Wordless Wednesday

Adoption Update: Fingerprinting

Mark and I made the trip to Indianapolis this morning to have our fingerprints digitized (is that a pun? ha!) by US Immigration. We were thankful that Indy did not get their predicted snowfall on Monday night and we were back in Lafayette before it started snowing here on Tuesday afternoon.

It didn't take very long to be fingerprinted. We arrived early for our 9 am appointment and our names were called right on time. I thought it was so cool to hear about four different languages being spoken in the waiting room.

We had been moisturizing our fingers for days in preparation for being fingerprinted. We were worried about Mark's hands because he has always had rough and dry skin. Ha! His fingerprints worked on the first try! Mine, however, took some extra effort. I don't know if it's because I work on a computer for the majority of the day or what, but the technician kept saying that my fingertips are "worn" and "scarred." Huh. I wouldn't think that to look at them myself! We're just hoping that she was able to get prints good enough to pass Immigration. According to the technician, no amount of moisturizer will help! So now we're keeping our fingers crossed that everything goes through on the first try and that our I-171 is returned to us quickly.

You're not allowed to take photos inside the building but we wanted to record this step of the process. So here I am in Indy, outside in front of the building.

We'll let you know when we receive this last and very important paper for our dossier -- stay tuned!

There She Is ....

I confess to watching the Miss America pageant tonight. Afterall, it is a scholarship program and I am all for giving away money that reduces the cost of higher education. I also confess to eating a rather large bowl of ice cream while I watched the pageant. (As Mark would say, "a Hutchinson-sized serving of ice cream.") Anyway, here's a shout-out to Miss Indiana! Way to go! My family in Pennsylvania called at the end of the pageant, well, my Dad specifically, and wanted to know if we knew the new Miss America -- crack me up! : ) Nope, don't know her, Dad.

Turns out that Miss Indiana wasn't the only one on stage winning prizes this evening!

My parents also called to tell us about their stage debut in Chambersburg, PA tonight. They are spending the weekend at my sister's house with Heidi and her family. Brandon and Andrew were in a children's choir tonight, part of some kind of community theater event, and from all reports, both boys did an excellent job! During one of the intermissions, Mom and Dad were selected from the audience to participate in charades! The theme was 'body parts.' (I know! Could be bad!) My Mom had to get my Dad to say the word "vein" -- which she did. And then my Dad had to get my Mom to say the word "tastebuds" only he was allowed to use words instead of acting it out. So he said "flavor" and my Mom said "taste." Off to a good start! And then this next part cracks me up ... Dad said "Wilbur" and my Mom replied "buds!" (Insert laughter here from my PA friends and all those who know what Wilbur Buds are!!) Very clever, Dad! Too smart, Mom!! And congrats on your Harrisburg prize package!

***Wilbur Buds are little chocolates made in my family's hometown of Lititz, PA. They look like Hershey kisses but taste waaayyyyy better! Wilbur Chocolate actually is older than Hershey's.

Aahhhhhh .... the weekend

This week was jam-packed with work and activities. I'm glad that another weekend has arrived! We've got alot to do, mostly working on Mark's new studio space. There's painting, de-construction, construction, and cleaning to be done. We're so excited to get Ailor Photography into this new and larger space!

Mark's hand is healing really well. He's not been wearing the splint much at all. Thanks to everyone who has inquired about him! We're looking forward to Sunday when the article about Mark/Ailor Photography will be in Lafayette's newspaper.

We're also looking forward to Tuesday when we've finally got our appointment to be fingerprinted for our adoption paperwork. Now, just so it doesn't snow that day ...

Anyway, not much else to report. Just glad for the weekend -- did I mention that already? The weekend started with a smile for me. When I got in my car at the parking garage at work at the end of the day, I turned on the car and the radio station was just starting to play one of my all-time favorite songs ... Vacation by the Go-Go's. If that song doesn't put a tap in your foot and make you do a little dance in your seat, I don't know what will.

A child of the 80's??? Yes. Yes I am. : )

Have a good weekend everyone!

Time Flew By! The Week in Review

Ok, so it's been a little more than a week since I last updated the blog. Sorry about that! Here's what's been going on ...

