Asher turned 1 on October 26. It’s hard to believe that milestone has come and gone! The last two months are a blur. Adjusting to having a baby in the house, being a stay-at-home Mom, being responsible for this little life, has been a challenge, to say the least, but I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. Well, except for maybe the first couple weeks when I thought I had entered the Twilight Zone, and there was no way out! Our baby boy has woven himself into the very fabric of our lives, and I can’t imagine him NOT being here. There was a time, not that long ago, when we didn’t know if he would ever come home. I am so grateful and blessed to have Asher in my life. Enough said.

Here are just some of the things our little man has been up to recently:

*Currently weighs in at 20.8 pounds and is 29.5 inches tall

*Finally has two teeth (both bottom front)

*Only wakes once at night for a bottle. Sleeps the first half of the night in his crib, then goes back down in the pack ‘n play on my side of the bed for the rest of the night. YAY!!

*Has to be rocked to sleep by Mommy and has to be touching my neck until he falls asleep. Mommy loves this!!

*Hates having his diaper and clothes changed. It’s like wrestling an alligator!!

*Has self-weaned from the bottle (will sometimes take a bottle before bedtime, and in the middle of the night), but otherwise drinks milk and water from a sippy cup

*No more formula! He drinks organic whole milk

*Eats everything in sight! Some of his favorites…yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese, egg yolk, chicken, pasta with sauce, tofu, brown rice, bread, asparagus, zucchini, squash, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, avocados, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, bananas, mangos, and blueberries. So far, the only things he’s not fond of are cous cous (it’s a texture thing), and green beans (which he loved the first time he had them). He also HATED his birthday cake. It made him gag and he cried until we took it away! Good boy! No sugar for you!! Likes to feed himself. Loves throwing his food to our dogs. They’ve had more people food in the last two months than they’ve had in their entire lives!

*Can pull himself up, cruise around holding onto furniture with one hand, will let go and take a few steps to another piece of furniture, but still thinks speed-crawling is the fastest way to get around!

*Gives Mommy kisses all the time, but Daddy only ocassionally because his mustache pokes him

*Does the “more” sign, knows the sign for “drink,” “water,”  and “yes,” but laughs when Mommy tries to get him to do it

*Plays “patty cake,” and “itsy bitsy spider,” gives Mommy “5″

*First word was officially “Mamama.” Now says “Da, da, da.” His favorite new word is “Dude,” and he gets all the inflections right!! LOL I’m going to turn him into a California baby yet! Says “beep beep” for cars, and “choo choo” for trains

*Loves Daddy to take him on stroller rides around the neighborhood, loves to “dance” with Daddy, “dances” in his highchair when Mommy plays music for him or Daddy plays the guitar for him, loves to play “peek-a-boo,” loves for Mommy and Daddy to chase him, loves to play ball, favorite toys are CARS!! Loves to be pushed around on his riding toys

*Loves his Grandma and Grandpa…they can always get a smile out of him! Loves playdates with Grandma. Thinks his Cousin Hayley is the BOMB, and will flirt with her shamelessly!

*Charms people everywhere he goes. He is fascinated by people. Loves to people watch. When he sees someone he’s particularly interested in, he will make “monkey lips” by pursing his lips and saying “oooohhh.” Most people think he’s trying to blow them really big kisses, but he’s really just saying, “Hey, I like you, pay attention to me.” He does this to Mommy and Daddy, and our dogs all the time!

Okay, here’s the good stuff…pictures!

I'm 1 today!!

The cutest Pirate ever!

I'm a cruisin'!

I'm going to be walking soon!

The "smash" cake, which our boy didn't like one bit

The cake

Opening presents with Daddy

Opening more presents with Daddy, and look at my cool new bike from Grandpa and Grandma!

Playing with some of my new toys

While I have a few minutes (Asher is napping), I thought I’d post a few pics from our stay in Ethiopia. I was there for close to three weeks, but the first week I had Asher by myself, so I wasn’t able to take a lot of pictures. Once Owen got there, I started taking pictures like mad, but still feel like I didn’t get enough, or capture what I wanted to. A lot of the pictures were taken from a moving van as we toured the city or drove from place to place with our CHI drivers, so I don’t feel like the photos can convey the “feeling” of Addis Ababa or its people adequately.

The first moment I laid eyes on Asher (with his buddy, Cullen, and being held by Tsegay’s wife, Almaz)

One of Asher’s Nannies saying goodbye.

First picture as a family.

