The Past Six Years

Six years ago, I stood in front of my family and friends to marry my best friend. As we continue to grow together and see God's plan for our lives unfold, we are humbled. God has been so faithful to us over the years and we continue to be blessed. This year we decided to celebrate by taking a trip to Chicago. We had a great time. We used our hotel points and were able to stay downtown for free (even better). This was our first overnight trip without Tegegn and he did great. He stayed with my parents and was attached to his Grandpa all weekend.

Chris and I have a tradition of going to baseball games. I had never been to Wrigley Field so we decided this would be the perfect time to go. The Cubs ended up winning and I was thrilled because we were able to sing the "Go Cubs Go" song. You got to love the Cubs spirit. Nothing compares to it.

We had great seats and we even arrived early enough to watch batting practice.

After the game, we decided to just walk around Chicago and take pictures. I really enjoyed doing this with our new camera. I thought it would be fun to take some creative pictures. Some of the pictures turned out great and others did not, but that is the great thing about digital cameras! While we were walking around the town, we stumbled on the best popcorn place ever.

Tegegn is growing...he insists that he can feed himself even though he misses his mouth half of the time.   We have a therapist working with him once a week and we hope that he will catch up to his age group real soon.  Every week he seems to awe us as he does something new.  This week he is really into shaking his head "no".  He still loves to dance and he would be outside all day and night long if we would allow him.  

The Friday afternoon of my TLO week we (Chris, Tegegn and I) went to the Indianapolis Children's Museum with Cari and Elliot.  We had a wonderful time and so did the kids.  They did great and I was surprised how many activities they had for kids Tegegn's age.  He really enjoyed playing in the water, the sand and on the foam maze.  We ended up spending the evening with Katie, Syd, Greg and Cari.  We grilled out and talked about camping sometime this summer.  What a great time!  Katie and Syd are getting married at the end of June.  We are super excited for them and are looking forward to all of the wedding festivities. 

This picture is of Tegegn at the Children's Museum playing in the water area of Playscapes.

Elli was fascinated with the mirror in the maze.  What a precious little girl.

One of the few words Tegegn says is "car".  However, no one would really know what he is saying because it is a hard, raspy "ca"sound.  Well, as you can tell, he is in an Indy car and loving it!  

I thought the colors of the blown glass were beautiful.  I actually remember this being in the Museum when I was a kid.

Tegegn is not always smiles.  I thought this picture captured his personality.  He is a little stinker at times.  Last week I was putting him to bed and he confirmed why I LOVE being a mom.  Tegegn likes to cuddle.  As I was laying there with him, he fell asleep and I wiggled myself out of his arms.  Before I transfer him to the crib, I always like to make sure he is in his deep sleep.  As I was waiting for that last big sigh, he sits up, stands up, leans over and kisses me on the cheek.  He then precedes to sit back down, lay down and go to sleep.  I couldn't stop laughing.  It was such a special moment.  

Tegegn decided he was going to help us wash the car.  He was such a big help between eating the car suds and splashing in the water.  It is so hard for me to remember our life without him.  He is so fun to be around and provides us great entertainment.

Our nephew graduated from high school on Friday.  We worked around the house on Saturday and on Sunday, our anniversary, we watched our pastor's four children.  We had a great time and we are looking forward to watching them again on Sunday.  They are in the process of moving to Indy and needed some time to get some things done.  We have enjoyed their friendship over the past year.

LOVING my TIME off WORK

What a joy it has been to bee off of work with my little boy.  As most of you know, the auto industry is not doing so hot right now and so I am required by my company to take 8 TLO weeks throughout the year.  This week is one of my weeks off and I value the time that I get to spend with him.  He is growing so fast and has learned so much in the past 5 months.  He is now 17 months old and he is WALKING!!!  He loves this new found freedom.  It has been fun watching him.  He still falls quite often because he is a bit off balance, but overall he is doing great!

My First Mother's Day

What a special day!  We celebrated by going to church as a family, eating a lunch prepared by Chris, playing outside and hiking.  Life can't get much better....

I am truly blessed that God has given me the opportunity to be a mom.  There is really nothing like it.  It is challenging and rewarding all at the same time.  I honestly love it.  I am shaping the life of my son each and every day.  Boy, that is a big responsibility, but I wouldn't change it for the world.  

Tegegn loves his car; however, he likes to push it more than he likes to ride in it.  Silly boy.

Still Alive - I PROMISE!

WOW - It has been hectic around here the past three weeks and I can tell you that our lives are finally back to normal!!! I have finished my last class or my master's degree! I feel like I have so much additional time on my hands - I LOVE IT! We have been spending time together as a family and it has been priceless. 

