Settling In
Well, we made it! It was a long journey back to the States, but after about 33 hours of travel, we finally greeted our family at the GR Airport on Saturday afternoon. Annie was a good little traveler. She didn’t sleep the whole way by any means, but we were able to keep her entertained and content in between some naps along the way. Too bad the four-year-old a couple rows over wasn’t quite so cooperative! It was a long, long day of travel, and I’d say today is the first day I’m finally feeling “myself” again, instead of the jet-lagged dizzy variety of Amy who’s been stumbling around here the last few days.
Thank goodness for coffee is all I have to say.
As for Annie, she’s doing as well as can be expected. She’s been clingy and crying easily, but that’s understandable given that her entire world was just turned upside-down. She’s also been extra tired because she’s not quite in our time zone yet. Waking up around 4:30 or 5 in the morning makes for a long day! Today was a good day, though. She seemed to be a little more like the happy-go-lucky baby we met in Ethiopia. She really is a joy when she’s busy playing and interacting with the family. She smiles so easily and enjoys just watching her busy brother playing around her.
I know many of you are eager to meet Annie. And we are eager to show her off. This girl has a closet full of cute clothes from her grandmas and aunties, so trust me when I say she’s looking adorable every single day. But for now, the saying “all dressed up and no place to go” will have to rule the day. Annie needs time to adjust to us, our home, our life. She needs to feel safe and secure and settled into our routine before we start introducing too many new experiences and faces to her. I know she’s young, but even at her age, there’s awareness of big change. Just consider that since last week, she now deals with:
- people who look different
- foods that taste different
- a language she doesn’t understand
- different smells
- different surroundings
- different time zone
She lived in a world where diesel fumes permeated the air and goats roamed in the front yard, where Amharic flowed from the lips of her nannies and she slept in a room with several other babies. As out of place as I felt last week in Ethiopia, at least I knew I was coming home at the end of it all. Annie’s out of place now, and I feel for her–because even though she’s in a good place here, I imagine she has to wonder if she’s going back “home”, or if we are just another set of caregivers who will pass her on to someone else.
Well, I guess I must be tired because I’m rambling on a bit. But all this is to say that we are home, we’re adjusting, and we’re just taking our time to let Annie settle into the Tol family. Thanks for all your ongoing thoughts and prayers. We are so blessed to have such supportive family and friends.
God Smiles…
Well, everything has shifted here at the Tol house: We are full tilt in travel mode because we received our travel call yesterday! We will be leaving for Ethiopia on January 31st and returning on January 9th. (Flights are still pending, but that’s what we’re hoping for.) It’s incredibly surreal to finally be planning this trip that we’ve looked forward to for nearly two years.
In the midst of all our preparations and plans, we’ve noticed God’s fingerprints all over the place. Here are a few of the fun coincidences that must bring a smile to God’s face:
1. Christmas! Several months ago I got this kind of crazy idea in my head to buy a bunch of toys from Oriental Trading Company that needed to be assembled/painted/sewn together. I thought it would be fun to get a bunch of friends and family to help me work on them, pour love into them, and then bring them over to some of the kids in the orphanages when we visit Ethiopia. So, over the past weeks I’ve had lots of helpers (35+ at last count) help me with sewing puppets, painting race cars, making teddy bears, and stringing beads on little bracelets. I have quite the collection of toys to pass out!
Now when I started hearing from others who’ve traveled, a lot of them seemed to bring more “practical” items (diapers/toothbrushes/medicines/etc.) I was feeling a little bad about all my frivolous toys. But here’s the fun part: We will be in Ethiopia during their Christmas. Since they use a different calendar, they celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7, which means we will be passing out all those little toys right around Christmastime! And I have sneaking suspicion God had that in mind all along when he planted that crazy toy idea in my heart.
2. Immigration Papers. Okay, let me start this by giving you a random fact about Amy: I served as an intern for Congressman Hoekstra’s office my fall semester of college. I got to do various interesting tasks, but a good deal of the work that got passed my way involved filing papers and entering data for their Immigration Liason.
Now, fast forward ten years to yesterday. We got a travel call to visit the US Embassy in Ethiopia on January 5. Great news, EXCEPT that there was still a form we needed processed by Citizen and Immigration Services (CIS). We needed that form approved in order to travel, and fast. Without speedy approval, we would’ve had to delay our travel plans.
So… it was time to get some congressional help in beseeching the good folks at CIS to hurry along on approving this form. I called the office, and lo and behold, I’m suddenly talking to the very person I used to work for as an intern. Only this time, I’M the one needing congressional help with CIS! We had a good laugh about that one. But thankfully, everything got straightened out very quickly and we now are clear to travel next week!
