One Year Ago Today....

Its hard to believe that one year ago today we were arriving home from our long journey with our new son. I remember walking into a house that didn’t yet seem quite like home, as we had only lived in the house for 5 months before we left for Africa. Yet as much as I didn’t feel at home, it was nothing compared to what the sweet boy with the big eyes must have been feeling. I am happy to report that now, one year later, we all feel like we are home. There is nothing like the sweet little voice in the back seat that says, “We home!” when we pull into the driveway. And he is right; we are home, all of us.

It has been a wonderful year. David has come so far in such a short time. It is hard to remember back when life was quieter and calmer before our bundle of energy joined us. Isaac is such a calm, quiet kid; he did nothing to prepare us for David. Our boys are total opposites, but they have become close buddies. All three of the kids are a pretty tight unit. They fight, usually physically more than verbally, and even then it is playful rather than mean spirited. Our house is loud and we love it.

We must love it because it is about to get busier and louder. We are in the process of another adoption. Back to China we go in search of the elusive girl child. We began this adoption journey 6 years ago in search of a sweet girl from China. Our journey has taken us in directions we never anticipated, but wouldn’t change now. I absolutely adore our boys and can’t imagine my life without them. We are blessed beyond my wildest dreams. I was always a little intimidated by the idea of boys, but they are an absolute blast! I love being a mom to boys.

The details on the new adoption, we are requesting a girl 2-4 years old. She will most likely have a special need. For obvious reasons, we are open to a cleft child and sort of anticipate that will be her special need, but then we have been wrong about every other adoption, really, only God knows which little girl will be placed in our arms. We hope to travel sometime next fall. Our agency tells us that most people travel around 11 months after their home study is completed. Our home study was completed in October. Again, we’ll see. When we started our first adoption people were traveling 6-9 months from application. If we hadn’t switched to special needs, we would still be waiting. Yes, over 6 years later, we would still be waiting. Crazy.

So that is the news from our home. I’ll try to be better about blogging, especially since we are doing this again. We are nuts. Just in case you were wondering, we are nuts. But we are happy!

 Our 3 kids!!!

How is his language coming along?

Today in the backyard while I was scooping poop, David came to talk with me about the bike I had shown him in the garage. It is all ready for him, but missing training wheels.

David: Something in kinyrwandan David something in kinyrwandan bike. (pointing finger toward garage and giving me the one nod when he finished his statement.)

Me: I know you want your bike. We'll get it down later.

David: Tomorrow?

I'd say the language is coming along just fine.

Routine...

...Not because we are in one, but because I finally see a glimmer of hope in the distance that someday, eventually, life will become easier to manage.

Adding another person to your family is never an easy task. It changes everything. But that is part of the fun isn't it?

David is adjusting well. It always makes me laugh that people always ask how David is adjusting. Rarely does anyone ask how the rest of us are adjusting. Even though we anticipated big changes, as with anything you can't really understand what will happen in your life until you are living it. And then it is too late to prepare.

We try to rotate our breakdowns so that not everyone is having a meltdown at the same time. If two people begin to fall apart at the same time, we simply reschedule one person's come apart. Thankfully, these emotional release sessions are happening less often.

I am a planner. I like to be organized. I like to have my Christmas shopping done way before Thanksgiving. That is just my personality. And it is great as long as I am organized. When I don't have time to get my act together, I'm a mess. I've been a working mess since we landed. I held on with my fingernails to make it through Christmas and now slowly but surely, I'm starting to get a grip on this family of five thing. I love the noise. I love the laughter. I just wish someone would run the vacuum. And by vacuum, I don't mean the 4 year old sliding across the floor on his back.

Life is good. Please don't misunderstand. I'm just missing a little order in my life. I'm just sure I'll find it. Eventually.

In the meantime, here are some pictures of our recent park trip. Amazing weather we are having! And to think, I was worried how David would handle our winter! Who knew?!?

Isaac is finally enjoying being a big brother! Most of the time. I'll try to post more soon, maybe even some pictures from Christmas! Thanks for following our journey!