Brotherly Love

One afternoon I was working from home on the couch. Brian and Addise were out running errands together, so it was just me and the boys. I was in the zone on my computer and things got suddenly quiet. You know in most cases if you have young children, this is probably no good. I was wrong.

As I snuck off the couch I "caught" Judah holding Asher...

I leaned in to see what was going on and I heard Judah whisper, "I love you baby brother, no matter what."  And then Judah kissed his baby brother.

About 20 minutes later a similar moment happened. Judah was snuggled on the ground next to Asher and whispered to him, "Love you so much, Asher".

Judah didn't know I was watching. It was a pure expression of his heart.

We've often prayed that Asher would be a healer for Judah and Addise. That in his little life that he would be filling the gaps in their spirit's that we didn't get to at Asher's age. In that moment, I sensed the Holy Spirit saying, "See, I'm doing it. I'm healing their hearts."

These are the moments when you know all the hard stuff is worth it.

Once an Ethiopian...

Addise wore her bright yellow, traditional Ethiopian dress. Judah wore his Amharic, "Ethiopian" t-shirt. It'd been too long since we've had Ethiopian food so we joined some African-loving friends for a traditional meal. We were greeted in warm, Ethiopian hospitality by Aster, which happens to be Addise's middle name. Aster lit up when she met our kids and I asked if she would speak Amharic to our kiddos throughout our meal. She enthusiastically agreed. What happened next nearly gave me a heart attack...

I greeted our friends, corralled Judah and Addise to the table, and began taking our seats. Aster was already leaning over, speaking to Judah in Amharic. She was talking to him and then I heard him say in English, "My name is Judah."

What?!?!

Tears flooded my eyes and I'm sure my face looked like I'd seen a ghost. I gasped at Aster, "he understood you?!?"

"Of course. Once he knows Amharic, it's always in there." she nonchalantly replied. I could hardly process what was happening. My son lived in Ethiopia for 2 1/2 years and has been home for over 2 years. For nearly half his life he's barely heard Amharic. But it all rushed back to the surface.

After an eternity of seconds I pulled myself together and begged her to speak more to him. She joyfully obliged. Throughout our 2-hour lunch Aster asked Judah in Amharic...

"Is she your older sister or younger sister?" ... "She's my little sister."
"Do you want that to drink?" ... "Yes, I want the orange juice like them."
"Thank you for coming here today." ... "Thank you."

A few weeks after this lunch, I'm still overwhelmed at what happened. First of all, my son is smart. Second, he's lost so very much. He lost his language (I'm confident he's lost two: Amharic and his tribal language) at an age when language was so important to his development. Third, we have an opportunity to preserve remnants of his birth language through experiences like this with Aster.

Lunch was amazing. Look at the beauty of Ethiopia through these pictures...

Set-up for a traditional coffee ceremony...a very special Ethiopian tradition.

Addise pretending. Judah indulging her.

True Love.

Traditional Ethiopian meal: doro wat, beef tibs and vegetables on injera.

Judah INHALED the lunch and ate just like an Ethiopian, with the flick of his wrist picking up the doro wat with a hunk of injera. It was food to my soul to watch his roots come to life!!!

After lunch was over we splurged on the coffee ceremony, which includes burning frankincense and nibbling on popcorn. One of my favorite things about Ethiopian culture!!!

Empty coffee cup with the colors of Ethiopia and the Lion of Judah. Full heart.

We will be back for more. Often. Soon.

11 Months | Two Sides of this Story

Are you a good news or a bad news first kind of person? Today contains both a happy story and a hard one. But maybe not what you think. I'll start with the hard story...

Today Asher is 11 months, which is mostly a happy story though I cannot believe he is nearly ONE YEAR OLD. It's hard to fathom that he's nearly a year, maybe it's the lack of sleep and general chaos of our life that's causing the blurriness in my memory. But that's not the really hard part. The hard part is that Addise was 11 months when she came home and we didn't even see a picture of Judah until he was over twice that age. Lump. In. Throat. 

As Asher approached 11 months, I could feel my emotions rising. Math cannot count the endless hours I've spent rocking Asher, the number of kisses I've given him, the hours of sleep lost, the amount of pictures and videos capturing his every milestone and adorable baby-ism. It's when I think of the sheer number of moments and days we've lost with Judah and Addise that my heart about becomes undone. My momma heart can't hold all we've missed out on with our oldest two. So, as we mark Asher's 11 month of life, the sting of the loss of adoption strikes again.

Moving on to the happy story, this little guy is beyond fun and sweet and strong and smiley and oh-so active. Brian and I look at each other with tears in our eyes all the time in wonder for his miraculous life.

whatevs, mom...

One happy baby in his big boy stroller and handmade blankie. (We love Gigi and Guka!)

Can the faux hawk stay forever?

Exploring is his full time job. He's discovered the Tupperware drawer. Apparently, he's also working out on the side...look at those muscles!

I mean...REALLY!?!?

First time riding the carousel at Disney with Daddy.

Eating in his highchair these days and forever curious with how things work...just like his big brother.

These days Asher is crawling at Mach speed, collecting bumps and bruises on his forehead as he learns to walk, talking up a storm, and eating finger foods - preferably sour/salty foods (his fav are grapefruit (!!), blueberries, and veggie chips). He smiles like it's his job and he wins the affection of everyone he meets. Stranger danger has also moved into his body and he pouts and whines when his fan club takes him away from his parents, which is simultaneously endearing and infuriating for said parents.

He's obsessed with Judah and Addise and prefers to play with their toys than his silly baby toys. In fact, his preferred toys are remote controls and iPhones...such a boy!!! He wakes up earlier than his sibs and while mommy's making coffee, he's been known to speed crawl down the hallway, bang on their bedroom door, and yell for them. When I finally open the door, he races toward Addise's bed, giggling and talking all the way. The feeling is mutual.

Asher loves giving open-mouth kisses. Highlights of his daily life include early morning snuggles with mommy and daddy in bed and afternoon naps with his daddy. The latest development is his emerging strong-willed personality. When the little dude doesn't get his way (especially taking remotes and phones away from him), full-on tantrums are thrown. WHAT THE HECK? Aren't we a year early on this one? He must be Brian's son. ;)

He's pure delight. Please stay this little forever. Deal?