SUMMER FUN!

Hello All!

It seems that we are updating once a month now. Maybe that is enough!

The kids and I just finished a wonderful week of VBS (vacation bible school). Chloe and Isayas were in a 'crew' together. They had a great week. Chloe knows all the bible buddies and bible points, she will proudly tell them to you and even what day they were learned on. Isayas was very impressed with school; sugary snacks every day, loud fun music, playing outside with organized games and bikes, etc. He might be in for a little surprise when preschool rolls around.

I volunteered in the two year old's class. Maya and mom were together all morning. We had 21 two year olds everyday and 4-5 teachers. It was busy and fun. Maya liked mommy's orange shirt and all her friends. And going again and again. Josh did great in the nursery. I got to peak in on him and he was always happy and playing. Thursday he started to get two teeth, so not his best day. Friday he stayed home with Grammie Vicki and when we came home the teeth were through...not my mom's best day. Thanks, MOM. We love you.

We spent from 1-6 something on Tuesday, at our good friend's lake cabin. We had a wonderful time and Isayas loved the BIG water. He asked for two whole days to go to Lena's house.

Tomorrow we hope to enjoy this beautiful 90 degree weather in the AM and stay inside in the PM. Mario's mom, Nana Debbie, is coming over to spend the evening with us, we will be celebrating her birthday and that should be much fun.

Have a good weekend to our family and friends.

Emilee

May is Here!

I can hardly believe that tomorrow is May. The last few months have flown by. Chloe is getting excited for summer, but also sad about preschool ending. She really loves her teacher and her little friends. She has developed into this lovely sister and will pick up Josh and carry him around. She has a super cute shorter hair cut for summertime. She is staying much cooler when she runs around the house and yard. The kids get so much exercise. Chloe and mommy are also preparing for homeschooling next fall. We are both adjusting to that decision and growing comfortable with spending one more year together.

Isayas is loving the time he gets to spend outdoors. The boy runs, jumps, and plays out there for hours. He has mastered the swing that seats two and you pump by moving your arms (sorry, I don't know the name), but he is horrified each time I set him on a regular swing. He plays great with little girls, but does not know what to make of the neighborhood boys. Good thing we get to see his cousins pretty regularly, and I think he will feel more comfortable when he can understand English better. Mario and I are working with him on his sentences, he prefers to talk to us in one word fragments: more, milk, no, yes, car, orange, etc. He is starting to understand 'this is' and 'that is' etc. But he does get frustrated with us when we have him repeat something till it is right. He is looking forward to preschool next fall, this is supposed to be great for his language development and social development, and hey, he will probably get to play with boys.

Maya is also loving her time outdoors, she spends quite a bit of time with her big brother outside. She is more into the shoes she gets to wear, than running around though. She is a chatter bug and getting quite girly. We have had a couple fits here, because Mommy picked shorts/pants for her instead of a dress. Pray for her as we have her hearing tested on Wednesday, Mario and I have noticed some hearing issues with her and we would hope that if there is an issue that they would be able to find it and if there is not, that they would be positive about that too. Maya's other favorite thing to do is be held, she believes that Josh and her should be twins. So I will often hold both of them together and sing a lullaby.

Joshua is growing smarter, bigger, cuter, and more opinionated by the day. He really wants to walk and will probably do so before his first birthday. He is trying new foods every couple of days and doing pretty good. He has soy and milk allergies so it will be interesting to see what they do when he turns one. Maybe he will be on the gold formula for life. I am of course kidding, if need be I can force feed spinach till he gets his calcium allotment. Maybe, I will try him on calcium fortified OJ tomorrow. He drank it every morning in Addis at the Care Center. He loves to be with the whole group and enjoys meal time and play time. If he takes a second nap, he ends up alone with mommy and daddy. Joshua thinks this is great and will perch on his knees, rocking and clapping, cooing and laughing.

Life with four kiddos is busy and fun. Thanks for your continued thoughts, prayers, and words of encouragement.

Emilee

Happy Easter

Happy Easter! He is Risen!

Our family had a quieter holiday, seeing just Emilee's parents, siblings, and aunt (and all their families). We saw Grandpa last weekend and will see Nana and Papa for Emilee's b-day this Wed. Yes, I am turning 30 and pretty excited about it.

