First Day of School

Today was a HUGE day for the Kuykendalls; the girls went "back" to school today.

Amelia was blessed with simply going back to school.  I am so thankful that this was the situation for her.  Other than Nazeret, I believe Amelia has experienced the most change by adding another child to the family.  She started fifth grade today with teachers she already knows at the same school she has attended for years.

Nazeret still wins the prize for the biggest change.  She started her first day of formal education ever this morning in first grade at the same school as Amelia.  She has wonderful support from her teacher and other staff.  I am thankful that she was so excited to go and didn't have any issue when I left the class room.  As I walked out of the classroom door with her eyes on me, I placed the palm of my hand to my cheek.  (We read The Kissing Hand last night and I was reminding her that she can feel my love with her anytime by placing the kiss I gave her in the palm of her hand to her cheek.)  She raised her hand and placed it to her cheek with a BIG smile.

Michela had a BIG change this year too.  She home schooled last semester, but decided to return to public school this year.  Today, she started high school!  My first born started HIGH SCHOOL!!!  Where did the time go?  She can't wait to finish school and head to Africa.  We can't wait to see what God has planned for her life now and in the future.

After many tears of joy for how well the morning went and some time on my knees praising God for His miracles, I am enjoying some peace and quit (something I have not experienced for the last 3 months)!  I'm going to bake some cookies and then go get my girls.  I can't wait to hear all the chatter and giggles as they share their day.

Two Months as a Family of 5!!!

We arrived home from Ethiopia on June 11; that was two months ago today. Wow, so much has changed in two months.  In that first month I wasn't sure I would ever be able to go back to work, but I have been seeing patients in the mornings for the past month.  Michael went back to work today and we are all missing him.  I am taking off again while we make the adjustment to school.

Yes, Nazeret is going to start school in one week.  She doesn't fully understand, but she is excited.  She will be starting first grade and her teacher is also an adoptive mom. God is so good to work out the details!  She has been learning so much and I believe she is going to do great in school.

Our first month was so hard and full of so much change for all of us.  This second month has been smoother and a lot of fun.  We are all getting to know each other better.  Nazeret has the words to express her needs and feelings, when she chooses to.  We are starting to settle into our "new normal".  I am so thankful for the support of our friends and family.  Thank you all for your prayers.

Today, like almost every day, we watched Ethiopian dancing videos on YouTube.  She LOVES this and I enjoy seeing her face light up.  Today she even put on her traditional Wolayta dress to watch.  It still hurts my heart so deeply that she is not growing up in her beautiful country.  I'm so thankful for the love that God has placed in my heart for Ethiopia.

Some firsts for Nazeret in the past month:

Nazeret and Amelia went to music camp at our church every morning for a week.  They learned an entire musical and then performed it for friends and family on the following Sunday evening.  She LOVED it!  She may always remember the songs and motions.

We went on our first road trip.  (Nazeret does not like to be in a car.)  We went 3.5 hours south to New Braunfels, TX to take Nazeret to our favorite water park , Schlitterbahn.  She was fearless and road every ride with her Pap (my dad).  We all had a blast (except Amelia: she was having her own fun at church camp) !  Nazeret later explained that the "water house" was fun, but she was NEVER going back because it is "too long!"

Nazeret finally got her ears pierced.  She started asking to get them pierced when we were in Ethiopia for our embassy appointment.  She was so brave.  She only made a face when the piercing gun popped.  Now we are counting down the days until she can take out those simple studs and replace them with dangles.

Some of my favorite new phrases:

What to go? = This question comes when I look like I am going somewhere.
One! = "Give ma a minute."
Sort of = You get that one; it's just so funny to hear from her.
Owee ah-NO! = "See how tough I am; that didn't hurt at all." (ears pierced)
Finger house = This is the place you get your nails painted. :)
Ice-cream house = Nazeret's favorite place to get ice-cream....EVERY day!  Don't judge; it's HOT!