3. Coffee. So here’s a little thing. I’m a little addicted to coffee. It’s hard for me to kick things in gear without my morning dose of sweet caffeine. And so, as I thought about travels to Ethiopia, I was curious how available my morning cup of joe would be. It IS the land where coffee was “discovered”, so I wasn’t too concerned. But still… coffee is an important part of my physical and emotional well-being.
So we’re staying at a guesthouse in Addis Ababa, and here’s part of the description of their amenities: “Coffee available at any time.” Any time! Oh glory! I will be fully caffeinated on this amazing African adventure we are about to embark on!
All these wonderful, sweet “coincidences” remind us that God has had his hands in these plans all along. I’m still humbled to think how he has chosen to knit our little family together. And though I’m feeling some nervousness about all the travel plans and adjustments to come, it’s so reassuring to know that God is smiling on us as we go. We covet your prayers for peace, health, and sleep as we prepare to bring Annie home.
Note: I’m hoping to create a “prayer requests” post later this week for those of you who want to be our prayer warriors while we travel and adjust. Check back in a few days if you’re interested.
Vacation Bible School 2009
Whew, what a summer! Seems like we’ve hardly had a chance to catch our breath lately. Not that we’re complaining. 
Last week was Vacation Bible School week at our church, Holland Heights CRC. Amy played piano, Noah attended (his first year!) and Brian shot and edited a short video of all the fun. Here it is for your viewing enjoyment:
And here’s a “bonus” story for you all:
The other night Amy and I attended a wedding, and a few nights before the event Amy informed Noah that a baby sitter was coming, because “Mommy and Daddy are going to a Wedding.” Noah’s response was a bit interesting:
“No, no, Mommy, no want you to go to wedding.”
At first Amy was thinking Noah didn’t want us to leave him.
“It’s OK Noah, we’ll be coming back soon.”
Bu he was still distraught. After a few more attempts to console him Noah finally hinted at why he didn’t want Amy attending:
“I love you, Mommy. No want you to get married.”
We had a pretty good laugh, and we’re sure to remind Noah of this when he’s 15 or 16….
Noah and the Monkey
Some things are better left unexplained:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_NfcIA6LL4&rel=0]
Stitchery
A few months ago, I admitted to my little habit of cross-stitching, and since I just finished up a recent project, I decided I might as well make a full disclosure on the blog today.
Now let me start by saying that I know how very unpopular cross-stitching has become. It’s not exactly a “cool” hobby, like say, scrapbooking. It doesn’t have the allure of those trendy ink stamps or the color-coordinated ribbon and cardstock collections out there. Most likely, the cross-stitch section at your local crafts store has shrunk in proportion to the size of your supermarket’s RAVE hairspray selection from the 80s.
But somebody has to stick up for this time-honored tradition. People have been stitching for centuries. In some eras, it was a sign of refinement when a young lady could handily use a needle and en embroidery hoop. In another time, stitching was used to teach the alphabet to the pioneering young girls of our young nation. Things took a decidedly ugly turn when the 80s kicked stitching into questionable territory. (Sweatshirts. Purses. Decorative wall brooms. Really?) But despite its abusive use a couple decades ago, stitching is a noble pursuit that doesn’t deserve to be shunned. And I have hope for a comebac
k. Just look at knitting.
My own journey with cross-stitching goes back to my girlhood. My mom taught me how to stitch when I was still in grade school and it’s a hobby I kept up with until the busy years of high school and college came along. I stitched quite rarely during the early years of my marriage. But then I became pregnant with Noah. And suddenly, I had to stitch. Perhaps it was a nesting thing. I don’t know. But I just had this unexplainable urge to stitch something. And so I did. I made a little bear train scene to hang in Noah’s room. I like to imagine that it will be a family heirloom, hanging in my grand-child’s nursery someday. More realistically, it should at least fetch a decent price at a garage sale someday. I’ve also stitched a couple of pillow designs for my nieces (the opening image of this post). And my current project is a pattern that will hang in our adopted child’s bedroom.
So now that you know my stitching history, let me share the reaons why cross-stitch has become my hobby of choice:
1. It’s relaxing. I’m a rather indecisive person, so even though the design aspect of scrapbooking appeals to me, I would get sick of the constant questioning. (”What color paper to use for this page?” or “Should I use stencils or stickers?” etc.) Once you’ve picked a cross-stitch pattern, you just roll with it.
2. It’s very portable. It’s easy to pack up and take on a vacation, or just a craft night with my girlfriends. And if I need to put it away because, say, a toddler comes storming in the room and demanding that I play horsie with him, it’s easy enough to toss aside until a better stitching time presents itself.
