We're official!!!

On November 18, we headed to the Pulaski County Courthouse to finalize our adoption in the United States. Although Sam is legally a Linam, in order to get a US birth certificate and citizenship, this is a step we had to take. This is a picture of us with the judge who heard our case. As you can see, Sam is ecstatic!!

8 months!!

Shortly after we came home with Sam, I had a conversation with a dear friend who is also mother to both biological children and adopted children. I asked her when I would love Samuel the same as I love Grace Caroline and Andrew. She said that the biggest milestone for them in the process of learning to love their adopted children was the day their children were home as long as they had not been home. Last week (September 30, to be exact) marked that day for us!!

This is so huge!! We have known Samuel and cared for him longer than anyone else has. We now know him better than anyone else. I have seen huge changes in the way he feels about me and the way I feel about him in the past couple of months. I think part is due to the time I've had at home with him this summer since I didn't work at all in August or September, but I think a lot of it is due to the fact that we have been around longer than anyone else in his little life. Wow!!

Samuel is now starting to walk, and has many words, which is remarkable for someone who didn't hear English until he was 8 months old. I think we've got a smart one!! He is such a happy baby, but he has a strong will. Truly a Linam!

Summer highlights-- August

As I said, it was a crazy summer! The first weekend in August, the Linams came to see our new house, so we took a break from unpacking and toured downtown Little Rock, in the rain no less!!

Riding on the trolley in downtown Little Rock.

Two weeks after we moved, the kids and I packed up and headed to the beach with my mom, sister-in-law, 2 cousins, and the kids' godparents. Although I was worried it would be too much, it was just what we all needed. Grace Caroline and Drew (and I) had spent a little too much time together. Since school hadn't started yet, we really hadn't had a chance to meet anyone and make any friends. It was Sam's first trip to the beach! He loved the sand (no big surprise there, given how much he loves the sandbox) and the pool, but wasn't too sure about the ocean. We didn't get in too much, because there were a lot of jellyfish. Grace Caroline and Mary Emma both got stung. It was a fun trip, and the kids did amazingly well in the 9 hour car ride!!

Sam loving the sand. He was completely covered when we finished. He even tasted it!Sam loving the pool. This boat was the greatest. Give him a toy, and he was set!
Bathing beauties!My sweet babies! I love how much they love each other!

And of course, mid-August brought the start of school. Grace Caroline is in Kindergarten, and Drew is in Pre-K 3, both at Pulaski Academy. Grace Caroline was especially nervous about making friends, and had a little trouble the first day. But the second day of school she came home all excited that she had made a new best friend ("I met her in the bathroom, Mom!"). Of course, now she has a whole ton of friends and loves school. Drew, in his usual fashion, has sailed right into school, quickly making friends and fitting right in. And Sam has been loving the extra time with Mama. Until we moved, he really didn't want much to do with me. But now he'll occasionally even reach for me when Matt is holding him!

Getting ready to leave for school. Grace Caroline wasn't excited about having to wear uniforms, but quickly learned to love it!

Both kids at school on the first day, getting ready to go in!

Summer highlights -- July

It has been the craziest summer ever!! At the beginning of July we spent some time at the lake, as we do every year, to celebrate the 4th. On that trip, we met and hired Lincoln, our nanny, and checked on the paint in our house.

All 5 cousins "hanging out" in the hammock at the lake.

The two youngest, Sam and Hamilton, in their baby pool. Sam was unable to enjoy the lake on this first trip because he had just been circumcised the week before.

The big highlight of July is that we moved. From Cincinnati to Little Rock. 4 nights in a hotel and 6 nights at Momse and Doc's for the kids between houses. Matt and I were able to have the kids' rooms and playroom, the guestroom, living room, den, and our room nearly completely unpacked before the kids arrived. My mom was a huge help and completed all the dishes (kitchen and dining room) after they got here. All three kids made the transition beautifully. Sam had a little difficulty sleeping the first 2 nights. And, of course, he got all 4 molars at once right during the move, so that didn't help the sleeping. Once we figured that out and started giving him ibuprofen, he did much better!!


Grace Caroline and Drew playing in the sprinkler in our new back yard.

We are all loving our new house, and are really feeling settled 2 months later. The space is good for all of us!! Oh, and I forgot to mention that Sam learned to crawl the day we moved out of our house in Cincinnati! He also learned to climb: stairs, onto a bed, or whatever else he can find!

Happy Birthday Samuel!!

