Adoption Announcement

Our Adoption Announcement for Solomon...finally.
I was very grateful to find help in writing his name in Amharic too.

Christmas

Christmas pictures
and pictures from our Christmas card in case you didn't get one.

A big shout out from the Stouts- (Christmas Letter 2009)

We hope this holiday season finds you well. Whatever other stressors may attack us, this season brings us great perspective when we look at our joyful son, Solomon. Last year he was a picture in a Christmas

ornament on our tree, and we hoped and prayed that everything would work out. This year, he celebrated his first birthday in June, first Halloween, first Thanksgiving, and we even trekked out to cut down a Christmas tree (which is on a table, of course, the kid is great but also 18 mo.). We are so thankful for our family,

including the 3 grandparents who spend time with the kids too. We do not deserve them, and we love that they are all retired now. Kristin’s parents spend time with the kids more than one day per week, and Wes’ mom visits regularly. Kristin’s grandmother also continues to be a part of our lives and delights in the kids, even though she can’t see them.

Kylia turned 4 this summer and loves to sing and swim and interact with as many people as possible. We know everyone at her preschool, primarily because she knows every child and every adult connected to that child. She definitely has a relational bent. We were very proud that this year, in the preschool choir concert, not only did she stand up and sing, she even announced a song (this compared to a refusal to do anything but sit on our laps last year). Socializing Kylia into the world of hair has been interesting, but she now enjoys choosing the type of braids, twists, etc. that she desires. Following this choice is a 3 hour visit to the salon! She does really well,

provided I bring snacks, DVDs, and make an early appt. (my three prong strategy for success). She is also

EXTREMELY tall, literally off the charts. We constantly hear comments about her height, and Wes has taught her to respond “It’s the steroids!” (if you know Wes– this does not surprise you).

Kylia accompanied us to Ethiopia in February, and, skipping right over the horror of jet lag and generally trying our patience, it was great. And it was all worth it when Kylia was the first to meet Solomon and hold him (seen in the 3rd picture of our rather late adoption announcement). We wouldn’t have had it any other way, and hope to return many times. Kylia makes an excellent big sister, and enjoys having a brother to play with/torment

depending on the moment.

Solomon is 18 months, and started walking at about 16 months. We were not in a hurry for this part, but there is no stopping him now. He loves to read and brings stories to us constantly saying “book, book.”. He also loves to get involved in whatever his sister is doing, calling her “ia.” I will save other cute details that only

grandparents crave for the blog. Aside from some sleep issues (namely screaming instead of sleeping), he has adjusted really well and fits into our family like an old friend. The trip to Ethiopia in February was wonderful and we were blessed with a fabulous travel group, who will hopefully have a reunion in 2010. We can see the explosion of Ethiopian adoptions since Kylia, because we already know 5 boys Solomon’s age in the Bay Area.

We have somewhat transitioned to life with two children, although many fun phases await us. Kristin continues to mentor new teachers and teach a few high school classes (she is often disturbed by the similarities between preschoolers and adolescents). She taught summer school this past summer, and has enjoyed many fun health challenges including pneumonia, numerous sinus infections, and finally sinus surgery this summer. Headaches are abating and life looks much more manageable now. Wes joined the Crosby Group full time this year (after 15 years of consulting), and has been running and biking regularly, which happens at the crack of dawn– very impressive. We both continue to attend bible studies and our adult group at church. We connect with our

Ethiopian adoptive community whenever we can, through summer camps or monthly activities, and Kristin started doing orientations for our local agency this past year.

We love it when people tell us what a joy-filled but physically exhausting time we are in with small children, but I still feel encouraged every time I hear this sentiment. Right now we are content in the Bay Area, in a great neighborhood with lots of kids, part of a thriving church, and taking things one year, or day, at a time. This

letter is my kick in the pants each year to update the blog– so look for many new pictures.

We wish you peace in this season and blessings in the New Year.

Love the Stouts

November and Thanksgiving

The current favorite activities include attacking/playing with Papa (seen here at Thanksgiving), reading, and hiding under a chair, not necessarily in that order.

