An update on Simon!

I couldn't believe it when I checked my e-mail this afternoon ... an update on Simon from Ethiopia! It came completely out of the blue! And the best part is that it included 12 photos!!! It is so fun to see his different expressions including one with a huge smile. It looks like he bites his lower lip when he is concentrating on something. And he has definitely grown! He's gained one pound in the last month and his two little teeth on the bottom are really showing now. And it looks like he will soon need a haircut -- wow!

Most of the photos are related to a developmental assessment and show him doing things like drinking from a cup and stacking blocks. But the social worker also said these wonderful things about him:

• "an adorable little boy"
• "has a very calm and cool manner"
• "According to the nannies he even sings songs at night but it is gibberish." (LOVE this!)
• "an affectionate child with a warm personality"
• "Once he gets to know someone he tends to respect and love that person."

Mark and I are thrilled with this awesome update! Simon looks very happy and healthy and from what we can see of the home where he is living, it looks very nice and well-kept. All of this together gives us so much peace -- and an even deeper longing to know Simon. We cannot wait to hold our little boy!!

Simon is 16 months today

Hard to believe but it has been three weeks since we first saw Simon's precious face and today he turned 16 months old. We think about him all the time. We talk about him all the time. We wonder about him, share our hopes for him, imagine our life with him and make plans for the things we will do together as a family of three. Looking back, the nine months we waitedto learn about him seems to have gone by in the blink of an eye! It sure didn't feel like time was going by quickly; August and November were particularly difficult months. But now it feels like we've known his face forever. We have memorized every tiny feature. It feels as though we know his pictures intimately yet we long to know him in person ... what his laugh sounds like, what makes him smile, does he ever feel sad, does he understand the huge change that will happen in a few short months, who does he play with, what are his likes and dislikes, what are his mannerisms ... these and many more questions keep rolling through our minds.

We got a note on Friday that said that our paperwork is on the way back to Ethiopia. That paperwork included a little photo album for Simon with photos of me and Mark, our parents and Simon's room. We labeled them and his caregivers will tell Simon about us and show him our pictures, probably sometime later this week! We realize that he's probably too little to understand but it's exciting to think that they will begin working with him to help with the transition. We even tucked a little note behind one of the photos ... it's in English so I'm not sure if any of the nannies will be able to read it to him but some day he will know what it says and how much we are longing to have him home with us.

There's a family that I met through the extra classes I took at our agency ... they passed their court date on Friday and are hoping to travel in February to bring home their son. They have offered to carry a package to Simon for us! We don't know if they will get to meet him or not -- the boys are in different locations -- but at least our little package will get to Simon via our agency's staff. We are so grateful to Tom and Stacy for helping with this! We have been sleeping with a little blanket between us for about a month. This might sound strange but one thing we were told was that if we can send something with our 'scent' on it, it could help Simon to not be so afraid of us; that we could at least 'smell' familiar to him. So we will be sending the blanket and a little car.

A fun thing happened today ... the local newspaper featured Mark and his Ailor Photography blog as their 'blog of the week.' The article appeared today and the post they chose to highlight was the one from receiving our referral titled, "It's a BOY!" So fun! Our realtor even called and left a message for us here at home when she saw it ... she was glad to see we were adding some children to the house. Guess she thought we'd be lonely here as a family of two!

Simon, you are already so loved and anticipated! Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, playmates and especially Mommy and Daddy ... we love you so very much!!! We pray for and hope for your health, safety and happiness. Keep growing strong and be a good boy and we will keep working towards the day that we can hold you in our arms and tell you in person how much we love you!

Adoption Update

Things are finally settling down again at the Ailor household. It's been 16 days since we first laid eyes on Simon and I feel as though we have memorized every detail of his smiling face. We talk about him all the time and dream about what life will be like with him in our home as our son. We can't wait to become a family of three!

Over the last two weeks we have done more paperwork -- the official paperwork to accept his referral. This paperwork is sent to a variety of places and will start the process of getting a court date in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa. So we are back to waiting again! We will wait to hear from our agency about our court date. On that day, our agency's staff in Ethiopia will represent us in court and if all goes smoothly, we will legally become Simon's parents on that day. Most families pass through court on their first assigned court date. However, sometimes, it takes a few tries to pass through court -- not because anything is necessarily wrong. We'll let you know as soon as we receive word about our assigned court date.

