Friday, May 18, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Monday, May 7, 2012
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Just over 1 week to go!
That's right. I leave for Ethiopia in just over 1 week. While there my mom, my sister and I will be........ Working with Mission Ethiopia teaching the women how to make reusable shopping bags out of burlap coffee bean bags sacs to add to our product list, go to Soddo to meet with the group of people that Chance For Change provided food for last year, go to our sponsor school in Ambo to help create a library, bring school supplies, meet with officals and check on and help with the new toilet facility we are building and meet with and purchase products from artists to sell at our events and on our web page. A lot to accomplish in the 11 days we are there, but very exciting.
My hope is to blog about our travels while we are there and keep everyone updated as to the progress. It is going to be an amazing trip I am sure!
My hope is to blog about our travels while we are there and keep everyone updated as to the progress. It is going to be an amazing trip I am sure!
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
2 Years Ago Today.....
2 years ago today it was just another day. Or so I thought......
I woke up, went to work, had a morning meeting and came back to my office. It was then I saw the light flashing. I had a message. For a split second I let myself believe that it might be the call, but just as fast as I let that thought slip into my brain I pushed it away. It was only a few hours ago that I had a conversation with my step mom about our adoption. The bankruptcy was over and the adoption agency told us that referrals would start again, but they said not until at least March. It was January there was NO way that they would start this soon I told her. I fully expected that I wouldn't know who our son was until at least May. April if I was really lucky.
I picked up the phone, dialled my password...... "you have 2 messages". First message.... an interview candidate returning my call. 2nd message....... the name Imagine Adoption read on my caller ID. In an instant my entire body started shaking and my eyes filled up. This was it, it was the call I had been waiting for. I could feel it. In that moment I knew I had a son. I was a mother of two.
I returned the call and heard the words I had been waiting years to hear......"Congratulations, we have a referral for you". Those few little words changed my life. I did have a son, and I was a mother to two. In that moment, all the heartache was over.
After the tears stopped and I could talk I managed to find out how old he was, but that was it. I wanted to share the experience with Darryl. After about 1 1/2 hours we were at home and ready to open the file. And this is what we saw. Our hearts melted........
We had a little boy. We didn't know anything about him other than his age, height, weight and the fact that he looked very sad.
Fast forward 2 years and here is our son!
We now know that Tegegn is a wonderful happy little boy. His smile is magical. It can brighten your day in an instant. He has a wonderful sense of humour and is so determined to be involved in everything. The experience of being a parent to our son, this little boy that we first laid eyes on 2 years ago has been one of the greatest joys of my life. In 2 short years I have gotten to know our son, and I can't wait for the future. I know he is going to grow up to be a wonderful man (hopefully not to fast).
What a difference 2 years can make.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Friday, September 2, 2011
Thursday, August 11, 2011
I Took Him To The Doctor
Tegegn was sick yesterday. He had a fever, a rash and wasn’t feeling well. Today we took him to the doctor. This shouldn’t be anything to blog about. It is something we do when our children are sick. Here in Canada, when you are not feeling well, you go to the doctor. We make a phone call, walk in the office, hand over a little credit card size piece of laminated plastic that allows us access to health care, medicine and a better way of life, and we get better. This is one of the many things that separate us from other countries. With everything that is going on in the world, from the American economy to the famine in Africa this little act of going to the doctor has made me think.
We are lucky. I mean really lucky. Sure our health care system has its problems. I have been dealing with, and have complained about the long waits, differences of opinions ect. myself over the past 2 years since my accident, but let’s face it. WE HAVE HEALTH CARE! When I watch the news, read the papers and follow people on the ground in Africa on Twitter I can’t help but think of the differences in our world. In the United States, people go bankrupt trying to pay their medical bills due to a sickness or accident (I know, I have seen the bills), In Africa children are starving, lack medical attention and are dying….. and we (myself included) complain about wait times. Honestly, I’m embarrassed. I’m embarrassed for myself and for Canadians in general.
