Moving Right Along

Well, life is moving right along for our family. It has been almost three months since we welcomed home Masamo and it is absolutely amazing to me how he has just blossomed.

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!

I decided that this past week I was ready to try my hand at some Ethiopian cooking. Mind you, I chose the easiest recipe I could find. I ended up making red lentils and an American version of injera (a spongy flat bread that Ethiopian eat their meals with) along with rice. Once done making the lentils I gave Masamo a taste (being the expert of the group) and his eyes got very wide and he ran to his seat at the table to eat dinner! I took that as a good sign. He, Jason and I enjoyed eating the lentils and injera while the other three took their obligatory bites and then scraped their plates. Oh well, maybe it will grow on them but I will be trying more recipes in the future. Masamo deserves to have his heritage celebrated and this is just one way we can acknowledge 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.

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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.

Another week (or two) and it’s time for a new blog update! Here’s what’s been happening around our house!

The Zoo Redo!

We visited the zoo again! The kids and I visited the zoo again but this time went along with Jason’s parents. We did this on Earth Day when the admission was FREE after 5pm! Here are some pics from our trip!

A little bit of camping – In the LIVING ROOM!

We decided to do something different for the kids and on a Friday night (when Emily was away at a friend’s house). We spiced things up and camped in the living room! Jason and I set up the smaller of our two tents in the living room and were amazed at how quickly this went when you didn’t have to stake it down and put on the rain fly! We made the inside nice and cozy with plenty of blankets and bean bags and settled in to watch a movie. This was made complete with popcorn and drinks all around. We ended the evening by allowing the kids to sleep in the tent overnight. Jason and I stayed in the tent just until everyone was asleep and then escaped ten or so feet away to our own bedroom to sleep in comfort.

Emily’s birthday dinner

As is custom, we had dinner for Emily on her birthday. Instead of me cooking for everyone we went out to Bob Evan’s (Emily’s choice). We had a good time with family and Emily had a good time getting a lot of nice presents and cash!

Tractor Riding

Ella, David and Masamo each got a lesson in tractor riding! Masamo helped Jason mow the grass in the backyard and eventually fell asleep at the wheel. David had done the same thing at Masamo’s age; it was cute to see him snuggled up in Jason’s lap. Ella and David also each got a turn at driving the tractor by themselves with Jason supervising. I was going to include a video here but it wouldn't upload for some reason, maybe another time!

A visit to the “ribber”

We visited the small local river this past Friday night. Masamo pronounces it the “ribber” instead of river. We took a picnic of McDonald’s and then set off down to explore. Ella and David spent their time searching for fossils and had brought along a book bag full of supplies. This book bag included a notebook for taking notes, paintbrushes for dusting off dirt, magnifying glass, a dinosaur book to identify fossils and many other necessary items that were essential for their impromptu search. Masamo on the other hand just spent his time throwing rocks into to the river trying his hardest to make each rock splash as much as possible.

A project complete

The garage and front and back doors to the house are done being painted! This was a big project for me. I did have help (from my dad, my brother in law Scott, Jason and of course the boys) but for the most part this was my doing! I am proud of the work done and the final result!

Front door repainted (it's a very dark green)

The garage BEFORE the painting

The garage AFTER the painting!

Sibling bonding

I caught Ella reading to Masamo and David the other day and I had to snap a photo.

Also, if you didn’t know, I’m enjoying having a pair of sons at home. Here they are in their shirts that I just had to get for them!

Masamo

Here’s a video of just after Ella and David were doing their the tractor riding. I had the viewscreen on the video camera flipped so that Masamo could see himself being video taped. It just gives you a little glimpse of Masamo.

He has really picked up on manners. He didn’t want me touching a boo-boo on his foot the other day and when I was going to put on a band-aid on it he was saying “No thank you! No thank you!”

We’ve also decided to cut Masamo’s nap out of his schedule. He has been hard to put to sleep because he would be awake for 1-2 hours at bedtime. Since we nixed the nap he goes almost straight to sleep at the exact same time each night. I figure he’s getting the same amount of sleep either way!

