"This is the way, walk in it"

Your ears shall hear a word behind you,
saying, "This is the way, walk in it,"
Whenever you turn to the right hand
Or whenever you turn to the left.
Isaiah 30:21

I really love this bible verse. It seems to calm me and comfort me in almost any situation. I always envision myself at a fork in the road, I have my eyes closed and I am frantic. Then I hear a voice in my ear. I imagine this voice sounds a lot like my Dad. Not stern, not playful...just matter of fact. But, what I love the most about this verse is that the voice speaks, regardless. If you walk to the right or to the left. I think the point is that you are walking.

Our decision to adopt was about obedience. We believe that God's calling for us to do this was clear. God has been faithful. To list the many signs and wonders he has given us, to encourage us, would take all day.

Now that we are close to actually having little Selah home I feel myself becoming frantic. We have had reports that she s not feeling well and has lost some weight. Ethiopia is coming to the end of it's year and the rainy season is on its way, if not already there. During this time courts close. There have been rumors of the possibility of courts not closing this year, but no one knows for sure yet.

I just keep walking...and praying.

A Good Day

Hey Friends,
I feel like I have totally lost touch with my blog lately. I have to admit I occasionally get blog shy and think "what could I possibly have to say that anyone would want to hear?" Sometimes life gets too overwhelming I think. I get lost in the haze of day to day details and forget to slow down and find the significance of the journey we are on. This may come as a shock, but there can be long periods of time when it seems like it's all just too much. We have had so much going on lately. Ryan has switched law firms and next week he is going to trial for a case that is all his own, a client that is all his own. I have been attempting to get trained as a group instructor for my gym. I am excited to see if this might be a fun stay-at-home Mom job. But, it has been challenging and I am not at all sure I am cut out for it. And we are trying so hard to get in all of our parenting classes. Aria and Elijah are starting summer school next week. I feel so bad for them, having to cut their summer short a little bit. But they are needing some extra help I think. Especially 'Lij, poor guy, he struggles with reading. He has all the confidence in the world, but lacks the ability to vocalize very well. We actually had his eyes tested this week to make sure he is seeing correctly and his eyes are tracking like they should be. We did discover that he is having some trouble, but we aren't exactly sure what to do about it yet. We will be meeting with a vision therapist soon to figure out what to do next. If anyone has had any experience with this kind of thing, I would love to hear about it. Rowan has also had some tests done for allergies this last week. We need to find out if he is still allergic to eggs and why, occasionally his eyes swell shut. He has a very limited diet and a weak gag reflex. If you give the kid a bite of carrot and he doesn't like it, you better expect his entire dinner to come up when he gags it out. Yuck! The shock I guess is when I begin to think...can I do this? Can I mother another child?

And then you have a good day. A day like today. We went to Splash in Golden. It was awesome. There were no accidents or meltdowns. No one threw up. No one pooped in their swim diaper. No one got lost or swallowed so much water that they wouldn't get back in the pool. We took turns going down the slides and everyone loved it. The twins were able to swim with very little supervision and Rowan didn't run us all ragged. We had a great picnic and everyone ate everything I packed for them.

It's days like that that make me think ahhhh, yes, this is what it's all about. It does get better. It does get easier. It is worth it. It is rewarding. It is all I need in all the world. Happy husband, happy babies, happy Mommy.

Our Referral!!!

I am so sorry, I have been neglecting this blog. I have so many pictures to post of recent family trips and fun times, but first things first! Monday morning as I was loading the kids into the car to head to my weekly ritual of torture a.k.a kickboxing class. I received a call on my cell phone from our coordinator. She asked if it was a good time to talk...I said, "um, yes." We were still #4 on the waitlist, so I couldn't imagine what she was needing to talk to us about. Then she said those magic words I thought I might never hear..."we have a referral for you." I said, "oh". Then I don't remember too much of what happened next. I totally wasn't prepared. She told me that a 10 month old baby girl had been placed at the orphanage a few weeks ago, but because she was so small she had been hospitalized for about a week and was just recently available for a referral. And then she said she was sending me the email with her picture and information. After we hung up I called my husband, but while trying to get the words out of my mouth as to what had just happened three police officers started banging on my front door. I thought I was going crazy! I then remembered that about 20 minutes earlier my dear, sweet and very naughty three year old had found the alarm panic button and pushed it. I thought I had turned the alarm off on time, but apparently if you push the panic button the police come no matter what. I then had to tell the officers at my door that I wasn't panicked (although I really was and was just hoping they wouldn't notice). They hesitantly decided I wasn't in any danger and then left. I then called Ryan back and we shared the moment of meeting our newest daughter via email while on cell phones (welcome to the age of technology). It all happened so fast! Yet there she was, a little person with great big eyes and a beautiful mouth. I was still confused as to why she had come to us so soon and it took us about a day to have the information sink in. But then it didn't matter any more.

I'm not sure if it is okay for me to post her Ethiopian name on our blog, but she will have a new name that I firmly believe God placed in our minds not more than a few weeks ago so we would be ready for this. Selah...(say-lah). It is a very old word that can be found most commonly in the book of Psalms. The exact meaning of the word is debatable, but the general consensus is that it means to pause and reflect. It might have been used in the Psalms as a musical term (which is perfect for us, our daughter Aria's name is Italian for melody or song) meaning to rest.

Beyond her age and her name there isn't too much more information available to us right now. We can not post pictures until she is legally ours. We did receive a few more photos of her from a couple that had just arrived home from Ethiopia. I am so grateful to them. It is a strange place to be indeed to be given such an amazing gift, but still be so far from having it be real, really real.

Oh my dear Selah, Mommy and Daddy are on their way. Rowan promises to be a good big brother and share all his toys. He keeps asking if "Sailor" is here yet. Aria is dying to have a little sister and can't wait to share her room with you. Elijah is the best big brother you could ask for, he will protect you from Rowan. It breaks my heart to think of all that you have been through already. I pray that God sends you sweet dreams of us. We never dreamed we'd be blessed with a little girl as perfect as you.

A little sneak peak!