Since I had to pick and choose what I had time to do, the blog was one that I had to put off because I can't just write on my blog. I have to check out everyone's blog and I knew that I couldn't do that so I had to stay away.  :)

My little cousin went to prom so we made a quick trip out to Ohio to visit our family in the middle of April.   We had a great time!  We really enjoy hanging out with the kids.  Tegegn loved riding the go-cart and four-wheeler.  

The following weekend my brother's family came to Indiana to spend the weekend with us.  It was a full house, but we love all of the fun with our nephews.  Tegegn was baptized on Sunday so it was pretty special to have both sides of our family here to celebrate him.

It is really hard to get 4 boys to sit still and take a picture.  We actually did get one with all of them looking at the camera, but I personally like this one the best.  You can see our little boy pushing his 2 1/2 year old cousin off of his seat.  His face is great!

Here we are sporting our Ethiopian attire on the Sunday Tegegn was baptized.

Tegegn couldn't get enough so he went back for more; therefore, he did not want to come back to Mommy or Daddy.  He wanted to be with Pastor Steve.  He let the entire church know this...

This past weekend we celebrated the upcoming marriage of Syd and Katie.  We had a nice time hanging out with them and some of our friends.  We are looking forward to their wedding!  It is right around the corner.

Here are a couple of pictures of our son.  He makes us smile.  

Tegegn LOVES finding the toilet paper in our downstairs bathroom.  I remember counting and he had 12 rolls out on the floor this time.

Not much has changed...Tegegn still slobbers and goes through atleast 5 bibs a day!

More to come....

How are your shoes holding up?

We got ours!

www.tomsshoes.com

Fun Times!

I haven't had a lot of time to blog recently due to my last class.  If I get on the computer, sometimes it is hard for me to stop.  Anyways, I tried posting this one other time and it didn't work.  How frustrating.  I know it is just a blog, but if I spend time on something, I would like it to work.  Oh well.  Here is my second attempt.

Tegegn loves riding in his backpack carrier....so much so it put him to sleep.  This happens to be one of my favorite pictures.

Grandma Ponsler brought over an Easter bowl full of Easter eggs for Tegegn.  He loved the surprises inside!

Our family Easter picture.  Tegegn was such a sport - it was a bit chilly, but he didn't seem to mind.

One of my favorite pictures of my boys.

On Saturday, I was able to go over the the Child's home for a little bit.  I spent a lot of my time over there when I was in high school.  We had a great time together!

Bill showing Tegegn the dog.

Tegegn loves Jennifer.  We always try to see her when she comes to Indiana from Tennessee.  We value the time we spend with her!

On Friday, we were able to get together with some friends that we have met through our Indy Ethiopian Adoption group.  We were fortunate to connect with Chris and Becky and their son, Husdson.  Hudson and Tegegn are only 3 days apart, so the are destined to be friends forever.  It is so great to get together with families that look like us.  The boys had a great time and so did we.  We were also able to catch up with Brad and Meagan.  We look forward to following their journey and meeting their new addition sooner than later!

Hudson, such a precious little boy.

Hudson did a great job sharing his toys with Tegegn.  He even let us borrow this toy so Tegegn could learn to walk.  Thanks Hudson!

Friends for life - Hudson and Tegegn.

Lots of Sunshine

Tegegn LOVES being outside and he is getting his fair share of the rays here in Florida.  This is the first time that he has been around sand and the ocean and he loves it...literally.

We have had a lot of messy diapers lately and this could be the culprit...SAND.  He loves to eat it.  Strange, I know, but he must be a kid!  

He loves his ice cream just like his mama.

Precious, innocent little boy.

One happy family sitting in one HUGE lawn chair.  The guy who makes them lives in Indiana...go figure.

A sweet picture of Tegegn and his Aunt Angie having some fun times together dancing with the Easter eggs.

Also, here is a shout out to my friends Tyler and Lisa for starting their own blog!  YAY!  I can keep up with you guys now....

Captiva Island - Spring Break 2009

This year we had the opportunity to join Chris's sister and her family on their family vacation to Captiva Island in Florida.  It is beautiful!  It has been a very relaxing week so far and we are looking forward to the rest of the week.  Here are a few pictures of our vacation so far.  I have tried to load more, but it keeps coming up as an error.  Maybe tomorrow...

Clayton, our nephew turned 16 on Saturday and we were able to celebrate with him!  

The sunset was beautiful on Saturday and Sunday.  Our God is so awesome and He must be a great artist.

