Our Favorite ET Pictures

Our WONDERFUL, AMAZING, HUGE travel group.

Finally seeing these doors was an unbelievable moment.


This was taken by Sarah Moffat. To me, THIS IS ETHIOPIA.

Our Sweet Muluwork.

Good Friends, Good Times,

GIFTS.

I Wish I Had Known...

There's so much that I thought I knew, so much I was sure of that has been turned on its head during this time of transition and growth. The Christian life is often about growing in ways that you do not want to, ways that you don't think you need, ways you never see coming.

So is adoption.

Man, I wish I had known...

• That he'd be so fat! I wouldn't have worried as much about his health.
• That Micah would be sick for 8 weeks and counting. Perhaps I would have bought stock in Motrin and Orajel.
• That you can actually cut 5 teeth in 2 weeks while having a double ear infection and still smile (at least during the day time...sweet angel boy!!).
• That Ethiopia would be terrifyingly and hauntingly beautiful, and tragic.
• That I wouldn't sleep through the night for 10 straight weeks and still be required to keep 2 children alive.
• That the pain and fear doesn't stop when you're little one is in your arms. Really, its just beginning.
• That a mother's heart has an infinite capacity to love and nurture and a refined memory. The faces of the children in Ethiopia are seared into my heart.
• That you can temporarily ruin the life of one child by saving another.
• That the truth "God controls the heart" also applies to my 4 year old who simply does not have a heart of love for his sweet brother.
• That my house will not be clean for longer than 10 minutes until my children are in college.
• That the laundry pile is actually endless.
• That following God's path to Micah would be so tough, so tiring even now that we are home.
• That I would mourn deeply for the time I had lost with him even when I have him.
• That I would mourn deeply and feel guilty for the time that his Birth Mother and Nanny are missing with him.
• That my mourning for these women would bring me closer to my God and fill my heart with love for a child who has been loved so well by so many others before me.
• That his smile pours light into every corner of a room, and our hearts.
• That I would lose much of myself in the needs and demands of two covenant children.
• That losing myself is wonderfully freeing and fulfilling.
• That God's plans are indeed infinitely more than we can ask or imagine, but they are often excruciatingly painful.

• That it is IN THIS PAIN that we are able to see how LOVED, CHERISHED, REDEEMED we are and that knowledge is worth it all.

Now you can't say you don't know...

Good Times ROCK!!!

This is a great answer to baby brother, sharing, and bad sleep frustration!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

The Poop Position

We can always tell when he'l need a change before the smell hits! Funny baby!

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

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Miracle Micah Can CRAWL!

Happy Birthday Micah Moo!!!!

Sunday was Micah Moo's 1st Birthday!

Happy Birthday Baby!

We had family over for a small party, bio family and ET family.

Three families from our agency, Stacklers, Crowells, and Kobys

including two that we traveled to ET with came to wish Micah a Happy Birthday.

It was an ET Hunk party!

Enjoy the pictures, it's all we have the energy for!

Post Cake Bath

I know this is out of order but it's SO CUTE I wanted it to be the blog thumbnail!

Cake is SO YUMMY!!

Megan and Steve came as did Amy Stackler and her kiddos. What a SWEET AWAA reunion it was. (Sorry for the picture Amy. You're in mid-sentence. It was all I had! You still love me...)

Loving my Cake!

Guess who can crawl?? This is his new walker. We can TOTALLY wait on that development!

Opening Presents

The sweet Kobys came with Mr. Happy, Elias. We LOVED LOVED LOVED having them over. Ethiopia seems like a dream and it's so nice to be with those who shared the experience, the dream with us. We love you Koby family!!

Our three ET HUNKS. Moo Moo, E-man, and Elias.

Micah LOVED his friends. I'm sure he wanted to eat them they're so cute!

Daring Boy

Smiley Boy

Laughy Boy

LOVED BOY!!!!