2010 Has Been A Big Year

I saw this great idea on Sarah’s blog.  She posted her top 12 pictures from 2010 and suggested others do the same.

I went back and tried to pick twelve pictures.  I can’t do it! 

So, I think I will start a little mini-series on “A Year Ago Today”.

One Year Ago Today…

(I will go through the weekend’s experience from a year ago as I won’t blog over the weekend)

 

I think we were a lot goofier last year…

Maybe because we had more free time, lots of time to build mini-Egypts with kids and new friends on the beach (notice our sphinx in front, pyramids in the back)

Jon and I were expecting.  :) 

We were expecting an Ethiopian toddler boy to join our family by Christmas 2010, possibly sooner.  I had him envisioned, fat little cheeks, a full head of curly hair, a toothy grin.

As we talked to agencies we gathered: “A majority of people want girls, so wait time is a lot shorter if you are open to a boy. Oh, and most people want young infants, so the more flexible your age is, the sooner you can get a child.  Twins? “We don’t even let families wait for twins because they are so rare that someone would be on the list for years”. 

That’s fine!  A toddler boy would be perfect for us, we know God will give us the grace we need! We just ache to move forward with the path God has laid in front of us! 

We hadn’t started a blog…I wasn’t sure what to say. My heart HUNGERED for this little boy to join our family. How could such a love have grown inside me for a child with no name, no history, no face, only a concept?

A year ago today, God had been moving mightily in our hearts, causing a stir and causing us to feel a need to bring home two children with our first adoption. We tossed ideas around but knew that immigration had approved us for 0-18 months and the chance of siblings under 18 months was nearly impossible.

A year ago on Sunday, we sat in a church in Alabama and heard a man share how praying in faith had healed his body of cancer. Our hearts were moved by his faith and the faith of his community.

You all know what happens next so it is a little anti-climatic.  I just want to recount what God has done.

2010 has been a big year. 

I stand amazed and completely humbled at the sovereign goodness of God.

GoodBye Mr. Yawns…

Take a quick trip down memory lane with me.  In July I posted this about the girls and their kissing habits:

The Littles love to kiss, and when I say kiss, I mean more of an open-mouth, tongue out, suck on your face.
And when they are in the mood to kiss, your face will be covered in saliva by the time they tire of this activity.
The other night, LIttle J was done with being cheery for the day.
We told Little A, "Little A, you give sister kisses to make her feel better?"

the approach…

The kiss…

The end result?

Little J was not cheered up.

So, now that you know how they kiss, you will understand Little A's thinking.

A few mornings ago, they were doing their normal book time. Here is Little A when I left her.

I came around the corner and Adia is sucking on the book, I mean, hunched over, mouth wide open, sucking on a picture.  I couldn't figure it out until I saw the picture that had her so enraptured.

Yes, little Mr. Yawns has caught her attention.

Should we be worried?

Mr. Yawns has been replaced. 

The Littles are completely enamored with new boys.

This is the last page in the book and The Littles take turns giving it sloppy kisses.  If The Littles find it when Jon and I aren’t around, they will turn to the last page and just look at the boys. 

At least they fell for twins.  I wouldn’t want them to start arguing over boys before 14 months.  :)

The Redemption of Something Painful…

I have written before about Zach and Jenny Bertsch.

Zach is dying of cancer. He writes on his website that this Christmas was an especially emotional one for him as it was very possibly his last.

I don’t quite know what that would feel like.

Zach and Jenny have been a godly example to us and continue to be. They have decided they don’t want to “waste” Zach’s cancer. They have always had a heart for the orphan and have been very involved in advocating on their behalf.  They had plans to adopt someday.

However, they have launched a project to focus on, a way to redeem this ugly situation.

www.cancerredemption.org

Zach dreams of someday meeting people in heaven, orphans, who are now sons and daughters, and were able to experience the love of parents and hear of the love of Christ, because of something as ugly as cancer. 

Learn more about the Bertsch family and their hearts at www.cancerredemption.org.

Yes, It Was Merry…

We just had a wonderful Christmas Extravaganza!  The girls did great and we were able to connect with family and friends!

Now, just so you all don’t think that life is perfect and magical for us all the time, I am not going to lie.  It was a wonderful Christmas, yes, but staying in 3 different locations and being off routine for five days can definitely increase Mommy and Daddy’s stress levels.  :) Thankfully, The Littles handled all the changes really well and I believe they truly enjoyed their first US Christmas.

 

The Littles loved all the spaces to explore

Little A models her gift from “the uncles”.

 

We really noticed that The Littles have hit an age where they are imitators.  They are watching the world around them!

Opening their stockings…

Whew!  Now for the unpacking.  :)

Fashion vs. Function

I haven't had to buy much for the girls.  We have been blessed with many gifters and hand-me-downs. 

However, I did buy these incredible boots that I found on clearance at an outlet.  I just couldn't leave them.

They were so cute that I gasped when I saw them.

The girls look amazing in them. 

So what is the problem? 

They fall continually while wearing them and if I put them in the standing position, they don't try to walk.

I guess babies don't get the whole fashion world.  "It doesn't matter what they feel like, it's how they look!" :)

Actually, I am completely okay if they never get that.

One last incredible deal:

If we didn't have The Littles, this is something I think we would have made work. I hope one of you spontaneous people can!

