We are still here!

Well, we are still here! I haven't blogged in a long time. We are super busy. Ella is fully recovered now and is in full swing of basketball!!! Thank the Lord that is over, now I get to do it all again with Maya!!! We have had so much going on I will just highlight a few of those things for you.

On Friday Max received his yellow belt in Hap Ki Do and he was so proud of himself. It has been a really good thing for him. They talk a lot about self control and respect. Which is soooo good for Max. I hope he sticks with it and gets his black belt. It is a pretty big commitment, he goes twice a week. Very proud of him.

Maya got to go to Grandma's with Ruby and have a puppy party and were they ever in heaven. Those 2 are so cute together, they have such a fun time together. I'm glad she has a cousin close to her age to be her bff! She has been a bit of a pill lately. Just having an attitude when it comes to her clothes and things.

Ella took of her friends to Max's ceremony on Friday and then we went out to Pizza Hut to celebrate. She really enjoys spending time with her friends. Joe and I had a date on Saturday and had a lot of fun. It was good to be outside in this beautiful weather.

Just these past few days Ade has been telling me when he has to go potty, not just me putting him on there. It has been so nice. He is finally getting it. Now if he would just go poopy in the potty! He is really growing up so much. He is starting preschool 2 mornings a week at UCP on Wednesday. I am very excited and hoping it will get him up to speed on his abcs and such!

OK, I need to go to bed. My eyes are closing, I just wanted to give a quick update!

Funny Maya Stories

Maya has done and said some pretty funny things this week. I wanted to get them down before I forgot them.

First she is playing outside and she says to me, "Mom, I didn't cut my hair in school today." Guess who cut her hair in school today??? Ahhhhhhh

Then the 2 Kindergarten classes got to combine for a day and her little friend Anthony whom she is VERY fond of is in the other class, she wasn't very happy that they weren't in the same class, anyway, Anthony's class got to pick a friend from Maya's class to sit with them. So it came around to Anthony and he picked Maya, when he picked her she did the ole' fist pump and said, "Yes, I knew you were going to pick me!" So funny and cute.

Today she found out she wasn't able to spend the night at Grandma's and she was in full on hysterics, she says to me, "I was attracted to going to Grandma's!!!" Almost got it right baby girl, keep trying!

These kids crack me up all the time. They are some funny little people with some sick dance moves! I love them!

Really???

So what's been going on around here you are wondering? Well, we have been in recovery mode. Ella is doing much better she went back to school today and she made it all day! Yay Ella! She is starting to be able to eat just a little bit more. It has been hard watching her pain. The worst part is we think Maya is going to get hers out too and she does not like taking meds! This should be fun!

Max has been complaining the past couple of days that his ear hurts and he's not feeling the best. And Ade has been majorly whiney and had a yucky nose and things. So I decided today to take them to the clinic after school. Low and behold they both have strep!!! Really??? So Max will be home tomorrow with Ade and I and I have to miss Maya's first field trip!:( I can't even believe it. I am so sad about that.

So while we were at the clinic I had her test me because I have just been extremely tired and just worn down and not feeling the best. I thought it was because I have been getting up so much at night with Ella and taking care of her, NOPE- Mamma has strep as well!!! REALLY??? Can't we catch a break. I guess this is what happens when you have 6 people in a family.

The good news is, is that it explains Max and Ade's current attitude! The bad news is, another day at home and another missed day of school. I know some day I'm going to miss this time, not having a sick kid in my bed and all that goes with it so I will just take a deep breath and enjoy my sick day with my boys tomorrow!

"I wub you Mom!"

One of my favorite things about Ade is how he says my name and when I look down he has those luscious lips puckered for a kiss and says, "I wub you Mom!" It melts my heart every time! I get so frustrated sometimes with him constantly saying my name and then he does that and it is so sweet and makes me feel bad! I am so grateful for a healthy boy that can say my name!!! I am a blessed Mom!!!

Surgery is NO Fun!!!

On Tuesday Ella had her tonsils out and she had a hole in her eardrum that was repaired. They had to take a skin graft from above her ear! She has some stitches and it is so sore. Today is day 3 and today has been the worst day so far. She had a major meltdown earlier. I think she is just so sick of hurting. It is breaking my heart. Poor girl! Right now she is sitting here in a pretty pleasant mood!!! Grandma and Grandpa just left.

Today Grammy came over to watch her for an hour so Ade and I went to Pilates and when we came home she was melting! We are praying that this is the worst day and she will be on the uphill swing tomorrow! Please pray for my sweet girl, she is so tired of feeling like this!

I can't even imagine how people feel or do it that have kids with a chronic illness. I feel like I am ignoring the other 3 and they notice. They are all a bit grouchy! Pray for us please!

Happy 1 Year Home!!!

The 27th marked our 1 year anniversary as a family of 6!!! I know everyone says this, but I truly can't believe it has already been a year! It seems like just yesterday we were in Ethiopia! I got to talk to my friend Joy who travelled with us this week and it was so great talking to her, just like we talked everyday! And I'm so blessed to have another family close to us, the Sykora's!!! Love it! And I love my travel group!