The church service was very powerful, Mario was in a drama for my dad, playing the Risen Lord. The three big kids were very excited and proud of daddy. Maya was demonstrating the 'kids' (other people in the drama) "hoorarying" for Jesus/Daddy. Chloe really understood the message, the crowd was 'for' Jesus, but only one would really serve Him and love Him and choose to follow Him. Chloe said to me, "Maybe when I grow up, I can be like that one girl who followed."

Our first Easter as a family of six was special, although super boy, Isayas, does get overwhelmed in different circumstances and even ran away from us at church. He has not done this for four months, since the airports. I was running all over the church looking for him, and you know the turn out on Easter morning, it was crowded. But, through the crowds, Papa (Pastor) Peter comes like a knight on shining armor carrying the runaway. Maybe, he actually ran to Papa! Not positive, but I was a tad nervous when I could not find him.

Joshua had two sleepovers at Grammie and Papa's house and mommy was very rested and happy to see him. He is gettign huge and opinionated, so he will fit in personality wise here very well. That makes two first born parents, and four opionated and stubborn kiddos.

One of my favorite Easter moments, was when we came home. I had attempted to clean up most of the house, so beds were made, floors vacuumed, dishes done, etc. And the best part, my mother-in-law had finished the tile backsplash for my birthday. Yay! It looks wonderful. I hope that you all had beautiful moments on your Easter, too.

Love, Emilee

Still March

Hi All,

sorry, I haven't posted in so long. This month has been very busy. I laughed when I read our last post, because we were outside all day, lots of it in short sleeves. Minnesota can be very wierd. It was a lovely day in the 60's and the kids and I had lots of fun. Swinging, kicking soccer balls, and chatting with our neighbors.

Well, Chloe and Isayas are officially 5 and 4. The parties were a success and now we are in the clear for a big party till Josh turns one in June and Maya turns 3 in July. No more sugar will be allowed here for approximately three weeks. J/K

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers...

Emilee and crew

March!

Well, it is March and that is what we are doing. Marching forward with our growth as a family. The last few days were filled with playing in the snow, meeting with friends, and family time. I love the weekends.

I tried to add some pics to this page, but sorry. I cannot figure it out. Mario will add some soon, I believe he posts them somewhere else and then puts a link on the page. The kids are still beautiful though and getting along together very well.

My kids need me, so I have to go, but will try and post more later this week and get pics up.

Just to share...

We survived the Blizzard, only receiving about 6 inches of snow. Mario has us shoveled out already. We celebrated the snow by having some friends over for a 'summer picnic' of grilled hamburgers and ice cream cones. The kids thought this was very fun and it was fun to get caught up with the grown ups too.

The kids and I played with our neighbors during Joshua's nap this morning. Much exercise was had by all, climbing up the hill and sliding down. I was very dry in my new snow pants and what a purchase, unlike the kiddos, mine will fit forever.

We are trying out a new church today, but it has a night-time service. This is a little different for us, but should be fun. I rememberer worshiping Sunday mornings and evenings as a toddler and young girl. I loved those evening services with informal song selection and testimony sharing.

I don't know where the weekend went to. The six of us spend the majority of it sleeping, playing, eating, cleaning, and goofing off. Hope you had good weekends too.

The Blizzard of the Century is Coming!

Hi to all!

I thought I would update on our week as Mario is out getting snowpants for the grownups at our house. We are forecasted to get over ten inches in the next two days. I am glad it is on the weekend so my sweetheart won't be stuck in the traffic that would follow.

Andy's friend parents (the Feldman's) dropped off beatiful bunkbeds for us earlier this week. They really connected with the kiddos, because they also have two boys and two girls. Well, anyways they dropped off-not 15 minutes ago, the cutest bicycle. It is a sturdy little 'John Deere" bicycle and brand new so the kids are going to ride it all through the house during the blizzard. Now they are happily watching "Free Willy 2" also from the Feldman's. Thanks, guys--family night would have been a repeat without ya!

This was a difficult week for me. I was such a 'girl'. Very emotional and for no apparent reason. I did get to tour the local Catholic school and visit a friend in the hospital (thanks, Nana Deb), my mom came back for 24 hours after two weeks of absesnces. Thanks, Mom. My cousin Elizabeth and her family were the highlight of my week, stopping by Thursday, with love, acceptance, and friendship. That was such a blessing. Amidst all the highlights, I really felt like my head was not attached this week. So I apoligize if I messed up and forgot someone's birthday or hurt feelings. I started doing yoga again and am hoping to feel more centered this coming week.