Samuel turned 1 year old on June 2!!
We are so thankful that he is home with us and that we were able to celebrate his first birthday. The past 4 months (hard to believe it's already/only been 4 months) have totally flown by, and we have learned so much about Sam, ourselves, and our other two children. It is totally amazing to watch Grace Caroline carry Sam around the house and to watch Drew try to teach him to crawl or stand up, but even more amazing when one of the big kids looks at me and says "Mama, I love Sammy." Totally brings tears to my eyes.


Here is a list of some of the things we love about Samuel:

1. I love his toothy grin. He got a tooth a week the first 3 weeks we were home, which made for some difficule adjusting. He is now getting 2 more at once. He is almost always smiling now, especially if one of us is talking to him!

2. Those big brown eyes -- I wouldn't be looking at a Linam child if they didn't have big, dark eyes.

3. His long, long eyelashes. Grace Caroline has told me several times that she thinks we should cut them -- I think she's just jealous.

4. His chubby, chubby thighs! This kid is chubby! I'm hoping that he'll slim down when he learns to walk. If not, his Uncle Hamilton can teach him to play football.

5. His baby talk. Sam is one of the loudest babies I've ever heard. Even when he's happy he just yells all the time. I love the sound of his jabber when he's happy and when he talks himself to sleep.

6. The way he hides his head in my shoulder when a stranger talks to him -- I love that he knows I'm his Mama!

7. The way he just melts whenever we scold him for anything. Although annoying when he goes on about it, screaming for 10 minutes, it's incredibly funny at the beginning. Better get used to the word "no" dude, because you'll be hearing it more than any other for the next few years!!

8. How he claps for himself and bounces up and down whenever he does anything he's proud of.

9. The way he scoots on his bottom to get around. Still no crawling -- just the scoot!!

10. The way he gets himself from lying down to sitting up, which he just learned last week. He gets up on all 4 (hands and feet) like a bear, then sticks his knees under him, leans back, and plops on his bottom. Too funny!

11. How excited he gets when he pulls himself up to his knees or we help him stand. Still not doing it on his own, but he sure is close.

12. He loves table food and is a fantastic eater. Refuses any babyfood, and has for a while. Some of his favorite foods are FRUIT, hot dogs, pasta, rice. It's hysterical when he puts rice in his hair -- it looks like a little nest just sitting up there

Those are just a few of the many things we have learned and love about our sweet Samuel. He has truly blessed us far more than we have blessed him. Every day with him is an adventure. Unlike with the other two, who are so much like us (Grace Caroline like me and Drew like Matt), Sam is completely unknown. We don't have a clue how big he'll be, what he'll look like, or what his personality will be like. We're pretty sure he's smart, but whether he'll be good at math or english (or neither) is so much more unknown than with our biological children.

I can't wait to see what the next year brings!!! Lots of excitement in store.....

words!!!

Despite the fact that he didn't hear English until about 3 months ago at the age of 8 months, we are noticing that Sam is beginning to say some words! What a smart little guy we have.

Words to date:
Dada (his favorite person in the world)
Mama
Gaga (his sister, Grace Caroline)
Drew (his brother, and pronounced by Sam as "Druh")
All done (always accompanied by his version of the sign for this word)
Ball
Uh-oh

Pretty good, and pretty typical for an 11 month old, even one who wasn't adopted. Still no sign of crawling, though -- he just scoots everywhere, so he may never crawl!

First week back at work

I started back to work on Monday, the day after Easter and have successfully completed my first full week. I have to admit, I was ready to come back and have really enjoyed this week (with the exception of having a GI bug Tuesday and Wednesday). I love my job and am glad to be using my brain for helping children once again.
More importantly than me making it through the first week.....Sam has completed his first week in the bunny room at Children's for Children Daycare. We spent the good part of 3 days visiting the week before, so we suspected he wouldn't have a problem. He has done amazingly well. His teachers say that he is the most laid-back child in the room. Developmentally he's doing very well, they say. And he loves being around other kids his age!
The first day we dropped him off, he didn't cry at all. The second day, he knew we were leaving him so he fussed a little, but stopped as soon as his teacher started feeding him breakfast. He hasn't cried since! The first two nights were hard at home. Matt and I both commented that bedtime was like it was when we first got home -- he screamed for the better part of an hour both Monday and Tuesday before he finally gave it up and went to sleep. As long as we were in the room, he was okay, but the minute we got out of sight range the screaming started again. And when there are 2 other kids, you can't stay in the baby's room doing nothing until they fall asleep! So Monday and Tuesday we were in and out of his room and trying to get the other 2 ready for bed listening to Sam's ear-splitting screams. But it was only those 2 nights. Since then it's been back to normal happy Sammy, easy to bed.
I've been so proud of him in his adjustment!!