My children will never know the pain of hunger (again), they will get medicine when they are not feeling well, they will have dental surgery and have eye glasses if needed. These are things that as Canadians we have access to and take for granted every day. Although it is not a new year, I am going to try a mid-year resolution for myself. I am going to try not to take these things for granted. I am going to try to be aware every time I step into a doctor’s office, dental office or go to an eyeglass appointment that these situations will never happen to me because I live in this country.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/08/09/largest.refugee.camp/index.html
We are lucky. I mean really lucky. Sure our health care system has its problems. I have been dealing with, and have complained about the long waits, differences of opinions ect. myself over the past 2 years since my accident, but let’s face it. WE HAVE HEALTH CARE! When I watch the news, read the papers and follow people on the ground in Africa on Twitter I can’t help but think of the differences in our world. In the United States, people go bankrupt trying to pay their medical bills due to a sickness or accident (I know, I have seen the bills), In Africa children are starving, lack medical attention and are dying….. and we (myself included) complain about wait times. Honestly, I’m embarrassed. I’m embarrassed for myself and for Canadians in general.
My children will never know the pain of hunger (again), they will get medicine when they are not feeling well, they will have dental surgery and have eye glasses if needed. These are things that as Canadians we have access to and take for granted every day. Although it is not a new year, I am going to try a mid-year resolution for myself. I am going to try not to take these things for granted. I am going to try to be aware every time I step into a doctor’s office, dental office or go to an eyeglass appointment that these situations will never happen to me because I live in this country.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/08/09/largest.refugee.camp/index.html
Monday, July 25, 2011
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Ethiopian Food Crisis - What We Are Doing.....
As some of you are aware, I am involved in a Charity called Chance For Change International Outreach. Currently there is a major food crisis in the horn of Africa, and Chance For Change wants to help. If you are interested in knowing about this crisis or donating to help us bring aid to some of the 4.5 million Ethiopians affected, please read the link.
Ethiopian Food Crisis - What We Are Doing.....
Ethiopian Food Crisis - What We Are Doing.....
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
June has been busy!
The month of June has been a busy one.
It started with a Gotcha Day celebration. The weekend before the 1 year anniversary of meeting Tegegn we had 2 of the families that we traveled to Ethiopia with over. It is always nice to catch up, and reminisce of the time we spent in Ethiopia and watch the children grow up. One year ago there was 2 babies and one very small shy toddler. Today there is 2 toddlers and 1 almost 5 year old little man.
Next was a trip to the dentist. Tegegn had some pretty major problems with his teeth when he came home from Ethiopia. Malnourishment and no dental care can rot your teeth very quickly. We knew that he would have to have surgery to correct the problems, but we wanted to wait until he was secure within our family before we made him go under again. Going under anesthetic after he broke his arm was not a good experience for him nor I. June was the month we decided on, after 3 failed attempts at the dentist. He did amazing. After the X-rays, we realized the damage to his teeth was even worse than we originally thought (he wouldn't let us do X-rays previously). Here is a recap of what he had done:
3 front teeth removed (one was so bad that there was almost no root left)
1 root canal
1 abscess
all top molars are capped
all bottom molars are filled from cavities
Thank you for insurance!!! It was a big bill. I spoke in great length to the dentist after the procedure. My main question was "how is it possible that he wasn't in any pain". Tegegn had never once said or implied that his teeth hurt or we would have brought him in for surgery sooner. The dentist explained that there was no way he wasn't, however he probably lived with it his whole life, so the pain was normal. That sentence broke my heart. The fact that children have to live in pain and deal with it is heartbreaking to me. I have never had a cavity, but my husband has and he tells me that the smallest cavity shoots pain up the tooth with every bite of something cold. I regret not doing the surgery sooner.
