Life After Hurricane Ike

Where have I been? Well, Thursday we awoke to our local news stations saying that we were now under a mandatory evacuation for Hurricane Ike. I knew that was going to happen. All week the news stations had been reporting that the hurricane was going to hit around Corpus Christi or Brownsville, but if you watched the models on www.stormpulse.com , then you could tell that they were going to be wrong. I think the real reason was that our state spent a lot of money on evacuations for the last hurricane which didn't touch us, so this time we had very little time to prepare, just like Hurricane Rita in 2005.

So, we packed our necessities and headed back to Troup, Texas where we stayed until Sunday. Sunday, we decided that since we had no power where we were, we might as well take our generators and head home where we at least have breathing room. And so now we are just waiting for power, but until then, we use our generators to run the refrigerator, two small A/C units, and our water well.

My How Your Thinking Changes

when you have a "spirited" two-year-old. I decided last week that I would NOT wait until Sheridan is three to put her in school! Can you blame me? She was so bored at home with me. She already knows all her colors, shapes, some letters, and counts to 20. No wonder she can open "child-proof" locks, climbs cabinets (decorates them too!), gets sticks of butter and eats them, and applies Desitin to her face so she can "shave" like Daddy! You might think I'm exaggerating, and I wish I was! Therefore, I called North Star where Skylar went to school when he was 3, and what do you know, they had one opening! Hurray!!! So, today was her big day. She got out of the car this morning and said, "Let me walk, Mommy." She went right in and never looked back! When I picked her up, she told me everything she had done today. I suppose now I'm just making room for Maritu and Mamush...

What Do You Call a Little Boy in Ethiopia When You Don't Know His Name?

MAMUSH! or Mamo... We've been thinking of calling him "Mamo." I think it's a cool nickname.

At Peace

Lately, I've felt a strange sense of peace. I feel so confortable with my process of adoption, thus far, for Maritu and Mamush. I guess it helps having wonderful Hope families that have showered me with older pictures of Mamush, not to mention the new ones of Mamush and Maritu. I can't imagine having to go through the process like other agencies (i.e., Dove) without getting these weekly pictures and video. My heart goes out to all adopting families. Even with these things, it's hard just waiting for the courts to re-open.

Here comes....

...Hurricane Ike! The big question for the next few weeks is "Will we be evacuating again?" I guess time will tell.

Great news

My husband talked to Dr. Paul Mikus in Ethiopia, and he seems to think Mamush's eye problem is confined to an area where he can be a candidate for future cataract surgery. What great news! Of course, we are prepared for the worst, but we'll hope for the best for our little guy!

Announcing....

the newest addition to our family


....MAMUSH!


Kenneth and I decided to accept the referral today thanks to finally getting some information about his eye problem from Dr. Paul Mikus who is with our agency and picking up a child in Ethiopia as we speak. Mamush has River Blindness. So, what is River Blindness? River blindness (onchocerciasis) is caused by a worm that breeds in fast-flowing rivers. It is transmitted to people through the bite of a black fly. The worms spread throughout the body, and when they die, they cause intense itching and a strong immune system response that can destroy nearby tissue, such as the eye.It is a major cause of blindness in west and central Africa.

The facts about river blindness:

1. around 18 million people are infected, of whom roughly 300,000 are irreversibly blind
2. 99 per cent of those with river blindness live in Africa
3. a further 125 million people are currently at risk from infection

Mamush does suffer from blindness in one eye...

Picture and Video High!

I'm on Cloud 9 right now. I've gotten video and pictures of Maritu! In the video from Jaclyn, Maritu is sitting up and clapping to music. Oh how I could just squeeze her right now! She and Ashley both got pics of Maritu with a grin, and to my surprise, I see two teeth!

We are back home!

I feel lately like I have suffered from my teenagers Attention Deficit Disorder. First, we were going to drive to Branson, Missouri, then it was Hot Springs, Arkansas. Well, yesterday, I checked on hotels in Dallas, but we decided to wait until today. Then, after waking up and seeing that Hurricane Gustav had not changed its path, we called the people we knew that were involved with emergency management to see if we would be stopped for trying to re-enter the evacuation area. We learned that no one was being stopped, so we chose to head home. Yea!!! Traffic was minimal, and now I get to sleep in my own bed!