Preacher's Kid

I recently got the wonderful opportunity to baptize my own child -- Tarik. It was moving to say the least. But, apparently, it was not moving to everyone in the congregation. As I explained what our baptism represents, Adeline felt that my exposition needed some pizazz; so she posed for the camera through much of my explanation...

Happy Birthday!

Today was Tarik's birthday. It is just so amazing how quickly kids grow up. It feels like we have only had her for a month and here she is already turning a year old! ...hee, hee.

We had a wonderful, low-key day. Our little Dunn family tradition on birthdays is to wake up and open presents in bed. The girls got her the toy pictured below, Lee Ann got her a polka dot outfit (she gets one for every girl on her birthday), and I guess that leaves me giving her the only other present left -- a couple of sippy cups. Later we got to spend some time with my (Reed's) parents and then it was the birthday cake after dinner (and especially right before bath time). Here are some pictures...

The Real Mater

Since moving to Joplin, we have always heard that this area was the inspiration for the movie Cars. Of course, Joplin is on Route 66 and I am sure the Pixar folks did their research so it would not surprise me if they had used real places for their inspiration. I had always been a bit skeptical of this until I saw the movie for the hundredth time and heard Mater refer to the "Ghost Light." Well, Joplin is known to every mystery seeker as the home of the Spook Light. So they did use Joplin for at least some inspiration. But today we saw real proof!

Some friends told us that in Galena, KS (a couple of miles from Joplin) is the "Real Mater." Today we went driving around looking for him and this is what we found...

Just in case you think that they just dressed up an old truck to look like Mater, this neon sign is hanging in the window of the building. It certainly seems to predate the movie (or they would have been more accurate!)...
That was not the only thing we saw at the old gas station that might have given the Pixar folks a spark of inspiration...

In keeping with the general feel of Radiator Springs, you would never know that this was here. It is completely un-marketed and just sitting on Rt 66, which is now a side street, in a nothing town in the farthest corner of Southeast Kansas.

Getting Ready For Spring

A "Funny" New Development

I feel like we have witnessed an incredible phenomenon... Tarik is becoming ticklish! We noticed from the first day she was with us that we could not tickle her. But, over the last two days, she has become ticklish. On a related note, we have noticed that she is beginning to laugh a whole lot more. She has always been extremely playful (maybe more than our other girls were at that age), but she has not been much for laughing... until these recent days.

Lord only knows what all goes into a little child laughing and being ticklish, but whatever it is it is happening to Tarik. That sure seems like a big milestone. It just reminds us that the road "home" is a journey and Tarik is slowly settling into our life.

The Girly Swirls

Finally got a good pic of all the girls.
If Tarik looks terrified, well, you would too - she gets more love than she really knows what to do with.

GETTING SETTLED

We are a week into life with three little girls. Just wanted to update everyone on how it is going. Tarik is still just as fun-loving and sweet as she has always been. She still sleeps really poorly, or not at all, from about 4 am on -- this is not so sweet. She has had a myriad of "firsts" that we tend to take for granted. She was captivated the other day, watching kids playing catch with a football. Her interest made us think she has probably never seen such a thing. She has enjoyed some Baby Einstein videos (actually, we all have - I forgot how soothing they are in weird way). Two weeks ago she had never tasted solid food, now that is all she wants to eat.

She and her sisters could not be doing better. Jennalee and Adeline adore her and there has not been the least bit of rivalry or competition for Momma's affections. Just as we had hoped, Tarik gets a kick out of just watching her sisters. Often, when we are walking somewhere, Adeline will start goofing off and Tarik will laugh and laugh. We have also reached out to the older girls in some special ways as well -- this week I took Jennalee on a Daddy date and Adeline got to go on a Momma date.


One thing we are learning is that we are having to earn Tarik's trust. She definitely loves us and looks to us for things, but it seems apparent that she doesn't always trust that we'll provide for her. She will sometimes throw an immediate fit to get what she wants/needs -- not like a two-year old tantrum, more like between bites of food. Every now and then she'll wake up in a kind of panic and the fear in her cry is palpable. By watching her you can just tell she has been in a place where she had to fight for what she got. No matter how good the orphanage, the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and it is actually a good thing that she engages enough to "squeak". But, all that to say, we do feel like it will take time for her to realize we will always be here for her, that we aren't going anywhere, and that she can trust us to provide for her needs.

On an annoying/angering note, we did get our first questionable comment the other day when a man referred to her as an "Obama baby." Maybe it was racial, or maybe he thought Tarik would raise taxes -- either way, it was the first in what will be a life time of dealing with peoples' poor judgment.

Sorry to not post more pictures but we really haven't taken many. We are really tired. We did not get a newborn that lays around like a pet turtle... we got a full blown one-year old that is into everything, loud, curious, busy, etc. These are really fun times, but they are also pretty tiring.

FAMILY PHOTO

Of course, there will be hundreds of family pictures from here on out, but there is nothing more special than the first... here it is.

If you are curious...

• Very typically, we are at Starbucks. When we spoke with the kids on our trip, one thing they really wanted to do while they were homesick was go to Starbucks, so that was our first family outing.
• Also, very typically, Adeline didn't want her picture taken and is therefore crying.
• Tarik, like the rest of us, is curious what is making Adeline so upset.
• Lastly, Jennalee is wearing a traditional Ethiopian dress (over her PJ's) and is wearing the accompanying scarf as a head-covering (hopefully not as a hijab).
  

HOME!

39 hours after leaving Addis Ababa we are finally HOME!!!!

For the first time since discovering who Tarik is, we are now all together as a whole family. The girls LOVE Tarik and Tarik seems to love them back. We have slept maybe 10 hours out of the last 50 or 60 so we'll post pictures later.

Thanks for your interest, prayers, etc. And thank your, Lord, for getting us all home safely.