The Uecker men ( sorry D about your crazy eye photo being posted tee hee)
And the Uecker ladies
and Nate being excited about all this photo taking !!!!
latest musings June 28, 2007
Gosh it seems that we write once a month these days and in a month of infants loads seem to change!!! The twins are growing bigger and bigger (especially Samaya – she has a buddha belly now!!)
We took our first big road trip to Portland for Memorial day to visit some of the cousins. The kids did fantastic in the car (they slept the whole way 
)and loved seeing their Marmie and Papa Tim again and meeting all their cousins. They loved staring at them and having cuddle time.
Then since we have been back home this month we have been keeping ourselves busy by joining loads of clubs!! We are now in a Twins group which is great for information on logistics of twins and fun to see them all together, we are in an new adopted parents group which I love, our good ole Ethiopian adoption group, Gymboree and we start swimming next week!!!! Sounds busy I know but actually all the activities are spread out over the month so it is always a nice break in our weeks. We also visit Cam at work every week which both the kids and I love. They are always amazed to see Dad in the middle of the day and they can’t quite figure out why he is there and not at home
The kids are hitting milestone upon milestone. They both sit up like champs, Samaya sometimes gets into crawling position but it is usually to reach for a toy to steal from her brother. They both love to babble and say Dad dad dad, ra ra ra, na na na and all those fun combinations. They really have started interacting with each other a lot more too. Samaya thinks Nathanael is hilarious and laughs at him whenever they are near. Nathanael has learn’t to clap and loves to do it over and over but his hands don’t quite make the sound yet so he usually picks up a book and bangs that to make the clapping sound tee hee. Nathanael also loves to sing! If you know me I’m not a singer in public but in the car with just me and the kids I am now known to belt out a tune and Nate loves to sing along! At first I thought it was coincidence but now I have noticed that whenever the radio is up and I am singing he tends to go “ohhh aw ohhhhh” It always makes me laugh.
Our other big adventure has being attempting to have the kids sleep through the night!!! Before we decided to do this we have been getting up 12- 16 times a night with them hence for the last 2 months sleep has been at a minimum for both them and us. Finally we decided it was time. Samaya has been known to get a little mad at times bang things and cry till she throws up, so we were sure we were going to be up for a little of that action. We prepared ourselves with me sleeping in the kitchen (it’s the furtherest room away) with ear plugs and Cam in the front room. But alas on the first time they woke a couple of times and cried for maybe 5 minutes, then the second night they cried twice for 5 minutes and now they sleep through the night grea. All that preparation and they ended up doing so awesome. We are so proud of them!
Visitors and Nursery May 19, 2007
This week Marti (Marmie is her name that the kids will call her) came to visit and give us a hand. The kids loved having her here and being spoilt by them and I loved having her here for support, advice and extra pair of hands to hold and hug babies.
Papa Tim was also here for 2 days and the kids love to hear him say “Kitty kitty kitty”. There seems to be a perfect way that he says it that they are enthralled by it!!! 
I have forgotten to show you all the kids semi nursery ( they sleep in our room but their change table and stuff is in here)
It worked out great actually and was so fun designing!
Mothers Day May 19, 2007
So I had my 1st Mothers Day and it was perfect. I got to have a sleep in (YAY thanks Cam) and was greeted with 2 happy babies, an awesome card, breakfast and flowers!
I can’t believe that I am a mum. It is such an amazing, humbling, exciting adventure and I look forward to learning new stuff and becoming the parent that I view in my head tee hee. For now we just hang out and go with the flow 
So much to catch up on! May 19, 2007
Hi everyone!
Wow, it seems like so much is happening and going on and we hardly have enough time to keep this blog updated. But here is a quick one to give you the highlights, and what we all come for, the pictures!
Nate and Sam are going great. They are sitting up more and more each day, finding their unique voices and every day do something to make us laugh out loud and smile. We’re starting to feel like we’re getting to really know them, know their rhythms, their personalities, their need and individual wants. All that is to say we are all feeling more like a family. Sometimes at 4am I just look at Nate or Samaya (whoever is up at the time) and it just hits me, “we are a family!” It’s amazing.
I am back at work and Min is getting into the schedule of taking care of two babies full-time! Quite a change, but then not a huge leap since at her work she’d take care of multiple sick babies at once. So she’s a pro and doing awesome. It was so hard for me to leave to go to work. It still is. They came to visit me at work on Wednesday and everyone here at the office was so blown away by how cute they are. So that was fun. And true to form they put on their best social faces and really impress the crowd!
They’ve really been making the rounds as Min was to take them into both hospitals she’s worked at since we’ve started the adoption and then they were at my work, so it’s been a busy week for everyone. But all is well, they are putting on weight and babbling and as active as ever.
