Well, I actually feel like I've been a mom a lot longer. I was just mothering from a distance before :)...and actually, we took custody of her about five days before we arrived in the US, so it's actually about 5 weeks as a mom, but whatever :)

Here are some things I've learned so far:

2010 was an amazing year for us, mostly full of adoption stuff. We applied to our agency on Dec 15, 2009 and brought our daughter home on Dec 4, 2010, so literally an entire year of lots of paperwork, emotional highs and lows, longing and praying, making great new friends, and living day to day with your heart on the other side of the world. It has been an amazing journey, and I wouldn't change a thing about it. This has all been God's plan. We are not in charge. He brought us our beautiful girl and made us a family. 

On a sad note, this year we said goodbye to my beloved Dakota Jane (Kody). She was my 14 year old Lab mix, who I had since she was a puppy. She has been with me my entire adult life, and it was a tremendous loss. Seeing her again will be one of the things I most look forward to when I get to Heaven. I don't know that I will ever truly be okay with it, but I thank God for his timing and bringing Maeve home when I needed her the most.

In 2011, we look forward to continuing to grow as a family and exploring the world through the eyes of our daughter. We also have lots of post placement adoption visits and reports and completing her re-adoption in the US, so she can get a Texas birth certificate. Oh, we bought a new house in 2010, just before traveling to Ethiopia for the first trip. We are in the process of gutting and remodeling the kitchen...and really look forward to finally moving in. We are so grateful for a larger house (storage!) in a great area with great schools. This is our "family house", the one we plan to raise our kids in and be in for a long time, God willing. We look forward to many family gatherings in the years to come.

Here's wishing you a year filled with Faith, Peace, Hope, and Love!

Happy New Year!

Christmas was great and very tiring :). My mom was visiting from Savannah, and my sister and her family were up from Houston. My mom was the only one staying at our house, but we managed to get some fun play dates in for the kids.

Taking a stroll around (not all the way around) White Rock Lake with Mommy and MiMi.

Sharing blocks (at least for a moment) with cousin Evie.

Collecting the blocks with cousin Georgia.
I know this pic looks like an intense stare down, but everything was okay. :)
Learning about her new musical instruments.

Christmas day will be three weeks home for us and things are going really well. It's just amazing how far Maeve has come in such a short time. She went from only drinking formula (for comfort I'm sure) to now wanting to eat everything we're eating, which is hard to manage with only 4.5 front teeth :) It took us about a week and a half to get her adjusted to our time zone. She's still waking up at least once a night, sometimes because she's itchy, or hungry, or scared.

Her skin issues have really improved. I'd say most of the ringworm is gone, but there's something on her feet that's putting up a fight and really giving her a hard time. We're only 3 weeks in to the medication that was prescribed for 6-8 weeks, so we'll have to see how it goes.

The attachment process is coming along well. She really likes/loves us both and gives us lots of affection. It was really tough at first because she definitely preferred me, having only had female caregivers. I had to hold her constantly. Then, when she allowed me to have her on the floor playing, she'd have a complete meltdown if I was out of her sight for a second. This is getting a lot better though. If I step into the kitchen, she'll get up and follow me..and will even go to her room on her own to get a new toy. Mark is home for the whole week, so I've been trying to give them some time without me, which really has help their bonding. He's a great dad.

Maeve is just a joy. She is so smart and fun. She loves to laugh, take a bath, dance, and sing.

Maeve with her babies.

First Doctor's visit. Everything was great until the blood draws :(

Trying out her new shades.

Checking herself out in the oven reflection.

Fun in the leaves on an unseasonably warm day.

My first "cheese!"

We are home! The flights home were a marathon, but not quite as terrible as I expected. Maeve is a joy, such a sweetheart and handful. This pic is from our first night together in the hotel in Addis Ababa. She's wearing her "Everyone is Thankful for me" Pj's. I think it will take us about a week just to get adjusted to US time (Maeve is still on Addis time). Then we need to start working on a regular schedule/routine. We have a doctor's appointment later this week to begin sorting out skin and tummy issues. Getting those things under control will certainly make life easier. We're almost through he piles of laundry and haven't even begun to get our pics from the camera to the computer. Mark and I both have sinus colds and very sore throats, adding to the tiredness, but we're hanging in there and trying to sleep when we can. We couldn't be happier! :)

We're heading back to Ethiopia today! Finally!

We'll be there for about 10 days and will be bringing our daughter home....finally! :)

Please keep us in your prayers for safe travel, good health, and easy transitions for us all.

We are absolutely over the moon!


Thank you all very much for your love, prayers, and support...not just during our adoption journey...but always.


We'll do our best to post/email/facebook updates, but we really can't post pictures of her until we are home...so here are a few glimpses until you see her in person.






(Tiny little hand)

(Skinny long feet) :)

(Beautiful curls) :)

When we see you next, we'll be a full fledged family of three!

God bless! (Joanna & Mark)

We found out on Friday that we being submitted for the November 30th Embassy appointment. 

That means we'll be with our daughter in Ethiopia for Thanksgiving and bringing her homing during the first week of December! Praise the Lord! We are so Thankful and just can't wait to see her again.