Pray for my sis and her boys, they were in a moderate car accident and are doing fine, but pretty shook up. Pray that they would have peace and that God would provide for their needs.

I hope that everyone in the frozen tundra with us, stays warm and safe. I am now going to patiently wait for Mario to get back with my snowpants and a decaf latte.

love-from Emilee

Emilee's First Blog

Good Morning (or whatever time of day, you check in)!

I am sitting here drinking Ethiopian coffee as I attempt my first time updating the blog. It is President's Day, which for one more year does not affect us. The search has begun for the perfect Kindergarten. Keep me in your prayers, as I research options for Chloe. Speaking of Chloe, we were in the car yesterday and she says, the first president was George Washington. We were pretty impressed with her and her preschool. She then said the second president was Abraham Lincoln, well...at least she is remembering the important names!

Isayas is picking up English every day. He speaks in little sentences now, like "I'll get it" when something falls on the ground at a meal. Yes, he knows some abbreviations already. Pray that I have patience and wisdom as I really start to work on numbers and letters with him. I am not sure if he is being ornery or just struggling. Mario and I lean towards believing he is stubborn, the things he is not doing here, are concepts we witnessed him doing in Addis, at school.

Our two year old, Maya, is pretty much acting two. Last night, we went to the nicest shower thrown by Grandpa Daniel and his family. She grunted and moaned in my arms the first 45 minutes, whenever someone spoke to her. Even us. It can be frustrating to figure out what to do about discipline in a new situation and with new people. I eventually sat her by our diaper bag and baby carrier for a time-out. She screamed for two minutes and then had a good party for the rest of the time. We felt surrounded by love and really had fun last night with Mario's aunts and some cool cousins. The kids made fast fun and friends too with the kid cousins that were there. Taylor, Michael, and Tatiana you are cool kids. Little Tami too, but when you and Josh are crawling you two will rock the Rodriguez parties.

Joshua Molla is doing great. Since I was the only one calling him Joshua and Josh here, except for Maya, I started calling him Joshy. This name really caught on with the siblings and they all are calling him Joshy now. Isayas rotates with Joshy and Baby. Very cute. We were supposed to take Joshua in to a specialist on Thursday, the 8th. We were stuck in terrible traffic due to a car accident. The doctor's office refused to see us till the next opening, which was three hours away. We were beyond frustrated. But God has a way of working things out. We had not seen blood in his stool for five days before that appointment, and haven't seen it since. That doctor's visit would have been unnecessary and very expensive, so that traffic saved us a lot of money and Joshua unnecessary discomfort from tests of that nature!

Daddy is doing good. Working hard and getting much satisfaction from that. He is still enjoying his job and coworkers. He comes home and chases the kids around the circle. The four of them are laughing and playing so hard, it is very cute. When we just had the girls, he would play that game with Xena, but now they all participate. I have a feeling that this week will involve much chili eating for our family. Mario needs to defend his second place finish at the work cook-off. If anyone wants to eat chili this week, let me know. We could always use company and guinea pigs! (Please, no one actually give us real guinea pigs as a gift!-I clean up after the perfect number of residents here already!)

I am doing well too. I have been on my own with the kiddos since, Thursday the 8th. My mom/nanny/housekeeper/friend is scheduled to be out with us this week for a couple of nights, but on Saturday was coming down with a second batch of bronchitis. So I might be going alone with the four musketeers once more. Grammie Vicki get better!!!! Thanks to my girlfriends last week who stepped up and helped me out with long phone calls, babysitting so I could grocery shop all alone, and prayer. Thanks to Nana Debbie for the dinner and carpooling Chloe. Hillary Clinton once said it takes a village to raise a child. And she only had one, so how would she really know! Thanks to our village of support, prayers, and understanding. This week my goal is to keep my calm and write numerous thank you notes. In that order!

Brrrrrrrr!!

As fate would have it, a zone for our hot water heat went bad in the middle of the coldest stretch of weather in 14 years or something. The zone that no longer works is the one that controls the bedrooms upstairs, so sleeping has been chilly!

