It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a blogpost! ;)

Wow... My last post was 4 + months ago... I never meant to abandon this blog like this.  I have followed so many adoption blogs over the years, and so many do exactly this; they come to a screeching halt immediately after homecoming.  I always feel a little ripped off... I pray, I cry, I rejoice with you during the journey, and then you cut me off?! I want to see how it all turns out! And yet...

And yet, here I am, having done the same thing.  Many of you follow me on Facebook, so you've seen pictures and funny stories there.  But for those who don't, and who are wondering how we are doing, I thought I would offer a quick update.

We've been home 5 months now, and are starting to get our feet under us.  Don't get me wrong... Bereket is doing amazingly well, and he is a delight to us.  But it is a hard good...a good hard... So many relationships to sort out and untangle...  So much to teach... So much to learn... So many appointments... So many tears... So much laughter...

We had pictures taken before Christmas, and  though I was disappointed to not get a quality shot of all 5 of us, we did get some good ones in other combinations, so I'll share them here...

So many great shots, right?  And then it all falls apart... Apparently this is the best shot of the 5 of us:

 Not putting that on the livingroom wall! Yikes!  Both boys look stoned or something...  I am going to try to do a "retake" in the same outfits so that I can do my collage wall as planned.

Bereket's birthday is next week, and we are having his party or "happy birthday" (as he calls it) on Sunday.  We decided to stick to family and one friend for this year's party, as his circle of relationships is still pretty tight.  I have been learning to cook Ethiopian food, and have been wanting to have family over for an Ethiopian meal, so we decided to do an Ethiopian Feast for his party.   We shall see how it goes; Ethiopian dishes feel very labor intensive to me and take a long time to cook, so it might be interesting.  Thankfully, Dave is a great sous-chef and we work well together.  I am also making the cake.  Bereket has requested a "Pikachu" cake (Pokemon character).  Those of you who know me, know I have a love-hate relationship with cake decorating.  There is usually much frustration involved! But, I am so excited and thrilled to throw Bereket his "first" birthday party that I know it will be worth it.  I will try to post pictures of the party... Hopefully not months after the fact!

And this is where I'm going to wrap up... I know, not much actual content! Sorry... By the end of the day, my brain is spent... I have so much respect and admiration for those of you who can maintain a blog over the long term!

Heather