Masamo has taken to singing, it's so cute! He was singing "Ashes, ashes, we all fall down!" from Ring around the Rosie BUT when he says it, it sounds more like "A** Sh**, A** Sh**, we all fall down!" It’s hilarious listening to him!

More on Masamo’s speech…. He’s a parrot! He repeats just about everything that is said around him, this includes inflection and tone! It can get frustrating when you’re asking him a question and he’s just repeating it back to you. Oh well, just part of the learning process!

One last thing, Masamo has learned to say “cheese” when I’m taking a picture so here’s hoping for more smiling pictures of him!

The newest addition to the Hartland

Phew, it’s been so long since my last post I’m not sure I remember how to do this! To say the least, we’ve had a few changes around the Hartman household. As I’m sure many of you are aware, Jason and I traveled to Ethiopia the end of February to finally get our son Masamo. It was an exciting trip but I’ll fill you in on the details a little later.

The same weekend that Jason and I were headed to Africa, the rest of our family headed west to Texas to my brother Thom’s wedding. It was very hard for me to miss my little brother’s wedding to his wonderful bride Katherine. However, I was able to cope with it by having their blessing to miss this special occasion and having the big event of meeting our son to distract me. Everyone had a great time in Texas and things only went off with one “hitch”, the one that was supposed to happen!

I’ll spare you the boring details of the trip Jason and I took to Ethiopia. I will highlight a few moments for you though.

#1 Meeting Masamo for the first time

What words are there to describe the first time you meet your child? Much like a birth, this moment was full of emotion and wonder. Masamo didn’t want much to do with us at first but we knew from his caretakers that he is slow to warm up to those he does not know.

Our first glimpse of our new son

Here’s the VIDEO of our first meeting

#2 The culture and people of Ethiopia

It is always amazing when you get immersed in a new culture, the shock that you have over the differences that there are in the world. Although it appeared that many of them lived in little more than shacks made out of tin roofing material, their hospitality was not diminished. Many got their drinking water from streams going through fields shared by soccer players and livestock alike. There were absolutely no traffic signals or signs of any type that we could see. A lot of honking, beeping and light flashing of headlights was all that the cars used to communicate in traffic. People were packed into the public transportation (small vans) and walked everywhere else. Another thing we noticed was that there were not a lot of elderly people around. Lastly, the love that the Ethiopian people had for their children was very apparent. Everyone who saw Masamo would say hello to him and try to interact with him (not that he responded to them).

Masamo's Homecoming

#3 The adjustment at home

I’m including this as part of the “trip” because it is certainly been an adventure! I think we’ve hit every range of emotions imaginable, from inconsolable crying to a full on belly laugh! Jason and I knew that this was all a part of the adoption “package”. Raising an adopted child is a whole other ball game compared to raising a biological child but the joys and pain feel just the same. Jason and I have had to make a lot of new changes at home. We’ve had to alter our regular comfortable habits to make things easier for everyone, especially Masamo. From waking to sleeping and eating to bath time, everything seems to have changed. I’ve had to dive back into entertaining a toddler and having him hang on me almost all day. I’m not complaining, it’s all for the greater good but it’s different and that takes time to get used to. I’ve described Masamo as having issues (good and bad) that you would deal with from a newborn all the way up to his chronological age of three and a half, they’re all rolled up in one cute little guy!

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Here are a few of the highlights from the past two months, along with some photos. Once I’m done with that, I’ll introduce Masamo to you a little bit more.

1. Ella’s accident
Ella was riding her bike in the driveway when she failed to use the brakes in time and slammed into one of our garage doors. You can see the result. She did have some nasty scrapes on her arm but thankfully nothing serious!

2. First time out of the house for Masamo (March 9th)

I took David and Masamo to Walmart for our first venture out together. Masamo did very well considering how overwhelming Walmart can be to the senses. I held him the whole time and he wanted to see anything that had a horse on it!

3. David’s kindergarten “fiancee”

David took a bubble gum ring to his "girlfriend" at kindergarten and told her it was the wedding ring she was to give him on their wedding day. (He has hers stored at home in a safe spot) Don't laugh, these kindergarten romances sometimes work out! I know, I'm living proof!