Since this exact thing happened 2 years ago, and back then we fixed it by using a space heater to heat the wall with the pipes in them, believing that the pipes were frozen. So we did the same thing this time, only...it didn't work. We still had to heat. WE tried for several days, but to no avail. So I decided that I would cut some holes into the wall in the playroom, trying to find the pipes that we thought were frozen. Turns out, there are no pipes in the wall...they must be redirected somewhere else! So now I have 4 holes in the wall, and it turns out a motor valve went bad! So there was no water moving in the zone!

So, we had the Service Plus guy come out to fix it, and he finds that the whole boiler is bad, expelling carbon monoxide like the car was parked and running in the basement! So things were very dangerous in our house! Praise God that He protected us!

So as I write this, we have new boiler being installed and I hope to be warm within the next few hours.

During all this, Em and I got to go on our first date since Italy, dining at a very nice restaurant in Minneapolis called Masa, an up-scale Mexican eatery. The food was good, stay away from the guacamole (no flavor) and the margaritas ($9 for ice and triple sec???)

The kids are doing well, with everyone having the sniffles and that's about it. With this cold snap, we have been unable to get out of the house much, and the kids are starting to get cabin fever, big time.

In the pictures above, you can see Isayas eating ice cream for the first time. He loved it! Many Ehtiopian kids don't, as the chill and creaminess of it is offsetting at first. But dove right in!

Also, in the picture with Joshy in the truck, please note that all precautions were taken to ensure his safey. No one was hurt in the taking of that picture.

Shower #2 is in the books!

Well, we had our second baby/adoption shower last night at my mom and dad's. It was so fun to see all the family on my mom's side. We haven't seen them for a while since this wasn't their year for Christmas.

We had wonderful food prepared by my Auntie Gail and my mom. You can't go wrong with Sloppy Joes! Yummy!

And everyone was very generous and kind with their gifts. The big hit of the night was, of course, Isaya's. He got his first bike! A big boy bike, with knobby tires, pegs, handle-bar breaks, helmet, and training wheels. You should have seen his face when they brought it down! And then when he sat on it....in the basement....for like and hour....while dad held the bike up!

But thanks to all for your time and gifts. They are greatly appreciated by us!

I know...I know...

Alright, enough already!! Yes, yes, yes. I am a very bad person. I am so sorry for disappointing each and everyone one of you these past 20 days. NO UPDATES! How dare me!

Well, here you go. (and I will be showing Emilee how to log in and post, so that should keep this blog going more than once a month!)

We have now been home 6 weeks..SIX WEEKS! Wow! Does time fly by. Yesterday, we attended a class that we were supposed to attend BEFORE we left called "Before I Joined Your Family", where we learn about how our child might react to the adoption. It definitely brought us back to our time in Ethiopia, and we were able to see the growth in both boys, as they have gone through their greiving process and trust establishment with us. While it was hard for 2.5-3 weeks, and we were often trying different techniques to try and curb tantrums and negative behaviors, it was the continuous love and fun that we gave that helped each child quickly turn the corner.

Isayas is doing great. In fact, our girls definitely have more "blow-ups" and tantrums than does Isayas. Isayas' personality is really shining now. He is always full of smiles and energy.

Some favorite Isayas moments from the past week:
1. Isayas got a ton of cars for Christmas, so we saved a couple for later, knowing that there were going to be some destruction derbys and he would lose a couple. Well, that only took 2 weeks. So we gave him a remote control car that he graciously got from Emilee's cousins for a welcome home gift. I went to get it in the basement without him knowing (he was hanging out in the kitchen). With the batteries in and the car working, I quietly slipped up the stairs, set the car down, and "guided" it across the kitchen floor. And boy did Isayas run over to that car. It was moving by itself!! He would pick it up, and then put it down, at which time I would make it run away from him! He couldn't believe it! This went on for another 5 minutes and then I showed him how to work the thing. When we were done with our lesson, he ran over to me, wrapped his arms around my legs, and said, "So much, so much!!" He didn't quite now how to put the full sentence together yet, but I completely understood.
2. Another great moment was he transitioned to the his own room without a huge tantrum! Emilee has been napping him in his room for the past week, trying to wean him from ours. I was getting Isayas ready for bed in his bedroom, and I decided to see what would happen if I put him to bed in there. Well, he wasn't real happy about it, saying and pointing "Eska", which we think means "over there", meaning our bedroom. I ignored it and proceeded to read him his 2 books. The whole time, he was interested in the books, but had a face that looked like he just ate some dirt. When I was done, I patted the pillow and said, "Alga (bed)" and proceeded to lay down. HIs face lit up and he jumped up and snuggled next to me. He of course thought I was going to be his bed buddy, but after about 20-25 minutes, I got up and went downstairs. He slept great that night and has ever since. Yeah!