Sam's baptism/ Easter Sunday

We had Samuel baptized last Sunday, Easter Sunday. Sam got a GI bug the day before the whole family was due to arrive in Cincinnati, but we didn't realize he was sick until after my Mom, brother and his family had already started the drive (although I'm not sure they would have stayed home anyway). We did the best we could keeping everyone away from Sam until we thought he was better, but we all managed to get the bug anyway. So thanks to the Children's Museum of Cincinnati, Sam got his mom, dad, grandmother, uncle, aunt, and 2 cousins sick!!

Thankfully no one got sick until after the festivities were over. Saturday afternoon, we enjoyed the beautiful weather at the Cincinnati Reds game -- unfortunately they lost to the Pirates pretty bad. Saturday night we ate at Emanu, our favorite Ethiopian restaurant. They made a buffet special for our family, and we learned that the owner's son is named Samuel also!

Easter Sunday was the baptism. Sam was baptized along with his fellow adoptee JP! It was so special having our two families up there together dedicating our sons to the Lord. Drew decided he wanted to join the Wolfe family and stood with his friend "Zachy" the whole time (they were giving each other kisses during the prayer).

We enjoyed brunch, an Easter egg hunt, and Easter dinner later that day. I've included a few pictures. It was a great weekend!

Big News

Last week we took a trip to Little Rock.....and bought a house!! Our offer was accepted after 2 counters and we will close on pretty much our dream home June 2! Now we are praying that our house here sells by then.

The miracle of modern medicine

No, I don't just say this because I am a physician and married to one (and the daughter of one for that matter). We have witnessed a miracle in our house this week. 2 posts ago, I talked about our screamer. Well, turns out the poor little guy must have been screaming in pain at least some of the time. Matt and I have wondered if Sam had reflux because every now and then he will start screaming and not stop until he throws up an entire bottle, and then seems better (those that traveled with us have witnessed this). Recently, he's been arching his back and crying during mealtime in his highchair and refusing to take a bottle in the reclined postition. And it's pretty hard to give a baby a bottle upright. So I talked to our pediatrician about it at his 9 month visit last week (where he weighed 22 pounds, 10 oz -- chunker!!), and she gave us a prescription for Zantac to hold onto. Tuesday night he had another of his screaming/bottle puking episodes, and Matt said he wasn't coming home Wednesday unless there was Zantac in the house.

Since we started zantac, we have a different baby on our hands. No crying at bedtime, very little screaming (unless his brother or sister steals his toy, or he's sleepy, or he wants a bottle, or he's hurt), and he eats like a horse! Zantac has truly brought about a miracle at our house! Praise the Lord!

James or Sam, Sammy, Samuel?

Okay, so this has been the ongoing debate at our house. Our son has been James to us since we filled out the application and sent it to AGCI. But when we learned his birth name was Samuel, we loved the name; however we decided to call him James simply because that's what he has always been. When we picked him up in Ethiopia, he was 8 months old and knew his name as Sam or Sammy, so naturally that is what we began calling him as well. Well, the name has stuck. Both Matt and I (and the kids) call him Sam when we are talking to him, but still often refer to him as James. Every night for the past 2 weeks, we have had a discussion about what to call him. So what are we going to call him, you may ask?

As we have gotten to know him over the past 6 1/2 weeks, we have decided that his personality is really much more of a Sam or Sammy than a James. So his name is still James Samuel, but (like the rest of the male Linams), he will go by his middle name. Well, actually a nickname of his middle name. Sorry little guy! You will forever be correcting people about your name and you can't even get married and change it!

Our Screaming Ethiopian

Our son is a screamer. No doubt about it. And not just your average baby screaming -- this is a high-pitched, bloody murder-type scream. He screams when he wants attention, when he's tired, when he's hungry, etc. Although this has diminished in frequency, there is no doubt when he is unhappy. So I decided to document a day in the life of an unhappy baby.

Naptime: we are in the process of transitioning Sam into his crib in the room he shares with his brother. He's been in a pac-n-play in our room since we got home. Now that he's sleeping through the night, there is no reason he can't be in the room with Drew. So this is Sam boycotting nap. I spent an hour up and down the stairs trying to get him to sleep before I gave up!! Thankfully, he has discovered the Fisher-Price Rainforest music and lights thing I have hanging in the crib and has done well the past 3 naps -- 2 more naps, and then it's overnight in the crib little guy!!

