The Jenkins' Journey to Ethiopia Adoption

Are You Ready?

2013-04-15T12:01:00.000-05:00

For my blog followers, you'll know that 99% of the time, this blog has been about our adoption journey. But today's post is non-adoption related. I want to introduce you to our 15 (almost 16) year old daughter Emily. She is a sophomore in high school and involved in Audio/Visual classes and recently completed her first documentary. The extra special part is that her grandfather Wally Austin was her inspiration behind the video. I can't tell you how proud I am that I have a 15 year old that is this bold in their faith that they'd do a documentary project on the subject that you'll see in her video.

I would like to ask that you take 7 minutes to watch Emily's first documentary called "Are You Ready?" After watching it, I hope that you'll leave Emily a comment and then share it on your Facebook page, Twitter, or via email.

Thank you! I'm one blessed mom!

First Soccer Practice Turns into Classic Moment Caught on Video

2013-04-12T11:02:00.000-05:00

A few months ago, Blake gave Miki his old cross necklace. Miki wears it everywhere and tells everyone and I mean EVERYONE that will listen, "My daddy give me dis." So, fast forward to Miki's first soccer practice last week. I'm videotaping him out on the field like a proud mom and I couldn't believe the sweet yet funny moment I had just captured. Classic.

So pretty much next week, the necklace is staying home.

Dedication Day at Church

2013-03-29T12:07:00.001-05:00

On Sunday, March 3, our church held their first ever child dedication service that was centered on adoption. Several families that had adopted children stood before the church and dedicated their children. We were blessed to be a part of the service with Miki. Here's a few photos from the event.

Miki wore one of his traditional Ethiopian outfits to the service as well as the Ethiopia scarf given to him by his "special mother" (the caretaker assigned to him at the Gladney Care Center in Ethiopia). This scarf was a special gift for Miki from her right before he left Ethiopia...the day he said goodbye to her.

Miki's Tonsillectomy

2013-02-24T10:36:00.002-06:00

Last Friday, Miki had his tonsils out. His tonsils were so large that they were touching in the middle and causing sleep apnea problems. Before Miki's surgery, my friends in the online Ethiopia adoption community started posting about problems Ethiopian children could face after tonsillectomies when using Codeine. Even a few days ago, Websites were posting this information. Before we scheduled the surgery, I spoke with our ENT about this and thankfully, he was aware of this. We decided to put down Codeine as an allergy for Miki. Here's a snippit from the above article I linked to:

Anywhere from one to seven out of every 100 people are ultra-rapid metabolizers, according to the FDA: Twenty-nine percent of North African and Ethiopian populations, and about 6 percent of African American, Caucasian and Greek populations are also affected. A genetic test can confirm if a person has an ultra-rapid metabolism.

Before the surgery, Miki was excited. When we arrived at the hospital EARLY Friday morning, Miki happily asked "Is this a hotel?" As you can see in the photo below, he looked pretty happy! We gave him a special stuffed animal which he named "Blue Puppy." The hospital gave him a teddy bear.

Then, to calm him before taking him back, the nurse gave him Versed. This took Miki to a state of complete calm. I videotaped our conversation with him. He was so relaxed. This was a huge help when it was time for Blake and I to be separated from Miki. There were no tears.

After Miki woke up from surgery, he was upset and crying for me. After a bit he calmed down and went to sleep in my arms. You can see the little teardrop in his eye. My poor little baby boy.

Two hours later we were home and doing well. The first night was tough as he woke a lot crying and would go back to sleep. He is having a hard time during the day swallowing. So instead, he slobbers everywhere and carries around a towel to wipe his mouth off. Yesterday I bought him some Injera bread to surprise him. He had a little soup and Injera for lunch.

Hopefully Miki will begin sleeping better now that those big nasty tonsils are gone!

Here's more information from the FDA regarding Codeine in children.

Just a 3 Year Old Boy

2013-02-17T21:01:00.003-06:00

The last few weeks, the 3 year old in Miki is being unleashed. I have taken some funny photos of our little guy over the last few weeks.

