Our Nephews

Look who started school today! My sister Heidi's boys. Before Mark and Simon entered my life, these were the only boys in my life. : ) Now, Brandon is in 5th grade; Andrew is in 2nd grade; and Mason started Kindergarten. So proud of them! They are three very kind, loving, funny, smart and happy boys. Can't believe that Brandon is already 10 years old. I can remember meeting him for the first time when he was about 5 days old -- it was about midnight when I got to their house and he was wide-eyed and awake. And Andrew had so much beautiful dark hair as a baby. And Mason was the surprise who stole all of our hearts. Love these boys and I hope that they have a GREAT first day of school and that they have an awesome school year. : )

Visit from Mimi and Papa

My parents flew out for a visit last weekend. They really missed Simon as they hadn't seen him since the end of April. My Mom really doesn't like to fly so it was a big deal for them to make the trip -- proof of how strong the pull to see your grandson can be! They sent a package of birthday presents ahead of their trip. It was a HUGE box. When the mailman brought it to the door and announced that it was for Simon Ailor, Simon gave the mailman a hug. It was hilarious! But then he had to wait a week until Mimi and Papa arrived to open it. Thanks, Mimi and Papa, for the awesome gifts!


Opening all those gifts must have been hard work because Simon needed to rest with Mimi on the couch afterwards.

I made a chocolate cake with chocolate chips and my Mom made her delicious peanut butter icing to go with it. Sooo yummy!

On Saturday morning, we introduced them to our routine: a trip to the Lafayette Farmer's Market followed by playing at Centennial Park. Everyone had a scone.

Simon was happy to have extra hands to push him on the swing. That boy would swing all day if we let him! He just loves it. The fun part for us is that he talks and sings non-stop while swinging!

Caught this sweet moment on camera. Simon has 'twin' dolls and he calls both of them 'Kebebe,' which is Simon's birth name/middle name. He is such a rough and tumble boy that it's touching to see his gentle side.

On Monday, we went to the Columbian Park Zoo -- so fun! The funniest part of our visit was hearing Simon 'introduce' my parents to the llama in the barn. He literally said, "Hello Llama, this is my Mimi and Papa" while holding his hand out, palm up, like he was presenting my parents to the llama. So cute!

After dinner that night, the guys went fishing at the ponds in our neighborhood. Simon was so excited to catch blue gills!

Simon is still talking about Mimi and Papa's visit and telling us how much he misses them. We hope that they will come back again soon!

There's a New US Citizen in the house!

Look what came in the mail today! Simon's Certificate of Citizenship. We were expecting it to take about 5 months and it took about 2 months. We're excited to have this step behind us. Now, we just need to update his information with Social Security and then, we are done with paperchasing for Simon. From this point forward, we just need to submit yearly updates about how Simon is doing to our agency who will send the updates back to Ethiopia. We are excited that Simon is a US Citizen -- it will open doors for him and give him many privileges. But it's also bittersweet. His Ethiopian heritage was all that he brought with him when he joined our family. Of course, he has many, many wonderful character qualities that can never be taken away from him -- he is funny, smart, energetic, tenacious, kind, and loving -- but there's something a little bit sad for me about changing his status from Ethiopian to American. I feel like we've taken away something that with different circumstances, he would have had his whole life. I wonder what he'll have to say about this some day. And believe me, he is a smart cookie and I'm confident he WILL have an opinion about his adoption, citizenship, etc! But for now, we will continue to teach him about his beautiful first country and try to raise him to have pride and respect for both his first and second homelands. A challenge and privilege that Mark and I have both embraced.

Since you liked the last video ...

... how about another one? Listen closely to learn what a pirate says. According to Simon, a pirate says, "Ahoy, Ladies!" Crack me up!

Recent Video

Just because it makes me smile. : ) Yes, Simon calls bananas "gabanas." And he is making a face like Stepney, one of the trains from Thomas. Enjoy!

Funny Story from Day Care

So earlier this week, our sitter Sarah was playing games with the kids. She thought that she would try to teach them how to play "Simon Says." One problem ... the other kids got jealous and whiney and wanted to play "Dillon Says" and "Conner Says" and "Liam Says." Hilarious! Sarah said she was laughing so much because they just didn't get that the name of the game is Simon Says and that it had nothing to do with our Simon. Simon, of course, loved it! Cracked me up and I just had to share. : ) Now they play several versions of the game so that each child has a turn.

Flashback Friday

Mark is giving Simon a bath and his giggle still sounds the same today as it did when we first met him. Reminded me of this photo ... his first bath at home with us. Look how small he looks! He looks kind of scared and unsure, too. Very different than today! It's fun to look back and see how much he's grown. Happy Friday, everyone!

Baking Brownies

Last week when I was recovering from my surgery and we were sticking close to home, Mark and Simon made brownies for us. One of Simon's favorite phrases these days is "I do it all by myself." He's not quite old enough to bake by himself but he's certainly capable of helping. He LOVED it!

And this was probably his favorite part ... licking the spoon!

