Good Night Sweetheart

My kids are creative sleepers. We quietly tiptoe into their room every night before we go to sleep to check on them and cover them one more time before Brian and I go to sleep. Most nights we choke back chuckles at the positions we find them in.

Here's some pictures we've been accumulating...ENJOY!

That chubby hand...those lips!

She's oh-so flexible

Stuffed animals everywhere!

When Judah was sleeping in our room in the pack-n-play. That's gonna hurt in the morning!

Free as a bird

My bald boy testing the sturdiness of his toddler rail. Stuffed animals strewn everywhere!

How he got his lion on his back I'll never understand.

Huggin' the leopard and hurtin' the breathing!

Wide open! Sleeping in the exact opposite end of the crib she started in.

Going for a run with daddy is very boring

Little Things I Want to Remember: Judah.

We've been a forever family for over 9 months and our kids are cuter than ever. Since I don't keep a baby book for either kid, this is my version of capturing the moments and milestones of our Judah Abebayehu.

Here are some of my most favorite things about Judah's exploding personhood...

JUDAH ABEBAYEHU.

• He's recently learned the difference  between a boy and a girl [though not anatomically], and he correctly assigns the gender to each member of our family. However, when I told Judah that daddy is actually a "man", he immediately pointed to himself and said "Judah, man!" He's convinced of it!
  
• As the story above proves, he speaks of himself in the third person quite often.
  
• Judah and I have a special connection. It's unexplainable but this photo booth picture provides a snapshot into our daily life.
• He's my little bookworm. The first thing he does every morning is pull several books off the bookshelf to read. He studies those books with a passion.
  
• When he's trying to get my attention and I don't answer the first couple times, he'll follow with "Mommy! Oooohhhh, mom-my!!" Where did he learn that!?! 
• Judah is my snuggler. He burrows into to my shoulder anytime of day and loves to give me kisses upon request.
• Judah would be a couch potato if we let him. His current favorite show is Yo Gabba Gabba, and his favorite movie is "The Lion King". That's my Ethiopian son!
• Winking is one of his prized tricks. He can only contort his right eye which requires his mouth to move toward the wink, as well. His entire face works overtime to wink that big eye. But he's oh-so good at it and it's always followed by a laugh.
• One of Judah's first phrases was "I'm sorry", primarily because of offenses to his sister. Since then, he says "sorry sissy" almost every time Addise cries even if it's not his fault. Pavlov response.
• We've been teaching our kids about their emotions. Judah is quick to let us know if he or someone else is happy, sad, mad, or tired. I'm determined to raise emotionally aware and healthy kids!
  

My bucket is actually a hat!

Judah's molluscum got infected, thus the Cookie Monster bandaid. While he was being treated for the infection he was a broken record, "Mommy. My Owie. Doctor. Medicine." I'm crazy about this kid. He's growing leaps and bounds and after 9 months together, he is solidly a Diaz.

Month of Celebrations, Especially Today!

I love August. This August, in particular, is a month of celebration and joy.

MARRIAGE :: August 5th we celebrated 10 years of marriage!!! It hasn't always been "happily ever after", but it has been a partnership deeply committed to oneness and loving each other through the best of days and the worst. In our 13 years together we've experienced some tough stuff and fought through challenges, but we are more in love with each other and more connected today than we were 10 years ago. Brian has been the most sharpening and shaping person in my life [next to my parents?]. I respect, love, and admire him more than words can say.

We imagined for our 10th anniversary that we'd escape to Hawaii or Europe, but with 2 little ones only home for 6 months, the best we could do was 1 night away in a local hotel. My mom was so generous to provide us 30 hours away from our kiddos to reconnect with each other and enjoy time together. It was an amazing gift...we were crazy excited!

View of the pool where we spent many hours lounging

Celebratory gift from our hotel

We cannot wait for the next 10 years of life and partnership together. The best is yet to come...

BIRTHDAY :: August 9th I celebrated my 32nd birthday. This was my first birthday where I didn't take the day off work and solitude at the pool with my Bible and journal in hand. This birthday started EARLY with 2 toddlers who intuitively must have known it was my birthday. They awoke at 1am, 4am, and 6:30am. I'm sure they meant to wish me happy birthday, but it wasn't my love language [wink]. My mom was still in town and I was able to celebrate with her - what a gift!!!! We ate breakfast overlooking the ocean, my mom gave me a beautiful charm necklace with Judah and Addise's names engraved, our Embassy date, and the quote "chosen. to belong. to be loved."

After a half dozen pictures, this was the best we could do.

MEET THE COUSINS :: This past weekend Judah and Addise met their Puerto Rican/Finnish cousins, Luna and Esa. Since they left, Judah keeps asking for "Muna". They had such a great time together playing at the beach, checking out the aquarium, and hanging out together. We are SO grateful that Brian's sister's family drove 17+ hours each way to meet our kiddos!

The fairest of babies with the brownest of them

REFERRAL ANNIVERSARY! :: Today, August 16th, marks 365 days since we first saw Judah and Addise's faces. You can read the original post about "The Call" HERE. You can read my first thoughts about Judah [Lil A] and Addise [Baby T] HERE. Re-reading these posts, I can't help but weep in gratitude for all God's done this past year in our family. Judah and Addise are miracles. They were brilliantly chosen by our God for our family. They have grown SO much this past year in every way.

One of Judah's referral pictures.
Those eyes and chiclets teeth captured my heart!

The first time I laid eyes on my daughter.
Her lips and rolls wrecked me.

It's hard to describe the year our family has had. We are celebrating so much this month. Recently, I told Brian "I've never been so happy!" We are living in the goodness of God more than we ever could have imagined. We are grateful for the pain. In fact, I confessed to Brian that I'm GLAD we never got pregnant. If we did, we wouldn't be Judah and Addise's parents, and that is impossible to imagine!!! We are grateful for the transformation we've experienced through the heartache and waiting and loss. Brian and I are forever changed by our love for each other and the gifts he's given us in a 3 year old boy and 18 month old girl.

Thank you, Jesus. We celebrate because of all you've done.