Why. Why. Why do they make me eat this stuff?


He does NOT know the value of money. Luckily I caught him in time.


Microwaved veggies are NOT good. Trust me. You can tell by Miki's face that he was not going to have anything to do with eating these things. Until we suggested he dip them in his salad dressing. Then he ate them.

If you're riding in the car and you get bored, why not just lick your toes and laugh about it.

Then there's always the "I'm going to take my shirt off in my car seat" trick.

We recently said goodbye to Miki's longer hair. I took him to an Ethiopian owned hair salon in the Dallas area and they had to dry it into an afro before cutting it. He cooperated well and enjoyed the experience. I miss the hair but it grows fast!

Red Thread Session

2013-01-10T08:43:00.002-06:00

A few weeks ago, we had a Red Thread Session of our family. (Find out more about what a Red Thread Session is on the link) What a blessing it was to get these photos of our family. The photographer Erin, of Purpletree Studios was wonderful. She has such a heart for adoption and we enjoyed the session with her. Here's a sneak peek from her blog! Thank you Erin!

Dreaming of a White Christmas

2013-01-03T16:45:00.002-06:00

Miki had a lot of firsts in 2012 including a white Christmas which is very rare in the Dallas area! Here are some pictures from Christmas.

Dad reading "Twas The Night Before Christmas" to the Kids

Snow on Christmas Day! Miki's First Snow

Ethiopian Artwork

2013-01-03T16:36:00.000-06:00

Artwork Measures 34x24

I wanted to tell you about my Ethiopian artwork I just received that features our son Miki. To make a long story short, I know a lady that does NGO work in Ethiopia and she was showing me some artwork that her friend did and she said he takes special orders. So, I took her up on the offer and placed a custom order. What I liked about this artist was his story.

The artist's name is Alemezewd. He is an orphan that grew up at Kolfe Orphanage in Addis where he began sketching and painting on scraps of paper, the walls, and anything else he could find. He basically taught himself how to paint and continuously practiced to perfect his craft. He is now in his mid-20s, lives on his own, and supports himself as an independent artist there in Addis Ababa. He uses several different types of techniques and is always experimenting with new ways to make his pieces better and more unique. He is a very diligent worker and sweet, responsible young man - definitely one of the fewer success stories to come out of the government orphanage by being able to be completely self-sufficient.

When we were in Ethiopia, we visited Kolfe Orphanage and it was one of our favorite visits on the trip. The boys there are wonderful. Most age out of the system and end up on their own. I was happy to support Alemezewd.

Alemezewd posing with another piece of his artwork

The friend I know that set me up with Alemezewd said this:
"As a side note just for you, he was very excited and felt honored to be able to paint a piece for y'all when I told him that Miki was a Gladney baby. He has a lot of respect for Gladney and how they support orphans there in Ethiopia. He is always taking orders and is willing to do anything customized, whether it be a specific part of Ethiopia, landscape, portrait, etc. YES, if you know someone interested, please tell them about Alemezewd! His talent is too good to keep a secret."

If you are interested in having Alemezewd do a custom piece for you, post a comment here with your email and I will have my friend contact you with the details.

One Year Ago

2012-12-17T08:09:00.003-06:00

One year ago, we got the call we had waited months for. Read about it here. As you know, the story took quite a turn in March. You can read about it, here. Please take time today to pray for that sweet boy we still love in our heart. We pray that God used us to reunite him with his mother and that she is able to care for him and love him. You know how our story ended, God blessed us in an unexpected way. You can read about it here. What a year it has been.

A New Advent Tradition

2012-12-04T07:40:00.002-06:00

December is here and this year, we started a new Advent tradition. Each night when we read a Bible verse from our Advent calendar, the kids go to their room and find one item to put in the donation box, placed next to the Advent calendar. At Christmas, we celebrate the birth of Jesus...God sent his only son to die for us. Any material item we can give up is NOTHING in comparison to the sacrifice God made for us.