Once we pass through court, we will wait again for our travel call. This usually happens four to six weeks after passing court. Most people get about two weeks notice before they need to be in Ethiopia. We hope that we'll be traveling in April or May. We'll let you know our plans!

In the meantime, we have been busy preparing other things for Simon's arrival here at home. We had fun registering for all kinds of fun things to help welcome Simon home! It's kind of overwhelming but in the end we had a good time with it all. We've also been organizing and cleaning out closets. I love the end results! We also spent some time in Simon's room, taking stock of what we have and what we need.

It's also been fun to celebrate the news of Simon with our friends! On the Friday after we received our referral, a number of families from town who are part of our Ethiopian adoption group came over to our house to celebrate Ethiopia's Christmas. It's just a great group of people and we simply enjoy their company! We always look forward to these gatherings, especially because we get to see their kids having fun and playing together -- always leaves us with a sense of hope!

Later that weekend, we drove to North Manchester to go to church and to share the good news with our friends there. We are so grateful for the support and friendship we continue to receive from the Manchester CoB! Fills up my cup. Wish we could have visited longer that day but next we were off to visit Mark's family in Peru. It was so fun to share in their excitement for us! Simon will be the first boy in Mark's immediate family in 40 years ... since Mark was born. His Mom is over the moon excited to have a grandson!

Then on the following Tuesday, we enjoyed getting together with two families from the Ethiopia adoption group, the Mroczeks and Modesitts. We shared an Ethiopian dinner together, pot-luck style. Let me tell you -- our friends are wonderful cooks! And you know how much Mark enjoys cooking. It was a delicious meal. And then just this past Saturday, our adoption support group hosted a gathering complete with a cake that said, "Hurry Home, Simon!" Too cute! Thank you, Brigitte and Todd, for planning this celebration! (And they just brought home their newborn son about 12 days ago -- they were so brave to have us all over to their house!)

And if that wasn't enough partying, we met our friends Kent and Denise in Indy for lunch at Major Restaurant, one of the three Ethiopian restaurants in Indy. This was Denise's first experience with Ethiopian food and we are so glad that she liked it! It's always fun to catch-up with them.

So after all of this celebrating, we had to get back to the business of preparing for Simon. Today, we had an appointment with the Travel Clinic to start our immunizations. It wasn't as bad as I had feared! The nurse was very kind and gave us some great information. Our arms are a little sore but not too bad.

And that's the update! I've still got a ton of e-mails to catch-up on but I think that my feet are finally back on the ground. It feels so wonderful to know Simon's face and that it's him we are preparing for. Thank you again for your continued support and encouragement! It is both felt and appreciated greatly!

Little Diddy About Wendi and Exercise

This post is a shout-out to our friends, the Mroczeks. Mark and I really enjoy hanging out with Jana, Dan and 2 year old Xander. They should be receiving their referral from Ethiopia any day now and we can’t wait to celebrate with them!

We like Jana and Dan because they have introduced us to many fun things in the land of toddlers (and we like them for lots of other reasons, too!) Things like Wonder Pets and Yo Gabba Gabba. And, to be more specific, catchy little tunes such as, “I like fish. I like fish!” and “There’s a party in my tummy. So yummy! So yummy!” Wow. Thanks, Dan and Jana for forever planting these songs in our minds!

So yesterday marked my return to the gym. You may remember that my 2009 New Year’s resolution was to get into better shape so that I could be a stronger, healthier parent when we brought home Baby Ailor.

Fast forward a year and I will freely admit that I did not do so well with this resolution. I think that Mark and I are eating a healthier diet but Mark is much more consistent with going to the gym than I am. Sigh. And now that we have our referral for Simon and Baby Ailor is actually Toddler Ailor, well, I’m kind of nervous that he will run circles around me!

Back to the gym … picture me cycling as fast as I can while feeling my knees cry out in pain, creaking and moaning as loudly as I am belly-aching to myself in my head. Mark is able to read a book while he uses the elliptical. Wish I could do that! But it just makes me motion sick. So instead, I decided to take a lesson from our new friends Yo Gabba Gabba and create some fun little diddies in my mind to help me not focus on the pain I’m in. My song went like this:

(and if you want to sing along, sing it very rhythmically and think of it as kind of a call and repeat/echo thing!)

I like exercise. I like exercise.

I feel really good. Feelin’ really good.

Exercise for Simon. Exercise for Simon.

Exercise is fun! Exercise is fun!

(repeat until the bell rings on the bicycle and sets you free!)


Do you think I should consider getting an iPod?