Thanks for all your prayers and support, we love it! Take care, feel free to drop us a line and we’ll talk to you soon.
Cam
Back, with kids! April 28, 2007
Hey everyone,
We’re back from Ethiopia and our newest Uecker’s, Nathaneal Mihiretu and Samaya Mihiret are settling in nicely. Sure, sleep is not exactly ours in abundance anymore, but really for the huge changes they’ve gone through they are doing great. We’re quickly trying to figure out a routine for them and it’s coming together and we’re having fun playing and walking the neighborhood with them. They’re a huge hit every place we go.
Ethiopia was amazing. We were with a group of about 8 families adopting as well and we really had a great group of people. We even made friends with two of the nannies at the care center that looked after Nathaneal and Samaya. They would teach us words in Amharic to say to the kids and we’d help them by picking up babies who were crying while they fed the others. There were 12 babies in the room with Nate and Sam, so the nannies had their hands full. But the level of care throughout the center was amazing. The entire staff there was absolutely fantastic. They all love the children so much and know each of them by name.
The trip home was an adventure to say the least. Topped off by having to evacuate our Holiday Inn at Heathrow in London because of a fire! Quite a feat with two kids and nothing packed. Good times!
Anyway here are pics of the kids! Lots of love to you all.
Cam
We’re in Addis! April 12, 2007
A few plane trips later and here we are! We arrived at about 3 am and were met by Dirige who got us into a van and humoured us as we practiced some basic Ahmaric. The guest house we’re currently in is ok and today we’re looking forward to seeing the new guesthouse and potentially, hopefully our kids!!
Still trying to adjust after the flights and we hope to write more in the coming days. Til then!
Cam
Crying – is it hormones? April 6, 2007
People say in the 9th month of pregnancy your hormones take over and you end up being a bit emotional – so my question is does this apply to adoption too because it is sure happening to me?
A normal erand to return some stuff to Target sees it result in me standing in the returns line crying actually sobbing to the register girl as I try to explain I DO have a receipt and that I should be able to return this. Now I’m not much of a crier, especially in a store but I couldn’t stop myself sobbing. I even thought I look like a lunatic as I try to explain that our twins will be here any day now and I need to get this done. I’m sure the returns girl was thinking “honey your not pregnant and why are you crying so much”.
So I retreated to my car and continued to cry and cry seemingly for no real reason. And the incidences continue, I can’t find the top I want to wear – I cry, our car needs some more maitenance – I cry, my lovely awesome husband is 5 mins late picking me up – I cry aghhhhhh.
So I laugh and tell myself there is so many emotions that I am overwhelmed. But I know my crying days are only just starting. I can only imagine what I will be like when I see and hold our babies for the first time. Maybe I should just buy stocks in Kleenex!!!!
Baby Showers April 6, 2007
So long ago someone invented baby showers. A great chance for “women” to hang out, share baby stories and of course check out the cutest baby clothes.
Well this week we were blessed with 2 such awesome events. 1stly my work got together and threw us an amazing shower. There was the cutest cake (the babies on it where white (only b/c of the bakery) so we dipped them in chocolate! I love chocolate:) ) and amazing gifts! We had the shower during work due to the fact that we got a travel date the weekend we scheduled the original shower!! So amongst the afternoon patients we had a big party. It was so fun and great to have all the girls together and the docs too! We were SO blessed We were glad that we had just bought the Subaru to help take the stuff home.
Then on the weekend we went to Portland to an amazing shower hosted by my MIL. But this one inclueded the boys too. It was offically called “Babies and Bottles” (which included beer )It was SO cute. She did the sweetest decorations. My FIL was awesome and even put together some hilarious games. ( I love a good game!). Our friends from Spokane made the big drive from Spokane (7hours!) to be there with us which was so sweet. We were blessed again so much by people’s graciousness and generosity.
We feel so blessed by everyone and so excited. We can’t wait to dress the kids in all their new clothes and play with all the great toys !
Update on the twins weight March 30, 2007
Today we got 2 very cool updates. Not only did we get their weights – Meheret is now 3.8kg (8.4lbs) – 57cm long and Meheretu is 4.5kg (9.9lbs) and 57.5cm but we also got their developmental milestone updates. Both the babies are babbling, laughing during play, responding to their names, have head control when sitting and a bunch of other stuff.
We spent the day imagining what their voices are like and can’t wait to see their smiles or hear their laughs! They are still little of course at 5 months for Western babies but they are growing and gaining, which in Ethiopia is the main deal and we shall beef them up big time when they get home tee hee. We are in the process of choosing formula ( we know nothing about bottle feeding – it shall be kind of funny) and learning about solids for them.
Today feels like we are SO close. Just 1/12 weeks. We both feel a bit ansy like and want to go now but its not too long ( at least that what we keep telling ourselves:) )