Ethiopian Airlines is offering an insane deal for the month of February.  If you buy a ticket before Christmas to travel in February, the price is $777 but you get another ticket free!  I know, crazy!  That is like flying to Africa for a little over $400 (including taxes).  A normal average ticket to Ethiopia is $1500. 

This isn't just for Ethiopia, it is to multiple locations in Africa (Including an airport that is about 10 minutes away from where The Littles birthfather lives).  Sigh. Someday. :)

http://www.seeyouinethiopia.com/faq/pr_dec_2_2010.html

Just Checkin’ In On Bathtime

Jon handles bathtime, so I normally don’t even check-in as I use this time to clean-up, make bottles or check blogs. :)

The other night I walked into the bathroom and this is what I found, like it is completely normal to have the bathtub toys stuck all over the girls.

Too funny!

P.S.  I know many of you can’t comment on the blog right now and I am not sure why. It seems to be a problem across the board with blogger, so hopefully it will be resolved soon!  I  love your comments!

One Year Pictures

Finally, The Littles one year pictures!

Stef took them and did a wonderful job!  She did say that she was looking online and saw that 12 month twins are the hardest to take pictures of.  You can’t keep them in the same spot. :)

Before the first picture was snapped, Little J burned her hand on a lamp so she looks so sad in some of the pictures.

Today marks our 8th month anniversary of meeting the girls. 

Merry Christmas Card Fiasco

Merry Christmas Y’all!

This fabulous card was designed for us by Jenna at www.andyandjenna.com. We won some of these beautiful cards!

My Christmas card sending system has been a total disorganized chaos this year. I have about 7 reasons why, but I won’t bore you with those. 

Please know that if you haven’t gotten a card this year it is because

A) I have intentions of hand-delivering it soon

B) In my haphazard planning, I think I have already sent you one

C) It’s in the mail. I get out as many as I can every day.  If it doesn’t happen by first nap, it has to wait.

If you have received two, congratulations.  Please send the extra to someone else or give it Goodwill.  :) 

 

In other very, very good news, remember Missional Mamas? Check out Tricia’s giveaway!  A giveaway with a good cause, love it!

If you don’t win this giveaway, I have loads of these bags from Swaziland made by these women if you want to come to my house and purchase one…or ten!

I Always Thought They Would Set a World Record

I just didn’t know it would be so young or that it would be so annoying. :)

The girls started teething Thanksgiving night (resulting in Jon’s middle of the night trip Black Friday).

Yes, they started the same night and with the exact same teeth.  So, what’s the problem and the world record?  Still no teeth!  I can feel them and they have caused The Littles no small amount of grief.  We are still toothless.

Little J flashes her gums 

Little A is full of yummy gumminess.

So maybe the record could be for the longest fight for a tooth?

Or maybe latest to get their teeth?  I don’t know. If you have a “let-me-top-that” story, please tell me.  Just let me know they are really coming!  My Mom said she thought she would have to get baby dentures for my brother because he didn’t pop his first tooth until 13 months.

In the meantime, they have handled the fevers, diarrhea, runny noses and a round of the flu quite well.  They still are toddling everywhere (they are too big to crawl now, they would rather push themselves up 100 times than crawl) and they are making new sounds everyday.

 

Much to Little A’s chagrin, Little J loves to kiss…

We finally talked Little A into kissing back.

The Littles are also getting quite helpful.  Do you need anything emptied?  Bring it over, I have two experts!

They excel at unloading dishwashers, but don’t know where anything goes. :)

Little J shows her teeth to the camera. :)

The Creator of “Coincidence”

Sometimes God feels so far away and almost…well…invisible.  You know?  But there are other times when everywhere I look, I see Him, I see His Handiwork.

I have recently gone through some “coincidences”.  Not huge deals and if I told you about them, you would think, “so what?”.  As I was thinking about how God cares enough to orchestrate the little details in my life and nothing is actually coincidence, I had this thought,

“If I didn’t believe in God before today, I would believe in Him now”.

He is so mindful of us.

Just Daddy and His Girls

Love it! 

Jon said the girls were a little freaked out by the whole experience. :)

All In A Days Play…

As The Littles grow, their personalities and preferences do too. 

Here are some random moments from our day…

The girls love to wear this bunny headband.  They used to take it off right away, but now Little J will leave it on for long periods of time.  She probably forgets about it, but seeing a little bunny toddle around the house is so stinkin’ cute!

I found Little A sitting on the vent this morning as heat poured out.  A girl after my own heart!

Little J actually took such a long nap today that I had to wake her up so she would be sleepy for her next one!  Could you have woken this up???

Sometimes I can’t believe how fast they are growing up and then there are other moments when I just laugh because they are still 100% baby.  Like today, when Little A entertained herself by sucking on her big toe.

Little A didn’t feel amused that Little J just wanted to kiss her.

Jon got home early from work and I always love to watch the girls with him…

Little A shared her teething toy with Daddy.  It went back and forth.

Everyone beware, if you lay down in our house, the girls will probably try to find your “button”.

I know these moments go all too fast! 

One more thing.  Go to my friend’s blog (http://mouseymom.blogspot.com/) and be inspired by what these seven mamas have done to change the world!!!  God is starting a movement with this group of women and their faithful prayers!

I did just get in a shipment of the Timbali purses that she talks about and will be selling those soon!