He looks like he might enjoy a trip down the slide with his sister, but.... Not so much. I don't know if the slide was too fast, a 5 year old was holding him, or I was too busy taking pictures to catch him at the bottom, but he was NOT a fan. Maybe he'll like the swing....


No, not really. What child doesn't like to swing? Maybe one who didn't take his nap. Thankfully, God gave me the grace and patience to not go crazy with all this screaming in one day, since this was the day Matt didn't get home until 8:30. I am also thankful that Sam really is a happy baby most of the time now that we are getting adjusted. And he does sometimes whimper, whine, and regular cry now (in addition to the screaming)!

Some milestones

As I visited work today, I realize we have hit some milestones that I didn't meniton in our last post.


-We started peas this week in addition to cereal, applesauce, bananas and sweet potatoes. James hasn't met a food he doesn't like yet, although he's not crazy about the peas. And now that he's tried more tasty foods, he refuses the cereal unless you mix it with fruit. He's so funny about it -- he just refuses to open his mouth. And his four little teeth in the front are like a fence, so you can't even force it in!
- James has starting "scooching." It's hysterical to watch. I wish I was more adept with the video camera so I could put a video on here. He sits on his bottom and gets his arms flapping up and down and bounces his upper body to scoot himself forward. Matt and I couldn't tell if he was doing it intentionally or was just excited at first, so we moved him away from his toys and watched. He would scoot a little ways, then reach way out in front of him to see if he could get his toy, then scoot a little more, until he got to his toy!
- We are sleeping through the night!! 4 nights in a row now. He is still in our room, but Matt and I have been sleeping in the guest room to get him used to being without us (and because we wake up with every little noise he makes). I've been napping him in his crib when Drew's not here to get him used to the crib. I think in a week, we're going to put him in the crib in his (and Drew's) room!!

9 months old/home 1 month!

Well, they say it takes about a month for adjustment, and I have to agree. I feel like we are all finally settling in to being a family of five. I have wanted to write and be totally honest about the transition, so I am going to try in a limited amount of time. Today is James 9 month birthday -- so hard to believe.

Here are 9 things that have happened since we've been home:

1. Double ear infections (times 2), bronchiolitis, 3 new teeth, and another cold. Needless to say, all these things made the initial transition a little difficult. I think I'd be miserable with all these things plus a new family, new climate, new house, and new time zone (8 hours different). The first 3 weeks held a lot of screaming, difficulty sleeping, and parental frustration.

2. First haircut!! We actually did that the first week we were home. We were expecting screaming the whole time because he HATES is when we mess with him (change his clothes, comb his hair, wipe his face), but Baby McDonald made him all smiles! He actually already needs another haircut -- he has CRAZY curls!!

3. Snow....we cam home to about a foot on the ground, then it snowed 4 more the first week we were home. We haven't seen any since (thank goodness), and have even had a couple of 50 degree days.

4. Grace caroline and Drew can't keep their hands off him. They love their baby brother, which is a total blessing!

5. We have settled into a routine. James is like clockwork with his schedule, yet can be flexible. Good thing, since he's the 3rd child.

6. Food...James was on cereal when we got him. I started fruits and vegetables (actually only got applesauce and sweet potatoes) when we got home. Then he developed bronchiolitis and threw up everything I fed him. So we completely backed him down to formula. We are now back up to cereal, sweet potatoes, applesauce, and bananas. And as you can see from the pictures, he is quite the chunky little guy!!

7. Dates -- yes, Matt and I have gone out. Twice!! James did fantastic with a babysitter each time. And it was good for us to be together.

8. James loves bathtime. He even will stick his face in the water. Good thing, since we Linams love the water!!

9. We all love our sweet baby boy. I have to be honest, it was really hard at first. There were times when I questioned what we had done. I think it was harder for me than for Matt, since I had the experience of carrying and nursing my other two and had to completely learn this little guy from scratch at 8 months. But now that he's been home for a month, I no longer have those thoughts. I am starting to really feel like his mom and love him dearly. He is a really happy baby and fits in quite well. I can't believe we've been home a month!!

Ethiopia Part III

January 29

Today half of our group went to the first church in Addis Ababa. It was established by Emperor Milik. Almaz recommended that only 1 parent go and that the other stay home with the baby. Matt graciously allowed me to go see the church, because he knew I REALLY wanted to go.

Thank goodness that we did not take our babies – since it was St. Mary’s Day, the entire city was at the church worshipping.