One thing we told the kids was this...Don't just put junk in the box. What if we took all the items in that box and wrapped them and Christmas morning, those were your gifts. Would you be excited?

So far, this is going well. We should have done this years ago. On Christmas Eve, we will take the box to our community outreach organization and donate the items. The little bit we give up this Christmas is really so miniscule but I hope it teaches our family a little more about giving to others

Our Boy is 3...

2012-11-17T17:01:00.002-06:00

And not only is he 3, he's now officially a Jenkins! On his birthday, we had our court hearing in Fort Worth, Texas!

We celebrated Miki's birthday with a few parties of course.

Blessed to call this boy our son! Happy Birthday Miki!

Orphan Sunday

2012-11-04T18:09:00.002-06:00

So blessed to call this little guy my son! No longer an orphan.

Trick or Treat Firsts

2012-11-01T12:43:00.002-05:00

Reunions

2012-10-21T20:32:00.000-05:00

This past week was such a great time of reunion. On Wednesday, our friends flew to Texas to visit us. This Gladney family stayed in the Bjoe guest house with us on our trip to Ethiopia in March. The boys are a year and a half apart and had so much fun spending the week together.

On Thursday, we met up with another Gladney family in Fort Worth for lunch and then visited the Gladney Center for Adoption. So fun for these kids that all lived together in the same care center in Ethiopia reconnect. My friend wanted to finally meet her caseworker and I introduced Miki to Natalie, our Gladney Ethiopia caseworker. We both spent two years conversing with our caseworkers and feel very connected to them so it was fun to introduce them to our Ethiopian children that we adopted through their agency.

Miki meeting Natalie at Gladney

Friday night, my friend requested that she get to experience Friday Night Lights, Texas style! Well it just so happens that our town recently built a big ole high school football stadium that you wouldn't believe unless you saw it first hand. It really is quite over the top but this IS Texas and that's our motto I guess. I'm told we even have the largest high school marching band in the world.

To end the fun week, Saturday night we had a special man come for dinner. He used to work for Gladney in Ethiopia but no longer does and now lives in Texas. His name is Belay. Miki had not seen Belay since March, in Ethiopia. That's the last time we saw him too. (I wrote a blog post back in April about a story Belay told us that helped get us through our referral loss.)

I was curious how Miki would respond when he saw Belay. When Belay walked in the door, Miki became so excited that I now wish I had his reaction on video. I wanted to cry. Miki got into Belay's arms and just stared and stared at him. He was thrilled to see him. It was the MOST genuine happiness. If you think about it, Belay is really the only man that spent much time with the children as they had women caregivers. He may have been the only father figure some of these children ever had. So to many, Belay holds a very special place in their heart and I'm so grateful that he spent the evening with us. It was fun to watch Miki get out his Ethiopia photo books and show them to Belay, pointing out everything in them. When Belay was hugging our friend's son, Miki said "My Belay!" :)

Adoption is such a special thing. We have made so many good friends through this process. Life long friends. If you haven't adopted or aren't adopting, you are missing out. :)

Wordless Wednesday

2012-10-10T21:17:00.000-05:00

Sleep Issues and How to Solve Them

2012-10-02T14:00:00.000-05:00

"Remember the heart of God when you solve any issue with your child." --Karyn Purvis

Lately, we have been struggling with sleep issues with Miki. It's nothing new. Both Emily and Molly had sleep issues when they were younger. But with adoptive kids, it's a whole new ballgame and we are approaching it completely differently.

When Miki first came home, he slept with us in our bed for the first few months. Then, we moved his twin mattress to our floor next to our bed so he could get used to the feel of his own bed. Once he was used to that, we moved him to his own room. Each night, we tuck Miki in bed and stay with him until he falls asleep. If we try to leave before he falls asleep, he cries. Some nights he falls asleep quickly, some nights he does not. After Miki falls asleep, we sneak out. In the middle of the night, Miki wakes up calling out for me. I rush upstairs, get in bed with him and sleep with him the rest of the night. I will feel him reach over to make sure I'm there snuggled up beside him.