Halloween

In October, Solomon's only solid animal sound was quacking like a duck, so his costume choice was obvious. Kylia opted for princess Jasmine (as did her friend), but I added the leotard because I wasn't quite ready for her to look like Britney Spears, although she could have pulled it off. Also- it would have been a little cold. She enjoyed this costume a few times at Disneyland, so by this time it was almost trashed. Solomon enjoyed his first trick or treat outing and made it to about 8 houses before going to bed.

Disneyland

Kylia had a great time at Disneyland, and probably enjoyed meeting the characters more than anything else. Nana and Papa were a huge help because Solomon was done after an hour or two each day. Here is Kylia meeting princess Jasmine and she is also in her Jasmine outfit. Disneyland really does it right- they never make you feel like you are bothering anyone with your crazy small children, and seem to delight in helping you with them in any and all situations, be it a theater with hundereds of people, a restaurant, or a ride. I definitely recommend this experience for small kids. The adults also got to have a fun night, Wes and I on Friday and the grandparents on Saturday (sans kids).

Kylia's Birthday

So we did the princess party, with lots of friends from school, some Ethiopian friends, and Kylia's cousin.
I am pretty sure I need therapy after this experience, although it turned out really well. I was especially proud of the cake. Nice to have a design-oriented husband who could cut a strapless dress out of fondant. Kylia had a great time, but I did understand why people invite very few kids when your child is younger. A fun, but exhausting party.

Solomon's 1st Birthday

Solomon's first birthday- we had some really hot weather so a waterslide seemed like a fun thing to rent- of course it wasn't so warm but that is ok. The frog theme was fun- the cake had a frog on it, Solomon had a frog on his pants, and it worked into all aspects of the party. He even obliged and tried to eat the cake. It was great to celebrate with family and friends.

Solomon's Gifts, Friends, and Development

Lisa O'Sullivan MADE this bib, shoes, and a skirt for Kylia that matches. I bow down to her talents.
Meeting "uncle" Jeff.
Meeting Great Grams.

Solomon's Development: We are so thrilled with Solomon's adjustment and development. We haven't really given him a chance in the social department, and he has already been to church, school, Kylia's school, work, and Carmel this past weekend. He is very happy to be with people. And he is starting to roll more, which means, alas, I can't put him down and know that he will be in the same place when I return. He is also sitting up much better. It is funny to go places with a kid who is pretty long but can't really sit up yet- although he can do a high chair if we strap him in well. So his legs hang over the bouncy seat and he can do a number on my back with the ergo-carrier- but he is progressing super well and we expect him to be assisting in chores like taking out the trash any day now.

Solomon's Little Buddy

Solomon and his nursery-buddy...
I swear they remembered each other...
Already horsing around like old pals.
A few weeks ago I got to visit my friend who was in our travel group. Her son was in the same nursery room with Solomon, and I love that she is close by in the East Bay. Our boys are almost the same age and it was fun to get them together after being apart for awhile. Although I think her son better go easy on Solomon until he catches up in size.

Big Sister Kylia...

Kylia gets down on Solomon's level
Solomon is wondering whether Kylia holding him is such a great idea...
Wes, showing how easy it is to handle two kids at once.
Kylia- in one of her more helpful moments.

So- Here are the great things about having two kids: I have great built-in places to take Solomon where he can watch and interact with people (Kylia's preschool, the park, etc.). I love that when Kylia and I take Solomon places I have someone who can hold a conversation. I love that Kylia can get things for Solomon when I am busy with him or entertain him in the car for a moment.

What I don't love: Thinking how great it is that I can leave her in the car with him for a moment, coming out, and realizing she is trying to feed him a raisin. Or hearing a thud and realizing that she just broke the rule of not picking up Solomon, and then preceded to drop him. Or truly not realizing why standing on his stomach would make him cry. I'm not sure how to make that into a good, teachable moment. And yet- he lights up the most when Kylia enters the room. She gets a big grin and squeals of delight from him whenever she shows up.

Kylia's summation of Solomon for now is that he is boring and takes a lot of work. From a 3 year-old perspective, not far off. I thought that patience was a challenge for me before, but when I am busy with Solomon's messy diaper or other messes, when Kylia gets in the way I find that my patience has taken a vacation to Hawaii...without me. She is adjusting pretty well, and I still get time with her alone, but some of her behavior has really horrified me. I think we all have some room to grow.