Tsegay holding Asher.

Yeah, the blog isn’t exactly a priority right now. I’ve been in survival mode for the last two weeks, so there are a lot of things way down on the list.

We’ve been home with Asher for two weeks and two days. I can’t seem to remember what it was like without him. I don’t ever remember being this tired or this happy. I would be lying if I said it was easy. We’ve all had a lot of adjusting to do. The first few days were rough with very little sleep as Asher adjusted to US time. We had lots of 2 am parties with the little guy. Fortunately, Owen had a couple weeks off, so we were able to take turns getting up with him. We still haven’t solved the sleep issues entirely, but we’re working on it. Owen had to go back to work today, so it looks like good old Mom will be the one getting up most of the time. Currently, Asher  goes down at 7:30 pm, then wakes up between 10:30 – 11:30 pm for a bottle, then goes right back down to sleep. Sometimes he’ll sleep til 6:30 or 7:00 am, other times he’ll wake up at 2:00 – 3:00 am and fight going back to sleep. Sometimes we rock him back to sleep and put him back in his crib, other times he goes in bed with us. As I said, we’re in survivor mode right now, so we go with whatever works!

We had our first Pediatrician appointment last week. Asher is right on target for everything developmentally and physically! The Doc said he can’t believe how healthy he is! I was relieved to hear that. We did four immunizations. The Doc was willing to wait on some of the others. I didn’t want Asher to get all of them at once. There are a couple we will do titers on, so hopefully he won’t have to get them.  

I’m still trying to process our whole trip to Ethiopia. It all seems so unreal. It seems like it went by so fast, but in reality, I was there for almost 3 weeks. As hard as it was being there the first week alone with Asher, I would do it again in a heartbeat. I think it made such a huge difference in bonding with him. By the end of that first week, he KNEW who his Mom was. I’m so grateful I did it.

I’m going to try to post more about the trip as I get time. It’s hard making time for the computer now. Asher is sooooo active! What little computer time I have, I usually spend on Facebook because that’s where all my friends and fam are. I may end up transitioning all posts to Facebook notes. I post all my pics there now anyway as well. It just might be time to put the blog to rest. I think it may have served its purpose.

Here are a few pics of our new family!

Selam from Ethiopia! Tabitha and I made it. I only have a few minutes of internet time left, so this will be short. This place is amazing. I don’t even have the words to describe it right now. I’m not able to download pics right now. Tab’s laptop died. I’ll be posting a lot when I get home. The Melkam Guest House is good. Zeyede, the owner, is a trip! Nice guy. He’s been looking out for Tab and I. We ventured out on the streets on our own today for the first time. Walked to the Friendship Mall and found the coffee shop! Thank God!! We got a lot of stares. No one is rude, but they’re definitely curious, but too polite to ask, I think. I feel completely safe. A little uncomfortable, perhaps, but that’s just me. I’m definately out of my comfort zone here. But hey, it’s good for me, right? I think I’m suffering a bit from the altitude. I feel dizzy and breathless sometimes. I’m not thinking very clearly. Some of that could just be jet lag too. We should be able to pick up the boys Monday. I know I won’t sleep Sunday night thinking of holding Asher in my arms for the first time. I wish Owen were here to share those first moments with me. I miss him so much! One more week and he’ll be here. I’m looking forward to seeing the other CHI families next week. It will be nice to see some familiar faces, even though they’re only familiar from the internet! See you soon guys! Your babies are waiting!!

I can’t believe it’s finally here. I’m having a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that I’m leaving for Ethiopia and my SON Wednesday. Just three more days. I am at turns excited, scared, exhilarated, sick to my stomach, tearful, ecstatic! Such a wide range of emotions that I’m having a hard time processing. One of the pervading thoughts the last couple days is Man, I’m going to miss my bed!! Funny, considering what this trip actually means. I guess focusing on the mundane is all I can manage at the moment because the other stuff is just too big to deal with right now. 

Packing has been an ordeal. The biggest problem was not really knowing what sizes to pack for Asher. Fortunately, I received updated height and weight last week, so that made it a bit easier. Asher weighs 18.5 pounds and is 26.8 inches. So, I think we should be good with 9 and 12 months. I’m bringing lots of stretchy outfits and overalls that can be adjusted. As far as clothes for me…well, let’s just say, I have probably overpacked. Considering I’m going to be there for 3 weeks, and not sure what the laundry situation will be like, I erred on the side of caution and packed a lot, although it’s still under the 50 pound weight limit for the airlines.