There are times when I've been angry about it. I pout and want to go back downstairs to our king size Tempurpedic bed instead of be crammed into Miki's twin bed against the toddler rail. But then one night, Blake reminded me of something. He said, "Remember, Miki never had a Mommy to snuggle up to in bed or call for during the night when he was at the orphanage." (We don't know what Miki's life was like his first 9 months except that he was homeless and lived on the streets of Addis Ababa with his first mother).

"Celebrate the fact that they come to you." -Karyn Purvis

I have asked our Gladney caseworker about this several times and she has such great answers that always refer back to Karyn Purvis, hero to adoptive parents and the Director of the Institute of Child Development at Texas Christian University.

I wanted to share this short video with you where Karyn Purvis talks about sleep issues. She is so spot on. I plan on listening to this over and over again today to remind myself what she suggests and most importantly that she says "Remember the heart of God when you solve any issue with your child."

Water Table or Pool and Some Mikisms

2012-09-26T12:19:00.001-05:00

One afternoon I thought I'd make Miki a water table with a storage bucket. Remember, he's only 2 years old. What do you think a 2 year old boy will do with a water table? This is what:


First, he will think "This is pretty cool." I can play with my toys in this. What a fun concept.


Then he thinks, "Water! I will use this cup Mommy gave me to play with and drink the water!" Isn't that what water is for?


Oh but wait, why am I playing with the water and not getting wet. I think it's time to pick this thing up and dump it! I am a boy and that's what boys do.

But it wasn't over yet. I got out the video and captured his next move.

Then there has been the fun of listening to Miki's vocabulary and seeing it developing. Here are some cute things he has recently said.

While looking at the sunset from his car seat, Miki said "Look Mommy! God made light on."

The sun was coming up and Miki looked outside. "I no like dat moon. Moon scare be bawd!"

Emily's 1st Homecoming

2012-09-15T18:44:00.003-05:00

Our baby girl is growing up. She is a Sophomore in high school and was asked to her first Homecoming. Here's some pictures from the past week.


In Texas there is this huge tradition where they exchange mums and wear them to school on Friday.

Miki's first time to go to a football game!

It drizzled the whole game and Molly and Miki only made it to halftime.

Sending our baby girl off to the homecoming dance

Six Months After the Storm

2012-09-08T13:12:00.000-05:00

Exactly six months ago on a beautiful March morning, my heart was in the pit of my stomach. We made the climb up several flights of stairs in a government building in Addis Ababa. If you've adopted from Ethiopia, you've probably made that walk too. The stairs were crowded with a mix of Ethiopians and Americans. We then sat in a waiting room in the court building surrounded by families waiting to become parents while Ethiopian mothers were waiting to relinquish their children. Such an awkward place to be. Should you be happy or sad? The families we traveled with knew what we were going through and right in that court room suggested we pray together. A moment I will not forget.

That morning we got the clothes on we picked out to wear to court. To this day I see that shirt hanging in my closet and I hate it. I actually picked it out because it looked like it had an African print to it. Too many emotions connected to that shirt. Yet I don't want to get rid of it for that same reason. So there in my closet it sits as a reminder.

We had been warned a few days earlier that after 2 1/2 years, N's birth mother had decided that she probably wanted him after all. It was possible he was an heir to some land. I was very angry thinking that if she only wants her child because he's worth something... that would be terrible. But who am I to judge. Maybe if she had money, she could quit her terrible line of work and be the mother to her son that she wanted to be.

So we sat in the waiting room, tears rolling down my face and I sobbed. And sitting directly across from me was N's birthmother. There all alone watching me cry. Surreal. It seemed like forever before we were called into the court room to see the judge. There sat across from us again, N's mother. The judge matter of factly thanked us for coming and gave us the news we had anticipated even though I held out hope to the last second. We got up and left the court room. Tears flowing. Our hearts felt ripped out. That precious boy we talked about for months and held just days earlier was no longer going to be our son. The boy that held on tight to Blake and cried the day we visited when it was time us to leave. Why would God bring us all the way to Ethiopia for this? My 10 year old sobbing in the back seat of the van. Solomon our driver shaking his head in disbelief at what just happened. We arrived back at the guest house and sucked it up! Life must go on.