Gotcha Day was great. We spent it at the Guelph Multicultural Festival. I had a booth there to sell our products for Chance For Change so my friends volunteered to watch my booth so that I could have dinner and spend some time with my family. All day I kept looking at Tegegn thinking WOW, your here. It was such a long hard road to this point, and it's like it never happened. It feels like he has always been with us. Tegegn is a normal adjusted 4 year old Canadian. The only time he shows any signs of insecurities is when he is around other children of colour (people with brown skin as he says). That is when I have to reassure him that he is part of our family and that he isn't going anywhere.
Last weekend we had another Chance For Change event at the KW Multicultural Festival. We did great. We have had amazing support from the Ethiopian Community. They are all very happy that we are helping "their country".
Chance For Change is doing great. I have recently received an e-mail saying that we have raised and sent enough money to Ethiopia for the washroom facility at our sponsor school to begin ( Our Goals for 2011)
It's incredible to think that by selling some scarves and jewelry in Canada we are able to provide basic sanitation to 1215 students in Ethiopia. Thank you for all the support you have all given our organization.
Well, the month isn't over yet. Today I go for surgery. This is stemming from an injury in 2009. It is a day surgery, so should hurt to bad. My hope is that this will be the last one and I can put the memory of my injury in the past. Here's hoping. We have decided to take a short 5 day vacation up to our cottage after, so we are going to celebrate Canada Day on the beach. Not a bad place to recover from Surgery I think! I will keep you posted and upload some more pic's soon.
If you get a chance check out Chance For Change on our website.....
Chance for Change
It started with a Gotcha Day celebration. The weekend before the 1 year anniversary of meeting Tegegn we had 2 of the families that we traveled to Ethiopia with over. It is always nice to catch up, and reminisce of the time we spent in Ethiopia and watch the children grow up. One year ago there was 2 babies and one very small shy toddler. Today there is 2 toddlers and 1 almost 5 year old little man.
Next was a trip to the dentist. Tegegn had some pretty major problems with his teeth when he came home from Ethiopia. Malnourishment and no dental care can rot your teeth very quickly. We knew that he would have to have surgery to correct the problems, but we wanted to wait until he was secure within our family before we made him go under again. Going under anesthetic after he broke his arm was not a good experience for him nor I. June was the month we decided on, after 3 failed attempts at the dentist. He did amazing. After the X-rays, we realized the damage to his teeth was even worse than we originally thought (he wouldn't let us do X-rays previously). Here is a recap of what he had done:
3 front teeth removed (one was so bad that there was almost no root left)
1 root canal
1 abscess
all top molars are capped
all bottom molars are filled from cavities
Thank you for insurance!!! It was a big bill. I spoke in great length to the dentist after the procedure. My main question was "how is it possible that he wasn't in any pain". Tegegn had never once said or implied that his teeth hurt or we would have brought him in for surgery sooner. The dentist explained that there was no way he wasn't, however he probably lived with it his whole life, so the pain was normal. That sentence broke my heart. The fact that children have to live in pain and deal with it is heartbreaking to me. I have never had a cavity, but my husband has and he tells me that the smallest cavity shoots pain up the tooth with every bite of something cold. I regret not doing the surgery sooner.
Gotcha Day was great. We spent it at the Guelph Multicultural Festival. I had a booth there to sell our products for Chance For Change so my friends volunteered to watch my booth so that I could have dinner and spend some time with my family. All day I kept looking at Tegegn thinking WOW, your here. It was such a long hard road to this point, and it's like it never happened. It feels like he has always been with us. Tegegn is a normal adjusted 4 year old Canadian. The only time he shows any signs of insecurities is when he is around other children of colour (people with brown skin as he says). That is when I have to reassure him that he is part of our family and that he isn't going anywhere.
Last weekend we had another Chance For Change event at the KW Multicultural Festival. We did great. We have had amazing support from the Ethiopian Community. They are all very happy that we are helping "their country".