Melkam Gena!

Melkam Gena -- Merry Christmas! January 7th is when Ethiopia celebrates Christmas. You can read more about why this is and how they celebrate here: http://http://anticsofailors.blogspot.com/2009/01/melkam-yelidet-beaal.html

Today, we are thinking of our son, Simon, and wondering if he knows that it is Christmas. It has been a whirlwind week, to say the least! Simon's little face and crooked smile consume our thoughts. We both find ourselves just staring at his photo! We can't wait to meet him, play with him, snuggle with him and kiss his little cheeks.

Thank you for all of the well wishes and notes this week! I'm hoping to catch up and respond to them this weekend. I'll also post an update about what happens next. Thank you again for you support! It is very meaningful to both of us.

REFERRAL! The post you've been waiting for!

Mark and I are so VERY excited to share that we received the most wonderful news today! Quite unexpectedly, we received the phone call we've only dreamed about and, drumroll please, it's a BOY! We are amazed and delighted and overwhelmed and giddy that we have a SON! And let us tell you ... he is BEAUTIFUL. Seriously cute. He has the most gorgeous huge eyes and long eyelashes. He's 15 months old and is just so precious. We keep pinching ourselves -- we are just so happy!

So here's how it happened ...

I happened to check the forum that we follow through our agency and noticed that two families received referrals today. I called Mark to tell him because the families that received referrals weren't the ones at the top of the list ... one was at about #5 and the other was behind us. Hmmm. We thought that could mean more referrals were coming, and maybe our turn would come in February -- we never dreamed that it meant so many families would get a referral today, including us.

So after I hung up with Mark, I went back to concentrating on work and made a call to Florida to work on an event I'm planning for next month. In the meantime, our phone rang here at our house and Mark assumed it was me calling back again. But it was our social worker. She has been off work for the last 6 weeks or so, recently returning from Ethiopia with her second son. She chatted with Mark about returning to work, shared a little bit about her children and then said she had a belated Christmas present for us. She wanted to know if Mark and I were together and ready for our referral. Mark got a little (a lot!) flustered and told her that he would go to me at work.

So Mark left the house, left our social workers phone number on the kitchen table and our garage door open, the house unlocked and the lights on and raced over to campus to my office. Thankfully, the students haven't returned yet and he was able to park right outside my building. He came flying into my office door and we were both crying and laughing and feeling incredulous! This was what we had been waiting for!!

We found our social workers number and called her. She was so calm! And our hearts were just pounding! She told us about our son and then sent us an e-mail with his photo. Our hearts just melted when we saw him for the first time ... he has the biggest, darkest eyes that sparkle. He's smiling in both photos! We'd love to show you his beautiful face but we're not allowed to post his photos until he's home with us. Just trust us ... he's ADORABLE!

After we had time to take in all of his information, we started calling our families. And then my co-workers joined us to hear the awesome news! And then, we just started telling anyone who would listen! Tonight, we celebrated over dinner and chose a name for our son. We have decided to call him by his birth name and give him the middle name of Simon. (that's how we'll refer to him on the blog until he's home with us)

After dinner, we went shopping and each picked one outfit for Simon. It was fun to finally know who we were shopping for! We are already in love with his little face.

So there you go! It's been a whirlwind afternoon and evening. I don't know how we will ever get to sleep tonight! Thank you for all of the notes and phone calls ... eventually we will get them all returned! We are so grateful for everyone's support and excitement for us -- thank you, thank you, thank you!

Holiday Celebrations

January 1st, 2010 ... WOW! What happened to 2009? As I've said before on this blog, we don't want to wish away time but this is finally the year that we will become parents! December 31 marked nine months on the waiting list for our child. Some days, we've felt every one of those moments and other days, like today, it feels as if time has gone by so quickly! And now the holidays are over and a new year is beginning ... we look forward with great anticipation to what lies ahead!

Here's a quick review of the many fun times we had over the last two weeks. We had fun decorating the house both inside and out:

We enjoyed a huge family gathering with Mark's Mom's family. She is one of 10 children and this year, most of the family was there. At least it seemed that way! Santa even stopped by for his second appearance of the season. After all of the youngest kids had a turn to visit with Santa, some of the older kids took a turn too. This is Mark's Mom with Santa ... can you see the resemblance under that big beard??

During winter break at Purdue, basketball tickets are offered at a discount to faculty and staff. We took advantage of this awesome deal to see the Boilermakers in person. They didn't disappoint! It's going to be a fun basketball season -- go Boilers! Boiler up!