God placed some amazing families there to grieve with us and love us. The Lewis family, the Graham family and the Pierce family were there with open arms and understanding hearts and grieved with us... like when I came to breakfast the next day and I had to fight back tears and instead of ignoring me, had tears with me.

Today I heard the perfect song on the radio. The chorus says, "What if trials of this life are your mercies in disguise." Thank you Lord for the mercy you brought us after that trial.

While I still think about and pray for N, I hold out hope that he is being cared for and safe. I think that maybe God used us to reunite N and his mother. Maybe she wouldn't have had the chance to raise her son that she relinquished two years earlier had someone not been about to adopt him.

I also thank God for giving us the gift of Miki. God knew we needed Miki and that he would need us. Never in my wildest dreams would I have guessed how our story would unfold and how our lives would cross Miki's path while in Ethiopia. It's only a story God could write.

First Day of Kids Day Out

2012-09-05T11:13:00.003-05:00

Miki has been so excited to go to "school" like his sisters. Today was his first day of Kids Day Out at our church. He is all set with his backpack, nap mat and lunch box. He had zero tears when I dropped him off and he went right over to a table, claimed a seat and sat down!

Our morning started off eventful though. Last night Emily was painting her fingernails and she asked if I'd put up the fingernail polish remover and fingernail polish since her fingernails were wet. I said I'd do it...but forgot. So, when I went to use the bathroom this morning, I came out and there was Miki. He had dumped the whole bottle of remover all over our wooden black coffee table. I was just so glad he didn't drink it, I didn't care about the coffee table. Things I have forgotten about since it's been a long time since I've had a 2 year old and the first time to have a curious little boy!

I also started back at bootcamp. I haven't stretched or done one bit of exercise since Miki came home to us. Of course he provides me with constant exercise. So, twice a week on Mondays and Wednesdays, Miki will enjoy playing with kids his age and I'll get some serious exercise and a few things done around the house, like clean up the messes he made before we walked out the door!

Thank you Jesus for the joy of children even in the trying times.

This past weekend was also a first for Miki. It was the first night he spent without us since he came home to us. Blake and I celebrated our 18th anniversary on Monday and went to the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, Texas. Grandma and the girls took good care of Miki for the 24 hours we were gone. Miki did great while we were gone and it was nice to sleep in! I'm blessed with a great husband and father to our children!

How I Made Injera Bread

2012-08-29T20:43:00.002-05:00

A few weeks ago, I decided that I was determined to learn how to make Injera bread...that spongy fermented flat bread that is a staple in Ethiopia. The only thing is, it requires something called Teff. Teff is not readily available in all grocery stores. We just so happen to live near Dallas and so last week, Emily, Miki and I decided to venture down to an Ethiopian market in Dallas. At this market, they sell Teff. Some grocery stores like Whole Foods now sell Teff. But it's not as fun to buy it there if you have the option of buying it from an Ethiopian! While at the Ethiopian market, I also bought Shiro Powder so that I can learn to make Shiro Wat. (In the photo below, the Shiro powder is in the canister and the Teff is in the baggie.)

Then I had to decide HOW to make the Injera. I searched the internet and finally found a Website that looked good to me. It got a little confusing because the Website I found referred to other Websites. To show you what I did, I will list the steps below. Now, when you start reading all this, you may feel a little overwhelmed. Don't feel overwhelmed. If you have any questions, feel free to email me.

1. Visit this Website: Chef In You - Think of this Website as the main one you need to refer to. She will walk you through the process. Go part way down the page and you'll see her list the METHOD. It is here that she will tell you how to make the starter.

2. The Chef In You site will send you to another Website that says how to make the starter: Bread Chick On this Website, only use her recipe for the starter. I only used Teff and did not make my Injera with regular flour as she does.