...Except for Solomon, who is wonderful and generally super happy. He is now the main encourager of the family with his giggles and grins. He loves music, banging on things, and having his needs met. And I have not had one rude word from him, except a few cries. I am definitely enjoying the baby phase in a whole different way, not in a hurry for him to do anything. It has been a huge gift to have these few weeks with him when Kylia is in preschool to just get to know each other. I was worried about how I would feel about a second child, but I am surprised by the ease of bonding with him and the contrast of a challenging preschooler.

Operation Get Solomon

Arriving in D.C.
A favorite picture from Ethiopia...
Ethiopian friends Zinash and Wondy say hi to Solomon
Getting to know Papa...

We are so happy to be home and over the jet lag and most of the illnesses (that we got on the plane or after getting home for the most part). Solomon is doing really well- and is just the happiest kid I have ever seen. He thinks everything is funny, including some things I think he thinks of himself. We are very thankful to family and friends who have brought food and just come to visit and celebrate him with us.

Emails from Ethiopia

If you missed any of the email updates- here they are:
Feb 2nd
So-
We are getting close- flying out Wednesday and will arrive in Addis on Friday night. Saturday morning we will meet Solomon! Can't believe that after 2 years, 1 month we are finally to this point. We will return to D.C. on Valentine's day, and fly back to the bay area Sunday, Feb 15th.

I plan to send out updates when I can- so if you don't want to receive updates- just respond to me with no thanks and I will remove you. I don't want to give anyone unwanted email. And hopefully we will have some pictures to share too.

You can also find some updates on our blog- www.stoutshoutout.blogspot.com.

Thanks to everyone for their support in this process. We couldn't have done this without the support of everyone around us, be it financial, encouragement, etc. Special thanks to those who have run errands, given us helpful stuff to take, and especially those who have helped with Kylia.

Our biggest prayer is for our visa- I will update if we find out it is cleared, but as of today the embassy has not received our paperwork. It should be there soon- but if it doesn't get processed by next Monday (a week from today) we could be stuck in Addis an extra week! Which would not be ideal.

Please pray for Kylia as this will be a challenging traveling experience for her, and I think a little intense in a different culture (even though everyone will look like her!). We are excited she will see some of the nannies who took care of her as well. Pray for Solomon, and his adjustment into our family. Pray that he thinks Wes is funny, because that will make life easier for everyone. :)
And for health- not worried about minor things but I have had big sinus problems and am a little worried about plane flights and being at 8,000 feet in Addis. Meanwhile, I am on medication that has been helping and getting me in better shape for travel. And hopefully Kylia will not get anything big and we will all be in good shape for the 19 hour plane ride on the way back.

Thanks- curriculum is done for the next 7 weeks and we are pretty much packed. So of course now we just want to get on the plane and get on with it...

Hope everyone is doing well- will email next from Ethiopia- unless we get good news about Solomon's visa.

Kristin

Feb 7^th

Hi Everyone-

So what were we stressed about? Something to do with visas, health issues and being united with our son. All in the past now!

We flew to Frankfurt, spent a day and night there, and then flew to Addis on Friday. Frankfurt was cold and wet, but good pastries and very friendly people. Those are my people. Kylia slept most of the second flight and our friend Micael was there to greet us at the airport. We spent the night at the Hilton, and then, finally, the day we have been waiting for...

We got up this morning (you know at 5:00- I love jet lag), and eventually found a ride to our orphanage around 8:00. I'm not sure I really slept last night- but I know the other two did because I was jealous of them the whole night. We got to Horizon House, unoladed ALL of the luggage, and went in and said hi to him as a family. It was great, felt very natural and of course we are now parents of another super cute Stout! Solomon smiles, especially at daddy, and loves to watch big sister do just about anything. We are learning about his personality and so far he seems pretty laid back, following in the Wes tradition. It is wonderful to be able to play with him, feed him, and then give him back to the nannies. We will transition very slowly with this whole thing. I realize that every adoption is very different, we are not first time parents, Solomon is older, we have Kylia to think about, etc. But for now it just feels great to get to hold him and kiss him. He seems to be doing really well- aside from the usual stuff like a very robust cough.

Our travel group is wondeful, 9 very interesting families staying together for a week. Kylia has been a great traveler and is now in heaven with all of the babies and people around. She is a little taken aback by the hugs and kisses she has received from guards, hotel staff, and people at the orphanage. And everyone speaks to her in Amharic. There is another four year old boy at Horizon House and they have fun playing too.

