School, Health, Swimming, Fun and Other Shananigans ...

I've realized it's really hard for me to keep up with the blog. I had a little time on my hand tonight though with it not being a school night and the children being able to stay up later than usual, which means for me the night-time program can start later than usual.

We've been home a little over a month now. Things are going good. Nyla's been in school for a month now and she's blossoming. Her teacher loves her and she's learned soooo much English already ... it's amazing. The pictures below are of her in school and one also with her teacher. Both my children are in the same school and they're only 3 doors apart in the same hallway. Couldn't have worked out any better.

Hanna's class mates in K-4.

Hanna and her teacher. They get along fine and she minds her teacher. We did have some hitting problems in the first few week of so, but her teacher said she has gotten better and is not hitting her classmates anymore .... well, maybe once throughout the whole day. I told her teacher that I believe a lot of that is her being frustrated of not being able to verbalize everything due to her language barrier .... but every day her teacher says is getting better. I think she's doing great .... this little girl hasn't even been home yet in America but for only a month .... this is going way better than I could've ever dared to even imagine!!!

The kids aparently have been welcoming to her, expecially one particular little girl who sits next to her and has been showing her the ropes. When we see her at drop off or pick up Hanna tells me: "Mama, look Hanna's gwadenya" (meaning her friend).

She loves her bolso = her lunchbag ..... you should've seen her the first weeks how proud she was to have a bolso and to go to school .....
Hanna and Lori on the playground.

She sure loves her chimaki.

Hanna will eat EVERYTHING Jalen eats. In the beginning she would say she doesn't want it, then I'd say "It's ok, Hanna if you're not rabesh .... you can have a caramilla (candy) tomorrow when you're rabesh again" ..... then in the meantime she'd see Jalen eat and just as soon as I mention caramilla she'd start eating and end up liking it, telling me: Hmmm Mama, itafta, good!" So this was pretty much the process with every new food .... now there's not much she hasn't tried yet. Here are a few of her favorite foods:

- Spagetti, Hamburger helper (but with ground turkey), any kinda rice with chicken, spinach (the way my mom makes it and the way we as kids ate it too .... not common American food, but the way I make it, both my children love it, including children who eat over our house and never had it before .... I'm glad, because at our house we eat spinach once a week for the iron in it); potatoe soup made from scratch, my mashed potatoes with chicken or hot dogs made from scratch, not from the potatoe flakes, scrambled eggs with cheese and onions, she loves grilled cheese sandwitches, and for breakfast almost every morning there's Panera bread with either butter and lunchmeats, or with Nutella, or with Peanutbutter and Jelly, or strawberry jam .... she even likes cereal with milk, every morning there's either milk or tea to drink ..... her favorite tea is (I get this from my mom in Germany) peppermint mixed with fennel, anis and kimmel .... both my children are suckers for my tea concoctions from Germany :) .... so anyway, to make a long story short, she eats pretty much everything but her favorite meats are definatly poultry and fish ..... which is absolutely fine by us ...... When it comes to fruits: she loves my fresh pressed orange juice or lemonade (well, they both do) so I try to have this once a day for dinner, she loves grapes and apples and strawberries dipped in sugar .... and bananas are not so much a favorite anymore ..... she used to eat 2 pounds of bananas in one day in Ethiopia .... now there's days when she goes without a single banana .... but she still likes them .... which is great, they're healthy. She also used to drink water and any liquids to the point to where her tummy would hurt from so much drinking ..... this was her hoarding stage ..... I'd let her, I never said "no" but I'd say "Hanni, be careful your tummy will be kusil" ..... she'd not but keep drinking, like I said until she'd hurt ...... well, this behavior has also subsided now, she no longer does this ..... she knows - or trusts should I say - that everything is always available when she wants it ....... Throughout this hoarding stage of liquids though I must admit I was very surprised to see - because I expected it - she never once had an accident on herself or in the bed or during the night. Amazing ..... what can I say ....... she must've thought I think that she has to drink everything NOW or it might not BE later. Poor thing .... but telling her didn't help ... she had to really SEE for herself I guess - with time - that she can trust that anything she needs to drink or eat is always available at the SAME times every day. I've noticed she loves structure ... it gives her security .... same with her outfits ..... she just HAS to know what she will wear the next day to school ...down to the shoes and the hair accessories .... so every night I show her, or we pick together and she seems very content .... I guess this way she has no surpises in the morning .... which means for me I have to stay abreast the weather one night in advance, which is cool ..... if that's all it takes .... lol .... to make her happy ..... she sure is something else though.

