Finding Time....

My blogging is getting worse...it's been over a week-Ugh.  So here goes a quick update and some pics!  

Joseph "Yoseph" had to get another cast on Monday-he was trying to itch his arm last weekend and pulled his cast over his hand and well let's just say that his fingers were turing blue b/c there was no circulation.  Freaked out a little (me-not him), but he is fine and definitely won't do that again!  The Dr. shared that next time he'll have to get a cast up to his shouder if this happened again-he got the picture and just asks for itch medicine now!  We also celebrated his birthday last weekend with a few friends and he really enjoyed his first birthday in America!  He loved his camera and is taking pics all the time!  He is doing well in school and his English is really expanding!  This week at dinner-he asked for "damaged" potatoes....AKA "mashed" potatoes-pretty smart connection!! 

Alex "Fitamlak" is almost too smart for his own good! He picks up things so fast and has taken up "taking things apart"!!  He was trying to make a remote control boat and took apart 3 different toys to take the engine out and yes his middle name is still "EASY"!  Like a bull in a china shop!  He loves school-this week he came home and told me all about solids, liquids and gases-full English explanation with examples-I was so impressed!  He's trying lots of new foods and loves to buy lunch at school!  His laugh is so contagious-makes me smile everytime I hear it!

The boys met Grandma and Grandpa this week (they came in from NY)-they really enjoyed it!  They definitely understood who everyone was and loved the attention!  We ate dinner last night at my parents and both ofthe boys said-"Grandma is a good cooker-like you mom!!"  We laughed-roasted chickens (already cooked) from Walmart-can't beat it!  Dad and the boys made a soccer goal today out of PVC Pipe-very cute to watch!  They are learning all about Halloween and already have their costumes-we have a  few things planned this weekend!

Getting late...enjoy the pics!!

Life with BOYS!!

I don't even know where to begin...my dreams of blogging daily didn't last too long!!  It has been over a week since I last posted-reality hit....and also back to work too!  It's late so I will post some highlights of the past week and a few pics! 

The boys had so many Dr. visits and samples last week-I think they just woke up and said-which Dr. are we going to today-but all tests have come back great-they are very healthy boys-Yoseph "Joseph" gained 10 lbs in 2.5 weeks (hence all of theSams trips!!) and Fit "Alex" (will share later) gained 5 lbs!!  Fit had some dental issues and had to have 3 teeth pulled last week (poor kid)-but he was a riot at the dentist.  He actually wanted to watch the whole thing-mirror and everything and when they got his tooth out he cheered!!  The ladies in the office (who were phenomenal with him) were cracking up and insisted that he will be in the medical field when he gows up!!  Just when we thought the Dr's visits were over.....get ready for this....Joseph broke his wrist/arm Friday night.  He was trying skateboarding and fell and attempted to brace his fa nd landed right on his wrist.  Dave took him to ER and they put him in a soft cast and then he wnt to orthopedist yesterday and they hard casted it.  He was pretty miserable this weekend and in some pain-but he is doing 100% better now!  I went through the whole-I am a horrible mom-how can I let this happen...but soon realized BOYS will be BOYS and it will probably not be our last ER visit.  We can't keep them in a  bubble and want them to live their lives so things like this will happen-I just wish it didn't happen so soon!

The boys both started school Monday.  2nd and 7th grade at Dave's school. The night before- Fit (once known as Peter) decided that he wanted to be called "Alex"-he's been watching "Madagascar".  Well-he put it on all of his school books so the name has stuck and all the kids in school call him by Alex. Kind of funny...We still call him Fit and sometimes Alex. When the time comes to change it-we will probably go with both names-Fitamlak and Alex.  They both love school and are doing very well.  Joseph was pretty nervous (I can't even imagine being in his shoes)-but he said today that the kids help him and he has made a few friends and school is now "good"!!  We are getting a pretty good routine with school, dinner, homework, play.  Not much time for anything else though!!  Huge relief that school is going welll!!!

They also met some of their cousins this weekend and had a fun time playing with them!  We were at my aunt's house and the boys were playing he piano too and having a blast! They just love learning new things! 

There so much more...but it is almost 12 and I have to work tomorrow. Here are a few pics of the boys.  Few of the first day of school in daddy's car, Fit with injera (Ethiopian bread that we ordered from internet-it was great, but the whole 20lbs of bread lasted about 4 days) and them playing the piano (yes Fit also has a harmonica in his mouth).

More later....

They are Growing and Growing and Growing....

What a day-full of Dr's, shots and bloodwork!!!  The boys did great at the Dr's-they were great with the boys too-shots and everything!  We thought the bloodwork was going to be the worst-they laughed through it-Yoseph was making fish faces as if the were sucking all of his blood out and Fit just giggled the whole time!  So I guess they are eating well-Yoseph gained 8 lbs in 2 weeks and Fit gained 4 lbs.  It was funny-we took them to breakfast afterward and Yoseph loves breakfast (eggs, bacon, potatoes) and he kept saying-now 12 lbs!  They are somewhat particular about wat they eat, but when it is something they like-they eat a lot of it!!  Yoseph asked today if they could Western Union him some Injera from Ethiopia-we cracked up.  We have Western Unioned a few tims lately and he picked it up from there-pretty clever-I wish they could-they miss injera and our local ET restaurant is almost 2 hours away (not so local).  Next best thing-we ordered it on-line and it will be here Thursday-hopefully it will satisfy them!