Here is a picture of the whole gang.  From left to right....Chris, Gerry (Chris's mom), Riley (nephew), me, Mark (brother-in-law), Angie (Chris's sister), Clayton (nephew) and Tegegn in the stroller.

I am so ready for nice weather!  It makes such a difference.

Items to take to Ethiopia

There are several families traveling to Ethiopia real soon and I thought I would post a few items that we took that I am happy that we had while we were there.  

• Child Back Pack or Front Carrier (a must for the airport & carrying luggage)
• Flashlight (Lights go out in Addis a lot)
• Enough Kid Snacks (puffs, cheerios, mum-mums) to last the entire trip
• Pants (no one wears shorts)
• A few toys
• $20 US dollars per person for visa at airport
• Some diapers
• Wipes
• A couple bottles or sippy cups depending on age of child
• A camera
• Formula in case there is a shortage in Addis

I hope this helps!  We are praying for the Whipples and the Gutweins as they leave next week to pick up their boys!  I can remember the emotions and the anxiety we felt during this time before we left for Ethiopia.  We are so excited for the parents of these beautiful children and the future playmates of Tegegn!  

Not Slowing Down...

So, when we were talking before we went to Ethiopia, we wondered if we would slow down at all.  The answer is NOPE!  We always seem to be on the go and we are so glad that Tegegn doesn't mind at all.  He actually loves meeting new people and often has a hard time leaving.  He gets really sad.  Last weekend we went up north to visit our friends - The Bigelows.  We had a wonderful time together and we were happy that we were able to meet the newest addition to their family, Little Miss Audrey.  She is a beautiful baby.  She seems so tiny since we are so used to Tegegn.  It was fun catching up and exchanging what it is like now that we are parents!

The new mothers with their children - our first group picture.

A precious picture of Audrey

On Monday I started my last class at IUK - YIPEE!  I am so thankful that it is only an 8 week course.  It is a lot of group work, but it will be okay.  I have class on Monday's and Wednesdays.  

On Thursday, our niece Amy and her boyfriend, Brelin, came to visit us while they were on Spring Break.  We had an amazing time with them.  It means so much to me that they love our son and cherish the time they get to spend with him.  Tegegn loves them so much!

Tegegn showing Amy where his head.

Tegegn playing with Brelin.

On Friday, Chris hung out with some of his guy friends and I had the opportunity to go to Lafayette to meet up with some of our dear friends in out Ethiopian Adoption group.  This is the first time that they have met Tegegn.  It was amazing!  Since all of us are going through the same thing, we have such a deep connection and it feels like we have been friends for a long time.  Several of the couples have referrals, three couples passed court within the last week, some should be getting their referrals any day and others are working on their paperwork.  God has really blessed us with this group of friends.  They hold a special place in our hearts and I think it will be wonderful for Tegegn to know that other families are just like us.

Speaking of adoption, today we had Brad and Meagan over to our house.  I met Brad through work last November.  He works at Roche and we decided to set up an "exchange of ideas" to benefit both of our companies.  Little did we know at that time that our paths had crossed for a reason.  Brad emailed me while we were in Ethiopia and when I responded to him I apologized for the delay and told him that we were in Ethiopia picking up our son.  Brad emailed me back right away and told me that they just started the process to adopt from Ethiopia too!  We became instant friends and decided to get together when we settled in a bit.  We had a great time sharing our experience with them and we look forward to seeing them again in the future.  

After Brad and Meagan left, we decided to go to Greentown to walk and play on the playground.  We had a blast and Tegegn loved it.  He absolutely loves being outside.  What a great fit for our family!  We played on the equipment and pushed him in the jogging stroller.  What a great day!

Chris and Tegegn walking the balance beam.

Tegegn loved the swing.  He was talking up a storm.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of our little guy.  We both decided to pick up a new hobby.  We are really loving photography these days.  

Tegegn was so tired at the end of the day.  Isn't he precious?  

He love his bunny.  This is his comfort.  He has had it next to his side when he sleeps every night since we met him in December.  

Having some Ponsler FUN

We have really enjoyed being parents!  Tegegn has brought us a lot of joy and we want to share some pictures with you.  We celebrated my birthday yesterday with pizza and ice cream and it was a big hit!  Tegegn loved the pizza.  He is just like his momma. 

Another favorite family portrait...

Having some fun playing in the evening before bath time...

Just chilling on a Saturday morning with mommy and daddy...

"Look at me, I'm standing!" (this only lasts for about a second)...

You gotta love cardboard boxes...

Bath time, bath time, bath time....our famous chant at 7:15...

He was caught riding dirty....

Oops...he was caught riding dirty again!

We hope you have a great week!