To celebrate our family went to an Ethiopian restaurant called the Blue Nile Cafe. It was so yummy! It so fun seeing the other members of our family try the food! Ade dug right in. He LOVED it. And it made me really sad because I could smell the spices on his breath and it reminded me so much of Ethiopia! I can't wait to go back. I so wish I could see his family when I return in March.

This year has been such an awesome year. It has been such a blessed year. I can't even imagine our life without Ade. He is so funny and sweet and spunky. It has been awesome to watch little by little and see his personality come out. He really is a silly kid. He adores his family and he fits right in. It is awesome to me that God designed him to be a Freudenthal! He truly is just like us! Only he has beautiful brown skin! He does have my coarse curly hair though!:)

This adoption has been such a journey. I have grown so much in the last year and a half. God has shown me so many things. New ways to love, He has given us a passion and He has given us a focus for the future! And we couldn't be happier!

Ade is just such a bright light wherever we go. People are drawn to him. He is not only absolutely gorgeous, he is also charming. I pray one day he will have a passion for the Lord and get to tell his amazing story all over the world!

Here are a few things/thoughts about the past year:

-Ade is learning to potty on the big potty!
-He says all of his siblings names!
-He loves to dance and sing(Justin Bieber!)
-He is starting to be his silly self around others and not just us.
-He is a very obedient child.
-He is always very repentant when he hurts someone!
-He does NOT like the dr or barber. Not happy at all when we go and yells at them to "Just stop"!!!
-He is starting to say, "I wub you Mom!" I mean melt my heart!
-He loves his Papa.
-He knows how to annoy Joe and does it just to be annoying! Cracks me up! He's just like his mamma!
-Tonight he was outside playing and pulled down his undies and just went potty on his own!
-He eats just about anything.
-He still has his bottle and probably will start kindergarten with it because it is just so dang cute!
-He has us pretty much wrapped around his little finger!
-He talks so much now.
-He knows how to work any and all Apple products!
-He LOVES Yo Gabba Gabba and we are seeing them live in November!
-He gets attention everywhere we go!
-He loves being outside.
-He loves to go bye bye!
-He rides a mean scooter!
-He has the most adorable big buns I've ever seen!(Their wheat buns!)
-His lips are the best ever. Big wet and soft!
-I LOVE HIM WITH ALL MY HEART!!!

I could go on and on, but I think I will end it here. Basically Ade has been one of the 4 biggest blessings in Joe and I's life. We have 4 of the greatest kids in the world and we blessed beyond measure. I often wonder how we got so lucky and then I look up to the Lord and thank Him! One line I read in a book and it is the title as well, is "There is no me without you." And that is sooooo true!!!

Hi everyone,

Below is a message from my friend, Shonda, who is currently in the process of adopting her second child from Ethiopia. She asked me if I would post a message from her on my blog and I said, Sure!! So, here it is:

Hi friends,



This is Shonda from God Will Add.  Ali has kindly let me take over her blog to tell you about an awesome Baby Shower like none other.  A couple of my friends have teamed up and we're trying to raise funds for an organization called FOVC.  They help provide aid and hope to the immediate areas where our kiddos are from, an area that has been hit hard by this horrible famine.



Shameless plug:  Will you hop on over to my shower?  I promise I won't make you smell mystery diapers and  no I won't let you wrap toilet paper around my abdomen.



For $13 FOVC can feed one starving child for one month.  So far, this shower has raised $710.  If you're amazing at math like myself, you know that 54 kids who didn't have food today, will have food tomorrow and for the next month because of the generosity of a select few.  Wow!  Can we make it 100 kids?  Will you please help me spread the word? 

Why? 

Of all the great charities out there, why have I chose to rally behind FOVC?  A few simple reasons:



1) There are a lot of other great charities that are working to fight this famine, and I (despite my cynicism of big organizations) have supported them.  But FOVC is the only NGO working directly in the areas my boys are from, and where their first families still live.  Even if I liked nothing else about FOVC, this one simple fact would make me want to support them.  Thankfully, there are lots of other things I like about them:



2) They are a very small grassroots organization and very conservative with their money.  All their workers are volunteers, and they do all their traveling on their own dime, which means all the money we give goes directly to feeding the kids and helping their community fight poverty with long-term goals in mind.



3) I have a close friend who has done aid work with them in Ethiopia (and is on her way back in a few weeks), knows many personal details about how they operate and spend their money.  She's a Dave Ramsey fiscal conservative like myself, and she fully endorses them.  They have an independent bookkeeper who verifies that over 96% of the funds go directly to Ethiopia.



4) Directly from the president of FOVC:  "We have an amazing team of volunteers! Our board members and officers (if I do say so myself) are doing outstanding work! We spend a lot of time and effort educating ourselves on best practices of economic development (it's what my husband does!) and strive to implement every program using best practices. This means we empower, not enable. Every effort we undertake is aimed at offering long-term sustainability, success...and HOPE



Have I convinced you they're great?



Click here and support them:



And then (this part is optional), click here and tell MB how excited you are about his arrival into our family.







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