Chance For Change is doing great. I have recently received an e-mail saying that we have raised and sent enough money to Ethiopia for the washroom facility at our sponsor school to begin ( Our Goals for 2011)
It's incredible to think that by selling some scarves and jewelry in Canada we are able to provide basic sanitation to 1215 students in Ethiopia. Thank you for all the support you have all given our organization.
Well, the month isn't over yet. Today I go for surgery. This is stemming from an injury in 2009. It is a day surgery, so should hurt to bad. My hope is that this will be the last one and I can put the memory of my injury in the past. Here's hoping. We have decided to take a short 5 day vacation up to our cottage after, so we are going to celebrate Canada Day on the beach. Not a bad place to recover from Surgery I think! I will keep you posted and upload some more pic's soon.
If you get a chance check out Chance For Change on our website.....
Chance for Change
Friday, June 10, 2011
One Year Ago
We ended up going to Ethiopia one year ago tomorrow (June 11, 2010) with a great group of people that we had never met. One of these people made an amazing video about their time there. I need to share it.
Thanks Rob
Facebook: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Thanks Rob
Facebook: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Our First Family Vacation With Tegegn
We spent 9 days in Florida and it was a blast. We didn't do much but relax and hang out. Tegegn had so much fun. He decided that he doesn't love the brown water (ocean) and that it tastes icky. It took us about 2 days to explain to him the concept of keeping his mouth closed while swimming. After that he liked it a little more and decided that he really liked the wave. Here are some of the best pics.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Reflections - One year later
One year ago today......
-I had booked our plane tickets to travel to Ethiopia to pick up Tegegn. He didn't yet have his VISA and we had no idea how long I would be in Ethiopia.
-I didn't know who my son was. I had no idea that he loves to sing and dance, gives the best hug, has amazing balance, is very busy and has a great sense of humour.
-I had no idea that Celine would open her heart and end up being the best big sister ever. I didn't know that she would love to teach him and watch out for him and that she would never wish we hadn't adopted him.
- I didn't know that traveling to Ethiopia would make me want to start a charity. I had no idea that my evenings and weekends would be filled with planning and attending events to try to raise money to support a school in Africa.
- I thought I wanted 3 children. I wasn't aware that Tegegn would make me feel like our family was whole.
- I thought that I had a great life. I had no idea just how good it was going to get.
One year ago this was our family!
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Mother's Day - the good, bad and painful
Today is the day that we celebrate mother's. I am lucky enough to have an amazing mother. One who always stands by me, loves me and tells me to follow my dreams. I am also fortunate enough to have a great step mother and mother in law. Both of whom I am very close to and admire a great deal.
Today like always I celebrate the day with my mother gardening. Yes, I put my mother to work on mother's day, but it has always been a day that we enjoy. I woke up with two little children yelling"happy mommy's day" in my ear, followed by many wonderful crafts, cards and special surprises that they made me. We then had a great breakfast and my mom came over for the gardening to begin. Now when I say gardening, I don't mean we plant a few flowers. I mean we dig up grass, move huge rocks and shovel wheelbarrels of dirt, all in the hopes that we can create some privacy in our backyard which is lined with chain link fence (yuck). We are exhausted by the end of the day, but we always have a wonderful meal that my husband prepares (or at least most of it).This year was a very special year as you can all imagine, because beside me were my 2 children helping. They dug, watered and of course stopped a lot to play on the trampoline.
By now our probably thinking where is the bad and the painful that the title refers to. Well that is about all the other mother's that I have been thinking about the past few days. The mothers that out of selfless love gave up their rights to their children so that they could have a better life, and the women who are mothers in their hearts. You see it was only last year, and the 3 before that I like many others spent mother's day in pain. Yes I had my wonderful daughter that I enjoyed so much and never took for granted, but there was a void, something missing. For many of my friends they went through this day with the pain I felt for many years. You see adoption and infertility robs you of this day. It is a reminder that you don't have what you long for so much. I can't speak about infertility because I fortunately never had to go through the heartache of the tests after tests, treatment after treatment and days of wondering if it will ever be, but I can speak to adoption. Like I have said so many times before on this blog, waiting adoptive parents are most often forgotten. People outside of the adoption world don't understand that from the minute we sign those adoption papers and are considered "waiting parents" in our minds and hearts we are parents already, just as when I women finds out she is pregnant. We have already fallen in love with the child in our hearts, with the one(s) we long to see the face(s) of. I have many friends in this situation as well as some battling infertility. So I guess to all mothers, and those who are mothers in their hearts already I say Happy Mothers Day!
