Writing the Story

-by Liz

A lifebook, adoption story, birth album - a great creative project no doubt... but oh, the pressure! We had dutifully uploaded all the photos from our trip to Ethiopia onto the Walmart site ... and each time I logged in the ads to "Create a Memory book" winked at me...

For months now I've been tweaking, retooling, noodling, wondering... whats the best way to tell the story to a toddler, a child, an adolescent?... what pictures would I most want to see if I was in her shoes, how would I tell a story with so much meaning and so little detail? What could I tell her about her homeland when I'd seen so little from the confines of our daily gilded cage of a commute to the Toukoul Orphanage?

In the end I settled on a poem I found on an adoption site (below), a brief narrative and a hope that the pictures we have will tell a thousand words. Ultimately the story will be hers to create and to tell. We titled it "Rukiya comes Home"


We didn't give you the gift of life,
but in our hearts we know,
the love we feel is deep and real,
as if it had been so.

For us to have each other
is like a dream come true.
No, we didn't give you the gift of life,
Life gave us the gift of you.

Take a look and tell me if you think its ready to print?
Click Here to view our Ethiopian Adoption Memory Book

A Model Baby

by Liz

Dove International, our agency, called and wanted to profile our Ethiopian Adoption t-shirt and announcement designs for http://www.zazzle.com/adopttees*.

They needed photos...so it was time for Ru's first "commercial" photo shoot.

Wardrobe: I suited Ru up in her "mimi" onesie and thought to try it with a jean skirt (ummm, nope) and then a plaid skirt (still nope)... they "bound" her up like a rich mans' sausage. Not wanting to undermine her Ethiopian authenticity we settled on the straight onsie.

We waited for the sun to sallow out around 7pm and readied to head down to the neighbors with the idea of getting a family photo with all of us in our "We are family" coordinated shirts. 

It was hot out. 93 degrees... Africa hot. We called for the Diva, and she had a whole list of demands before she'd "step out of her stroller" for the photo shoot; there was a mandatory swim session in the plastic pool, then a bit of a crawl to work out the kinks... then a big 10 oz bottle was requested (she was afraid she'd look a little too lean) and so we finally went to work.

Denise, our star photographer had clocked out for the evening and her dutiful assistant, Mike struggled to work a smile out of the little lady. After a brief discussion, Papa and Mama, the other two "props" stepped out of the photos... it turns out that rolls only look cute on babies... and took turns alternatively shooting or flailing madly at the 

Diva to elict a smile... you see the best of the efforts here with the agent's signoff. 80 shots for three winners. Let the public enjoy... and as Ru would say (if she could say more than "Di Da) "eat cake!"

We're back as three

by Liz


She's a peach. A total peach. We're so very lucky and so very in love. She just sparkles and you feel lucky to be in her presence.

Ethiopia gets in you. Its intoxicating, beautiful, perplexing, haunting and elusive. Something about it gets lost in translation and leaves you feeling a bit incomplete. I know we'll never get over it, but we'll definitely go back. The pictures don't describe it; they leave out the smell of the eucalyptus fires and the lilt of the traffic, livestock and prayer chants. Its modern and ancient, current and rustic, welcoming and disconcerting. Through our daughter we'll be forever related to it, but never truly a part of it; always ferenge (foreigners).

We are forever grateful to the people of the Toukoul Orphange, admins to nannies to guards who daily open their hearts for the children who live there. They are as happy and secure as you could hope. The grounds echo with the happy sounds of a summer camp; hardly a place of last resort.

The staff truly cares and there were tears when Ru left her nannies. We'll have to send more photos for their walls and wallets.

Nap time is ending... mama's gotta run!

Getting ready for Rukiya!

(by Dan)


Monday, June 9th, 2008.

We are 30 days away from ground zero and I am now getting really nervous. My nervous tick nervous. Last week I was only pleasantly nervous in the way that's to be expected. That motivational kind of nervousness that allows me to watch my wife assemble the crib and feel a sense of accomplishment.

In one month we will going to Ethiopia to pick up our daughter Rukiya who will be 8 months old and is patiently waiting in her crib next to a picture of her future momma and papa. She is in the Toukul orphanage in Addis Ababa, being very well taken care of and will be a most welcome addition to the biscuit gang.

Things I am currently worrying about:
Not dropping my daughter
Changing her diapers, changing her diapers on a plane. Diaper rash.

Keeping her hands and feet clean if she puts them in her mouth. Sanitizing everything.

Will she be lactose intolerant? Projectile diarrhea and vomiting, from both of us.
Will she be teething? does the cherry flavored teething medicine taste better than the berry flavored teething medicine I bought at CVS?

What's the difference between a digital thermometer for $7.99 and $49.99? Won't she going to be equally annoyed with me when I put a thermometer under her tongue versus in her ear?

Does the "Diaper Dude" bag my wife got me really look like a messenger bag?
Should I have gotten the camo pattern instead of the orange one?

Things I was previously worried about that are now on the back burner:
Achieving whiter teeth, My side burns. Getting sunburn. Gristle and lint.