2 days until Cubbies on Wednesday night at church.

8 days until we get to go back to the library.

10 days until our super combined birthday.

35 days until "roller coaster" (aka: trip to Gatlinburg, where a ride on a roller coaster has been promised).

168 days until we start school.

299 days until Santa comes again.


If I had to guess, Charlie was probably one of those babies that HAD to be kept on a strict schedule, and straying from that schedule just screwed his whole day up. And probably the day of anyone who happen to be around him.

Now, as a 6, almost 7-year-old, routine is very important to him. If I stray off of our routine at all, he quickly lets me know about it. He also wants to know what is going to happen each day, what we will be eating (probably his #1 concern!), where everyone he has ever met is that day...and how many days until significant (or not so significant) events occur. I really don't think I would be overestimating to say that I hear the question, "How many days?" at least 47 times each day. And the above list are the most questioned events, with our upcoming birthday being the most important. And don't even attempt to give him a quick answer or just an estimate of the days...he will totally call you out on it. He is serious about this and wants the exact number of days until said event.

So, just for your FYI, Charlie...tomorrow, we will be at home, cleaning house and playing Candy Land; we will partake of pancakes, peanut butter & jelly and spaghetti; Daddy will be at work, Grace will be at school, Gran is in Alabama; and please consult the above list for a current timeline of the year's events. And thanks for keeping me on my toes!!