On Christmas Eve, we enjoyed our tradition of watching movies and eating appetizers. There are three movies that I like to watch each year: Elf, Love Actually and A Christmas Story. And then ...

Finally! Christmas morning had arrived. Mark has been wanting this cookbook by chef Marcus Samuelsson. He is Ethiopian and was adopted by a Swedish family as a young boy. He has several books out and even has a CD of African music. You can count on my Mark to be cooking his way through this book this year. And by the way -- love the CD! We recommend both the CD and book.

One of the things that Mark and I try to pay attention to as we anticipate bringing home Baby Ailor is to look for children's books and toys in which the children have brown skin, just like our baby will. When we were driving to and from PA at Thanksgiving, we had the idea to write our own children's books. Mark is a great artist and I have a love of children's books. We jotted down some ideas while in the car on the long drive but (to my knowledge) hadn't done anything with it since returning from PA. Oh, except for the two characters, a boy and a girl, that Mark sketched to show me as a place to start from when we had time to work on a book.

Fast forward to Christmas morning. Unbeknownst to me, Mark WROTE and ILLUSTRATED and CREATED a children's book for us!! He took one of our ideas from Thanksgiving and created it into a book using his lab in Ohio that prints his photos for the studio. Of course I bawled my eyes out! I couldn't believe it. And now we have a great story to share with Baby Ailor. "Max" is one of the names we have always liked for a boy and so Mark wrote "Max Ailor: Underwater Adventurer." It's totally adorable and a really cute story. He did an awesome job! I also like it because I am the Mom character in the story and he gave me skinny thighs. : ) Anyway, here's a photo with the front cover of the book.

We try to think of little things to do to help us be more patient in waiting for Baby Ailor. So we decided to give each other a Christmas gift for Baby Ailor. I got Mark this classic Tonka truck and a hooded towel that looks like a frog. He has admired both every time we have been shopping at kid/baby stores.

And Mark made a toy box for me and Baby Ailor. He even did the punched tin of Mickey and Pooh on the front! Don't I have the most talented husband?!?

We spent Christmas day with Mark's family in Peru. Our great nieces Lily and Braylee were hilarious this year! The loved opening presents and kept us all entertained. We had a really nice day with all of the family ... lots of good food and many laughs. It's great that we can see them regularly. And here's a shout out to our niece Caitlyn whose high school basketball team is number one in the state! Awesome!

On Saturday, we drove to PA to see my family for a few days. The trip started out kind of icy but thankfully we drove into better weather. Here is our youngest nephew, Mason, showing us where he lost a tooth thanks to an accident with granite countertops in their kitchen. Ouch!

Brandon is our oldest nephew and is always a ham for the camera!

And this is Andrew, our second oldest nephew, sporting my Dad's new hat. The next morning, Brandon and Andrew put on quite the dance show for us! They get to do some fun dances in gym class these days ... lucky kids! We only ever got to do square dancing.

And this is my Mom and Dad. I love this photo of them! We're going to use it for the photo book that we'll send to Baby Ailor after we receive our referral.

We had a good trip to PA except for the 24 hour virus that I had -- no fun! But we did enjoy spending time with my family, visiting with Grandma, Aunt Barbie, Aunt Deb and Uncle Brian, my cousin Amanda and friends Rhonda and Mark. I was very bummed to miss breakfast with my high school friends! So if you're reading this, Tonya, Michele, Shelly, Kirsten and Kimberly -- I'm so sorry that I didn't get to see you! And Kimberly, please send new photos of little Eli ... thinking of you!

On New Year's Eve, our friends Chris and Brian and their son Sean came over to hang out for the evening. Chris and Brian brought all of the food and we pigged out! Meatballs, quesadillas, pizza rolls, chips, salsa, guacamole and best of all -- a chocolate fountain!! What a great way to ring in the new year. We also played a rousing (?) round of 80's Trivial Pursuit as we tried to stay awake until midnight. I think that 4 year old Sean would have stayed up later than all of us! Here's a photo of me and Chris indulging in the chocolate fountain that she got for Christmas (why didn't I think to ask for one??)

So there you go! A review of our holiday celebrations. Two more days of vacation until I return to work. Poor Mark has to work on Saturday. But we're looking forward to visiting with more friends this weekend and to all that 2010 will bring, especially Baby Ailor! So, from me and Mark, we wish you a happy new year!