illegal alien....

The county of Kane has been made aware that there is an illegal alien residing on Peyton Street that has also tested positive for TB.  This is the gist of the letter that came in the mail the other day.  What a joke!  I am now running circles from one government agency to another trying to run down the proper paperwork that shows she had a chest x-ray done in Addis Ababa that gave her a negative TB test result.  In the mean time, our health insurance claims they do not have whatever they need to cover Mekdes under our plan.  So, I am fighting with them to get her covered.  I cannot get Mekdes the chest xray that will put Kane County TB to rest until I get Health coverage for Mekdes—argh!  It is all so infuriating, really. 

In the middle of all of this ridiculous governmental *&$#&@, I cannot stop thinking about Mekdes’ birth mother, Arbe.  The hole in her heart that she must feel every morning when she awakes is a pain that I cannot imagine.  It is also a hole that will never be filled.  My heart aches for her and for Mekdes.  Oh how I wish I could have some direct communication with Arbe.  As it is set up, the only way she can have any idea how Mekdes is doing is by getting the updates we send in to the orphanage every 3 months for the first year and annually after that.  First of all, it will be an incredible struggle for Arbe to get up to Addis from her home in southern Ethiopia to pick up the Mekdes updates.  Secondly, there is no way for her to communicate back to us.  We want to know how they are doing, how the siblings are, what they need, how we can help.....There is so much that is wrong with the international adoption system—I wish I could wave a magic wand and fix it all!  4 million children in Ethiopia need families...4 MILLION!!! 

Let’s go with a positive story...I met a woman at my gym who has two birth children and is adopting a brother and sister from Ethiopia.  The girl will be around Mekdes’ age—yahoo!   They live in our general area, so this will be a wonderful connection for Mekdes and for our family.  I am so thankful this family has been put in our path—a real blessing! 

Mekdes had a sweet moment today.  We were in the store and I told her she could get some candy (carmella).   Before she picked anything out, she asked MARGO TOO?  I live for those sweet moments!  She wanted to get something for Margo too.  They  are sisters!!!   

Margo heard a boy ask when she and Mekdes were at the gym play room, “who is that?” and he pointed to Mekdes.  Margo quickly and firmly replied to the boy, “She is MY sister!”.  Again, these sweet moments get me through!  

all our ladies...never a dull moment!!!!

school and tennis.....

Well, it’s been two months now and Mekdes continues to astound us all with her transitioning!  Her language skills are so  amazing, especially to her mother who has never been able to master another language.  I apologize to Miss Finney, my high school French teacher, for my continual inability to grasp the French language.  How exasperating I must have been to her!  And trust me when I say, I didn’t get any more fluent in college.  Luckily, I was able to disappear a bit easier in a class of 100 IU students as opposed to my little rural high school French class.  With this being said, Mekdes’ ability to listen to our every day conversations and pull out words that she realizes are useful to her and  then add them to her vocabulary  is nothing short of a miracle in my eyes!  Today she took  a drink from my water bottle and said MA WOOHA WARM.  I don’t remember her using the word warm before and she just threw it into our conversation as if she has always used it—so cool!  She is also beginning to string together several words and forming phrases and even sentences.  Mekdes will stop mid phrase, say “ummmm” and look up to the ceiling  as she is thinking of the proper  word to finish her thought.  It is so  fascinating!  MOM’S MAKEENA WASH is what she exclaimed today after she rubbed her coat against the car and got dirty. 

I enrolled Mekdes in a park district ABC’s 123’s class thinking it would be one more source of language acquisition for her as well as an opportunity for her to be around other kids her age.  She calls it her school and she seems to really enjoy it.  Her only gripe is that she doesn’t get to take the bus to her school on Monday.  The teacher said Mekdes followed directions for the most part and did well with the other kids.  I am confident that if  Mekdes finds a career where she needs to constantly adapt and fly by the seat of her pants, she will excel and be incredibly successful at whatever she attempts. 

I also signed Mekdes and Margo us for a park district tennis class on Fridays.  Why I decided tennis was the sport I should introduce her to first is beyond me!  Soccer would have been a much more obvious choice, but nooooo!  I chose tennis—ha!  She has never seen a racket or a tennis court before so the poor instructor had no idea what he was in for!  When I introduced the girls to Coach Mike, the instructor,  and told him that Mekdes is from Ethiopia and doesn’t speak much English and  that she doesn’t have any idea what the game of tennis is—the look on Coach Mike’s face was priceless!  I’m sure he was thinking that he doesn’t get paid nearly enough to deal with this crazy scenario!  To his credit, he is doing a fantastic job.  This is in large part to his assistant, Margo!  Margo is playing tennis like she has been doing it her whole life!  Coach Mike asked if I play tennis because Margo is such an skilled tennis student .  I chuckled and informed him that I do not play tennis and that Margo has just been absorbing all the sports she has been forced to watch at her older sisters games since birth, so it stands to reason that she is a rather talented athlete.  I think Coach Mike is ready to sign Margo up for his elite group of tennis students J  As for Mekdes, she tries to watch what Margo does and follow whatever drill is being run, but most of the time she just stands with her hands on her hips and her head tilted to the side like it is the most ridiculous thing she has ever seen.   I will try to get a picture of the two girls at class—they are so cute together!

