Two years ......

This week we embark upon a day that I am truly amazed at.  It was two years ago on the 13th that we headed out for E*thiopia to bring AJ and Selam home.  Two years ago on the 17th that we met AJ and Selam for the first time.  Two years ago on the 22nd that we walked off the plane and became a family of 5.  I don't know why two years seems like such a big turning point for me.  Maybe it's because our journey was so long.  Two and a half years from the time we made up our minds to adopt to when they finally came home and now here we are - 2 years in our home!  It's interesting to me that the time before they came home drug on so slowly for us.  Every bump and bruise of our process along the way was so painful and crippling at times and while these two years home haven't always been easy they have been joyous and full of blessings.  They have flown by so fast now that I am on the other side.

In two years....

Jenna has become and amazing big sister.  She has grown so much emotionally.  Being an only child for 6 years to sharing your life with a brother and a sister overnight  - wow! she has handled it so well.  We've gone from learning how to share to taking care.  She is such a good helper and caretaker for AJ especially.  Always willing to help her brother or show him the way.  She and Selam have become such good pals.  I see them becoming sisters more and more each day. I remember how lonely she was during play time and would even be vocal about how she wanted someone to play with.  When I watch her and Selam playing for hours together I see how God hand picked Jenna's siblings for her.

Our sweet Selam as we called her before we ever knew her. When I think about all she has endured and her bravery I find myself speechless.  From the day she got on that bus with us in E*thiopia she has had to step out in faith and trust, and while I know her little heart has been racing at times and she's been fearful she's pushed through her worries as best she could.  I look back at those really tough days with her right after we came home and I just see a scared little girl full of bravery.  The more she's in our lives the more we've seen the sweet disposition come shining through.  She loves God, she loves others, she loves us and Jenna and AJ.  She lights up at night when she and Jenna are in their room together saying their goodnights.  I love hearing her giggle with delight as we say, "girls go to sleep." 

AJ - that crazy boy.  He has literally turned our world upside down, inside out, and right side up again.  Full of energy, amazingly smart, and an endless supply of hugs.  He leaps into our laps, snuggles up close and his laugh is contagious.  He's tested our parenting in ways that have never been tested before and on days I have thought he might be the end of us, LOL.  He tortures the girls but can also get them rolling in hysterics at the drop of a hat.  And, while I've always been that momma who would take a stand for my kid AJ has needed us at times to take an even bigger stand.  He's truly helped me to step up and be a parent who leads so other parents behind us have it easier.... something I didn't realize was in me.

Bryan and I too have amazed me.   I would have to say we have grown so much as parents.  I used to think that I was a good parent.  I knew what to do when things went crazy, and honestly I think I knew how to do things so well they rarely went crazy.  Then.... two years ago things went totally crazy and we went from one to three kids overnight.  Now I wonder if I know what the heck I am doing most days.  Now I wonder which one of us will end up in therapy ... probably all of us.   Now I wonder when order will come back to our lives.  Now I wonder when the heck I might get a date night with my husband.  I know, you say how do you think that is growing!   We've grown because we are learning to be less than perfect, to enjoy every single second we can with each other, to focus on each other and not on the dishes,  and to roll with it (whatever it might be).  Yea, I would definitely say we have grown :)

If you would have asked me six months after AJ and Selam came to be part of our family if I thought I would feel this good about our new life I would have said no.  It was hard and it took everything we had (I am sure for all of us) to push through, but today stepping back I see our beautiful family, functioning incredibly well and full of life.  I am blessed and my cup runneth over!

This is an older picture but one of my very favorites!  LOVE MY KIDS!!!!



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