Sorry if this sounds a little disjointed, running on very little sleep. :) Thanks again for all of the support- we will give more updates about the personality of our new little one as we get to know him, for those who are interested in those fun details (ok- so mostly the grandparents).

Love to all from the Roof of the World-

Kristin

Feb 8^th

Hi All-

I am somewhat glad that the internet didn't work yesterday, today is the first day I feel like I had a good night's sleep. Kylia has been wide awake at 2:30 each night, and I have been there with her. If I wrote yesterday, I would have said "whose idea was it to bring Kylia?" But today is a different story- she slept a solid 8 hours and we are new people!

Continuing with Kylia- we saw two of her nannies yesterday (from when she was a baby at Horizon House), Bezunesh and Amarech. They were overjoyed to see her and we gave them pictures of her now and pictures of her with them as a baby. They totally remember her and were so excited that we are now Solomon's parents- since they have been taking care of him too! Yesterday we took Kylia to a lion zoo and too a children's amusement park- she rode on a Santa sleigh ride pulled by reindeer, in the summer weather in Ethiopia. Go figure. It was great to get out though. We are excited to show her more of the city this week.

Now, lest you think we are suffering over here, I am telling you, this is the way to expand your family. Kylia loves playing with the kids and helping the nannies in the infant room, and we have basically a staff of 20 to drive us places, cook us great food, and take care of Solomon whenever we need help. I think reentry to the U.S. will be harder. People here talk a lot about when you take "custody" of your child- meaning you move a bed into your room and start meeting all of the needs. Since Solomon is older, and Kylia is with us, we are taking this very slowly. Plus, if we want to go anywhere outside of the compound, we must leave him behind. This is especially tough because we have so many friends here who want to meet him. But at least they get to see Kylia.

Solomon updates- yesterday a nanny showed us his first tooth that just popped up! We are excited to be here for that milestone. He is a huge smiler- loves to interact with people and is a pretty mellow guy. This should be helpful for the plane ride home. He LOVES his big sister and wants to watch whatever she does. We learned that another nickname for him is Nagoose (means king). He responds to this name too. Oh great, they are already giving him a big head. He also likes to be tickled on his tummy and Wes discovered yesterday that he laughs when you blow in his face. We are still learning his personality- he gives a little cry when hungry or needs a new diaper, but otherwise is pretty content. He is extremely responsive to the nannies and guards and everyone who works here, you can tell that they love him and love to interact with him. He is getting more responsive to us, and we look forward to that recognition of being mom and dad. He fell asleep on Wes yesterday which was great. And he definitely talks- has something to say. Wes says that he has "crazy eyes"- he has this way of staring with really wide eyes and looking a little crazy- I will agree.

We will have our first night with our new guy in a few nights- we want to check out his routine here before we get on the plane and completely screw it up for awhile. of course the nannies have a great schedule for the little ones and we are trying to keep up with it. Today is our embassy appointment- praise God that we have our papers in order to get our visa. Our travel group continues to be great- you really get to know people when you are hanging out bonding with your babies and children. One family is from Berkeley and is adopting a boy a little younger than Solomon. That will be great when we return too.

We are doing great- but prayer is appreciated for continued health- especially Solomon. He has the congested cough that all the babies have here. Pray for the trip home, it has been really easy for both of us to take care of Kylia and Solomon, but as you can see, we have a great deal of help. The plane ride will be interesting. Pray for Kylia- she is doing great but sleep has been a challenge and everything is a little new and overwhelming at times.

And yes- PICTURES! We will work on that- might try a hotel tomorrow to see if we can upload some. Thanks for the support- we love hearing from people-

Kristin, Wes, and Kylia

Feb 11^th

Hi All-

I knew that I could not send another update without visuals. So go ahead and look at them first...

The picture of Kylia with Solomon is within the first 10 minutes of meeting him. In the family photos Solomon has curls in one and shaved head in the other. For some reason, when we go to the embassy to get visas, they like to have the kids look their best. We liked the curls, but they will grow back.