3. You can’t get “behind.” See, I’d be a lousy scrapbooker. I can hardly keep up with putting my pictures in plain, old photo albums, much less embellishing them all. But with cross-stitch, you can just leave it for weeks or months, and you’ll never really need to “catch up.” (Well, unless you happen to be stitching a pattern for your niece’s birthday, but that’s an exception…)
4. I can stitch in my arm chair. No stiff-backed chair at the kitchen table for me. I can just kick back and enjoy a comfortable chair, even with a cozy blanket to keep me warm in these cold winter nights. (Yes, I know this makes me sound like an 90-year-old grandma. I don’t care.)
5. It’s inexpensive. Supplies for a project usually cost somewhere around $10-$20. And that project will last me for months. (If not years, in some cases!) Compare that to scrapbooking or cardmaking, where people may easily use up $10 of supplies in ONE NIGHT! It’s defenitely a good recession hobby.
Well, there you have it. One woman’s quest to bring cross-stitch back. I’ll be the first to admit that finding appealing patterns is a little difficult. You have to wade through a lot of memories from 1987 before you find some patterns with a more contemporary feel. But that should improve as the number of cross-stitchers swells across the land and demand for updated patterns grows.
So if you’re looking for a new hobby — something crafty, inexpensive, that doesn’t require high commtiment — just think cross-stitch. Really. We can bring it out of the dark corners and revive it as a socially-acceptable hobby. It just takes a few brave souls to start the revolution.
Flip Video
I have a working theory I want to run by you: Someday, archeologists won’t have to go digging through old cities or landfills to determine how we lived; they’ll just dig through youtube instead. Although, sometimes I can’t tell the difference between youtube or a landfill. But that’s a theory for a different post. (Although, in all seriously, last month’s Wired Magazine included an article about video usage in a digital age. Worth the read if you get a chance.)
But you don’t care about magazines and digital ages, do you! Let’s be honest: you’re here to see Noah playing with trucks. Well, always said give the masses what they want, so here you go, faithful readers:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhmmhTReeUM]
How this never got nominated for an Oscar is beyond me. Brad Pitt in ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ or Noah playing with trucks… Seriously, is there any competition? (No offense to Mr. Pitt: Fight Club rocks.)
Ahem. Anyways, moving along: We shot this movie with our new Flip video camera, which we got for our trip to Ethiopia. I’m pretty impressed: It fits in your pocket, takes 60 minutes of video, and includes software to edit your movie together. It even came with the music I added to the clip.
So, I’m guessing you’ll be seeing more Oscar bait cute videos on the Tol House blog in the near future. Time to stock up on popcorn…
Thanks a lot, George
We’ve been having a few plumbing issues around the house lately. Some have resolved… others remain. Here’s the scoop:
Brrr…..It’s Freezing in Here!
As I posted earlier, we enjoyed some time away visiting Brian’s family last week. It was a wonderful, relaxing weekend and we had a great time celebrating both Christmas and all our winter birthdays. (We coined the term “Birthmas” for this January celebration.) But we returned home to a problem: No running water.
Those of you who live in the great North know that it got quite cold last week. And, you guessed it, while we were gone, our pipes froze. It was quite puzzling to us because we hadn’t turned our heat off in the house, but just turned it down to a mild 58 degrees. Guess what? Apparently 58 degrees upstairs equates to less than 32 degrees somewhere down in our basement!
We’re still not sure where exactly the freezing took place. But it took about a day of various heating methods (including me, in the basement, with a book in one hand, and a hair dryer pointed at our pipes in the other) before they finally “unfroze” and the water started running again. Fortunately, there doesn’t appear to have been any damage. And the water was kind enough to start flowing just an hour before the plumber was due, so we avoided the cost. So, after a day of fretting and puzzlement, we were back in the water business.
A More Serious Concern
But there’s more. Another significant plumbing problem has developed in our tub. It involves a toddler and a sudden and strong fear of taking a bath in the tub. It started a couple weeks ago when Noah started throwing his toys out of the tub like a madman whenever we drained the tub. Apparently, he was scared that one of his precious choo-choo toys might go down the drain. And this has grown into a full-blown fear that he himself could be sucked down the drain as well.
Yes, we’ve tried to explain the laws of physics surrounding drains and the impossibility of a 30 pound toddler getting squeezed through. No, we have not managed to convince our little drain-a-phobe that he and his toys are completely safe. After some nights of skipped baths, and some nights of screaming through his bath, we’ve struck a compromise with Noah: We Cover the evil drain with a large washcloth during bathtime and scrub as quickly as possible to minimize time in the tub.
And you know who we can thank for all this drama? PBS. They broadcast a Curious George cartoon that Noah likes to watch from time to time. A few weeks ago, a curious George episode feature George taking a bath, and deciding he wanted new tub toys. He went into his bedroom and grabbed a box of small toys and brought them into the tub. And when he drained the tub, of course the tiny toys got sucked down the drain and created a colossal clog.
