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The big brother

Endrias, totally comfortable in his role as the big brother. He adores Annie and she adores him right back!

Update

I'm on a professional trip and it has allowed me a little time to breathe, and blog.  Since the last entry the following things have happened:
1. Endrias has learned to read, write and do arithmetic.  He's going to graduate from Kindergarten next week.  We are so proud of him.  Not quite a year ago, we brought them home and they didn't have a word of English and now he's reading and writing it.  We're not sure, but it's likely that he's the first in his family (Ethiopian) to ever be literate.  What a marvel!
2. Betti has learned to rollerskate.  She is now speaking English like an average 4 year old. Our favorite story of Betti recently occured a night several weeks ago after she had already gone to bed.  We had some late guests and ordered pizza.  The pizza delivery guy was very quiet, but Betti smelled the pizza and was begging her daddy to get out of bed and have some.  Leigh said to her, "Betti you already had dinner, you don't need any more food.  No pizza .  Do you want to be a pretty princess or a fat girl." 
Betti: "I (sob) want (sob) to be (sob) a fat girl!"

She stilll didn't get any pizza.

3. Anneliese keeps growing.  She is off the charts for height and in 12 month size clothes though she is only 7 months.  She's more beautiful than ever.  She's eating solid foods, drinking from a sippy cup, rolling, sitting and almost crawling! Still not sleeping through the night...

Beautiful Anneliese

I know I'm biased, but Anneliese has got to be one of the most beautiful babies I've ever seen.  As my sister would say, she was born beautiful.  Not only does she have a lovely exterior, she is a very warm and happy baby.  She gives us such an easy time no matter what mayhem is swirling around her.  We chose her name because of her Norwegian heritage and because its meaning is "god's bounty."  We just couldn't describe her better than that: an unexpected and undeserved bountiful gift.

My mother, my teacher

My mother is a woman of few regrets, but one regret she has voiced to me is that she wishes she would have gone to college to become a kindergarten teacher.  I'm sure she would have been great at that, but I'm so thankful that I got to keep her all to myself.  She has taught me the smallest and largest lessons in life.  If I am anything good in this world it's because of my patient and loving teacher, my mother. Here she is on grandparents' day with my son Endrias, teaching him too.

"I have a dream"

Yesterday was Martin Luther King Jr. day.  It was a day that gave me pause.  How do I explain to my children that, at a time in our history, not so long ago, they would have been denied many things because of the color of their skin.  They fully understand that I am a different shade of brown then they are, but I don't think they have experienced racism in our country...yet. 

I know there will be a time when someone, of some shade of brown, will treat them differently than they expect;  either because they act too white (an Oreo: black on the outside white on the inside; a name adopted African kids are sometimes called) or because they're skin is dark. I am still at a loss of how to explain that to them, and I haven't felt the timing is right yet, especially with the language barrier we still have.  Part of my problem with explaining it to them is that it really is so inexplicable. 

My children are my children.  I don't even think about their skin color and many of the people they are around don't either.  On a personal level, we are so far removed from this ugly part of our nation's history that I can't understand it.  Just that it's a bad thing that happened that shouldn't have happened.  I guess I'll need to talk about it in the context of humanity and the ugliest parts of our history as humans which always involve suppressing and hurting others for some reason or another that in the end, is never as important as we thought.

The fact that I find it so hard to explain to my children might be a sign that Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream is starting to become a reality.

Sunday afternoon the kids had a play date with several other kids from their school.  They were riding in little motorized cars and Endrias was driving a little (light colored) girl around and had his arm around her to keep her safe in the car.  The sun was setting and was casting a golden light on the two of them and I thought of this line from Dr. King's "I have a dream" speech:


"I have a dream that one day...little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers."

We are living the dream.  Thanks Dr. King for daring to give a voice to what is now our beautiful life.

Again, the problem with blogging

To those of you that follow our blog, I apologize for the lack of entries over the last three months.  As I stated before, the problem with blogging is that you have to find time to do it, and time has been scarce in our household since Anneliese (baby Anna as we call her) was born.  Here's what's happened since the last entry:

1. Anna started to smile for more than gas 5 weeks after birth.
2. At six weeks, the bigger kids, Leigh and then Anna all got a very bad upper respiratory infection from RSV (for the medical folks that read this) and everyone was sick for about a month.  The kids and Leigh needed antibiotics and Anna got a nebulizer.  Luckily, Mommy never got it.
3. Leigh, Betti and Endrias went to Wisconsin for Christmas.  Mommy and Anna stayed home because Anna was so sick and so small.  The highlights of the Wisconsin trip, according to the kids, was seeing their cousins Lauren, Claire and Tyler, the snow, the christmas lights provided by the LaCrosse Rotary, Betti getting her toenail ripped off on Grandma and Grandpa Lommen's treadmill and seeing a "big truck" that was "ouchie" from the "slippely" roads on the way to the airport.