Some favorite Joshua moments from recent memory:
1. I think it's hilarious when Josh is on his tummy, and he gets real excited. He just starts thrashing his arms, legs and head up and down. He basically looks like he's having a seizure, but he's having the time of his life.
2. After a couple of restless nights, he has a tooth popping through on the bottom! Yeah!
3. Whenever Joshua laughs. Joshua Molla loves to smile, but pure laughter is rare. When he does get into that mood, I try to make it last as long as I can by acting like a fool. It's a wonderful laugh and his face just beams radiant with joy.

Some favorite Chloe moments from the past month:
1. Chloe made some plane tickets for me, her, and Maya so that we could go to Kenya. She had Emilee spell everything out for her so it was authentic! She was the pilot and took us to Kenya for a safari. It was great!
2. Taking her to school/picking her up from school. I love it. Being able to talk to her about her day is so wonderful.

Some favorite Maya moments from January:
1. Maya's had a rough month, with sickness and aching molars. But there was one morning when I woke up and she was in our bed, in the middle. She was lightly stroking the back of my head and shoulders, just loving me up. What a way to start the day!
2. Anything that Maya says that you actually understand. Maya is the funniest little girl I have ever met. The things she says and puts together is hilarious. I need to write them down so I remember them, but there were too many to count this month.

Em and I are doing well. I've been busy at work, so Em and her mom have been doing the brunt of the work at home. Schedules are now all set for each of the kids. We are going to start weaning Vicki from us, which is going to be tough! She is so valuable to us, and she is a blast to have over! If only we could have her stay forever....hmmm.

Anyway, this is getting long. There will be more this week, I promise. We need to get ready for the boys' first shower at my mom and dads. That should be a blast, but we'll see how Isayas does with all those people.

MInnesota Fun!

Well, it has been a while since I've last updated the blog. My apologies. With the New Year break and then back to work, I've been either too busy or too tired. Whew! I'm exhausted already after these 3 sentences!

We've now been home a little over 3 weeks and everything is starting to feel "normal." What I mean by that is that Em and I are starting to get some semblance of structure and schedule in the house. We now know when to expect to get up in the morning (7:38am, when Maya and Isayas both wake up, even though they are in different rooms!), when to go to bed at night (Joshua is last at 9:17pm), and when to get some rest and relaxation (between 2:12pm and 2:15pm).

Isayas is doing very well, with his temperment now back to normal for a 3.5 year old. We rarely have any more nasty tantrums, now there's the normal screaming and crying ones. We can handle that!

Molla is getting so big! He is beginning to look more and more like a linebacker, as he loves to drink his new formula. He's only put on a pound or so, but they must all be in his cheeks.

Maya seems to be getting her molars, as she is having a rough week. She isn't eating much and she is quite cranky, but seems to do well with Children's Tylenol in her. Poor thing.

Chloe is doing great and is loving preschool! She had a break there for a week and half, but she is back at it, learning like crazy! This past week she learned about dinosaurs! Cool!

Work is going well for me, and I am getting back into the flow of things. My project right now is in Minnetonka, so it's a nice drive for me with little to no traffic. Everyone is really nice there and it's a fun environment to work in.

Emilee is also doing well. She is amazing, taking care of the kids, the bills, the doctor appointments, the cooking....what a woman! I am so proud of her!

I just want to add, that Emilee could not function without her mom, Vicki. She is in the pic with Joshua and the boy superheroes, which she picked up when Isayas kept playing with Polly Pockets. The pic of Isayas having a tea party, that is a keeper. I believe he only sat still that long because Maya's finger had been stuck in the cream container for three minutes. That was alot of fun.
Just wanted to add a personal thanks to my mom (and my dad, for sharing), this would be much harder without your help and your presence.