Last Sunday, Mark and I traveled to the Indianapolis airport to help welcome home our friends Chris and Sarah Ponsler and their son, Tegegn. They were able to spend a month in Ethiopia with a host family and they are the first family that we personally know to adopt from Ethiopia. Seeing them arrive with their son was very emotional for us ... it gave us hope that we will be in their shoes someday soon. They had so many family and friends waiting at the airport for them and it truly was a time of celebration! If you'd like to read more about their journey you can visit their blog: http://angelsinafrica.blogspot.com/

On Tuesday we finally got the snow that I have been hoping for! I mean really, if it's going to be negative 18 degrees with a wind chill of negative 30 degrees, why not have some snow on the ground to brighten up things? It was sooo cold this past week but we managed pretty well ...

...until Friday evening. We spent most of our evenings last week getting ready for our first Ethiopia night. Mark had been doing a lot of cooking and I was preparing table tents and collecting other information to share. On Friday night, after two days of absolute bitter cold, I went out to the laundry room to use the bathroom. I flushed the toilet and thought, huh, that sounded kind of funny. Then I tried to turn on the faucet at the sink -- no water. Frozen pipes! Luckily, the only pipes that were frozen were to the half bath and the washer. We put both space heaters on the job and within a few hours, we had running water again without too much trouble, thankfully.

On Saturday, we hosted our first 'Little Taste of Ethiopia' night and it was so much FUN! We had seven people attend and really had a good time. Mark's Ethiopian dishes received rave reviews. I wish I would have remembered to take more photos while our guests were here! I was just having too much fun chatting. But here are a few photos of our 'set-up.'

You know, one thing that I haven't blogged about is the fact that Mark's business is moving to a new location ... just a few doors up Main Street from his current studio. It's very exciting because he will have about triple the amount of space AND still be in downtown Lafayette. Lafayette's TV18 did a short story about Ailor Photography on Saturday's newscasts at 6 and 11 p.m. -- very exciting! We loved the free advertising. And, he is being interviewed by the Journal & Courier paper on Wednesday of this week. The new space is awesome! Exposed brick walls, a little kitchenette in the back, a space for Mark's office ... it couldn't be more ideal. You can read more about his move at http://ailorphoto.blogspot.com

Anyway, the space was most recently used as a frame shop and gallery. Prior to that, it was a hair salon. There are three walls with glass block in them. In order to have as much photo space as possible, those three walls need to come down. On Sunday, Mark was working at the new studio by himself when he called me at home and asked me to come and help drop the first wall to the ground. I arrived and he pointed out a piece of sharp metal and told me to be careful before we brought the wall down. Well, about half-way to the ground we realized it was more than the two of us could handle and we just had to let it fall. (The people in the coffee shop next door were probably jolted out of their seats because it hit the ground hard!)

I'm brushing drywall off my shirt when Mark says, "I cut my hand and we need to go to the hospital." WHAT?!?! Sure enough, there was lots of blood. Mark rinsed it out in the sink and I found some napkins in the kitchen and off we went to the ER. They weren't very busy so we were in and out within an hour. Mark received 7 -- SEVEN! -- stitches between his left hand thumb and pointer finger. He has to wear a splint on a it to remind him not to flex that area so that it can heal ... probably for about 2 weeks. I happened to have the camera in my purse because I was going to take photos of the new studio so here you go ...

Yes, this is his 'woo is me' look. He actually watched the doctor numb his hand and do the stitches. Yuck!

And here is the culprit ... the first glass block wall we took down. We're so thankful for Mark's cousin Brad and his help last night in finishing up the removal of this first wall.

A glimpse of the new studio space -- gotta love all that natural sunlight!

And so today it's Monday. Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Purdue is closed so I'm off from work. The plan was to work on the new studio space. But guess what? We woke up to a 57 degree house and a furnace that has stopped working! Ugh. So Mark is working at the studio and I am home waiting for the heating people to come over and fix the furnace. My Mom and Dad gave Mark a little space heater for his workshop for Christmas this year and I am so glad for it today! We're on a deadline for the new studio ... Mark's landlord is having new carpet installed next Monday so he has to get the walls out prior to that. Thus, our divide and conquer approach.

So there's the latest from the Ailor household! I'll bet you've been wondering when the 'antics' part of our blog title would kick in, huh? Next winter I'll think twice before wishing for snow AND cold together. And no more trying to take down walls with glass block by ourselves.