4. Endrias and Betti started a full day of school until 3 pm.  Endrias is being tutored so that he can advance from kindergarten to first grade a semester early.

5. Anna started to hold her head up at six weeks and started to laugh at 8 weeks.  For the past two nights (almost at 12 weeks) she's slept six hours in a row.  Mommy and Daddy are starting to think we might actually get to sleep sometime in the future.
6. Endrias and Betti had a joint birthday party since Endrias didn't get to celebrate his birthday before school started.  There were 17 kids, 15 adults, two cakes and lots of pizza.  As my mother would say, "a good time was had by all."

7. Leigh bought the kids wetsuits and they've taken to surfing in the Florida winter.
8. Dawn's sister Diane and nieces Grace and Rose came for Christmas and met our new and large family.  The kids loved meeting their cousins and keep asking when they are coming again.

8. Betti has grown 3 inches, 3 shoes sizes and 10 pounds since home in June; Endrias has also grown 3 inches, 3 shoe sizes and 13 pounds in same time period. 
9. Anna has grown 4 inches and almost doubled her birthweight (she's 13 pounds now).
10. Mommy and Daddy have aged a decade each.

A child is born...

On 10/26 we welcomed our baby girl, Anneliese Kenta Lommen, into the world.  The delivery was (mostly) uneventful and baby and mom are happy and healthy at home.  She has been such a good baby and, though we're biased, we think she's beautiful. 

Home of the Brave

I am so proud of my family.  I look at my two little ones and I think about all they have been through and every good and bad thing they have experienced in their short lives.  Yet, every morning they get up, get dressed, trust us to care for them, feed them and love them.  They go into a school and they are brave enough to keep trying to speak the language, interact with kids their age and try all kinds of new things.  They do these things without fear and it is awe-inspiring.

By the same token, Leigh and I have  adopted two kids, moved, started new jobs and now have a little one days from making her entry and, although it's been tough, we've taken it in stride and somehow have managed to keep these kids happy, productive and adaptable. 

When I think about all these things I think about how there are very few people I know that would be courageous enough (or dumb enough?) to embark on this journey.  Maybe it was foolhardy, but I prefer to think of it as simply brave.  My home of the brave.

Reluctantly, but by popular demand

Many of you have been curious about what I look like 9 months pregnant.  I'm not sure what all the interest is about.  Maybe because I'm so old to be pregnant for the first time, or because I've always been so thin?  Anyway, I figured I'm likely only going to be pregnant just this once, so I had a proper pregnancy portrait taken.  Hope it satisfies all the curiosity!

The pregnancy has, overall, been going well.  However, last week I had an ultrasound and it showed I had a low level of amniotic fluid and a "non-stress test" I had on the baby in the hospital showed I was having a good deal of contractions that I wasn't feeling.  These things together led my doctor to put me on bedrest for the rest of the pregnancy, so I officially went off work and on leave last week.  Since then, I've had another ultrasound that shows that the amniotic  fluid increased with the bedrest so they were pleased with that progress.  As of today, I'm at 36 and 1/2 weeks, so our little one will arrive any day now.  Keep us all in your thoughts and prayers.

Our friend the Ocean

The kids love the ocean.  When we go, they could stay for hours and hours and the biggest challenge is getting them to leave.  The most recent time we took them we told them we were just going to walk on the beach and not get in the ocean because it was (relatively) cool outside.  Just as we thought they would, they still ran in full throttle and got doused by the waves.  Below is the picture of that evening and them playing with their best friend, the sea.

Moving along

As we get more settled in, we have a little more time to breathe and thus, a blog post.  Since the last posting, my parents have relocated to Jacksonville and are settling in to a nice apartment complex across the streee from our community, and they are really enjoying it.  Leigh's folks, Dick and Cherry Lommen, just finished a whirlwind trip to see us where they helped us with our house with everything from changing light fixtures to hanging paintings.  It was a HUGE help.  They did in a couple of days, what would take Leigh and I a couple of months.

The kids have started school (photo attached) and are doing well, becoming more comfortable with the language, with us, with their environment every day.  They have also cultivated a real love of the ocean and of boating and surfing and they are great swimmers and going to the beach is one of our favorite family activities.

I am getting increasingly larger, now waddling, with just 5 weeks to go until my due date.  Soon our two ring circus will officially become a three ring circus. Viva Lommenpalooza!

