437 Questions

I just HAD to take a picture of this sign at the Magic House....All I have to say is 1311 questions a day is what goes on at our house...that's 437 times three!
We just got back from a great family trip to St. Louis last night! We visited the St. Louis Zoo and the Magic House (an old Victorian mansion that has been renovated and turned into a hands on childrens' museum!)...We visited an Ethiopian restaraunt for dinner and Daryn met the new Jamaica Interns for summer 07 for some training...it was a great trip! Here are some of my favorite shots:
Grace in front of a bunch of fish in the hippo pond...

Anteneh and Daddy at the Queen of Sheba restarant (which I would highly recommend to anyone near St. Louis who would like to try East African food...they were so nice and interested in talking to us-and especially Ante! Grace was a pro at using the injera-she loved the food! And thankfully, the pickier eater, Luke, slept through the meal! It was so nice to eat the traditional Ethiopian food after not having it for 2 months...nice for Daryn and me but probably even MORE exciting for Anteneh!!! He was a little scared, though while we were there-he seemed a little insecure-probably thinking we were going to leave him there...he hadn't been around Ethiopian culture since we met him and brought him to the U.S....he didn't let go of Daryn the whole time!
Grace dressed up like Sacagawea at the Magic House

Daddy and Lukie in a giant sandbox...
and last but not least is brilliant me with my hand on the electrostatic generator...why do I call myself brilliant, do you ask? Well, because when my turn was over I turned back around and touched the big ball again and shocked myself...apparently you are not supposed to do this..I think I upset the high school kids working at that area b/c they acted really nervous when it was Grace's turn-they probably thought, "if this lady is so impulsive, her kids are probably going to do the same thing or worse!"...actually, the kids behaved themselves...it was just me that did the dumb thing.

Last picture...this is today but I had to add it...Anteneh is absorbed in his Superman movie (the old 1980's one)...don't ask me WHY he is wearing three pairs of safety goggles...3 year olds do some weird things...

Great Article Link

Here is a great article about an American doctor in Ethiopia doing some amazing things.

Someone asked me to mention how Anteneh's English is coming along...GREAT! More than anything, he is understanding more and that helps so much...he is also saying more but it is hard to DESCRIBE how it's going. He understands just about everything we say if it's the day to day stuff like, "wash your hands", "it's time to eat", "let's go bye bye", etc...he understands all of it...a lot of HIS communication, though, is one word sentences, grunts, and motions....like to see if we want him to wash his hands, he would point to the sink, make a motion like he is washing his hands, and grunt, "huh?"....or if he is wondering if we are getting ready to leave, he says, "bye,bye?"...

Well, the kids are I are going to go plant flowers now...we kicked the bird out of the mailbox birdhouse b/c he would always fly straight at our faces when we got the mail. I'm not joking-the bird would head right for our faces like we were trying to kill his babies or something when all we were doing was getting the mail. SO we ripped the lid off before he could have a family this spring and we are planting flowers in there! Is that horribly mean? We didn't hurt him... Gotta go!

A Difficult Skill

Luke doing the dishes...gotta start them early!
My awesome husband is a PRO at teaching kids to blow their noses....now, this is NOT an easy thing to learn as a child. But what an important thing it is! Haha...when Luke learned to blow his nose, everything changed when he had a cold...instead of always having snot running down his face, he could blow it all out into a tissue. Is anyone grossed out yet? Well Anteneh has a cold...(i'm praying the other two don't catch it-which we probably won't be able to avoid b/c usually colds make their rounds through our entire family before exiting)...here is a funny video of Daryn attempting to teach Anteneh to blow his nose...well, it's more of a giggle session after dinner...but hopefully soon he will learn! Man, I hope so...


Also...Grace got her ears pierced today!!! Here are before and after shots....along with a wonderful shot of some chick who needs a longer shirt walking in the mall:)

Learning our Family

Our petition to register our adoption was registered in court today! This will produce an American birth certificate for Anteneh and change his name to Anteneh James West. It will also allow us to get him an American passport to replace his Ethiopian one and he will then have a social security number...sounds pretty American to me!

I was thinking today how well he is doing, really. As we ate lunch, I watched him eat grapes and remembered 4 weeks ago when he would chew up a grape and spit the peel out. He was so finicky for 2 weeks and quickly learned to love American food...he will eat almost anything now. He eats raw veggies, even...lots of kids won't touch them. I couldn't be happier with the way he eats. The three kids are pretty easy at meals. Grace was always like that and Luke took some work, but they all eat so well...