That is, until it was time to eat the finished product! Love my boys and how well they take care of me!

July in Review

I cannot believe how quickly summer is going by! We have been making the most of it and enjoying lots of time as a family of 3 and with our extended family and friends. Let me catch you up on what we've been up to ...

Simon and I can usually be found at the Lafayette Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings. We have a routine and as you know, Simon loves 'routine.' We go to the Great Harvest stand and get scones. Then we go around to the sidewalk behind the tents and look for an open bench. Simon loves being allowed to get out of the stroller and sit on the bench. He thinks it's hilarious when crumbs from his scone fall on the ground because he knows that the birdies will come and eat the crumbs. And yes, I know the scone is as big as his head but he doesn't eat it all at once ... he kind of grazes on it throughout the day. I really enjoy our Mommy-Son Saturday morning 'dates!'


We've also been able to go up to Mark's sister Jennifer's house a few times for birthday parties and swimming. Simon likes playing with the sidewalk chalk and his cousins. He's had LOTS of cousin time this summer.

Nothing like sharing a blanket picnic with your cousins while having birthday cake and ice cream!

Cousin Danielle turned 16 in July! She's learning to drive and looking forward to her junior year.

Cousin Caitlyn spent a week with us in July. She will be heading off to Manchester College (yay!) in just a few weeks. She got to go with us on a day care field trip to the Tippecanoe County 4-H Fair. Simon loved having her stay here and was quite sad when she had to go home.

Reading books with Caitlyn.

Simon did GREAT with his swimming lessons! He learned to be a better listener with each lesson and completed level 2. Here he is practicing the back float with his teach Omar.

He even received a special certificate on his last night of class! His very first certificate.

And here he is with his new friend from swimming lessons, Roman. We really enjoyed hanging out and talking with Roman's parents each night.

To celebrate the last night of swim lessons, we stopped at Dog and Suds on the way home for a milkshake treat. Simon learned that he likes milkshakes, even though they are cold!

July will also be remembered as bittersweet because it meant it was time for a farwell picnic for our friends Brigitte and Todd and their sons Harrison and Gabriel. Big, deep sigh. Here's the story ... in the summer of 2009, we were waiting for our referral. One Saturday night, we went to campus to try out the new sushi restaurant, Maru. (Always easier to get in when the student's are gone for the summer!) We were tucked back into a corner of the restaurant with one other couple. After awhile, I overheard them sharing names with each other, as if they were making a list for a new son or daughter's name. Mark and I did this often while we were waiting for Simon (and still do!) So I took a chance and struck up a conversation with them. It turns out that they had recently been matched with a birthmother and were hoping to become parents again soon. They had noticed Mark's Africa necklace and we shared our story. We exchanged contact information -- I just had to know how the story ended! And Brigitte was looking for an adoption support group, which I also thought was a great idea. Sometimes it's ok to eavesdrop because this sushi restaurant encounter grew into an awesome friendship! We brought together three other families and the five of us women have met monthly for sharing, friendship and support as we navigate being parents. There are seven children among us and they have a wonderful time playing together. Our children are ours by birth, domestic and intercountry adoption. It has been so wonderful to celebrate as children joined our families. And boy, do we laugh alot together!

Brigitte and Todd have a great opportunity with their jobs to move to Atlanta and they will be leaving next week. Thankfully, Atlanta isn't too far away -- and we have friends in a new vacation destination! We had a picnic a few weeks ago to say good-bye for now. Brigitte already has us planning our first trip to visit her in their new home. : )

Here are the kids eating dinner together ... aren't they a good-looking group?!

And here we are: Laura, Brigitte, Denise, me and Jana. Mark calls us the GLAMorous Ladies of Adoption. (GLAM stands for Greater Lafayette Adoptive Moms)

And here's a photo of Brigitte, Todd, Harrison and Gabriel. You will be missed!! But we will see you soon.

And now, at the end of July, I found myself having gall bladder surgery. I started having problems back in February, though I didn't know until March that it was indeed my gall bladder. I wanted to put off considering surgery until I tried to control things with a few changes in my diet. Mark had just had hernia repair surgery and I was heading into my busy season at work. I was able to avoid ice cream/dairy for a while but when I started feeling better, I would eat it and then regret it. I had two pretty painful attacks in early July -- painful enough that I wanted it out asap. So last week, I had surgery. This is my last day at home before I can return to work. My parents and my sister's family sent me these gorgeous flowers. Thanks, guys!

While I was recovering, it meant that Simon and I had to skip the Farmer's Market on Saturday. But he didn't seem to mind because I let him stay in his jammies all day. : )

So that's our July in review! We've got much to look forward to this month. We've got a day care field trip to the Indy Zoo, a visit from my parents and the countdown is on to Simon's 3rd birthday. He wakes up at least once a week and asks if he's 3 now. It's hard to explain that it's still nearly 2 months away! But I think I'll make a countdown chain that we can use in September. In the meantime, we are going to just keep on enjoying summertime!