First Family Photo Shoot

Yes, it's been 5+ weeks since I've blogged. I have a dozen blogs with titles saved and stored in my brain, but I can't find the time to sit down and write. Working full time, mommy-ing 2 toddlers, being present in my marriage...well, it just fills my days. The past 5 weeks have been filled with 2 trips [10-day Florida vacation and 5 days in Illinois celebrating my Grandparents 60th wedding anniversary and extended family getaway] plus a major work reorganization, plus the daily grind.

I promise to attempt [which is really no promise at all!] to post more. Judah and Addise are more amazing with each passing week. What they teach me is compelling and profound. What I'm learning as a working mom is valuable. How my marriage is changing is worth sharing. Time is simply not on my side.

So, for now, here are a few of my favorite pics of our first family photo shoot in April. The amazing Hana Chung [http://www.hanachung.com] was our woman! A few of my favorite shots...

How do you not love Judah kissing Addise?!?
We are sitting on the bench at The Montage where I prayed for them for years!

Addise is crazy about her Daddy!

"Come on, Sissy!"

Addise's first birthday picture.
She's wearing a traditional Ethiopian dress we got for her!

Hard to pick a picture for Judah. He had so many ridiculously cute ones!

On the beach...

Celebrating 10 years of marriage. Love this man!

Today Is Redeemed

Today was my first Mother's Day actually holding my babies in my arms. How I've longed for this day! I could hardly wrap my head and heart around this day - my first Mother's Day.

Brian made this day exceptional for me. I was the first to wake up since today was a work day. I had the quiet of the morning to soak in the goodness of this day. Blow-drying my hair I couldn't get over the fact that last Mother's Day Judah and Addise were in Ethiopia, but I was not yet their mommy. There are no words to encapsulate how much I love these two and how miraculously God chose them to be our children.

I brought Addise with me to Newsong and taught in our middle school ministry. An unexpected gift from today were the scores of hugs and blessings from students, parents, and friends.

The zenith took my breath away and caused me to burst into tears. Just minutes before I was to teach, a friend approached me with a giant hug, card, and gift for my first Mother's Day. Just two weeks ago her sister passed away, leaving her 14 year old son in the care of my friend. Her card affirmed my journey and mothering, then sharing that she wanted to give me her sister's necklace of a mother and child. Instant sobbing. I fell into her arms. No words could adequately thank her for the profundity of her gift, the beauty of that moment, or the sacrifice of this pendant. She immediately placed the necklace around my neck to join my Ethiopia necklace. Miraculous. I am beyond humbled and awed at her gift.

Shortly after, Brian arrived with Judah and these in his arms...

Newsong and our children's ministry did a beautiful job celebrating moms. Corsages were placed on my chest and pipe-cleaner rings placed on my finger by my kids. Judah literally ran to me saying "mommy, mommy!" and handed me this blue box. Oh man. I didn't know a pipe-cleaner ring could make me so happy!

Then, we hurried off to a Mexican restaurant on Balboa Island. Being on the ocean always is most filling and nourishing for me. Judah fell asleep in the car...
...and slept like this for the first half of our lunch. Divine! Meanwhile, Addise looked a lot like this...
We even got a [decent] family picture!

The highlight from my man was an incredibly thoughtful and meaningful card. The highlight from my kids was this book...
It's a couple hundred page book that we can fill with words, pictures, and memories over the years. The first pages looked like this...


Amazing, huh!?!??!

The kids were practically perfect all day. Tonight I'm sipping a glass of red wine and nibbling on what's left of a box of my favorite chocolates...
Finally, here's my little man wishing me a [prompted] Happy Mother's Day...



Next, I'm going to write a letter to Judah and Addise's birth mom [thanks for the idea Jen!]. As I celebrate Mother's Day every year, I want to be cognizant that my gain cost another. In gratitude, I want to remember their birth mom and honor her brave choice to give up her son/daughter.

3 months home!

Today marks 12 weeks since we've been home as a family of four. No small feat, if I say so myself. In celebration and commemoration of this special day, here are some facts about our first 3 months as a family...

• 1 birthday :: We celebrated Addise's first birthday 3 weeks after we got home. Celebrating her birthday was a true celebration of life and growth in every way!
  
• 26 lbs :: Both our kids weigh 26 lbs. Judah is 19 months older than Addise, yet they weigh the same. Yet Judah's moved from the 1% to the 10% in weight and Addise's grown from the 50% to the 95% in weight. Let's say the American diet is doing them good.
• 12+ doctor visits in the past 12 weeks :: While our kiddos have been remarkably healthy, the scarce medical history and a few health issues have required us to make our doctor our best friend.
• 6 teeth :: Addise graciously waited to cut her first 2 teeth until the week we got her. She's yet to reveal any more these past 2 months. Judah, even at 2 1/2 years old only had 10 teeth, but he's cut 4 more teeth! More seem to be emerging every week.
  
• "Take them a Meal" :: The first 8+ weeks we didn't cook for ourselves. Meals and groceries were delivered multiple times a week thanks to our Newsong community and my family.
• 3 weeks and 10 weeks :: The first 3 weeks we were home Brian graciously received time off of work. I cannot imagine that time without him!!! My job gifted me with 10 weeks off - 5 weeks totally off, 5 weeks slowly working my way back to full time. It was perfect...exactly what we needed!!
• Family :: My family flew thousands of miles to spend a total of 20 days with us. Their posture was 100% of service and what was best for our kids.
• 1 Getaway :: We took off on our first overnighter this weekend to San Diego and had a blast.
• 1 Photo Session :: This week we were gifted with a family photo session. Not only did we capture Addise's first birthday, our 10th wedding anniversary, a handful of head shots for my speaking gigs, and MOSTLY our first professional pictures of our God-given family! [You gotta visit: http://www.hanachung.com/ to see our photographer's skills!]
  
• Sign Language and Words :: Judah has acquired at least 50 words that he understands and a handful of sign language words [more, thank you, please, I love you]. Addise's learned the sign language too, and now says: more, daddy, Judah, I did that [so we think], hi, and occasionally - momma. :) Most encouragingly, Judah seems to understand most everything we say to him. Breathe...accomplishment!
• First tattoos and piercings :: Just kidding. We're holding off on those for our kids. :)
  

All that on top of hundreds of kisses, countless moments of frustration, hours of lost sleep, endless giggles, ah-ha moments, hundreds of diapers, regular prayers for grace and mercy, confessions for forgiveness and help, hours of rocking babies to sleep, nightly wake-up calls for cuddles, calming or more Tylenol, a house littered with toys, cabinets and cupboards reallocated for baby products, shocking amounts of laundry...

...and a few tears in those heavenly moments when I realize "I'm a mom" and "you are exactly who I prayed for". Our family is truly a miracle.