Lil' A and Baby T

Can I just first say how beautiful our kiddos are?!?!?! We are in LOVE!!! Ever since I was a little girl I wondered if when I first saw my children if I would think they are cute or if I would think "I'm gonna need to grow into this?" Crazy, I know, but it's just what I thought. Alas, I thought they were both GORGEOUS the moment I laid eyes on them. I couldn't get over their eyes and lips and hair...every part of their bodies melted me. I've looked at their pictures obsessively and each time I'm in awe at their beauty - external and inner.

ANSWERED PRAYERS ::

• It's amazing because all along, our biggest prayer has been for boy under 3, girl under 1. God answered!!!!! We were open to a LOT of other combinations, but God knew our heart and chose who was best for us to parent. We are overwhelmed at how God's attentive to the details of our heart.
• Our 2 kiddos are in the same orphanage - they didn't have to be, but they are. And it seems that they are in the same orphanage as my blog friends' 2 little ones who submitted their dossier on the same day!!!
  
• They are from the same region of Ethiopia.
  
• Remember how I asked you all to pray for our referral by our anniversary [August 5th] or my birthday [August 9th]? Well, all the pictures we have of them are taken during that window.

God knows and remembers...

LITTLE BOY A :: We saw his pictures first. We have 13 pictures of him, including a picture of him with his birth mom. He has enormous, almond shaped eyes. Luscious full lips. His 2 front teeth remind me of Chiclets. He looks peaceful, shy, and sweet. There are a couple pictures where he has shoes on his feet and he looks a little off-kilter wearing shoes for the first time in his life. His skin is like coffee with creamer! Soooooo cute! He'll be a heart-breaker. We ooooh-ed and ahhh-ed forever looking at his pictures for the first time.

BABY GIRL T :: Next, we opened the pictures of her, and I think that's when I lost it again. We have 6 pictures of her from every angle, mainly just in her diaper. I was so overwhelmed looking at Little A that I finally tipped over when I saw her pictures. She is long and chubby and all kinds of adorable. Her lips are to DIE FOR. The first thing I said to Brian about her is that "I want to suck her lips off - they are so beautiful!" Brian thought I was crazy! She is perfectly in track on the growth chart and developmentally - miraculous. She has chubs all over her little body. Her eyes are gigantic [they look like Brian's, according to my mom], very bright and alert. Her hair looks silky and oh-so curly. She's holding herself up on her tummy. She looks strong and is looking straight at the camera in every picture. Her skin is almost exactly the same coffee color as Little Boy A's. Seriously, she's drop dead gorgeous!

THEIR NAMES: Until our adoption is official - after our 1st trip to Ethiopia - we are going to call them by their birth name. WHY? 2 reasons:

• We want to do so as a way to honor their birth mother and the reason she named them what she did. We are still strongly considering keeping their birth names as a middle name. Their birth names are filled with meaning!
  
• We will not rename them until they are legally ours. We have had Amharic/Ethiopian names picked out for them for a year, and want to protect those names in case our referral would fall through [Dear God - I hope not!!!!!].
  

PRIVACY IN THEIR STORIES: We are not sharing either of their stories at this point. It's too personal and tender, especially at this point in the process. I already feel a tremendous amount of protectiveness about their little lives and stories. This week I've simply found myself praying for their spirit and those they left behind.

Even as I write about them, there are tears. I can't believe that I get to be their momma, God willing. Please be praying for their continued development, health, that our process continues smoothly and without delay, and that they get to come home before the end of 2010.

AGAIN, please comment here so we can savor your words with our kiddos in the months to come!

**More posts to come this weekend about the day we got the call and what next steps are in front of us, including a time line and prayer requests...