Our Sweet Babies!

Lions and Tigers and Snakes?....OH MY!

So, here's the latest fun news for the neighborhood...



Our neighbors' 7 foot python got away this afternoon....and he's HUNGRY.



I'm thinking....great! And I have 3 small children! They thought he crawled under our shed, so they dug under there and got a hold on him, but he got away. So, now he is roaming the neighborhood! They don't have a lot of hope to find him because they think he will "keep moving around looking for wamth." GREAT. All I can say is that I am planning on keeping my house as cold as possible! Seriously. Could this place be more crazy? And to make things even better, they consoled themselves with the fact that they could always get another one!



I have these secret fears of it somehow making it into our house. Yuck. Have I mentioned, I DON'T LIKE SNAKES?!



So, we've had parasites, scabies, ear infections, colds, giardia, and now....snakes? Oh, dear, what's next?!


Sleeping well tonight?
Jill

Turning the Corner?

Could it be we are turning the corner on the sibling rivalry? It seems like it is getting better. Well, at least we are having a pretty good day. I am going to claim this one as a victory!

I am sure Eliana has felt overwhelmed....like her every single space has been invaded. It HAS been pretty crazy around here. But as we settle in and get to know each other better, I am beginning to see some really fun moments of interaction between them.

Today it was Eliana and Zahara....dressing up in clothes and sunglasses and laughing at each other. And Eliana sharing her snack (willingly and independently) with Calvin. And then it was Calvin playing peek-a-boo with us and Eliana laughing really hard. Those are fun moments, and they make all the hard moments so worth it.

Love, Jill

Oh the Mysterious Rash!

So, since we have been home we have been dealing with various issues common to international adoption. I affectionately refer to those things as "boogies and cooties"! We got home on a Sunday at 6pm and then we had to drag our jetlagged bodies to the Dr on Monday at 2.

We found out that Calvin had an ear infection and that Zahara had a nasty cold. Plus there was the mysterious rash on Zahara that popped up the week before we got her. So, they sent us home with antibiotics, creams, and specimin jars. Need I say more?

I am happy to say that the kiddoes are overwhelmingly VERY healthy. Calvin is all better, the cold is ancient history, but we are still dealing with the mysterious rash. The Dr. initially thought it might be scabies. So, we went through a funny ritual that Monday night we came home. Everyone got baths, then the cream from head to toe, then on with jammies and socks over the hands so the cream wouldn't get in mouths. Then in the morning, off with all the jammies and into the bath again. Then wash ALL the linens, and vacuum EVERYTHING! Then, repeat AGAIN a week later! It is a good thing Tony and I work well as a team. So, the result?...

The mysterious rash is STILL with us! AARRRRGH! I took Zahara back to the doctor today and we got a whole new set of medicines and instructions. I am sure hoping that it works this time. Poor baby. So, if you think of it, send up a prayer for little "Zaza" (as I like to call her). The rash hasn't spread to anyone else, so at least we have that going for us!

I know that "THIS TOO SHALL PASS". And one of these days it will all be ancient history!

Love,
Tony, Jill, Eliana, Calvin, and dear little rashy Zahara!

Happy Birthday to you....You live in a zoo...

Well, it DOES feel like a zoo around here sometimes, but mostly in a very good way. We are having a lot of crazy fun here in the Geselle house! And today we were happy to celebrate the first birthday of the very newest members of our family. Calvin and Zahara turned 1 year old today!

I think Eliana was more pumped up and excited than anyone. She kept skipping around the house talking about presents and "happy cake" (her name for birthday cake). Since it was going to just be the 5 of us I kept it kinda low key. I made some cupcakes and a very small round cake that said "Happy First Birthday". We sang to them and let them each dig into a cupcake. It was so fun watching them. Calvin was tenative at first (he had just woken up from a nap), but Zahara dug right in! She had two fistfulls and kept shoving it in as fast as she could. Calvin wasn't too far behind and he soon had a face completely covered with blue frosting.

We feel so blessed to have celebrated their first birthday with them and to have these 2 special rays of sunshine in our lives. God is so good.

Love,
Tony, Jill, Eliana, Calvin and Zahara Geselle

"Getting to Know You....Getting to Know All About You..."

We are home, and now begins the fun of getting to know each other all over again. Before we left it seemed like things were in a groove. It was Tony, Jill and Eliana. The three amigos who knew each other inside and out. Now we've added to the mix our two new little cuties, and BOY....have things changed!

