The one where I bid you adieu.

Hi, my name is Jana and I used to blog here. Then we were given the amazing opportunity to join the in-country staff of Gladney Center for Adoption. Things have gotten kind of blurry and crazy during these months, as we've prepared to leave the country.

If anyone still reads this, know that this blog has been such a sweet part of my adoption journey. But now it's time for a new, beautiful chapter!

Michael, Ruthie, and I will be blogging at a new wordpress blog--apparently wordpress is easier to access in Ethiopia. Here it is: The Ferenji Funderburks.

Thank you for so many things. Please stay in touch.

OH, the places we'll go.

How does one move to the other side of the world?

And to a developing country, no less.

In our case, it's going to look something like this:

Six large suitcases, checked.

Three small carry-on suitcases.

One car seat, checked.

One jogging stroller, checked.

One small backpack, carried on.

One Mac laptop, carried on.

Aaaand, that's about all, folks.

(we finally bought Ru a sleep cap, which helps keep her hair from getting dry and tangled as she sleeps. this is her"camera face." can you tell?)

Our first Moving to Africa Yard Sale went well. We got rid of LOTS of stuff. Yet, I look around our 800 square foot space.....and still see stuff everywhere. I think our stuff is multiplying as we

sleep. Yep, I'm sure of it.

We have a lot of work to do, friends.

So, what essentials would YOU pack if YOU were moving to Africa? I'm not really needing suggestions--just curious what you would consider your must-haves.

I'm pretty sure our essentials will include brownie mix. And books. Books and brownies.

A Twist.

Soon after we brought Ruthie home, I noticed that when she was really sleepy, her eyes would kind of go googly.  In my dumb, first-time mom way, I thought that her eyes were just unfocused, you know, like a little baby's are sometimes......the problem is, it got worse.  Her eyes went googly in the middle of the day sometimes, and for long enough periods of time that we realized what was actually happening:  one of her eyes was wandering outward.  I talked to one of my childhood friends, Kari, (hi Kari!), who's an optometrist.  She told me it sounded like strabismus, and recommended we see a local pediatric opthamologist, Dr. Stager.  Meanwhile, Ruthie's eyes were definitely getting worse.  Her other eye would wander outwards sometimes, too.  It was definitely unnerving.  

Long story short:  we had our dr.'s appointment yesterday.  Ruthie will have eye surgery for exotopia in the next month or so.  It's a common, low-risk surgery.  Ruthie's prognosis is excellent. 

Thoughts:

1. We are SO thankful for our doctor, who is known to be excellent, and who does these surgeries all the time.

2.What if little Ruthie were still in Ethiopia, alone?  I've thought about that a lot.

3. And furthermore, what about all the little ones in Ethiopia now, who may lose their vision due to strabismus, a totally correctible eye disorder?

We are counting our blessings over here, thinking of the many children across the world who do not have the incredible access to medical treatment that we have.

It has begun.

A quick post while Ruthie chomps on Cheerios.

School's out!  We love seeing more of Michael around here.

We're having our first Moving to Africa Yard Sale this Saturday.   Wish us luck!

So many things to do to get ready to leave that it feels a bit overwhelming.

Little one is trying lots of new words lately, though I don't think the "verbal explosion" has yet begun.....how fun that will be!  Her newest word is "wet."  Her favorite word is "hot," with "poop" coming in as a close second.  "Hot" is used inaccurately, "poop" is used with great accuracy.

R is for Ru-Ru.

I think lots of you will love these prints by my friend, Christina.  She just opened her etsy shop, Paperfingers, I don't know, a week ago?  And since then her work has been featured on Apartment Therapy's Ohdeeoh blog, as well as the current issue of the Australian digital magazine, LMNOP.   How's that for her first week on etsy?  

 I thought some of you adoptive parents out there who are busy decorating nurseries and children's rooms might be interested.  Because these are beautiful, right?

Can you spell S-U-C-C-E-S-S?  I'm bursting with pride.  Congrats, Christina.  And to think you designed my adoption announcement! :)

Rose-Colored Glasses.

                                      

(We seem to have adopted a child who's a bit of a character, mmm-hmmm.)

World AIDS Orphan Day: May 7th

15 million children,  orphaned by AIDS worldwide. 

That number is equivalent to the populations of New York, Paris, and Bangkok, combined.

"I believe that this could very well be looked back on as the sin of our generation. I look at my parents and ask, where were they during the civil rights movement? I look at my grandparents and ask, what were they doing when the holocaust in Europe was occurring with regard to the Jews, and why didn't they speak up? And when we think of our great, great, great-grandparents, we think how could they have sat by and allowed slavery to exist? And I believe that our children and their children, 40 or 50 years from now, are going to ask me, what did you do while 40 million children became orphans in Africa?"

--Rich Stearns, President of World Vision

Please, go read this excellent post.  It's really worth your time.  

Thanks!!