Have a great week everyone!

Word of the Day: Biometrics

We received our letters from Homeland Security today! In other words, we got our appointment to be fingerprinted -- YES! Who would have ever thought we would be so happy about being fingerprinted by the US government? Actually, the word they use is 'biometrics.' We have an appointment to have our biometrics taken in Indy. (Sounds like we need to pee in a cup, doesn't it?? Ha!) Anyway, we are looking forward to Tuesday, January 27 when we'll make the trip to Indy for this important step in our adoption journey. Once we are fingerprinted, Immigration will do what they need to do and then send us our I-171 -- the last document we need for our dossier. Hopefully, our dossier will be on its way to Ethiopia by mid-February. We're keeping our biometrics, I mean our fingers, crossed. : )

In other news from the Ailor household, we enjoyed another delicious meal at Abyssinia in Indianapolis last night. We really enjoyed spending the evening with some new friends who are also adopting from Ethiopia. It was a very fun evening and we were so glad for the opportunity to get to know them better.

Today was an icy/snowy day but it didn't slow us down. We made a trip to the library to borrow books about Ethiopia in preparation for our first Ethiopia Night next Saturday. We then went to Lowe's so that Mark could pick out a paint color for his new studio. I love looking at all the colors and wish that I had the gumption to paint some of the brighter colors in our house -- there are so many fun colors to choose from! But, this time, Mark chose a lovely shade of tan -- Au Lait Ole to be exact.

After that, we traveled to the Sharp's house for a yummy chili supper -- the perfect meal for a cold and snowy day in my humble opinion. We always enjoy hanging out with Chris, Brian and Sean because we laugh alot and today was no exception. It was so nice to take a break from our Saturday chores. Tomorrow, if the weather cooperates, we are looking forward to another trip to Indy to welcome home the Ponsler's. Chris and Sarah return from Ethiopia tomorrow with their son. We are soooo excited to see them! They have been gone for a month and I'm sure they will have many stories to share.

Melkam Yelidet Beaal!

Today is Christmas in Ethiopia -- Melkam Yelidet Beaal to all! (direct translation is Happy Christmas as opposed to 'merry' Christmas.) I compiled this information from a variety of websites that I read and hope you will forgive my plagiarism.

Christmas in Ethiopia is known as Ganna and is celebrated on January 7th (instead of December 25th). It is believed that, of the Three Magi, King Balthazar of Ethiopia was the king bearing frankincense. As a result of this belief, the aroma of frankincense (essential oil, incense...) plays a part in the celebrations. (Note from Wendi: Mark got me a nativity from Ethiopia and we thought it was so interesting that the three Magi figures are very large and tower over the rest --knowing this about King Balthazar puts that into perspective!)

Christmas is a major holiday in Ethiopia. More than half of the population of Ethiopia is Orthodox Christian. The celebration occurs on January 7, the Feast of the Epiphany, instead of December 25. Ethiopia has its own calendar and time system, totally unique from any other country. For example, 7AM is 1AM, the year 2007 is currently 1999 and there are thirteen months in the year. The Ethiopian Orthodox church celebrates Christmas on January 7 as does the Russian Orthodox Church. On Christmas Eve, January 6, the city is crowded with pilgrims and tourists from all parts of the world. The people remain outdoors all night, praying and chanting. On January 7, the Ethiopian Christmas known as Ganna is celebrated. The word Ganna is used interchangeably with the word Christmas, to mean the birth of Jesus Christ (leddat).

The celebration takes place in ancient churches carved from solid volcanic rock of that day and also in more modern churches that are designed in three concentric circles. Men and boys sit separately from the girls and women. People receive candles as they enter their church. After lighting the candles, everyone walks around the church three times, and then they all stand throughout the church service which may last up to three hours.

After the service, the rest of the day is spent dancing, playing sports and feasting. The preparation of the feast is an important part of the day in Ethiopia. A typical Ethiopian feast for the Christmas meal includes a main course, such as doro wat (a spicy chicken stew), injera bread (which is a flat round bread) and homemade wine or beer. The injera bread is used to scoop and eat the food, thereby replacing ordinary utensils.