Now I understand, the cartoon writers were just setting up the plot so the plumber could come and Curious George could learn all about how pipes and plumbing works. Nice concept, that. But unfortunately, it has scarred Noah with a fear of any and everything getting sucked down our drain. And to think, my tax dollars have actually funded this phobia…
So, thanks a lot, George. Your cute little monkey antics have given our son an irrational fear of drains. Do you suppose PBS is planning a new episode to deal with this particular problem?
Where are the Tols?
So, yeah, this blog has been quiet for a while. And we’re sure you’re in withdrawal from our family wit and obviously talented storytelling ability. (I’m guessing, however you’re not missing our humility. Ahem.)
Rest assured, we’re around. We just have, you know, stuff going on. Like work. And Church. And making sure Noah learns the finer points of human interaction, like it’s not nice to steal toys from people younger than you in nursery.
And raking leaves. Picking apples at Crane’s Apple Orchard and enjoying some of their fine, fine apple donuts. Creating soon-to-be award winning websites. Or at least websites… 
Freelance projects. Conducting training with 9 people in four countries in our socks. Small group for church. Youth Group for church. A funeral. Watching airplanes take off.
Making sure Amy crushes the fantasy football competition. Alden, we’re looking at you.. Wednesday night stuff at church. Continually filling a tire with a small leak that still has good tread. Going through the Holland Tunnel. (No, the one by the airport, not Tunnel Park. Thank you very much.) Playing kickball with the youth group kids. (That’s Noah, if you’re curious. …ok, and a little Brian, too)
Baking cookies. Going to the ER at 1:30am and watching back-to-back-to-back “Sanford and Son” reruns. Best. Theme Song. Ever.
Preparing for the last Gospelcom Conference. Writing spec chapters for a book about Hebrew and Greek words. Remodeling a bathroom. Repairing tires that get punctured while driving to airports to watch planes take off. No, it’s a different tire. Yes, it’s equally annoying. Watching youth group kids make profession of faith.
Watching the debates. You betcha! Meeting Jason and Steph’s new dog via Skype.
Playing Cars. Preparing to be an aunt, uncle and cousin for the third-time. Actually, there’s not too much to that one…. Celebrating 80 years of live with Grandpa and Grandma TerVeen. Enjoying the 2nd season of Mad Men. Don Draper, who are you? Preparing for two Youth Worker Conventions and two trips to Chicago.
Watching Curious George on the TiVo. Memorizing Curious George, whether we like it or not.
And, last but not least, winning the “Best Post” award in the extremely difficult and crowded “Obligatory, Too Busy To Blog, Blog Post” category.
Chinese Fire Drill, House Style
This post is a brief effort to help orient you to new Tol house, you next time you come for a visit.
In preparation of Peanut #2, we’ve been playing musical chairs with the rooms around the ol’ Tol homestead. Try to keep up:
- The play room is now the office.
- The office is now an empty bedroom, for said Peanut #2.
- The living room is now the play room.
- The family room is now the living room.
- The kitchen, bathrooms, other bedrooms, deck, garage and mechanical rooms are as they were.
Oh, and I built a sandbox for Noah earlier this Spring, so the back yard is officially yet another play room.
Homeland Security
So here’s the fun part of international adoption paperwork: You get to walk to your mailbox and receive mail from the US Department of Homeland Security. (In this week’s case, we just got a notice that their Immigration division has received our I-600A Form) You also get to casually insert sentences like this into conversations with friends who ask about the adoption process: “We’re just waiting for our biometrics appointment as part of our dossier preparation.” (Which really means: “We need to be fingerprinted by the feds.”)
Neat, eh?
A little closer to home, we realized that we had a security breach in our home this week. It happened around 3:30 at night, when I was awakened from a deep sleep by sounds over the baby monitor. Noah seemed to be whimpering a little, so I went upstairs to make sure he had his pacifier and blanket. Imagine my surprise when I got to his bedroom and didn’t see a toddler in the bed! I scanned the room, saw no little boy, and quickly felt all over the bed again to make sure he wasn’t crumpled in the blankets. Just as I was about to panic, I noticed some legs sticking out from the end of the bed.
That’s right. Noah breached the bed rails, must have gotten out of bed, and crawled under his bed. And there he laid, with only two-pajama clad legs visible to my sleepy eyes. I’m really not sure if he was even awake when I pulled him out and tucked him back safely into bed. And I really can’t imagine why he decided he needed to investigate underneath his bed in the middle of the night.
Perhaps it’s time for more stringent security measures in Noah’s room.