Solomon- is a huge sweetheart. He is a total flirt and loves to smile at everyone. Wes made him laugh for the first time yesterday with a combination of face acrobatics and sound. His giggle is fabulous. He likes to talk quite a bit and seems to have much more interest in toys than Kylia did. I know I am a second time international adoptive mom (that is a mouthful) because I am not at all concerned by the run of the mill cough and rashes that I know will all clear up once we get home. We are having him sleep with us for the first time tonight because we want to see his schedule for two nights before we completely screw it up traveling home. That should be interesting.

Kylia is doing great, she is shy with many Ethiopians but continues to play with all of the traveling families and help with all of the babies. It is hard not to be self-conscious about her being back in her country and all of the people wanting to greet her and see what she is like. With little sleep, gaining a new sibling, and living in a completely different culture, she has been alternately cranky, shy, stubborn, you fill in the blank. We went to dinner last night and she fell asleep on the bus and stayed asleep through a two hour dinner with Ethiopian friends- it was quite pleasant for us. :) She finally got 11 hours of sleep last night and that should help. She has been great with Solomon- checks on him in the nursery and tells us when he is awake and such. She doesn't seem to mind either of us holding him, and although we are teaching her to be gentle, 7 month olds are much more resiliant than newborns so that helps. Lastly, she is just ready to go home- and in a way we are too. But it has been a relaxing week after all of the stress and preparation.

Monday was very stressful. We went to the embassy to get our visas, which should be routine- and one family was initally denied. Something about the child appearing older than the birth certificate. Won't go into details but it was very scary, we felt like none of us had our visas until all of us did. All in all we were at the embassy for 5 hours, and they finally got the visa. We were all so relieved. That was really the last hurdle. The rest of the week we have been sight seeing- going to a lion zoo, amusement park, museum and the Sheraton- which is how we got these pictures to you. We had to find a card reader and then put them on a thumb drive. Complicated. And for those HOPE Enterprise fans- we did see Zenebe and will have dinner with Dr. Minas and his family Thur. night.

Our travel group continues to be great- Kylia loves to interact with everyone- big surprise there. Most of the people see us as veterans with expertise since this is my 4th trip to Addis and we are on our second adoption. We are happy to be helpful with information about what to see and how things work- but I don't think we know as much as people think we know. But I do like the role of being more comfortable and helping others to navigate the many aspects of international adoption. We have really been thankful for our driver Micael who goes everywhere with us and helps us to navigate the city. He also acts as a third chaperone for Kylia.

Might send one more update- or wait until we get home. Hope everyone is well.

Kristin, Wes, and Kylia

Feb. 23^rd

I meant to send this before we left Ethiopia- then right when we got home. You know how it goes. I still feel like 2 pm is 2 am and I want a full meal by 3 am each night. I think all four of us are on totally different schedules- with Solomon doing the best of course.

I will do updates by category so if something interests you more you can skip to it- after this update I will just do the blog- and will let you know when I change the name (still not topping my priorities). I will put more pics there as well. Sorry it is a little long but think of it as 3 updates rolled into one...

End of the week in Ethiopia- we had a good time seeing sights and people- although Kylia continued to wake up super early and crash at some point during the day. My favorite was when she sat down in the middle of a museum and refused to move, saying she wanted to go home. Or maybe it was the airport Friday night when she would not wake up and a security person had to carry her through the security checkpoint. She definitely figured out some coping mechanisms.

The week in Ethiopia had its ups and downs- at first I was sad because Solomon would get fussy with us and then change to happy and playful as soon as he returned to the nursery- even if he wasn't with a nanny. But by the end of the week he fussed when we put him in the nursery and looked very happy to see us. So that was encouraging. At times the trip felt like a vacation- after all the work we had lots of people taking care of us and got to get out and enjoy Addis. Others in our travel group said it felt like camp- people staying in the same house and talking at all hours.

The hardest part of leaving is saying goodbye to families who were strangers but who all shared the same experience and are now very close friends. 6 of us live on the West Coast so we hope to see each other (one is in Berkeley!). The other really hard part is the nannies- the fact that they get so emotional when saying goodbye to Solomon shows you the depth of love that they feel for each child, but what a tough thing to do weekly or biweekly. One of the nannies was also Kylia's nanny- and we took lots of pictures of her and the others with Solomon. And just like Kylia, we had them speak in Amharic to him on video. Solomon was also in the orphanage much longer than Kylia- and there is no way to thank them for the love they gave him while he waited for us.