Yes, we're expecting another.

As I put in my last post, we're expecting another addition to our family in the end of October (I'm hoping for early October!).  We weren't really talking about it because of all the other things that are happening in our lives, but now, as with many pregnancies, we just can't ignore it any more. 

Our little one is a girl, and she has been a lesson to me that, above all, your children are their own independant being.  This little one has been through her mommy travelling to Ethiopia, working, moving in the hot Florida summer and taking care of other kids.  She's heard her brother and sister began to talk and she's felt the ocean waves.  Through all this, she just keeps growing and moving.  Here's a picture of her little feet, that I'm guessing will be pretty big when they come out, based on the kicks!  The Ob says she's long and skinny and should be a great runner.  I think she's practicing already with the bulk of her jogging practice at night when Mom is trying to sleep :)

Too busy for blogging...

Well, I'm not sure we have any more followers out there since I haven't made in entry in over 8 weeks.  Sorry all.  With the move, the two new little ones and my pregnancy (I realize I haven't announced that yet on the blog), it's been just too busy to blog.

Here's a summary of what has happened over the past 8 weeks:
1. We had three great partied for our departure and the arrival of our little ones.  Thanks everyone for all the stuff.  The movers thank you too because it made our loads heavier!
2. We sold two homes, bought a home and moved into it in late July, in Florida.  Hot and humid is not ideal weather for moving and it made us all tired and cranky and slow.  But we're almost completely unpacked and we have all of our cars in the garage, so seems like an end is in sight.
3. I have announced broadly that I'm pregnant because, well, there's just no denying it now.  I'm at 31 weeks and waddling.  My belly button is now and outy.  My due date is October 29th, so stay tuned.
4. Endrias and Bethel have started picking up the language and we are all having a great time.  In the last 8 weeks they have learned how to fish, how to swim, ridden on a variety of boats, taken a private plane ride, learned how to work Mommy and Daddy's phones, cameras, televisions, played tennis, learned how to ride bikes (no training wheels for Endrias after about 10 days), received a collective total of 15 immunizations, 5 doctors visits, 4 dentist visits, 3 fillings and 8 sealants, learned how to take pills and how to "chipmunk" pills to spit out later, met a new nanny, love "swamp people" and started school.
5. Leigh has started a company and is actively building it's infrastructure.  It's called Parallax Quantitative Asset Management.  It has something to do with using statistics and computers to make money in the market, whether it goes up or down, but that's the best I can explain it.  He has an office and he's also working full time as a quantitative analyst consultant for a NYC based firm.
6. I started back to work at Mayo Clinic Florida as a gastroenterologist and have an administrative position in the Department of Medicine.
7. Arranged for an apartment for my folks, Stan and Irene, to relocate here.  Stan (80) fell and broke his hip and had a hip replacement around the fourth of July.  Ironic switch from independance to dependance on that day. :(

Sigh...so you can understand why I haven't been blogging.

I've attached a few pictures, but frankly, we're behind on the picture taking too.  These pictures were sent to me by my lovely and talented sister-in-law Wendy Lommen.

Claire Lommen and Bethel

The Lommen Cousins at Lommen Grandparent's House

Bethel with her first Shirley Temple looking pretty in pink.

Coming home photos

I have a few moments with Endrias playing quietly and Bethel asleep, so I'll try to post a few more pictures.  The kids are doing great.  Every day they speak more in English and certainly understand more and the frustration between all parties with the language barrier lessens.  We're getting used to the routine that works for all of us which involves no nap for Endrias (because he's up too late otherwise) and late afternoon nap for Bethel.  The kids have been to the pediatrician's office where they each received five immunizations at once (tough day for all of us), to the lab to get their blood drawn and to the dentist office.  They don't know yet that Mommy is a doctor, but when they learn about that, I think they'll like me less.

They love to go to the park and to play outside, so it's great that they came in the Summer. They've been to the library, to the store, out to eat and they do love all of that.  The first thing Endrias wants to do every morning is "Mommy, machina!"  which means "Mom, let's go somewhere in the car!"  If it's raining, I still go in the car and park near one of Rochester's many construction sites so they can watch the heavy equipment and the workers which they love.  Every couple of seconds one of them says "Mommy!  Ooooh!"

Endrias has learned how to use a camera and so has been taking lots of pictures with an old camera of mine.  Some of them are really good!  I'll download some of those as soon as we locate the camera again...

The problem with blogging.