Today like always I celebrate the day with my mother gardening. Yes, I put my mother to work on mother's day, but it has always been a day that we enjoy. I woke up with two little children yelling"happy mommy's day" in my ear, followed by many wonderful crafts, cards and special surprises that they made me. We then had a great breakfast and my mom came over for the gardening to begin. Now when I say gardening, I don't mean we plant a few flowers. I mean we dig up grass, move huge rocks and shovel wheelbarrels of dirt, all in the hopes that we can create some privacy in our backyard which is lined with chain link fence (yuck). We are exhausted by the end of the day, but we always have a wonderful meal that my husband prepares (or at least most of it).This year was a very special year as you can all imagine, because beside me were my 2 children helping. They dug, watered and of course stopped a lot to play on the trampoline.
By now our probably thinking where is the bad and the painful that the title refers to. Well that is about all the other mother's that I have been thinking about the past few days. The mothers that out of selfless love gave up their rights to their children so that they could have a better life, and the women who are mothers in their hearts. You see it was only last year, and the 3 before that I like many others spent mother's day in pain. Yes I had my wonderful daughter that I enjoyed so much and never took for granted, but there was a void, something missing. For many of my friends they went through this day with the pain I felt for many years. You see adoption and infertility robs you of this day. It is a reminder that you don't have what you long for so much. I can't speak about infertility because I fortunately never had to go through the heartache of the tests after tests, treatment after treatment and days of wondering if it will ever be, but I can speak to adoption. Like I have said so many times before on this blog, waiting adoptive parents are most often forgotten. People outside of the adoption world don't understand that from the minute we sign those adoption papers and are considered "waiting parents" in our minds and hearts we are parents already, just as when I women finds out she is pregnant. We have already fallen in love with the child in our hearts, with the one(s) we long to see the face(s) of. I have many friends in this situation as well as some battling infertility. So I guess to all mothers, and those who are mothers in their hearts already I say Happy Mothers Day!
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Tegegn's First Canadian Easter!
It was a great weekend. On Friday we had our annual Good Friday fish and chips dinner with family and friends. Yes we are baptized Catholic, but no we are not practicing. We have just always done it. It seems as good a reason as any to get together for dinner. This year we went to a new restaurant, and I think they were very happy they gave us our own room. There was 18 of us included 7 children under the age of 10, so it always gets a little loud.
We decided to go to our cottage for the rest of the weekend. Due to it being a 4 day weekend (yes I work for the government) and so late in the year we thought it would be a good time to open it up for the season. This took a little convincing. My husband Darryl didn't want to sit in the rain, and Celine was really concerned that the Easter bunny wouldn't know how to open the door to the Cottage and wouldn't know we were there. After looking at the weather report, and leaving a note to the Easter bunny at our house to let him know our plans we were off, and glad we did it. The weather was beautiful. We spend the afternoons out for walks, playing at the beach and exploring (our favourite things to do at our Cottage).
Sunday morning came very early. At 4:00am, I had a little girl in my bed asking if she could wake up Tegegn to start his very first Canadian Easter. After a little convincing, and some little white lies (I told her that I didn't think the Easter bunny had come yet, and wouldn't if we were up) she fell back asleep, but only a few hours later, and I had another body in my bed. 4 people and 2 large dogs are a lot for a double bed, but it was a great way to wake up on Easter morning.