As we were driving up the hill (switchback, hairpin curves), thousands of people were wearing the traditional Ethiopian white and walking up the hill to the church.

Many beggars were along the side of the road, because it is tradition to give Alms to the poor on St. Mary’s Day. As we passed one group of people, they called out “Look, tourists!” That made us all laugh.
When we got to the top of the hill, there were people set up selling food, umbrellas, and candles for worship.

The top of the hill by the church was wall to wall people. I was so glad that I did not have Samuel strapped to my front – I would have been very nervous. I was scared enough about getting separated from our group. I just kept my eyes on Johannes and followed him. We first went to the museum of the church which had many artifacts of Emperor Milik and his wife. They established the first church in Addis Ababa. There were also a few things from Emperor Haille Selassie.

After our tour of the museum, we went out to the path up to the church and watched the worship service for a few minutes. I think we all would have liked to go in the church and see it, but there were too many people to get up there. I’m not sure we would have even been allowed in on this holiday.

Periodically during the worship service, the leaders would say something and the whole crowd would erupt into calls that sounded like a native American war call.

We headed back and ended up at Hannah’s Hope. When I got there, Matt was examining a new set of twins that Almaz had gotten a few days before we got there. While he was finishing up with the twins, I handed out candy to the older kids. I also walked around the whole compound and took pictures of everything I could think of. I took Samuel up to Mesekarame and Mestawet to say goodbye. They were really sad, which made me sad as well. Then we left. After we got outside the gate, Getemesay, Mike, and Leslyn took our pictures in front of the gate.
We went back to the hotel and ate lunch, packed, and showered. Sam napped while we packed up. He decided to stretch out instead of lying frog-leg, and his little feet hung off the end of his Moses basket. It took quite some time to pack, but we got everything in 3 bags that were no where near 50 pounds each! Matt did a great job padding everything and nothing broke on the way home. Once we showered and dressed, we carried everything down to the lobby and waited for Johannes to come get us.
We left for the airport at 6:00. The bus was so full of luggage, adults, and babies, that some of the guys had to stand up the whole way to the airport. When we got to the airport, multiple people came to help us unload. We hugged Johannes goodbye and walked up to the terminal. We had to go through security on our way in to the airport. Then we checked in for our flight (which took forever). We thought we had plenty of time to eat, but when we got to our gate they told us that we had to go on and go in. I was tired and hungry and I didn’t see the point of sitting inside the gate for an hour when I could have been eating. There were no bathrooms, food, or even trashcans inside. We had to go through security again to get into the gate.
When we got on the plane, Katy and Brett, Travis and Sunny, and we all had bulkhead seats. We got all settled and Matt was planning to hold Sammy for the first leg so I could sleep since I was so tired. Once we got up in the air, the head flight attendant came and woke us up to put a bassinette in the bulkhead – it bolts in so you don’t have to hold your baby the whole flight. I have never been so excited about anything on a plane in my life!! Sam slept most of the way from Addis to Dulles, as did we. It was wonderful! When he was awake, we used the bassinette as a little pack-n-play so we didn’t have to hold him the whole time. We sat him up in it and gave him some toys to play with. It was awesome!!
January 30
When we arrived in Dulles, we had to go through customs and immigration.

Then Katy and Brett, Clark and Sarah, and Matt and I left the secure area and went up to the Delta ticket counter to check back in. We had to rearrange our carry-ons for American security since we were allowed bottled water and other liquids through Ethiopian security. When we got to our concourse, we changed the babies’ clothes, changed our clothes, washed our faces, brushed our teeth, and felt much better. Of course, Sam spit up on me as soon as I got my clean clothes on! Then we went to find some real American food!! Five guys and fries tasted AWESOME!! Finally, it was time to board our flight to Cincinnati. Sam was fussy by the time we got on the plane. Actually, he was screaming!! He wanted a bottle, and of course we couldn’t get it fast enough for his liking! Thankfully he calmed down and fell asleep after the bottle, and I got a nap too.
When we got off the plane and came out of the secure area, Mom, Dad, Grace Caroline, Drew, Katy and Brett’s moms, Sydney, and Zachary were all waiting for us. It was so fun to see how excited they all were to meet their new brothers. Cameras were flashing all around!! Grace Caroline got to be the first to hold Sam, as promised. We collected our bags and went home. All told, we were 30 hours from our hotel to CVG. When we got home, I was so tired I felt sick and it hurt. I went to bed around 8 or 9, I think. It was a great trip, and I can’t wait to go back (just not for another child!)!