Gift giving in an Ethiopian Christmas celebration is a very small part of this ceremony. Children, if they receive gifts, usually receive simple presents such as clothing. But, a very important part of the celebration is a sporting event called gena. This game is a form of field hockey in which sticks with hooks at one end are used. The game is played by having two opposing teams trying to outscore each other hitting a ball with their sticks. Usually, the sticks and balls are made from locally grown trees. In Ethiopia, the opposing teams often represent certain regions and the rivalry in these games can be intense. According to tradition, shepherds celebrated when they heard of Jesus’ birth by playing this such game. (Heidi and Kelly and my other field hockey playing friends -- thought you would appreciate this!)

The Evangelical Church has greatly increased in size and respect in the past 50 years. They observe Christmas on the same date as Orthodox Christians, but in quite a different way. They assemble in churches on Christmas Eve and observe the occasion with great respect and seriousness. The women come to church in their beautiful national dresses, hymns are sung, and the story of Christ’s birth is read from the Bible. In recent years, the custom of setting up Christmas trees in the Evangelical Church and their parishioner’s homes has been taken from the western churches. In the Orthodox Church, there are still no Christmas trees. The problem now is that western civilization has come through to Ethiopia and much tradition is being overshadowed by the western ways of celebrating Christmas as in Santa Claus, presents, Christmas trees and the ways of the west.If you would like to honor the Ethiopian Christmas tradition, the national dress and religious celebration should greatly overshadow the gift-giving.

So there you have it! Melkam Ganna, everyone! Here's to the hope that Mark and I will be home with Baby Ailor before the next Christmas in Ethiopia. : )

The Challenge

Mark and I have done a lot of reading about adoption over the last several months. Most of it has been about preparing to help our baby adjust to us, good practices in attachment/bonding, transracial adoption, etc. But one article in particular was about preparing yourself for having a baby at home. And one comment within that article really caught my eye. One of the women that was interviewed talked about how she went from having no children to carrying an 18 pound baby overnight. This doesn't sound odd by itself but if you think about how most children are born weighing about 7-9 pounds (granted, unless you're from the Hutchinson family!) and as they grow, they get heavier but it's a more gradual adjustment. This mom talked about wishing she had prepared physically for caring for her baby. Huh. It got me thinking about how I struggle to help Mark move furniture or carry a heavy suitcase. I don't want to be the mom who can't keep up with her children or starts to have back spasms from carrying my child!

So now that the holidays are over, it's time to shape up. I've been thinking about this for awhile -- so has Mark -- and we have re-committed ourselves to getting in to better shape. For me, that includes lifting weights and doing cardio exercises. I even came up with a name for our efforts:

The "Lose Weight While We Wait" challenge. Clever, don't ya think? ;)

So to help me in particular stay accountable, here are my goals for January.

1. Drink 4 glasses of water a day.
2. Work out 4 times a week.
3. Lose 10 pounds this month.

So far, so good. Mark has been going to the gym for over a year now. I just joined last week. And to date, I am on track. I'm only going to weigh myself once a week. For this first week, I have met nearly all of my goals, including a 2.4 pound weight loss. YES!

Well, it's out 'there' now in blog land -- no turning back! Hopefully, we'll stay on track and meet our goals. Knowing that I'm working towards being a healthier mom for our baby has given me motivation in way I haven't felt before. And it feels awesome. (This also means that I cry at the drop of a hat but that's a blog post for another day!)

Ethiopian Cooking with your host.....Mark

Wendi and I are hosting some Ethiopian nights coming up so I needed to try and learn a few dishes. We have been collecting ideas for the past few months from magazines and online and by sampling a few at Ethiopian restaurants. I also have purchased a few of the staples of Ethiopian cooking such as berbere spice and Teff Flour.

Tonight I decided to first try and make some samosas. A dish that I thought was Indian, but turns up often in Ethiopian cooking. They are little filled pastries that are typically fried. As I hate to fry food, I decided to try baking mine. They came out great! They had a dough that had a lot of fall spices in it and a stuffing with potatos, carrots, onions and some spices. The recipe was mostly from Cooking Light magazine, but with a few personal twists. They were the highlight of dinner.