Walking out to the living room was so much fun. Tegegn's eyes lit up. He couldn't believe that a bunny rabbit brought him a basket full of things and hid eggs full of chocolate all around the Cottage. It was a great day. I unfortunately forgot our camera. Thank goodness for blackberries, because I was able to catch some of the moments. These are the moments I will remember always.
We decided to go to our cottage for the rest of the weekend. Due to it being a 4 day weekend (yes I work for the government) and so late in the year we thought it would be a good time to open it up for the season. This took a little convincing. My husband Darryl didn't want to sit in the rain, and Celine was really concerned that the Easter bunny wouldn't know how to open the door to the Cottage and wouldn't know we were there. After looking at the weather report, and leaving a note to the Easter bunny at our house to let him know our plans we were off, and glad we did it. The weather was beautiful. We spend the afternoons out for walks, playing at the beach and exploring (our favourite things to do at our Cottage).
Sunday morning came very early. At 4:00am, I had a little girl in my bed asking if she could wake up Tegegn to start his very first Canadian Easter. After a little convincing, and some little white lies (I told her that I didn't think the Easter bunny had come yet, and wouldn't if we were up) she fell back asleep, but only a few hours later, and I had another body in my bed. 4 people and 2 large dogs are a lot for a double bed, but it was a great way to wake up on Easter morning.
Walking out to the living room was so much fun. Tegegn's eyes lit up. He couldn't believe that a bunny rabbit brought him a basket full of things and hid eggs full of chocolate all around the Cottage. It was a great day. I unfortunately forgot our camera. Thank goodness for blackberries, because I was able to catch some of the moments. These are the moments I will remember always.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Very Exciting!
Well some of you who read my blog probably know about the Charity myself and some other wonderful people have created called Chance For Change International Outreach.
Our goal is to help create sustainable employment and educational opportunities in Ethiopia. Well today we have launched our website. It was a lot of hard work, but it's up and I am very excited about it.
If you have a few minutes, please check it out. It still needs some finishing touches, but we feel it's at a point where we can spread the word about it. Check it out, and follow "our journey", the blog we will be updating as we move towards our goals.
www.thechanceforchange.com
Our goal is to help create sustainable employment and educational opportunities in Ethiopia. Well today we have launched our website. It was a lot of hard work, but it's up and I am very excited about it.
If you have a few minutes, please check it out. It still needs some finishing touches, but we feel it's at a point where we can spread the word about it. Check it out, and follow "our journey", the blog we will be updating as we move towards our goals.
www.thechanceforchange.com
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Finally, but it brings with it a lot of pain
When I originally heard the news a smile came over my face almost as big as the day I got "the call", but after watching this.....It's all pain.
I knew this day was coming. I was one of the people interviewed by the RCMP as part of their investigation a few months ago and was told that there would likely be charges brought against these individuals soon, but watching this reminds me of the pain my family and so many others went through. The days after the bankruptcy were some of the worst of my life.
By alas, I woke up this morning with my beautiful little boy smiling at me. We are one of the lucky families. Our son is home. I can't say that for everyone who went through this horror.
Hopefully some justice is done, although, it no amount of retribution or hopefully jail time will be enough if these individuals are found guilty. What they "allegedly" did was unthinkable.
CTV Toronto - Operators of bankrupt adoption agency charged - CTV News
I knew this day was coming. I was one of the people interviewed by the RCMP as part of their investigation a few months ago and was told that there would likely be charges brought against these individuals soon, but watching this reminds me of the pain my family and so many others went through. The days after the bankruptcy were some of the worst of my life.
By alas, I woke up this morning with my beautiful little boy smiling at me. We are one of the lucky families. Our son is home. I can't say that for everyone who went through this horror.
Hopefully some justice is done, although, it no amount of retribution or hopefully jail time will be enough if these individuals are found guilty. What they "allegedly" did was unthinkable.
CTV Toronto - Operators of bankrupt adoption agency charged - CTV News
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