Eliana is in big sister mode in all possible ways. It is fun to see how excited she is to see the babies every morning and when they get up from their naps. It is so cute how they look at each other and laugh and entertain one another. It is neat to see how they get such a kick out of each other. It makes me see that having three kids so close in age is going to be a great thing. Not easy....but SO worth it! I remind myself of that when there is much crying, pushing, toy stealing, and tantrums going on! :)

As another news flash, we have FINALLY chosen names.

Tesfahun is now:
Calvin Tesfahun Anthony Geselle



We realize that this is a LOOONG name, but it all has a reason. We named him Calvin because he looks like a Calvin, but also because that was the first name of a missionary, Calvin Olson, who did amazing things for God in Bangladesh. I admired him and his wife SO much as a kid. It is our prayer and desire that Calvin would grow up to be a man of God like that. Tesfahun means, "be my hope" and it is his Ethiopian name, so it gets the place of honor. Next is Anthony, for Tony. In Tony's family, the boys always take their father's first name as their middle name. So, the tradition continues!

Zenete is now:
Zahara Zenete Geselle

Zahara is an Ethiopian/arabic name that means "beautiful flower". We though it fit. You say it like the Sahara desert....with all long a's. Zenete is her Ethiopian name which means, "proud". I guess we are proud of our beautiful flower!

We will try to keep updating you all on how things are going.
Love,
The Geselle 5

We are FINALLY Home!

Well everyone! It is MISSION ACCOMPLISHED and we finally made it home with our babies. It was a loooooooong trip (over 30 hours!), but the kids were champs and even slept for us quite a bit. I won't say it was fun, but it was better than I thought it would be. It seemed that God sent us Angels along the way to help out here and there.

It was so fun to see Eliana and everyone else at the airport to meet us. Eliana was in BIG SISTER mode....kissing the babies and wanting to help with bottles. It was a little crazy and emotional with 2 very tired babies and a 2 year old that hadn't seen her parents in 10 days, but somehow we found enough hands to hold everyone AND the bags and make it home!

We took the twins to their first doctor appointment and came home with antibiotics and creams galore! And tonight it was baths for everyone....medicine and then off to bed. It was like a crazy circus in our house, but we made it! 2 babies sleeping and one toddler on her way really soon.

God is good. And we just keep reminding ourselves that at some point we will feel like normal, sane human beings again!!!

Thanks for the love and prayers,
Tony, Jill, Eliana and babies!!!

Home Sweet Home....ALMOST!

One final entry before we leave for the airport. It is 4pm and we will be leaving in 3 hours. The babies are taking their final nap in their Ethiopian homeland, and then it is off to America via a VERY long plane ride.

We are very glad to be coming home since it will be SO nice to see you all...well, at least some of you :( Wishing all our family could be there. But we will be so happy even to talk to you on the phone! We are anxious to be back in our home environment where we don't have to worry about contaminated water, questionable poopy diapers, etc. We are thankful that, for the most part, we have remained healthy. Tony is not feeling well today, however, and I hope it doesn't last for the trip. We will need both of us feeling well for the way home. Zenete was found to have a stomach parasite 2 days ago, so we are dealing with that....medicine is on board, and Tesfahun seems to be fine. I am exhausted, but not feeling sick yet. Tony is napping along with the babies and hopefully that will help him.

Most of the other families that traveled with us left last night, so we have had a quiet day around here. We spent the day playing with the babies and getting to know them better. It seems that Tesfahun is our champion sleeper. He takes awhile to get to sleep, but then he sleeps all night long. Zenete on the other hand, is our fusser. I think she is a little spoiled because all she wants is to be held. So, she wakes up multiple times during the night and doesn't do a good job putting herself back down. Thus the lack of sleep. Tony put her on notice that when we get home there will be 3 babies and she's gonna have to learn to sleep on her own! :) They are both really cute, though.

We are missing Eliana like CRAZY! I wish I could see her right now! I am looking forward to the day when all this is just a distant memory and we all feel like a family. I think I mentioned to Tony several times this week that adoption really isn't for the faint of heart. I think we are so grateful to God for His faithfulness, and SO ready to be home and done with all this!

We want to thank you all for the e-mails. We have enjoyed every one. Thanks also for those who send pics of Eliana. We were SO happy to get them.

Love you all and we hope to see or speak with you soon.
Tony, Jill, Tesfahun and Zenete

(No, we STILL haven't picked names!)