I’m not looking forward to the flight. I don’t enjoy flying. In fact, it scares me to death. But I do it because I love to travel. I have never traveled this far without Owen. I’m a little sad that he won’t be there with me when I meet Asher for the first time. This is definately an event that I would have preferred he be at, but I think it’s important for at least one of us to be with Asher as long as possible before we bring him home. I’m hoping the extra bonding time will help alleviate some of the terror I know he’s going to feel at leaving the HOH and his Nannies. The HOH has been his home for almost 7 months. I can’t imagine what will be going on in his little head. I’m as prepared as I can be to care for a grieving, pissed off, little guy.

I’ve been scrambling around trying to get all our travel paperwork in order and get everything lined up before I go. Travel insurance, Pediatrician appointment, pre-paying bills, carseats installed, etc. etc. It’s just crazy the amount of stuff that needs to get done. Hopefully, my uber-super-anal-retentive self hasn’t forgotten anything. One of the disadvantages to being a control freak is I’ve taken care of EVERYTHING since we started the adoption process over two years ago, so Owen knows NOTHING. I can’t really ask him to do anything at this point because it would take me just as long to explain things as it would for me to do it myself. Yep, it’s my own fault! Poor guy has put up with me for 22 years. He must really, really love me!

Okay, so I’m rambling. It’s the nerves. I’ll leave you with a few pics of the mess I have created in preparation for the trip of our lifetime and celebrating Asher with family after passing court on August 5, and a couple pics of the little guy himself!!

Me, Owen and my Mom

Hayley (my niece) and my Dad

Celebrating in Charleston, SC with Owen's sister, Diane, and her husband, Ron. Diane is battling breast cancer. She is one of the bravest people I know!

Diane, Ron and Me

This is just Asher's stuff!!

Owen's stuff!

This is just my clothes!

Asher's referral pic from January 26, 2009. He was 7.7 pounds at 3 months old!

At 4 months after being at the HOH for just 1 month!!

Asher Martin Griffith

WE PASSED COURT TODAY! Asher Martin Griffith is legally ours, FINALLY! It’s been a rough three months waiting for the ban to be lifted and court to be rescheduled. I was bracing myself for more disappointment, but much to my surprise and JOY, we passed!!

Our little guy isn’t so little anymore. He’s 9 months old and we were told today he is WALKING! Can you believe it? That made Owen and I a little sad, but only for a moment. I’m just so overjoyed at the fact that I will be leaving shortly to bring my son home. I’ll post more on the travel arrangements later.

In Asher’s sling, that is. I tried my hand at a bit of sling-making this week. I must say, I’m just a little bit proud of myself. I found EASY directions on the Internet, bought the material, sewed it up, attached the ring, and VOILA! Instant sling! It actually only took me about 10 minutes to make and cost all of $15. My problem with the “store-bought” slings is, ahem…my top half. I couldn’t find one that would comfortably accomodate the girls AND a baby. LOL Plus, anything on the Internet was $60 and up. So, I conjured my inner Martha Stewart and saved myself a bunch of money and got a comfy sling to boot. My 18 pound Chiweenie, Chili, had no complaints, so Asher should like it too  :)

I was not surprised to receive an email from our agency today informing us that our court date had been rescheduled to August 5 with a Visa date of September 3. Not surprised, but definately a bit disappointed. *big sigh*

I was almost sure that MOWA wouldn’t interrupt their training to write the letters we need for court. So, our new court date is scheduled for after they’re back in the office. It’s really only two more weeks. What’s that compared to how long we’ve already waited. I guess the reason I’m not crying and cussing at this point is, I truly believe we are moving forward and that this is all going to be a done deal August 5. Asher is going to be in my arms soon and home where he belongs and I will do my best to forget the resentments I currently have for the numerous entities involved in making my life a living hell for the last two months.

Yes! We have a new court date! Our agency called us today with the news that the ban is officially lifted and our court date has been rescheduled for July 20! That’s just 11 days away. We have a tentative Visa appointment  of August 20. The only catch is that MOWA (Ministry of Women’s Affairs), an agency involved in the adoption process in ET, is supposed to write letters of recommendation on the day of court. MOWA is closed for training for two weeks, but the judges have requested that someone in their office provide the needed letters on our court day. Not sure if this will happen, but we’re hopeful.

I feel such a sense of relief. I feel like I can start planning again and imagining our life with Asher in it. For the last two months, I wasn’t sure if that was going to happen.