1st Gotcha Day

We are so excited to be celebrating 1 year of having our sweet girl in our arms. We have been blessed with one amazing little girl, & most days I can't believe she's ours yet I feel like she's been with us forever. Sweet OE reminds me of so many things related to God's love for me, lessons in life, & being a mom. When I see the strength in her eyes, I am reminded that NO MATTER what we face, HE is with us & will strengthen us & allow us to soar like eagles, above our circumstances & to a place where we can rest in His arms! I think of all she has overcome & how everything (good, sad, unfair....EVERYTHING) has helped her become the girl she is today & the woman she will become. I know that God has huge plans for Miss OE. He has already changed my heart & effected the hearts of so many others. I can never say to her, "Life's not fair", because she has lived it! She knows that life, this world, & reality just plain stink sometimes, but she doesn't harbor resentment. She "puts on her big girl panties" (thanks, Cayla for that phrase) and moves on with life. She knows that God did not bring her through her circumstances to have her complain & use them as a crutch but to use them for His purpose. As she has been experiencing the arrival of her Ethiopian cousin to America, her little world has been rocked once again (that story is for another post, at another time). However, the thought process she has shared with me absolutely blows me away. She wants so badly to be with her cousin & "run to her & hug her", but she seems to understand that we are waiting on God's timing. She has shed plenty of tears this weekend, but she has come through them with an amazing peace (& I know that could only be accomplished through God's hand on her heart). She has more wisdom & faith than many grown adults. My prayer is that she will ALWAYS remember where she has come from & WHO carried her all along the way, how God always does work for the good of those who love Him. I am forever grateful to her Ethiopian family for giving her a fresh hope & future in our family. I pray that I can have the same strength & trust in God's provision & care for His children as they have shown. I thank God everyday for Him moving in their hearts & guiding them to Hannah's Hope, the place where we were united with our daughter forever. I am thankful for the amazing people at the orphanage who loved her, held her, & cared for her until we could become her family. We love you, Princess! Happy 1st Gotcha Day! One year down, forever to go!

"ForI know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, "plans to prosper

you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future".

Jeremiah 29:11

My New Normal

We have been home with our precious princess for 11 months, and I can only now say that I feel like life is "normal" again. Whoever said that after you go from 2 kids to 3 kids, adding more is "nothing"....poot! Adding another child to our mix & allowing for family dynamics to work themselves out, has been a LONG process. Don't get me wrong....our princess is amazing & she has adjusted amazingly well! The past 11 months haven't been BAD...I've just felt completely & totally out of control (& I like to be in control...he, he). This summer has been so good for our family. We have had everyday to be together...all day long! We have laughed together, cried together, yelled at one another, & learned so much more about being a family of 6! Life is good. My RA also seems to be going back into remission & that is a huge blessing! I love it when I am able to give 100% to being a mom & not have to wonder if today will be a "bad day" for my body. All in all, I feel like we have finally adjusted! Whew! What a year, but I wouldn't trade a minute of it! I know that it is only because of Jesus that we have reached this point. He is SO good to us & we are so thankful to be His children!

DC Fun

We just came home from a great trip to our nation's captiol! Nate Dogg's brother & sister-in-law live outside of the city, so we made a road trip up to visit them & experience the city. On the way up, we stopped to reunite the princess with one of her orphanage buddies. This was probably the highlight of the trip for me...words can't describe how amazing it is to see these kids, who used to play together & probably cry together, now on the other side of the world thriving in their forever families! I also loved getting to meet his mom, my blog buddy, in person. The bonds we form on the adoption journey are indescribable!

We also had a great time hanging out with our family. I'm sure the hurricane totally overwhelmed them & wore them out, but it was great to be with them!

The kids loved doing the city! Their favorite part was riding the subway! It was a little nerveracking trying to keep up with them, but we managed. Here they are all "tat"d up with names & phone numbers in case they get lost, and pictures from our fun times in the city.

First Fouth

We had so much fun celebrating the princess' first 4th of July. We had to spread the celebrating out across 4 days to squeeze in all the fun!


Cook-out with my childhood friends' families...

All decorated & ready for our neighborhood's annual "bicycle parade". So fun!

Enjoying the downtown fireworks with our good friends...

Hanging out with our college friends & their families (12 kiddos between the three families...10 of which are ages 7 & under). Crazy fun!

Splish Splash

Last week, my friend was house sitting at a house with a pool, so me and the kids spent TONS of time over there. They had the coolest slide that entertained the kids forever. My friend & I even joined in on the sliding. It was such a hoot! We are having the BEST SUMMER!

Roller Skating

One hot, Sunday afternoon we decided to head to the Roller Skating Rink to take the kids skating for the first time. It was the weekend after Michael Jackson died, so it was a fitting memorial for me since most of my childhood memories of skating in the 80's include "Thriller" & "Beat It" (they even played those songs as we skated that day). It was hilarious & SUCH A GOOD WORKOUT! We laughed so hard & were thankful to leave with no broken bones!

Princess Update

It has been way too long since I sat down & did a blog update on the princess. She is still doing "fantabulous"!

The biggest progress we've made lately is that she's come around to seemingly love Ethiopia. I know this is a process with many different phases, but for now she seems proud of her heritage. When the boys & I use to talk about wanting to go on a trip to Ethiopia, she would usually put her hand on her hip & say, "You go to Ethiopia. I'm staying in America.". Even though she know this is her home & a trip there would only be for a visit, she had no desire to revisit her former life. It broke my heart, but I reminded myself that she LIVED in Ethiopia...she knows the hopelessness & difficulty that Ethiopians live with on a day to day basis. Over the past couple of weeks, this has changed. This morning, she even said something like, "Momma, when we go back to Ethiopia. Maybe you'll be able to roll your R's" (my tongue just doesn't work like that & she was trying to teach me how to do it). Last week, when I was on cafepress.com ordering a new Ethiopia sticker for my vehicle, she started looking at the Ethiopia t-shirts & found several she wanted me to buy for her. So, for now, she is very proud to be Ethiopian & I pray that she will continue to love her homeland & that love will lead her to want to help & serve her people.

As for her school, she completed Kindergarten with flying colors. She is still "behind", but since English was her biggest deficet & she made amazing progress even after starting the school year late, we are proceeding with 1st grade. As for her English, her biggest challenge is with saying "he"...she always uses "she" whether she's referring to a male or female. Other than that her vocabulary is expanding daily & it's so fun to watch her continue to flourish. We have been doing some "school stuff" at home this summer, because she didn't qualify for any type of summer school...which we were thankful for as we felt she needed her first summer in America to be full of kiddie-style play & learning through play. Boogle, Jr. is my new favorite trick for getting her to work on "school stuff" while still having fun. For now, she's learning all about things such as bikinis (which she wants to wear, but we compromise with a tankini), lightning bugs and june bugs, fireworks and sparklers, etc.

Life is good & we are so thankful to be spending our first summer together as a family. God has blessed us beyond immagination.