3. My starter took 7 days. I followed the directions exactly. It will look disgusting as the photo below shows. When Molly saw it yesterday, her exact words were "After seeing this, I don't think I can eat the Injera now." Yes, it looks bad but as you'll see from the Websites I provide above, they have step by step pictures and you'll see that theirs looks like this too. For me, pictures are very helpful! After you reach day 7, go back to Chef In You She will send you to another site that tells you how to cook the Injera.

4. The site she sends you to is called Apple Pie Patis Pate You will see that she tells you how to make the Injera mix. I added a step. Before doing the 5 hour ferment, I blended the mixture in my blender for a few minutes to help get rid of some of the grainy texture. I saw this tip on another Website. I think it did help. After doing the blending, I then went onto her next step of fermenting for 5 hours before cooking the Injera. After your 5 hours are up, this site shows you how to cook it. Here's what mine looked like.

Then it was time to eat it and everyone loved it, especially our little Ethiopian! Blake made some beef to go with it and next time we'll make Shiro Wat! I'm actually amazed with myself that it actually turned out. If I can do it, so can you!

First Day of School

2012-08-27T16:47:00.003-05:00

Today the girls started school and I was so sad to send them off. But I'm happy they had a great day. Here's their first day of school pictures! So blessed by these two wonderful daughters. Next week, Miki starts a Mother's Day Out program at our church on Mondays and Wednesdays. He is excited. Today when he saw Molly get her new lunch box out, he asked for his. :)

Miki Passed

2012-08-25T16:38:00.002-05:00

In July, Miki began ISR swimming. Yesterday was his last day and he passed. He can now float and roll to save his life. You may remember reading about his little incident back in June.

This past week, as part of his testing, Miki got into the pool fully clothed in winter clothes which included, jeans, long sleeve shirt, coat, diaper and socks. He was able to float and roll with all that on. Amazing. At one point, the teacher took Miki's coat off and laid it across his face to simulate that possibility if Miki fell in a pool. Miki was able to maintain his float and use his arm to take the coat off his face.

If you have a child that can't swim, please consider ISR. Here's a video from YouTube that shows how ISR works. I have seen too many stories on the news this summer about children that have drown.

Find out more about ISR

Snapshots of August

2012-08-23T10:39:00.001-05:00

Sibling Love

Summer Fun

One way to eat Freebirds

Emily got her driver's permit!

Celebrating Gladney friend's birthday. They were in Gladney care center together in Ethiopia.

The Happiest Place on Earth

2012-08-13T10:09:00.002-05:00

Last week we took a big trip to Disney World. The kids did great on the flight.

Miki's favorite part was going to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show at Hollywood Studios and then getting to meet Mickey and Minnie at the Magic Kingdom and Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

Molly's favorite part was Space Mountain and Magic Kingdom and Tower of Terror and Rockin Roller Coaster at Hollywood Studios. She's all about the thrill rides!

Emily's favorite part was seeing Miki excited and shopping for Star Wars souvenirs. She also loved the wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon.

We stayed at Disney's Fort Wilderness. We had our own cabin which was great. Disney knows how to do it up! Molly and Miki had fun looking at all the little frogs and lizards by our cabin. Emily was devastated when Miki stepped on one and squished it as if it was a bug!

The great part about Fort Wilderness is that we could ride a ferry boat from the resort straight to the Magic Kingdom.

Miki often fell asleep in the stroller. That little fan was great for staying cool until he destroyed it by pulling off the rubber fan blades.

Miki was excited to meet Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates

Miki and the Security Guard at Animal Kingdom looking at the map

Character Breakfast at Animal Kingdom

Miki playing African drums at Animal Kingdom

Emily told Miki to be a gentleman and kiss the princess on her hand

Watching a Parade from Daddy's Shoulders

Riding the Ferry Boat from Fort Wilderness to Magic Kingdom

Miki was not sure about meeting Goofy at the Animal Kingdom Character Breakfast.

On the last day we went to Typhoon Lagoon.

Miki loved dancing at Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

I can't lie, Miki did have his moments.