HOPE: For those of you familiar with HOPE through visits or connections through church, we got to visit a few people. We saw Zenebe at the Hope school and walked around. One of the adopting families came with us and enjoyed the visit too. We also saw Dr. Minas on Thur. and went out to the HOPE college site. We saw the progress of the contruction. Then we had dinner with Dr. Minas and his family and three kids which was great. Wes especially enjoyed walking around the contruction site and seeing the progress.

Travel Home: We meant to have Solomon stay with us the last few nights to see his schedule- but Wed. his chest cough got worse and we decided it wouldn't help anyone if we laid awake all night listening to him try to breathe. So we took custody of him Friday after we packed and he would nap on our chests- I think it helped him breathe better. Then Friday night at 7:00 we began the 22 hour journey to D.C. As I said Kylia- made it until about 8:30 at the airport and then became dead weight- but the good part was that she and Solomon slept the first 7-8 hours of the ride.

The flight wasn't too bad- lots of people from our group were there so Kylia could go visit people- and Solomon was fine if we walked around when he fussed. He continued to sleep on and off. Special thanks to Theresa who put together wrapped presents for Kylia to open- we had enough for the plane ride there, some in Ethiopia- and some on the way back! A wonderful gift when Kylia was having trouble. We were so relieved to get to D.C. (at 8:00 in the morning)- and my mom and our family friends met us at the airport and drove us to the hotel. Wes collapsed pretty quickly but I made it until about 6:00- the kids both collapsed about 3:00. Both were up for the day at 2 am so that was super helpful. :) My mom was so great- she took care of the kids Sat. afternoon and helped a lot on the plane ride back. Kylia refused to sleep for the whole 6 hour flight- until the last 10 minutes. Gary and Bea met us at SFO and drove us home. I think the rest of Sunday is a blur- but my parents and Wes' mom were there to greet us, as well as a few others who stopped by.

Sleep: Continues to be elusive- I think we were all up from 11-2 last night- and Solomon and Kylia want to sleep at different times. Hopefully it will start to come back soon. But after 2 weeks of strange sleep and not much of it, the jet lag on this end is really taking a toll. I keep napping and waking up and having to figure out how many kids I have, where they are, and what city I am in. My brain still needs to catch up a little.

Health: We go to the clinic tomorrow to get a very thorough work up for Solomon, but he seems to be in better shape than Kylia. I thought she had a fever, and she was complaining about her throat. Took her in today and she has strep! Sorry to the few of you who came on Sunday- but hopefully no one else will catch it. I would have loved for her to get to preschool and have a normal week, but thank goodness my mom has the week off and can help out. Kylia should be better soon- I was thinking she was amazing since she spent the week helping to take care of a bunch of sick babies, but her immunity does have its limits.

Solomon- Such a cutie. He is doing great- eating really well and getting on a schedule. He is sleeping in our room at the moment but once we get our schedules back I think he will do just fine in Kylia's room. Kylia continues to be a wondeful big sister- she imitates what we do with him which is fun to watch. And he loves to watch her all the time. He is much more interested in toys and exploring things than Kylia was, so many of her toys are in mint condition and he is having fun playing with them. He is so smiley and we love to find new ways to make him giggle. He can clap and likes to say "da." He traveled really well, especially with the chest cough and runny nose, and those seem to be getting better. He is taking everything in stride, since it is all new, and we are feeling more bonded with him (nothing like a 17 hour plane flight to help with that). We are really looking forward to introducing him to everyone, but are also enjoying this time to get to know him better and help him to get healthy.

That is about it- thanks for following us on our journey and for all of your support. We are thrilled to be home although my head is still traveling and I have to remind myself that we are actually here now and the travel is over.

Love to everyone-
Kristin, Wes, Kylia, and Solomon

Solomon Oscar Stout

We are happy to introduce Solomon Oscar Stout, who is now officially our son! We found out today (Jan 12th) that we passed the court process and have a travel date of Feb. 6th. We are super excited, and as is normal in this process, we were suffering through the wait and now everything is happening earlier than expected and we are trying to figure out all the details.
The first photo is the referral one that we got in Oct (of Solomon in Aug) and the other two are recent ones.