Live from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

We have been in Ethiopia a little over a week now. It’s just starting to set in that Addis Ababa is home now. It’s frightening and comforting at the same time. It’s very hard to explain. I’ll try.

In the past six months we’ve moved fromour home in Manila, Philippines to America for our R&R for two months (basically vacation). In Auguest wemoved into a rental home in Virginia, had a baby, and now we’ve packed up and moved to Africa. That’s enough life changing events to get most people through a decade. We packed it in half a year. I’m exhausted.A big part of me feels comfort and relief in finallyarriving at our home here in Addis Ababa. We can settle in and be a family with normal family life stuff without the clutter of packing and moving and transition. At least for the next two and a half years that is. I can’t wait to get our personal belongings we packed up in Manila. Ashlynn needs a proper nursery with a changing table and a crib. I want to rock her in my rocking chair. I’m looking forward to having my kitchen back and my bath towels, our TV, my bed. Everything! Walking into our new concrete home with marble and wood floors, stinky bathroom drains, florescent lights, tiny kitchen sink and Embassy furniture was a strangely comforting homecoming. Like a much larger African version of our condo in Manila.
On the other hand, arriving in a foreign third world country, mostly unprepared for the first few hectic weeks is frightening. The new landscape, culture, language, food, safety issues etc, is all rather unnerving after a mostly hectic month in Virginia just trying to get to Ethiopia. It all happened so fast I feel like I didn’t get to give America a proper goodbye. I think I would have had one more block of the Cotswold cheddar with chives from TJs (they serve this cheese in heaven) and one more walk around the block breathing deeply the fresh air. I’d hug and kiss all my friends and family just one more time. Seeing everyone through Skype is terribly saddening. It’s just not the same as laughing together in person.
Being a stay-at-home mom in all this transition ispretty tough. This past week I stayed home with the girls in our new empty house, with no food, no communication, and no car. The hours passed terribly slow while we waited for Justin to come home from work with word about our internet service or this or that maintenance crew that would be out to the house for repairs. There were a few evenings when I burst into tears when he walked through the door. Trying to keep it together with all the stress just became unbearable

to deal with alone.
I don’t like to dwell on the bad so I am going to focus on the good. Things that I love about Addis Ababa, Ethiopia already:
1. The blue sunny skies. 2. The 70-75 degree mid day temp that gradually cools down in the evening and night. 3. The lack of city noise and light pollu

tion. When I exited the airport the night we arrived the first impression I had was of how quiet it was. 4. Our house. It’s spectacular. Three floors, 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, marble and hardwood, tall ceilings, gorgeous decorative moldings, balconies on every floor. 5. Our garden. It’s small but well kept with flowers and grass. There are r

oses climbing the stone walls. 6. The girls smiling faces. Bella declared day two “I like my home!” and Addie says her favorite thing about Ethiopia is being able to wear her summer dresses. As long as that girl can wear her summer dresses she’s happy. And therefore, I’m happy.On a whole, my first week assessment is that Ethiopia is going to be a good home for us. I can see us being happy here. Not a bad state of mind to have 8 days in.

naughty in a cute way

Arabella Jun is pure trouble and pure cuteness all wrapped into one. She's having a hard time listening and obeying right now and tantrums are a frequent affair BUT she is able to go use the restroom all on her own now without anyone to wipe her or help with her pants. She uses please and thank you all the time and says "I yuve you" to melt my heart.

Here we caught her sneaking sips of Justin's beer. She seems to like the super hopy IPAs just like her Dad. This girl is naughty in a cute way. We are going to loose some sleep over this girl.

It's a Christmas Miracle!

Ashlynn Olivia slept for six whole hours last night. She didn't wake up to eat the entire time. When she did wake, she ate and was changed and went back to sleep until 6AM. Finally waking for the morning at 7:30AM Wow, this must be what it's like to have a baby who sleeps. I'm sold.

Oh, the other miracle is that we should be in the States for Christmas now since the guy at the passport issuance desk just laughed at Justin when he heard we were supposed to be in Ethiopia mid-December.

We also just heard that the house we've been assigned, while not in the neighborhood of the international school, is a newer home and will be move-in ready when we arrive. Yay for avoiding temporary housing!

I'm off to do some Christmas baking!

cloth diaper review

Cloth diapers seem to be the new craze for uber cool moms. I jumped on the bandwagon quickly when I realized how much money it will save me from shipping diapers to Ethiopia. When I started doing the research I was completely overwhelmed with all the options and accessories. It's a far cry from the pre-folds and pins my Mom used on me! In the end, I followed some great recommendations from a mom friend in Manila.

I have Kissaluv's cotton fleece fitted diaper size 0 with Thirsties duo wraps (Velcro size 1) for Ashlynn now. When she reaches 12 lbs or so (pretty soon-holy cow!) I have bumGenius one size diapers (snaps).

I only have 9 Kissaluv's and 6 wraps to go with them. I use them during the day when we are going to be home. If we are going out or it's bedtime, I use disposable Up&Up diapers from Target. Cause here's the deal; cloth diapers are a ton of work! I definitely didn't anticipate being overwhelmed with the normal housework and mothering of three let alone remembering to rinse, wash and line dry the cloth diapers. You must change the Kissaluv's much more frequently than disposable diapers as well. They saturate much faster. I will say they do not leak, not an ounce. I've never had a cloth diaper blow out. The only urine leak I had with the cloth diaper was user error. I simply didn't make sure the wrap was in place correctly.

It doesn't make any sense to use these Kissaluv's at night time since they have to be changed so frequently. The goal is to keep Ashlynn asleep as long as possible and have only one or two, at the most, diaper changes a night. Disposables preform better for nigh time wear.

I am using the bumGenius diapers on Arabella for night time. I really love these diapers. They are very absorbent and the inner layer wicks away the wetness so they don't feel wet on the skin. I still find washing an inconvenience. They will be great for when Ashlynn is a little bigger and we are in Ethiopia without a Target down the road.

In conclusion, if you are a busy Mom of three or more kids I don't recommend adding cloth diapers to the list of things you have to do on a daily basis. Getting regular laundry washed is hard enough.

But, if you are living overseas with a house keeper who does your laundry I say go for it. It definitely saves money in the long run. Best yet, the environment wins.

Ashlynn at 7 weeks

When I opened the blog and saw the picture of Ash I had posted on November 14 I was shocked at how much she's grown!

At her 6 week check up-which included her two month shots since we are leaving soon, she weighed 11 lbs 5 ounces and measured 22.5 inches tall. She's smiling and cooing and starting to space out her naps a bit. She loves looking at her sisters. She gave the Bumbo seat a go the other day and held her head up for a split second before her melon flopped back. She's not a huge fan of tummy time, which is new to me since my older two girls slept on their tummies and loved tummy time. She's the first of my girls to rub a bald ring on the back of her head from sleeping on her back so much.She's such a sweet baby. She has a calm temperament and can soothe herself. She's so chill that I was truly alarmed two days ago when she started screaming in the morning. Her tummy was tight and it was simply gas she hadn't burped out the night before but it was one of the first times she's cried out in that way.

favorites

This is my favorite picture of my parents with their newest granddaughter. It's going in her nursery.

Megan

My sister Megan is amazing. She's a wonderful aunt and sister. Having her with us for a week after Thanksgiving is like have two of myself here. Things run so smoothly. Needless to say I'm missing her this week. And not just because there was an extra someone available to wipe a tush! She's my best friend! We love you Megan.