Friday, August 13, 2010

Home FOUR Months!!!!

On August 10th we celebrated being together FOUR months as a family of 6!!! Time is continuing to fly by with a house full of FOUR children! It is amazing that we have been home 1/3 of a year with T*n***e and M*l*******m!!! As we become more and more acquainted with each other it is becoming difficult to write monthly updates...things are just becoming "normal". It is incredible to see how their language is coming along...everyone who meets our kids is amazed! I still search for hours about the area they are from and really regret not being able to go to the Humbo woreda (where they lived) while we were in Ethiopia. T*n***e has shared so many stories with me about her life, but is still unable to explain what her house looked like. I look forward to creating so many memories with our kids as we head into the Fall season. Here are a few highlights of our last month together...

T*n***e: You continue to amaze us with your intelligence and athletic prowess. You are sharing so many stories with us about your life in Ethiopia and I love getting to know more about you and what has shaped you into the incredible girl that you are!!!

Highlights from our 4th month together: 
-caught your first fish while on a family camping trip
-have grown almost 3 inches since we brought you home
-started putting your head under the water while swimming
-your picture is on the wall at the library for reading for 16 hours during the summer
-helped lead the kids worship during the family services at church
-have been ‘americanized” when it comes t o your favorite foods. You say your favorite foods are: pizza, hot dogs, and chicken nuggets
-people regularly comment on our bright you are and how athletic you seem to be
-you are very eager to learn
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M*l******m: You warm the hearts of everyone you meet. You are a boy who continues to love life and you keep us on our toes when it comes to "reigning you in". Your English vocabulary is so expansive now...although not everyone can understand you (Mommy does quite a bit of translation for people). You are the fun-loving spark our family needed and we love you soooooo much!
Highlights from our 4th month together: 
-caught your first fish while on a family camping trip
-have grown 1-1/2 inches since we brought you home
-you have not had any night terrors this month...PRAISE GOD!
-thanks to good nutrition, your swollen belly is gone
-your picture is on the wall at the library for reading for 16 hours during the summer
-your favorite color is clearly pink
-have stopped confusing “pee pee” and “poo poo”
-you are loved by everyone you meet

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Wolayteg*na Words List

Our beautiful kids are from the Wolayta region of Ethiopia. I have been trying to write down all of the words they share with me in their first language, W*olaytegna. I know they are going to forget this language, but I hope this list of words will be a treasure to them later in their life. I am not totally sure of the accuracy of all the words (they have been given to me by a 5 year-old and a 2 year-old)...but I have done my very best to write them phonetically, the way they are shared with me. Here is the most current list of words...Enjoy!!!


Baby bottle: too-toowa
Backpack: burr-sa
Banana: moo-zia
Belt: Ka-ba-two-a
Biscuit: ba-boo-a
Breasts: tan-tia
Brush: ma-ba-ta-rrreeya
Bulldozer: dol-za-rrreeya
Cane: due-la
Car: boo-leta
Christmas: upaysa maskala
Coffee: too-key-ya
Coffee cups: seenya
Coffee Pot: jaw-ba-na
Cow: miza
Curtain: maun-ga-re-jo
Daddy: Detty
Dog: ooosha
Door: ka-dia
Eat: im-pim-pedia
Egg: ooo-cooo-laudeeya
Finger: koosh-ee-ya
Fire: tama
Floor: sa-ha
Flower: a-bo-ba
Go: ba
God: ya-soo-sa
Grandma: Talo
Hair: hoof-ia
Hair accessories: Bo-se-na
Hair wrap: sha-sheeya
House: go-ja-met
Hug: ish-shur-roo-roo-do
Hut: ga-ta-reeya
Injera (bread): wa-tia
Lettuce: saun-ta
light: marrd-bat
Lime: lo-meeya
Lion: g-a-m-ouw-a
Mango: maun-gua
Meat: a-shoe-a
Medicine: tal-eeya
Merry Christmas: Hashu-Upaysa-maskala-saro-gatis
Milk: ma-ta
Mirror: mos-co-teeya
Mommy: yee-brra
Money (paper): birr-a
Money (coins): santa-mee-ya
Moon: again-eeya
Mouse: e-che-dee-ya
Onion: shon-ghool-teeya
Orange: boo-too-kan-eeya
Pants: sue-rrrreee-ah
Police: polic-eeya
Green pepper (hot): bum-ba-reeya
Poopoo: kaka
Private part (boy): new-neeya
Private part (girl): oo-choo-do-wa
Roof: ko-kor-oof-ia
Sheep: dole-sa
Shirt: shir-ree-ya
Shoe: cha-ma
Sit down: coo-chi-bel
Skirt: goo-deeya
Sky: sa-loo-wa
Sleep/bed: tain-ya
Soda: la-sla-sa
Snake: showsa
Stuffed animals/princesses: oo-shoon-goo-loo-tia
Television: tel-be-jean-ya
Tomato: tam-a-teem-ee-ya
Tree: ya-cha
Toys: ma-cho-ta
Umbrella: zan-tel-a
Underwear: gi-ta
Water: hata
Wheel: go-ma
Wood: mee-ta

1: ista
2: na-ah
3: heza
4: oi-da
5: echessa
6: oo-soup-ena
7: la-poona
8: hos-poona
9: uh-duf-ena
10: tama