Next I decided to try the Ethiopian staple bread, Injera. It is a flat, spongy, sourdough pancake. The recipe I used was also from Cooking Light Magazine and I have to say that it was very good. It was a lot different than what we had at the Ethiopian restaurant, but looked just like the photo in the magazine. Wendi and I both thought that it tasted better than the restaurants. Getting the thickness etc, right is the most difficult part.

Last, I made Doro Wat. It is a very traditional, spicy, chicken dish. There are about a million different recipes for this dish, so I borrowed a little bit from several and it came out pretty good, but VERY HOT. I think I will need to "tweak" the recipe for this dish also to make it a little more palatable for Americans. I think it has a lot of potential though, and I look forward to learning and creating more Ethiopian dishes.

Adoption Update and Baby Ailor's Room

We've taken another step forward in our adoption this week ... we sent our paperwork to USCIS. This is part of the immigration process. We'll wait to hear from them on a date to go to Indianapolis to be fingerprinted. After this happens, they will return the last paperwork we need to include with our dossier. So we're getting closer! But we're trying to have patience as this could take one-two months to complete. We're still hopeful that we'll be able to send our dossier to Ethiopia by the end of January but there are no guarantees.

So in the meantime, we've been planning a series of 'Ethiopia Nights' at our house in January, February, and March. Contact us if you'd like to attend or just want to know more about these. We're hoping that by giving ourselves some things to look forward to and work on, our waiting won't seem as long. Plus, we'll be learning more about Ethiopia as a country and culture.

Also, when we were in PA for Christmas, we picked up the furniture for the baby's room. We are so grateful to Heidi and Thinh for letting us use it! And I think that Mason is glad to have more room in his bedroom, too.

My Mom and Dad added to our giraffe theme in the room with these adorable wall hangings! Things are coming together well in many ways and we are so glad that our family is as excited as we are about our baby.

Trip to Pennsylvania

Happy New Year! Time has just flown by the last two weeks. I've enjoyed being off work and am feeling refreshed and ready to return to the work routine next week. It's been fun to be at home this week. I got my scrapbooking projects organized, a task that has been nagging at me and felt overwhelming because things were such a mess! We also took down the Christmas decorations, a task that usually leaves me feeling kind of blue, but we re-arranged some furniture and added a new piece to the living room so I'm feeling ok about seeing the tree come down. Our new piece of furniture is a gift from my parents -- an antique school desk from the late 1800's. It's really beautiful! My parent's have had it for a very long time and I was honored that they surprised us with it.

The highlight of our trip to PA is always the time we get to spend with our family and friends. My three nephews certainly added to the fun! Brandon is now 7, Andrew is 5 and Mason is 2. They were soooo excited for Santa to come and yet Brandon was quick to point out that it's more important to give than to get. Smart guy! We really had fun with the boys, especially on a trip to Lancaster's Science Factory. We also enjoyed meeting my Aunt Barbie for breakfast at the Pancake Farm, meeting our friends Faith, Rod, Seth and Ethan Bare for breakfast Oregon Dairy, getting together with 'the Warwick girls' for a night out at Eat-n-Park (do you see the theme of food yet??) Plus our holiday gatherings with the Hutchinson's on Christmas Eve and the Eshleman's on Christmas Day. Here are some photos from the week:

Tonya, Michele, Kimberly, Shelly and me in our little corner of Eat-n-Park. (We missed you, Kirsten!)

Heidi and Thinh brought Vietnamese food for lunch on Christmas Eve. The boys call the soup "Daddy noodles"-- I think because they're so used to seeing Thinh eat them!

Our Christmas Eve gathering at Maple Farms, the home where Grampy lives. Grampy will be 89 in just a few weeks!

Mason, Andrew and Brandon are all lined up for their Christmas Eve photo before leaving cookies and milk for Santa. Love the matching pjs!



Tazzy found a new friend and Grandma was glad to oblige! I think that Tazzy was keeping her warm.

My Mom asked for a pink Purdue shirt for Christmas!

My Dad's company did the steel work for the Lancaster Science Factory. Dad is standing next to the exhibit that he created to show how the steel beams are holding up the ceiling.

Andrew and Mason are playing the drums at the Science Factory. They had a blast!

Mark, me and Brandon spent some time in the kaleidescope mirrors. We took this funny photo to remind us of how much fun Brandon had in the mirrors -- he was cracking us up!