I am thankful for the bond that has grown within our family over the past two months and I know it is in large part due to the gift we were given of time to spend together.  As we return to our routine and introduce Nazeret to school, I know that we have a great foundation to build on.

People always tell me how lucky my daughter is.

Nazeret has a very special little friend that she met in the orphanage.  They were from the same region and spoke the same language.  They were moved together from the orphanage to our adoption agency's transition home.  The language at the transition home is Amharic.  These two sweet little girls did not speak Amharic and so they had each other as they learned a new place and a new language.  I can't even imagine this kind of bond.

God arranged for these girls to meet their parents the same week, but due to government systems they did not get to come to America at the same time.   Nazeret has been home for almost 2 months and her friend came home this weekend.  Tonight, the girls got to Skype in America for the first time.  My heart was filled with such a strange mix of joy and sadness as these girls discovered that they could no longer communicate.  You see as Nazeret has learned more English (and she kept telling her friend, "I English."), she has lost her original language.  I am excited about how fast Nazeret has learned our language, but my heart is breaking for what she has lost.

My beautiful daughter has gained an entirely different life, but she has lost so much.  It's hard to see that as lucky.

Better Than the Tooth Fairy

She's holding the little box with her two baby teeth in it.

Yesterday, Nazeret had to have dental work done under sedation.  She had several minor things done, but they also removed two baby teeth that were not making room for the permanent teeth that were ready to come in.  The doctors were amazing! She was amazing! Recovery was great!

As we were driving off the technician came running out with a little box containing Nazeret's two teeth.  I hadn't thought about them because the tooth fairy is NOT going to be visiting our house.  I have read that this concept can cause more fear than fun for some adopted children (and really all children).  Nazeret wanted to see her teeth and then she made some gestures of throwing something into the air and said "and then the teeth they come in".  I was very confused.  I didn't know what she was trying to say, so I tossed the little box of teeth into the air and caught it.  This made her laugh.  She explained it again.  I could tell it was something about tossing the teeth into the air and then pray for God to bring your new teeth in.  WOW! I still didn't quite have the whole picture, but I thought it was pretty cool.  With a little help from another adoptive mom with a child from the Wolayta region of Ethiopia and more explaining from Nazeret, we finally understood that she wanted to throw her teeth where they would stick into the moon and then pray for God to bring in her new teeth.  COOL!

We waited for the sun to go down.  Michael and Nazeret love to take a swim with the moon and then shower and go to bed (I much prefer swimming with the sun.), so she got her swimsuit on and threw her teeth at the moon.  We then said a prayer for God to bring in her new teeth and she went for a swim.  It was a very special evening.

Notice how far those feet are off the ground.  She wanted to make sure that tooth made it to the moon!

ONE MONTH AS A FAMILY OF 5

Yesterday officially marked one month that we have all been home together.  It has been a L-O-N-G month.  There have been so many changes for all of us.  None of us have had as many changes as Nazeret; her whole world changed in the blink of a 17 hour flight.

That's right, we started our trip home with a 17 hour flight.  Nazeret LOVED the take off (and had all the passengers on a 777 cheering), made a trip to the potty every hour, and HATED her seatbelt...and ALL the food.  We landed in DC and Nazeret became a US citizen right there in the airport.  We then waited 9 hours to get on our plane to Dallas, so that we could sit on the runway for almost 2 hours waiting for take-off.  We finally made it home after 30+ hours of travel.

We got home in the middle of the night, so we didn't get to see Nazeret's reaction to her new home, but she did try on ALL the clothes in her closet before going to bed.  Between jet lag and whatever upper respiratory infection I picked up, it was a rough first week.  I honestly don't remember a lot, but I do remember the second week.  This would be the week that I didn't recognize my newest child.  This was the week of HUGE adjustments.  This was the week that I lost 10lbs, a lot of sleep, and wondered how I was going to ever survive my new life.  This was the week that God showed up in a HUGE way and reminded me that HE was going to get us all through the adjustments.  God brought new people into my life who gave me such encouragement and He brought out old friends who met our needs when we were just getting through each day.  God is good and His mercy is new every day.  We have all grown and changed so much this month, but Nazeret has changed the most.