4. Masamo’s first trip to Mc Donald’s

Jason and I took David and Masamo to the “musical” McDonald’s. It was Masamo’s first taste of fast food AND his first time in the playland. He wasn’t sure what to make of the playland at first but after Jason showed him the slide, he caught right on!

5. Watching a movie and eating popcorn.

Masamo’s first movie was “Home on the Range”. We chose this because of the horse and many animals it featured.

6. Masamo discovering sunglasses and a rocking horse. I’ll let the photo do the talking.

7. Garden helpers

I was excited to get out into the garden and start cleaning for a new season of growth, the boys decided to help.

8. David’s sixth birthday!

Party at his favorite restaurant

David's "dino-mite" birthday party.

This included a dinosaur egg hunt, a dinosaur pinata, dinosaur feet wearing game, cake and of course presents!

9. Watching Masamo become more interactive with the family

March 26th - Calling out to Ella for a kiss and then waving bye to her as she gets on the school bus. This is now a morning routine!
April 8th –Hugged David when he got hurt and tried to comfort him

10. Scraping and painting the garage

11. Masamo’s first trip to the zoo (April 3rd)

12. Easter!

The egg hunters

13. Testing the waters with leaving Masamo in someone else’s care (April 6)

I first left Masamo at home with my mother and David. I went to a local coffee shop and got some hot chocolate and wrote thank you notes. I was gone 1 ½ hours, I don’t think he missed me at all!

14. Masamo’s first time camping at "the land" (April 9-11th)

Learning to relax in the hammock

Painting, it's actually fun when we're camping!

Riding the "tractor"

Emily being studious, getting some homework done while camping.

15. Emily’s birthday party (April 16th)

– 10 teenage girls (13 kids total) under one roof – CHAOS!

16. Masamo’s first haircut (not technically) but it was his first with us!

Masamo HATED this. He struggled the entire time but seems to have recovered well.

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Here is some personal information on Masamo. These are just glimpses that Jason and I thought you might enjoy about what Masamo is like when you get to know him.

1. Spent his first three days glaring at us, so if you get his “death glare” don’t take it personally , he just doesn’t know you.
2. He loves “makinas” or in English, cars (really anything with wheels on it).
3. He has recently discovered monster trucks and is in love with them, he spent a lot of time with Jason on You Tube watching videos of them!

4. He loves horses and the first words he decided to learn were almost all animal names and their sounds.

5. He loves to be outside, temperature doesn’t seem to be a deterring factor either!

6. He loves to swing.
7. He really looks up to his older siblings, especially David, he emulates almost everything David does. One example is that I could not until recently get Masamo to say “please”. I decided to use this emulation to my advantage and have David model how to say “please” and it’s results. And…. Voila! Masamo is now saying please!

8. He has picked up English very quickly. By his second week home we counted 57 words that we knew he used and understood their meaning. The number now is too high to guess at. His first sentence (thought up by himself and not repeating someone) came a week ago (April 12th) when I placed him in a swing. I started swinging him and he said “I like swing!” He understands just about everything we say too, God has made little children so amazing, they're sponges when it comes to learning!
9. He loves music, singing and dancing. He’s even making up his own lyrics to the songs he really likes. He’s changed the end of one song about the moon from “lemon pie” to “mommy pie”.

Here’s a video of Masamo singing and dancing to “I like to move it”. Masamo however pronounces it “I like to mool it, mool it!”

10. He hasn’t met a sweet that he doesn’t like!
11. He will eat very few fruits and NO vegetables.
12. He loves to laugh, whether it be because of a tickle, doing something silly or just imitating his siblings, Masamo likes an excuse to laugh.



Oh, I almost forgot! Here are photos of the newly redone bedrooms! Just to remind you Ella switched rooms so that the boys could share a larger room. Ella’s room is now yellow and David and Masamo share a blue room.

I think that’s all the new news from the Hartland. I will do my best to keep the blog updated more regularly now. This post took me a combined 6 plus hours to complete. I did not do it in one sitting either but rather multiple sittings. I hope you enjoyed this lengthy post! Until next time!