Three Years Ago Today...

Dear R & B,

Three years ago today, your Daddy and I got married! It was the best day of my life! Here's a picture of our first kiss as a married couple. (Yep, Mommy and Daddy kiss!)

The past three years with your Dad have been so full of love, joy and fun. Marrying him was one of the easiest (and wisest) decisions I've ever made. I know that much of my time in prayer as a mother will be spent asking God to bless the two of you with loving marriages. My own mother prayed for God to bless me with a loving husband, and her prayers were answered BIG TIME!

Your Dad and I believe that one of the best gifts we can give you as our children is to love one another for a lifetime. The vows we took on our wedding day were not just for our own benefit, but also for yours. We hope that as you watch us love each other and remain committed to one another throughout our lives that you will feel a sense of security in that. We want our marriage and the home we've created together to be a safe haven for you--one in which you can grow and flourish!

I've heard it said that the only day in an adult's life that is more memorable that their wedding day is the day that they meet their babies for the first time. For us, that day can't come soon enough. We simply can't wait to meet you!

Love,

Mama

A Letter to my Boys

Dear R&B,

How cool is that?! Together, you are Rhythm and Blues! ;)

I've decided that I want to write you letters from time to time as a way to communicate with you, since I can't be with you right now, and also as a way to remember this incredibly special time in our lives--it is, after all, the season of life in which we're becoming parents!

On May 24th, we got the phone call that we'd been waiting for. Our case worker from the Gladney Center for Adoption called to tell us that we had been matched with YOU--two boys! When we made our request for the age/gender of the child/ren we hoped to adopt, we said that we would love to be matched with a sibling group (but would also accept a single child), and that we would be happy with either gender. We were told that being matched with a sibling group that included a baby would be possible, but very unlikely, unless we wanted to wait. And for some reason, I had a feeling we were going to be matched with a girl, so when our case worker told us that we had been matched with not one, but TWO BOYS, you can imagine our surprise and delight! Actually, you don't have to imagine it. We looked exactly like this:

No, we did not pose for that photo, it was a live shot of our faces when we heard we would get to be YOUR parents! Not long after we heard the news, we got to open up an e-mail to see photos of our SONS. We have not stopped looking at them since, and each day we fall more in love with your sweet faces. We are praying that we will get to bring you home very soon!

A few weeks after we found out about you, it was Father's Day here, and even though you're not here with us yet, that didn't stop us from celebrating. Look--you even gave your Dad a present!

Let's talk about your Daddy. One of the things I am most excited about for you is getting to have this man as your Dad. He has been dreaming about being a father since before we got married. He has a heart full of love that he can't wait to share with you. As soon as we downloaded the photos our agency sent us of you, he created a file on his computer to store them in and titled it, "My Boys". That pretty much made my heart melt. He's also been reading a book about raising boys, and as I write this letter, he is sitting next to me in bed, reading The Chronicles of Narnia--a series of books he cannot wait to read to you when you are old enough. (Hint: Aslan is awesome!)

As for me, the day can't come soon enough when I get to hold you in my arms and tell you that I love you.

Until then, I'll be holding you in my heart.

Love,

Mama

Seeking Travel Advice for Tigray

Both of the boys were born in the Tigray region of Ethiopia--one in Mek'ele and the other in Adigrat. We are considering taking some time to visit Tigray while we are in-country, but we don't know much about what to do or see or visit while we're there.

If any of you have traveled to Tigray, we would love to hear any thoughts you have in terms of how much time to spend there, what cities to visit, sights to see, things to do, places to eat/stay, etc.

Thank you!!!

Advice, Please!

Well, I'm not sure that our feet have come back down to earth since learning our wonderful news last week, but we are starting to think about the practical aspects of welcoming to little ones into our home!

The main thing I'm concerned about is whether I should put them in one room together or in separate rooms. They fact that both of them will have spent their recent months of life living and sleeping in a foster care center full of cribs and other babies makes me think that they both might be more comfortable sharing a room. I don't know if it would be too lonely for them to suddenly be sleeping in rooms all by themselves.

What I don't know, though, is if it will be difficult to have a toddler and a baby with potentially different sleeping/napping schedules sharing a room.

I'm curious if any of you have thoughts or advice about this. I don't think there is really a right or wrong answer, but I'm certainly open to hearing what others who have gone before me have done!

Thank you!