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.

We Shaved His Head!!

I don't know what we were thinking.

I kind of do. It's summer. His little black face and fuzzy, black head of hair was making Judah all kinds of sweaty in the heat of the sun.
We started today with the hope to shave off the extra, fluffy curls and leave his tight little curls underneath. Our clippers aren't clippers for his hair. The clipper guard kept getting caught in his tight curls so Brian suggested we just go for it. I reluctantly agreed. I LOVE HIS HAIR, but it was time for a change.
As soon as the clippers started, I became panic stricken. My voice on the video is calm and collected compared to what I was feeling. Terror took over. Nauseous and sweat instantly came over me.

It's crazy because I'm not that kind of "hair" person. I've done a hundred different cuts and colors to my own hair. "It'll grow back...it's just hair" has been my motto. But watching my son's first hair cut - his beautiful, fuzzy curls falling off his head in chunks.

I couldn't handle it. We weren't just BUZZING his head; we were SHAVING it to the scalp! I've been mourning to an extent all day.



During...he was fascinated with all his hair!!!

After. Brian's proud that both daddy and son have bald heads. I miss his curls...but his eyes certainly pop even more.
Let's just say that it'll be a while before Addise gets her hair cut. And it won't be with clippers.

6 Months Home!

It's really crazy to think that as of today, we've been home for 6 months. A lot of things are crazy really...

• we've been parenting for 6 months and we have a 3 year old son.
• 40+ hour flight home from Ethiopia. Beyond crazy. That was an experience I'd rather forget but it's seared into my brain. Someone needs to invent an adoption time machine or travel worm hole. I'm not kidding.
  
• we've gone through about 2,000 diapers. Crazy smells in our house!
• Over 15 doctor appointments and 15 immunizations per kid.
• I took the kids solo on a trip to meet the extended family in the Midwest.
• that our 2 kiddos who are 19 months apart essentially weigh the same and are the same height. [we believe in you Judah...grow grow grow!!]
• how many toys have invaded our house. Despite our best efforts, the toys seem to multiply.
• 14 teeth have emerged between the two of them.
• Judah has acquired language at a rate that astonishes us and cause us to watch what we say much quicker than we anticipated. He understands English - his 2nd language! - perfectly and speaks over 50 words well.
  

The craziest things are the things we can't measure...

• how much we love our kids. We couldn't love them more if we'd conceived and birthed them.
• what life was really like before them - it was good but this is so much better.
  
• how entirely normal it feels to be Judah and Addise's parents!!! Our social worker said something "magical" happens around 6 months home, and I believe her. It's indescribable but totally true.
  
• the amount of laughter and gratified head-shaking that fills our home every day.
  
• how much Judah is like Brian and Addise is like me. Their personalities are little versions of our own!
  

Only God!! We are supremely grateful to be these 2 crazy kiddos' parents. God clearly chose them for us. I told Brian this week that I'm so thankful that we didn't get pregnant because I can't imagine NOT being Judah and Addise's mom. Brian readily agreed.

Happy 1/2 Year Home, Kids! We love you like crazy.

All pictures taken by http://www.hanachung.com/.