Anteneh's belly size has diminished a lot. (See swim lessons picture above-check out those spiderman trunks!) I guess it was true that a lot of the belly size was due to the giardia. (some ladies who've adopted children w/ giardia told me it might be due to that) He does still have a belly but it's mostly gone. I really thought it was just like that b/c it took weeks AFTER he finished the medicine to see any difference.

He has quickly learned to LOVE going to Grandma and Papa's! He actually asks sometimes when we leave, "Grandma's!?" and when we say 'no', he cries. Haha! We get together with all the aunts and uncles and cousins at Daryn's parents' house often and when we do, the kids have SO MUCH FUN together. He loves it. And it didn't take him long to fall in love with it!

Also, his English is coming along well...yesterday, Daryn came home from work and Anteneh ran up to him and said, "Daddy! Watch this!" and showed him something new he could do...one of his favorite things to do is sit on the counter and help me cook. He and Luke LOVE IT! We made cookies today. (And he managed to avoid sticking the butterknife in the toaster again!)

He has learned many of our little family quirks and traditions...he knows to put Shadow in the crate when we leave, he knows in the morning if he hops in his carseat right away he gets a bag of snacks and a sippy cup for the ride, he knows when I say, "let's give you a haircut" he gets the little wooden chair and sits on the front porch waiting...he knows that when we watch a movie on family movie night, we always pop popcorn. And my personal favorite: he mixes 2 cereals in the morning like the rest of the family (OK..Daryn isn't that weird but the kids and I are)...and he knows after meals many times we turn on the radio and dance in the kitchen! Today the boys and I were dancing to Lyle Lovett (nobody make fun of me-we love him) and I started thinking about dancing with the boys at their weddings. (OK-I know this sounds totally mommish but sometimes I stop and am in awe that they are going to be grown men someday)...I asked Luke, "Lukie, are you going to get married to someone like mommy someday?" and he said the classic responce of, "I'll marry mommy"...and I said, "well, daddy already married me" (not to mention you can't marry your mom anyhow)...and he said, "Luke's turn"...Haha...

Anteneh's New Pictures

We just got Anteneh's pictures done...aren't they cute!? I love them...Grace and Luke were OVERJOYED that they didn't have to get theirs done! Haha! For some reason, my kids hate getting their pictures taken-I'm sure Anteneh will catch on soon that it's the thing to do-hide your face most of the time the camera is trying to get a shot...you may think that I'm a paparazzi mom now, but if they were willing more often to let me take their pictures, we'd have even more shots of the three of them...
Well, I just got home from my Florida visit with Tracey-it was incredibly relaxing-we got pedicures AND she surprised me with an hour long deep muscle massage at a REALLY nice spa...ummm....EVERY stay at home mom needs a friend like Tracey! Heehee...Besides the group of 10 hunters dressed in camo on their way to a big hunting trip who had been drinking for 4 hours prior to sitting all around me on my first flight and bothering me(was that a major run on sentence, or what?), it was a GREAT trip! Haha...Thanks, Trace!

Brooke's 'Dissertation'

Every day I laugh out loud at the funny things that happen in our house. I think most households with young children are filled with stories like ours...just about 10 minutes ago I was standing at the sink in the kids' bathroom and got peed on by a wandering little 2 1/2 year old's pee stream. Huge wet spot on my pantleg...I mean, Luke is good-he hit me from the other side of the bathroom...they just don't pay attention much when using the potty...I have to clean it at LEAST twice a week. So gross-I feel sorry for Grace having to share a bathroom with 2 little boys. So in case any of our friends who spend time at our house are reading this, please make a mental note that even though it may not seem like I clean, when you use the bathroom at our house, know that my boys have an amazing ability to hit the entire bathroom and avoid the actual toilet bowl-it is not a reflection on my cleaning commitment!

I'm happy to report that Anteneh still has not had to visit the emergency room! Haha!Yahoo! He is learning! In fact, I think he is trying very hard to be a good boy and not get into things he is not allowed to get into...he is a hard worker and loves to please so now that he has learned some boundaries, things are getting much easier around here. Hopefully the kids are going to be good for Daryn...I am leaving in a few hours to visit Tracey in Clearwater, Fl for 2 1/2 days!!! Yeh! I am so excited. A few days to hang out, go out to eat, read, walk dogs...maybe walk on the beach...just what I need right now...Daryn is a good husband...it was a surprise from him to give me a break and buy a plane ticket...not only is he a good husband, he is quite wise...As a good friend of ours said once, "either pay for me to take a break now or pay for it later when i need therapy b/c I never had a break!" Heehee...And she seems to be a super mom-so, I don't feel so bad getting away for a few days.