Jalen and Nyla in front of their school. Nyla told me the other day after asking her, that she likes the name "Nyla" and that she wants to be called "Nyla" ...... we're doing the best we can since that is her first name, but for now we still call her "Hanna" or "Hanni" or "Hanni Bunnie".

She loves her camise's = dresses ..... she is such a girl ..... thank goodness it's been in the 80s here so I could oblige .....

It's soooo hot here in Montgomery AL that we swimmed already in the pool probably more than 10 times already ..... just like her brother ..... she LOVES water and activities around the water or in the water .... still, she is not a dare-devil like her brother, and pretty much just stays by the pool stairs in the shallow end of the pool ............. so far.

She L.O.V.E.S. her Dada ..... but I'm still her favorite any time of the day ..... lol .... both my kids are Mama's kids ... lol ..... which is fine by me ...

Hanna and Mykilie, Ms. Lisa's daughter when they came over to visit a few weeks past. The girls were playing for a good two hours in Hanna's room. They were playing sooo good together ... I was very pleased .... to see her interact with another girl so well, since she's always around Jalen ..... or at least most of the time here at home.

Hanna, Mykilie, Jalen and Shawn playing by the pool.

Resting and hydrating after playing in the pool.

Easter egg hunting in the backyard after swimming.

Finding eggs under the trampuline.

Lori hid about 40 easter eggs all over our backyard .... my kids went crazy looking for them.

She LOVES her mimis (her dolls) .... she is so nurturing and mothering with them. Even other people have noticed, not just me .... and sooo good with her hands .... the way she combs them and gives them hair-do's.

So this was pretty much April in review. We also had a doctor's appointment at the Adoption Clinic in Birmingham AL on 12 April. Just yesterday we found out all results including the stool samples ..... and EVERYTHING looked good and was negative ..... NOTHING ... no issues .... I am humbled, amazed and so thankful to GOD ..... when I found out all her results I was at work sitting in front of my computer, getting emotional and so overwhelmed ..... all the things I prepared myself mentally and emotionally for ever since we started this adoption journey never materialized .... all my fears and worries of the things that could be and the things she could have are gone ..... she is my beautiful, smart, healthy, funny, goofy, strong-willed, konjo, gobez butterfly .... as I call her!!! I am so humbled and thankful to HIM for bringing her into our lives!

First Family Portraits

We took our first family pictures today. Even though we had an appointment, we waited 45 min for our turn at which point the kids' patience ..... and mine ..... was wearing thin. The children are wearing the Ethiopian outfits we purchased while in Ethiopia ....

Hanna's adjusting well. She's picking up English pretty fast. Many things she used to say in Amharic, she now says in English .... but for the most time we still mixed it up: English with lots of Amharic .... I guess it sounds Spanish to other people because I was asked on two occasions while out in public whether I was speaking Spanish with my daughter. We swam for the first time in the pool this Good Friday since it was sooo hot here in Montgomery, AL, and the kids were out of school for the holiday. She loves the water so I think, just like with Jalen, it won't take too long for her to learn how to swim. What I have noticed though ... and maybe because she's a girl .... she's not such a dare-devil like Jalen is .... thank Goodness .... and we've discovered yesterday that she's absolutely terrified of frogs and lizards, and she calls frogs "naveen" like "naveen" the frog from the Princess and The Frog movie .... too cute ....

We had Ms. Lisa with Shawn and Mykilie come and visit .... the girls played together so nicely for almost two hours .... I'll have pictures about that and the first pool day in another blog.
All in all, it's going good .... more to come in another blog post.