The Last Night As 4

Shea and I were sitting around tonight, absent mindedly throwing a toy for Oskar, when we realized that tonight is our last night as a family of 4 (yes, we consider our pets to be family members!). Tomorrow we are driving up to New York to drop off Oskar and Sophie with my mom, who has very, very, VERY generously agreed to watch our babes while we are in Ethiopia. It's kind of a bittersweet feeling, but with much more emphasis on the sweet. We will never again just sit around with our animals - we get to add one very special boy to the mix. We have big hopes that everyone will get along in this new family configuration, but we suspect that it might be a big adjustment period for everyone - especially for Oskar, who is certainly used to be top dog (pun intended).

In other news, packing is going well. We have 2-1/2 suitcases full and a pretty good idea of what will be filling up the rest. Thanks to many generous gifts and a bit too much shopping on our part, Truman has one very cute wardrobe coming his way, with many animals and dinosaurs included! This weekend we went to Ikea and purchased a very nice dresser for his room, and it is already almost full with clothes ranging from size 6 months to 24 months (we're trying to plan a bit ahead since we know he'll grow out of the small sizes very soon). We've also been working hard on cleaning up his nursery. I think we're almost there - we'll post a picture when it's presentable :-)

Oh, we almost forgot to mention, while in Charlotte this weekend we went to an Ethiopian restaurant. It was our first experience with Ethiopian food and I think we were both a little nervous. I mean, what if we hated it? We're going to be "stuck" with this stuff for about a month, so it was a little nerve-wracking. Luckily, we both very much enjoyed our meal! For those who have never had the pleasure of eating traditional Ethiopian food, it is served on a sour, spongy, pancake-like bread called Injera. To be more specific, they bring you out a large plate with the Injera covering it, and then plopped all around are different dishes. We ordered a vegetarian sampler and doro wot, which is a chicken stew. Then, on the side, we were given more Injera. It is customary to tear pieces of Injera off and use them to scoop up food - no silverware required! The Injera is a very strong flavor, unlike any we've ever tasted. It's made from a special grain unique to Ethiopia. The spices in the stews are meant to counteract the sourness (though to an American palate the sour flavor was still very powerful!) We absolutely loved the different vegetarian dishes - especially the lentils and chickpeas. And the sauce that the chicken was in was delicious! We will definitely be ordering some doro wot in Ethiopia! Oh, by the way, did I forget to mention that we will be leaving for Ethiopia in just 6 days??? :-)