We started out with another visit to the Land. Masamso recognized it as soon as we were there and as last time, had a wonderful time relaxing and playing all weekend long. Jason's mother even got to hold Masamo by the campfire singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" to him until he fell asleep. Jason's parents are also having a large structure built over and around their trailer to protect it from the elements. Here is a snapshot of the progress that had been made when we were there.
We also had time to "seal" our trailer. Jason put sealer on the roof and then inside we sealed up every crack and crevice we could find that any little critter might use to enter our trailer. The kids played a lot and also had time for some quad riding. Masamo loves the quads and could be found over by them either sitting on them and/or trying to start them to drive himself around. He'll be ready to ride on his own (with supervision) before we know it!
It has become a very common site around our house to have one or more superheros visiting our house. David got a number of costumes for Christmas and has of late been wearing them around the house. Here he is as (cue the music) Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na,na, na, na, na.... BATMAN!!!
Masamo has been home for almost 3 months now and I returned to work (one day a week) the beginning of this month. I will go back up to two days starting in June. I was a little nervous going in, not for myself but for Masamo. Jason was home with him but I am the one who wakes him up in the morning and gets him ready for the day. However, when I called home at lunchtime Jason told me that Masamo hadn't mentioned me at all and was acting perfectly naturally. Well, so much for being missed! Actually when I got home from work I was greeted by a very enthusiastic Masamo who ran to me with open arms and was screaming "MOMMY!!!". He did this twice after I got in the door and it just made my day!
We have a new routine that Jason and I are trying to institute in our household, it's called "Family Cleaning Night". We've done it for two Mondays now without a hitch and hope it can continue for a long time to come. I've been finding it hard to keep up with my regular cleaning and laundry schedule since Masamo has been home and with my returning to work I have even less time to devote to it. Soooo, in order to deal with this Jason and I came up with a plan to divide and conquer. I have listed the regular chores I do and then we each pick one (or two if they're small and quick) and get them done all together at the same time. This takes us less than an hour to do and Masamo even getting in on the fun. Here he is helping me to vacuum.
This past weekend Jason went to Michigan with a friend to watch the SAE international competition. So, that left me at home with the four kids. We made the best of it though. Saturday was beautiful and so we headed to a new park and followed it up with ice cream!
Emily texting at the park
Emily finally decided to join in on the fun at the park!
A couple new things concerning Masamo.
I've decided it's time to try and potty train him. He has always done #2 for us and told us when he needs to go but I decided to put him to the test. I have been doing this with very low pressure on him. I simply put him on the potty and thankfully he has not once objected to sitting on it. I have been putting him on every hour and when he does #1 he gets rewarded by a few jellybeans (using up leftover Easter candy). We've only been at it for four days now but he is catching on quick. If he has wet himself he seems to stop himself and come and tell me and then finishes on the potty! I hope the progress continues, he seemed more than ready to take the plunge, he's doing great so far though!
Lastly, Masamo likes to help getting himself ready in the morning. One of the cutest things he does is to "fluff" his hair with his pick before I put his hair moisturizer on.
I want echo what one of our fellow Ethiopian adoptive parents has said on her blog and say that I wonder what trauma Masamo has dealt with in his short life. How would any one of us handle having our entire world turned upside down? Having all that we know, all that is familiar and safe suddenly gone. Being told that no, our family will not be coming back, that we've been let go by them to be raised and cared for by strangers. Your trust in things ever being safe again is broken, life will never be the same. Those strangers look different, speak differently and the place that they take you, so far away from home, holds nothing that is familiar. You have to learn all new ways, eat new food, learn a new language. How would you feel in the middle of the night when you wake up? Scared? Lonely? Hopeless?
And yet, there is hope. There is a God who is watching over us. He has all things in His hands and HE is in control. He can heal the hearts of the brokenhearted, mend the broken trust of those who doubt, and give us a family and home that will never, ever be taken away. We hope and pray that God will heal Masamo's heart, mend his broken trust, and that he will become a part of God's family and someday go home to Heaven where he will be met with open arms and every one of his tears will be wiped away. God gave us this exciting opportunity to help just one orphan, to welcome him into our family, to make a difference in his life.
Every little smile, every hug, every kiss, every time I hear "Mommy" come out of his mouth gives me hope and faith that God will heal him.
"Never take advantage of any widow or orphan. If you do and they cry out to me, you can be sure that I will hear their cry." Exodus 22:22-23.
He has heard Masamo's cries, He knows his pain and his plight. He is the "Father to the fatherless, defender of widows — this is God, whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families."Psalms 68:5-6.
Jason and I cannot explain to Masamo why his birth parents decided to let him go other than to give him the little bit of information they gave. Having been and seen Ethiopia firsthand we can testify that it would be very hard to raise a family in such extreme poverty. We do know that God has a plan for this little boy and our family has a front seat to see what God will do with this precious child.
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