Well, that's about all there is to report at the moment...things are going well...the boys play Spiderman and Superman ALL DAY...just about every waking moment. They are best friends. (when they aren't telling on each other for hitting)! Grace is doing well, too...loving her new haircut (it's so easy! i used to spend 20 minutes a day brushing and braiding it!)...and she and I have been scrap booking together a lot. We made her own little corner next to my scrapbooking desk. We have all her stickers and stamps and stuff in little drawers. Lots of fun. Sometimes I want to be a kid again!

Oh! Last thing...here is a movie recommendation: Amazing Grace...it's a great movie all about William Wilberforce and his efforts to end the slave trade from Africa. It is a movie EVERYONE should see..It's a true story about this man who selflessly changed the world. It's amazing...just watch the preview...here is the link to the website: Amazing Grace. Having Anteneh as a son now has sparked my desire to learn more about the history of slavery and the American Civil war. History is so interesting to me and to have a son from Africa has just made this part of history so much more intense to me. I think of how if he would have been born just a few hundred years earlier, he might have been one of the men who was captured and taken from Africa on a slave ship. I have always been outraged at what humans have been capable of when you examine history but to have an African son makes me think about it even more. I have been reading a historical book called Mrs. Robert E. Lee: The Lady of Arlington. It is a biography about the wife of the commander of the Confederate Army in the American Civil War. What an interesting book. To see this perspective is different. They were devoted Christians, and actually abolitionists. Mrs. Lee and her father were very instrumental in a program to end slavery and return slaves to Africa. It was a flawed program and never really saw success. General Lee actually called slavery, "a moral and political evil in any country..." I bet not many people know that. At the same time, the family owned slaves. (They gave them all their freedom BEFORE the Emancipation Proclamation, though). What a family of contrasts. IT was illegal to teach a black person to read or write(I never knew this! How crazy!) But over her lifetime, Mrs. Lee never stopped teaching the slaves that her family owned to read and write and also held a church service for them. So many contrasts. I am not saying I respect this family much -they had some beliefs that were downright wrong-they actually believed that the black race was inferior to the white race. As educated and intelligent as they were, it seems obvious that they were ignorant in many ways...BUT it is so interesting to just become educated on WHY they held the beliefs they did and WHY they fought so strongly for the Confederacy. I've always heard 'the civil war was not just about slavery'...but I have never understood that much until lately as I read more about it. It has been a blessing to me to become more educated on the history of this country's involvement with Africa-including all of the horrors that occurred. I feel that really it is our responsibility to know this country's history-especially when it comes to the institution of slavery. It is something we can't escape. It really was not that many years ago that this country was divided to the point of war! Do you realize that it was only 150 years ago that it was illegal to educate a black person! That a white person could OWN a black person 150 years ago? These barbarities happened not that long ago...ok...I need to calm down and quit writing...I'm sure as I read more, I'll have more to go on and on about soon...

Well, I need to go put my jeans in the dryer. They aren't going to be dry in time if I don't go now... I leave in about an hour! Relaxation, here I come!

My Sweet Girl

Today Grace was so brave! She never ceases to amaze me with how giving she is...I told her months ago about Locks of Love-the organization that takes hair donations to make hairpieces for children who have lost their hair due to childhood diseases and chemo treatments. From the moment she heard about it, she was set on donating her hair. We let it grow a few months to get it long enough and today we went in and got it cut! I did the honors of cutting the pigtails off b/c I'd read the requirements of how long they had to be(we cut 10 inches!) and our friend Nick Berry did a GREAT job of giving her a cute little bob! I felt like crying-like he'd cut MY hair off or something...and Daryn wasn't too excited for her to cut off her hair (he didn't tell Grace that) ...BUT GRACE LOVES IT! Which is great b/c I was scared she'd cry and regret cutting it...I just love her...she is such a giver. She has a giving little unselfish heart. WE are going to package up her pigtails in the morning and send it in! I'd better hide them from Anteneh, though-he has a tendency to get in to things if you haven't noticed:) Haha!