Posted on :
5/11/2011
| By :
Joanna
One year ago we got "THE" call...the call that told us about a little girl on the other side of the world who would become our daughter. That day it all became very real. Maybe it was really going to happen; maybe we really were going to get to be parents. That day we put a face to the love that had been growing in our hearts. That day...everything changed.
What a difference a year makes :)
Posted on :
5/06/2011
| By :
Joanna
I mean to post this a while ago, but forgot. It's Maeve and Kayla during our Zoo weekend.
Just about the cutest thing ever!
Posted on :
5/06/2011
| By :
Joanna
As we approach Mother’s Day, I am beyond grateful to be a mom…finally. I praise God for His many blessings! While my heart is full, it also aches. Today and every day, my thoughts turn to our daughter’s birth-mom, the most beautiful spirit I have ever met. She is a part of our daughter and a part of our hearts. We miss her. We long for her. We cry for her. We pray for her. I cannot imagine her pain…her loss. She is an amazing mother. If there are any birth-moms reading this, know that you are loved, honored, and cherished.
My thoughts also turn to the women, many are my friends, who are trying to start a family. I was in the same boat not too long ago. I know first had the agony of uncertainty, the loss, the torture of the highs and lows, hope and despair, living your life a couple of weeks at a time. I know all about the endless string of baby showers, everyone you know getting pregnant seemingly without much difficulty, the unknowingly hurtful comments from friends…it all sucks…a lot. I remember being a church on Mother’s Day a couple o f years ago when they asked for all of the mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers to stand up for a round of applause (I had just lost our second child a couple of months before). I sat there for what seemed like an eternity…with all of the children and men…chanting in my head “don’t burst into tears, don’t burst into tears”. For those of you struggling, I don’t have any words of comfort….just know that I know.
This year, I am finally a mom. I am grateful and fully aware of how sweet it is. THIS year in church I will stand…and probably still burst into tears. I’m kind of picturing something like a scene out of The Lion King… with me holding my daughter above my head. LOL!
I hope you all have a great weekend.
Posted on :
4/17/2011
| By :
Joanna
Maeve turned 18 months old a couple of days ago. We were so excited to go to the zoo with old
friends. All of these kiddos were in the same
orphanage in
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Heather and Eli live with in an hour and half of Dallas, but Betsy and Kayla came in from
Wisconsin for a visit.
Sharon and Lily drove 45 mins to to meet us for dinner and more play time. The kids had a blast.
Posted on :
3/23/2011
| By :
Joanna
Now that I'm over my nearly 2.5 week long sinus infection, we happily took
Maeve to a big park near our house last weekend. The weather was
gorgeous...dare I say "hot".. and the park was packed.
We played some ball (gotta have the tongue out).
Got to pet a dog, that she thought was a cat since it was so small :)
Picked flowers that tickled her chin.
Went down the slide a lot.
After all that, had some serious chill out time with Sesame Street.
Posted on :
3/16/2011
| By :
Joanna
First of all, Happy Saint Patrick's Day,
from our Irish/American/Ethiopian family to yours!
Maeve is now 17 months old and doing really well. Her
Montessori school is starting to transition her to the 18-24 month class. They usually don't do this for about another 6 weeks, but agree with me that she's ready and will really enjoy what the other class is doing (ABC's, numbers, songs...basically stuff she's been doing for a while now). We know, she's brilliant! :)
We also moved into our new house a few weeks ago. We've been taking the transition slowly and opting for spending time with
Maeve rather than feeling the need to be
completely unpacked and all sorted
right away. She and I have both been sick (me much worse than her, thank the Lord), so that hasn't been much fun...but hubby has been doing an awesome job working double duty while I got some much needed rest.
We also had the great joy and honor of baptizing our daughter at the end of February. It was wonderful to have family in from Ireland, Chicago, and South Texas. It was a bit hectic, but we all had a great time.
Maeve in her traditional Ethiopian dress.
Reading with
PaPa 'dine
Bubbles with Daddy and cousin Georgia.
Posted on :
2/27/2011
| By :
Joanna
We didn't really need much help in this department when Maeve first arrived home, but boy are we gonna need it during the next few weeks.
I'm starting back to work on Monday and Maeve will be going to Montessori school full time. If that weren't enough of an upheaval...we're moving to our new house Thursday.
So, if any of you would like to make us dinner (casseroles, soups, etc...frozen or not) or would like to order food in for us (pizza, Chinese, etc). We would really appreciate the help.
We'd like to be able to spend the evening hours after work and before Maeve's bed time focusing solely on her as much as possible, trying to make her feel as secure as possible during yet another transition for this little girl.
Please let me know if you are interested.
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