So that about sums up my latest experiments with our newly formed crew.  Our older trio continue to do well with school and their various sports.  Kate had an orchestra concert and just did a  fabulous job.  Emme continues to be the social butterfly with a schedule that is really exhausting!  Anna is starting to think about what classes she will register for next year in high school.  The thought of her heading off to college in four years is overwhelming to me! 

We continue to be blessed with 5 healthy girls and a means to supports them.  I am still working on setting up a fund for some of the street children we met in Addis and will keep you posted with the results as it takes shape.   I cannot wait to see what next week brings... 

our talented violinist!

ready for tennis!  hair accessories a must for any occasion!

HOLIDAYS, TRAVEL, GODPARENTS....

Well, the kids are back to school and I am eeking out a moment to post and update.  The holidays were lovely and Mekdes did really well adjusting to all the festivities that surround this time of year.  We had all the Gearys (and their amazing amount of gifts for the girls) out for Christmas Eve.  Mekdes seems right at home with all the commotion.  Margo showed her how to rip the wrapping paper off of a gift and that was all it took--Mekdes was off and running.  She did seem to be a bit confused by how we don't stop to play with the gift we were just given.  Honesty, it is a bit indulgent that we continue to rip through a pile of gifts rather than play with the gift we were just given....perhaps I need to change that tradition...anywho, we got to the bottom of the gift pile and everyone had a wonderful time.

I have entitled this photo, "The Christmas Eve Miracle" as Margo was pitching a fit about her position in said photo about 2 seconds before this photo was taken and Mekdes was pouting about not holding the woosha.  All 5 girls are looking at the camera and.....SMILING.......thus the miracle!!!!

Since we weren't able to go to Ohio for Thanksgiving as we had just gotten Mekdes home, we decided we would all gather on 12/26 at my folks instead.  My brother and his family, my sister and her family and my gang would all meet up at my folks for a few days so they could meet our new addition.  Shawn was unable to join us as he had already missed too much work with all our travel to Ethiopia, so it was just me and five gals in the minivan--yahoo!  As usual, Mekdes was thrilled about going in the makena/car.  She sat in the van in the garage a good 30 minutes before we were packed up and ready for departure--her enthusiasm was adorable!!!!  She remained thrilled until about the Ft. Wayne area when she shouted from the back of the  car, "MOM, MAKENA, NO!"  The thrill of the makena had lost its luster and she wanted out!!!  We eventually got to Ohio and had a delightful time with my family.  Mekdes loved meeting the cousins and really seemed to bond with Tommy and Ben.  She has not had any encounters with boys since the orphanage and she does have an older brother in Ethiopia, so I am sure she really misses that interaction. As a result, Tommy and Ben got a third musketeer!  There were so many firsts for our family over the holiday season, too many to mention, but one I will share is sledding.  We suited the whole gang up and headed for the hill.  To my great surprise, Mekdes loved it!  She called it the "snow makena" and would shout "AGAIN!" every time she got to the bottom of the hill.  Luckily, my girls are very patient and loving with Mekdes, because she didn't really like that you had to walk back UP the hill after every run.  Consequently, Anna/Emme/Kate would either carry her back up or pull her back up in the sled.  As Margo pointed out, "No wonder Mekdes loves it, she gets to do the fun part without any of the work".   It was a great first!

Well, Mekdes had been here 6 weeks now and she is really transitioning well!  Her food intake has greatly improved!  Instead of having to come up with something "special" for Mekdes at dinner, she will try whatever we are having.  In fact, we were at Uncle Terry's house one night visiting cousin Lukas and Mekdes had her first piece of deep dish Chicago pizza--with sausage!  She really is a Geary!  

Last night, she went to bed without me laying down with her until she fell asleep--YIPPEE!!!!  Margo did such a great job of setting the example of how we give mom a kiss and hop in bed.  I actually got to read in bed for a bit last night, it was heavenly.  

Mekdes had taken Margo's lead and dressed herself each morning.  She will come stumbling down the stairs with her hair matted to her head and a surly look on her face, but she will be dressed.  Her outfit choices are a creative as her older sister and I love it!  Perhaps they will become fashion designers later in life--M&M Designs, it has a ring!  

Her language acquisition is developing.  Mekdes understands quite a bit and she adds words to her vocabulary every now and then.  Until she really is comfortable with the word and its meaning, she will not use it.  Thus, it takes awhile for her to actually verbalize a new word.  When she does, it is such a thrill for all of us.  To see her face and know she feels trusting enough of all of us to say something new is so rewarding!  The other night she skipped over  to Shawn after she had taken a bite of something.  She put her hands in the air and proudly shouted, "AMAZING!".  We all know that I do not have the cleanest of vocabularies, so I am more than a little concerned at what will come out of her mouth next.  And.....where?!  

With all of these achievements happening, Shawn and I wanted to give Mekdes the gift we had given all of our other girls and that is the gift of a godparent.  We have been so blessed having all of our brothers and sisters as godparents for our girls.  It has been such a treat to see those special relationships develop over the years.  So, choosing a godmother for Mekdes was something we felt compelled to do.  We will wait to have Mekdes baptised until she has a better command of the language and understands the ceremony that surrounds the occasion, but we couldn't wait to ask a very special person if she would accept this roll in Mekdes' life.   And so, we ask Amy (Kevin's wife) and she graciously accepted the position.  We look forward to watching that special relationship grow and develop.  We are blessed to be surrounded by such loving and beautiful people!

Aunt Amy and Mekdes