NAZERET, you are "a so silly girl"!  You are so outgoing and funny!  You love people and you have already claimed some of our closest friends and family as "yours".  I have been amazed by how much you have learned.  You are a very smart girl. 

Somehow, we kept you from knowing we had a pool the first week we were home.  (I think you were just too tired to care.) That second week you were in the pool.  Swimming lessons were a must your third week home and now you swim like you have been doing it your whole life.

Another funny thing about you is your sense of direction.  You are 7 years old and you have been drawing a mental map of our little town.  You already know the locations of home, church, Mommy's work, the doctor, and the best place to get ice cream.

We have come through our first month (I believe it is the toughest).  I am looking forward to the steps we will take together next month as we prepare for you to start school!  I love you and I thank God everyday that He has allowed us to be your family.

OUR TWO WEEK EMBASSY TRIP

We are now a family of 5 and we are all adjusting to our new roles.  God is so good to meet us exactly when and where we need Him.

I haven't had time to post anything, so I want to go back to the time we spent in Ethiopia when we went to get Nazeret and make our adoption FINAL!

On May 26, Michael, Amelia, our friend Janet and I all left for Ethiopia via Washington DC.  We were so blessed to stay the night with another adopting family that we met on our court trip.  May 28 we arrived in Ethiopia and went to see Nazeret.  We had been away from her for 7 long weeks.  Our reunion was sweet.  It happened VERY fast because she saw her Daddy before she was "supposed" to and ran and jumped on him.  I don't know if anybody got pictures.  She also got to meet Amelia for the first time.

The next day, Nazeret left the Transition Home forever.  She would never be alone again.  She will always have a family!  Praise God!

We spent two weeks in Ethiopia and saw many amazing sights together.  The girls became sisters.  They played together; they slept together and Amelia really became a great big sister.  I am so proud of her.  When we had 7 days left in Ethiopia, Nazeret started counting down the days to come to America and see Michela.


Our memories of those two weeks together in Ethiopia will always be so precious.  I am so sorry that Michela could not be there with us.  It was great to have time with Nazeret in her environment, with her foods and where people spoke a language she could understand.  Thank you Lord for that sweet time and the wonderful people that we got to know while we were there: adoptive families and Ethiopian's who love the children and support adoption.

I think this has to be the most beautiful view of Addis Ababa.  Thank you David and T. 

 SISTERS!

For Better or Worse...

Monday, May 16 is our 19th wedding anniversary.  For those of you doing the math, I was 20 years old when I got married.  We are so blessed to have Mother's Day, our anniversary, bring home our Nazeret, and Father's day all within a month!

When we got married, and I was just a baby, I discovered the Calla Lily.  It is such an elegant flower.  This has been our flower and a symbol of our love for the past 19 years.  A couple of days ago I discovered a beautiful "touch point" from God.  It turns out that the national flower of Ethiopia is...the Calla Lily.  All species of this flower are endemic to Africa.  Just another beautiful way that God has slowly woven a love for Ethiopia into our hearts throughout our lives.

If you will indulge me, I wanted to share some of my most meaningful pictures of the Calla Lily.

This picture was taken the year that our anniversary collided with the loss of our Nandad.  Notice the Calla Lilies in my bouquet in our wedding picture. (Yes, Michael had hair.)

 This beauty was growing in the Garden Tomb when I visited Jerusalem.

 Michela took this picture at the Transition Home the day we met Nazeret.

This was taken at one of the orphanages that we visited while in Ethiopia. It makes me think of a line from a Disney movie that goes something like this: "The flower that blooms in adversity is beautiful indeed."