I know many of you are anxious to see new and more pictures of the kids and hear how it's going.  The problem is that we're so busy with taking care of them that we have little time to tell everyone how it's going and upload photos.  I will do as time allows.  Essentially, the kids are great.  They are loving, generally happy, eating well and potty trained.  Once they are asleep they stay asleep, but getting them to go to sleep has been a challenge: they are jet lagged, in new surroundings with new beds and their own rooms.  That's getting better every day, but it has left Leigh and I pretty tired.

They are learning the language with Endrias having about 100 word vocabulary and Bethel about 20 words.  They speak to each other in fluent and long conversations in their native tongue, so I know it's just a matter of time before they switch over. 

They are both very sweet kids.  Endrias is very inquisitive, athletic, smart and active.  Bethel is sweet and cuddly and loves all things girlish.

Our hearts burst with love for them and we are so glad to have them home.  Our lives our changed and we are so much richer for their presence. 

Bringing them home.

Going away ceremony at Care Center in Addis Ababa.  Bethelihem (left) and Endrias (right) with Leigh and Grandma Cherry.  Kids are in traditional Ethiopian outfits for the ceremony.

Bethelihem and Endrias looking out the window at the Lucy Land guest house after Leigh had taken custody.

Leigh at the U.S. Embassy for the visa interview for the kids.  This was the last step of the long legal process (a process that started in May 2010).

Leigh with the kids at the Care Center where they have been the last 6 weeks, waiting for us to bring them home.

Endrias and Bethelihem with some of their nannies at the Care Center.

Above you'll see pictures from the trip to Ethiopia to bring the kids home.  Overall, the trip went really well with minimal hiccups and no illnesses.  The trip was a great bonding experience for Leigh with the kids.  Grandma Cherry found it a life-changing experience.  Both were touched by the love shown for our kids by all those involved.  They have given us two very loving, affectionate, beautiful kids whose smile just breaks the heart.

Pictures at last.

Leigh, his mother Cherry, Endrias and Bethelihem walked through the doors and into our lives at 12:45 today.  The kids were great on the trip with only minor meltdowns and, after having been in transit for 26 hours, got into the car, strapped into their car seats (a totally foreign concept) and rode the hour and a half drive without incident.  We introduced them to their new surroundings, let them play about an hour, gave them a bath and put them to bed (which took about an hour of dedicated time for each of them).  They did all that with very little resistance, especially given that we don't speak the same language.  They are very happy kids and very affectionate, and as you can see, adorable.  We don't have pictures of the homecoming yet as they were taken with Cherry's camera.  We'll try to load new pictures in the coming days.  For now just peace and rest.

The end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine)

Tomorrow at noon I'll meet Leigh, Endrias and Bethelihem at the airport in Minneapolis after their 24 hour trip.  I've tried to make everything ready in their rooms, in the house in my heart.  So what shall I do this last night alone?  I've eaten a nice dinner, I'm watching my favorite show on TV and then I'm going to go to bed early and get up late.  And tomorrow will be the start of our new world.

Message from Grandma Cherry

This is a message I had in my inbox this morning from Grandma Cherry (Leigh's mom) about her experience so far with the kids in their Care Center as they are waiting to take custody on Monday:

WOW!!!  What an incredible experience!!

When I saw the children walk in the room at the care center, I was overcome with emotion!  Endrias hugged me so long and hard, it was really heart warming.  Leigh held Bethel and she hugged him for so long as well!

There were immediate smiles from both of them.  They were fascinated with the small flashlights that I brought.  They loved trying on my glasses and sunglasses. They love my little retractable tape measure as I measured their sizes.  Endrias ended up measuring everything in the room! They took my pens and scribbled...Endrias was able to print his name with a little help.  He is a very smart boy!!!

The care center said he is so special.  He plays so well with other children as well as watches over his sister.  You could see their incredible interaction.  He is so disciplined.  He goes and washes his hands without being told, pushes his chair in...he's mature way beyond his years.

We were there during lunch.  They both ate very well.  Endrias cleaned his plate and Bethel did quite well, but it took her a loooong time!
Later, I brought out snacks.  They enjoyed the animal crackers, but the biggest his was the "confetti marsh mellows" 
they are about one inch long.  the kids loved them and then Leigh put some in his mouth like they were teeth.  The kids laughed so hard!!!  Dawn, I think you have three children coming home, not two!!

We are shopping this morning and then we spend the afternoon with the kids.  Tomorrow, we bring them back to the Jamimah House, now renamed Lucy Land House.  I brought lots of crafts to keep them busy for the next four days!

They are incredible kids full of love and promise.  They will be special gifts to all of us.

Thank you so much, Dawn for allowing me to come.  It has been one of the highlights of my life!!  I love them so much already!!!