Pretty girl ready for court!
She looks a little scary here..... I don't have a clue how to photoshop a person's eyes open! :) I was super happy that my parents could be there with us!
I of course choked again when answering simple questions! It was embassy day all over again!
Love her!
She had a blast opening gifts. I was surprised since she didn't pay much attention to the tree.
Elmo is one of her favorites!
She even liked looking at the clothes!
She loved the paper!
Cheeese!
She did such a good job holding up her presents! This year was a shoe year definitely!
I love this pic! I wish I remembered why she was yelling......
More shoes, I think!
January 2010
Happy Marren Day! On this day last year I walked into the baby room at Enat Alem orphanage and zeroed in on a tiny baby with enormous eyes peering at me over her orange wooden crib. I picked her up and I became her mother. She survived me a year! WooHoo! What people might not know is that around September 2009, I contemplated quitting my adoption process. AAI told me in August '09 that Ethiopia would probably shut down the singles' program and that I may not be matched with a child before the program closed. I started to freak out and worry about how I would handle being a mom without a spouse and I started to second guessing myself. I was a phone call away from quitting but couldn't make myself call. Every day I think for 4-5 weeks my mom would ask if I made the call and I would tell her no I didn't. I am so glad I didn't make that call.
Dustin had his family birthday party at his and Jessica's house. Dustin's nieces brought over the dancing game for the xbox 360 connect so we could play. Marren lost it over this game. She would try to push the girls out of the way so she could dance. Jessica and I were crying! It was so hilarious! I recorded this and I tried to keep the camera steady. If you listen closely you may hear Marren say, "sexy, sexy" which was repeated over and over in this song. It's not the usual music she listens too but it is so funny! I wish I were able to post Jessica's video..... it is 100x better!
Marren loves to climb in the toy crates Nancy keeps for her. She also likes to read in the crates. So silly. Hopefully she continues reading. I will have to be sneaky so she loves books on her own and not because I want her to love them as much as I do!
The girls are in matching dresses! Trish and Sophie ate dinner with us at the Queen of Sheba. Marren is trying to squeeze out of her highchair.
The girls were so good at dinner! They looked awesome in their matching outfits. I couldn't get them to stand still to take a good full length picture. Oh well!
MMMMMMMM. Marren loves lentils! They were nice and spicy with berbere seasoning.
Sophie and Marren tried to take away each other's food even though they had plenty in front of them.
The girls play great together. At first all they would do is grunt at each other but now it's hugs and kisses for everyone!