We took them to the batting cages after the Dr. since they did so well and they had a blast.  I will post a  few pictures-they were doing pretty good hitting!  We are going to try and get them in a soccer league this week-we'll see! 

I don't think I have posted in a  few days, so here is a quick re-cap.  We started them on daily chores last week with an allowance and it is working quite well.  They are definitely motivated by earning money!  They have a daily check sheet with all of their chores and responsibilites and they earn a certain amout for each item.  Going much better than we expected-they seem to like having specific jobs-for now anyway! 

I also took them to a local school to use their Rosetta Stone-they were flying through it-it really is amazing how much they know.  Academics is definitely not an issue-just language and vocabulary and they have already made so much progress in that area. I'm sure school will still be a struggle because f the language barrier-but they will be immersed in English all day long and will pick up so much!  They will start school on Monday-Yoseph is a little nervous b/c the school is big and he is very serious when it comes to school-but he will do fine.  Fit is pretty social and will get along well.   They will both be going to school with Dave so that makes me feel so much better-huge sigh of relief!!

One more funny thing-Yoseph made a Ethiopian dish for lunch yesterday and they wanted the leftovers for dinner tonight  (I don't remember the name-but it was carrots, cabbage, onions, and potatoes and ET spices).  Dave and  have been craving shrimp so we figured it was  a good time to make a shrimp dish for us and maybe the boys would taste it.  Yoseph wouldn't even try it-almost gagged.  Fit attepted to twice-He didn't like the smell so he held his nose and tried to take a bite-I will post the picture-it was hilarious.  So no shrimp-but we did have fish last night and they loved it. Maybe next time....

The last picture I have to post is just something to laugh about- I have this posted on the top of the toilet bowl and since I am overtaken by males-I have to remind them of this!!!

Off to another dentist appt. tomorrow...poor kids and all these appoinments.  More later....

Where Does the Time Go?

I've been saying this a lot lately....Where does the time go?  I've never really been an on time person (just ask my family & girlfriends!!), but now it's real bad!!  What I thought would take an hour-more like 2 hours, etc...kind of funny-hopefully I will learn soon to get it together!  But it is all GOOD!  It seems like I just posted yesterdy, but my last post was Thursday!! 

Well-now when the boys introduce themselves to someone-they are just using the names they asked for-Joseph & Peter.  I still call them by Yoseph & Fitmakes me sad and we probably won't officially change names, but I do ee their point and understand why they want American names.  Maybe we'll do those names as their middle names-we haven't fully decided. We also found out their official birthdates-(the ones on their birth certificates are from the adoption agency) and Yoseph has a birthday coming up 11/5-he officially turns 14.  Fit will be 9 on 5/14.  We will definitely celebrate on these dates-even though birth certificates say otherwise. They are special days and we always want them to remeber where and who they came from.

Well-Yoseph has officially turned into a teenager in a matter of days!!  I hve no idea how this happened, but it just did.  We were going to a church Family Fun event on Friday evening and he was like-"Mom do I have to go-it will be no fun".  Then he asked for a mobile phone...kind of crazy, huh??  He tried to convince me that someone else adopted from Ethopia his age has a phone already. I told him-When you turn 16-we'll think about it!!  Then the IPOD craze....we have to limit his time on it.  It's so funny-I feel like I am at school with my middle school kids!  Really-he is doing well and picking up so much more English and using it so appropriately! 

Fit is doing well too!  He loves video games and we have nicknamed him"Easy, Fit"-he hears it so much from us-he is so hard on everything (maybe just the way boys are) and we are trying to teach him to be easier on things.  He is quite social and really enjoyed church family night-he went in the bounce house and played a bunch of games.  You could never tell he's only been in US for less than a month!  He jumps right into everything!  He is doing much better with sleeping too-he was having nightmares for a little while and didn't want to sleep at night. 

Both of the boys want to go to school so bad!  We are planning school for next week-Dr's visit this Tuesday and then vaccinations and blood work, etc...  We also go back to Dentist on Wednesday. I'll post some more pics this week. 

People have been asking me-if it is what we expected and how are we doing.  It's so surreal.  We have been waiting and preparing for 2 years now for kids from Ethiopia and we think we were as prepared as we could possibly have been.  But really-you never know until you are in it!  Is it hard-absolutely, but by far the most rewarding thing we have ever done!  We just love them to pieces!

Good Teeth Report!!!

The boys did so well at the dentist today it was impressive!  We were so proud of them!  For never going to a dentist-their teeth were very good!  Maybe lack of candy?  2 more visits and we should be good-a cavity or so and  few extractions-but NO braces needed-YAY!!.  They were great with the boys so that made us much more comfortable!!  We go the Dr. on Tuesday so no school next week. They will start the week after-which is fine-am enjoying being home with them!  We are doing lots of schoolwork at home so they are getting prepared!  Our house is fully labeled top to bottom with all English words and they really are picking up on and using so many new words from the labels! 

Quick funny story-yesterday we stopped at my school and two of my friends gave them each a card and a small giftbag with a giftcard to our local movie/game place in it .  When we got to the car-they opened the gift bag and Fit said "Oh, soft, huh??" with a puzzled look on his face.  Soft in Amharic is toilet paper-they thought it was a bag with toilet paper because of the tissue paper wrapped around the giftcard!!  Quite funny!! 

Off to bed.....more later!