Two Years Ago...

Two years ago today, this little face belonged to a stranger.

Today, I have memorized every curve - every indentation - every freckle - every expression.  

Two years ago, we were strangers to him.  Today, we are everything to him.  He depends on us.  He loves us.  We are his mommy & daddy.

I clearly remember feeling like we would just never meet, and wondering if I would ever really feel his little arms around my neck.  

Then we met him, fell in love with him hard & fast, and wondered what it would be like to have him home.  Some days it seemed like he would just never be home, and I wondered if he would ever tippy-toe around our house, fuzzy blanket in-hand.

Today, those chubby little feet run all over our home & our hearts.  A little boy in orange underwear darts through our kitchen and into our living room, leaving a trail of 47 sandwich baggies behind him.  Alphabet letters from his toy train and animal magnets from the fridge are covering the floor.  This and this and this are the soundtrack of our lives these days.

Between every peach yogurt and 'no-no' and snuggle time and milk spill and bath time and trip to the store and 'dance - dance - dance' and banana treat and clean up time and 'I need to do better' and long rides to school....there's a whole lotta love.

Mounds & mounds & mounds of it.

Two years ago today, we officially committed to 'Antonio' on Reece's Rainbow.  Yes, on April Fools Day!

Two years ago today, we said yes.  Hands shaking, knees knocking, praying that the Lord would bless it.

He did.

Carter's story - unfolding in ways we never imagined.

One Thing I Know For Sure: My cup overflows...

linking up with carissa @ lowercase letters.  join us - it's fun :)

"Choose Me!"

I've done my fair share of crying for this boy.

He is Dennis - and his home is Carter's former orphanage.

When we were in process for Carter, we were debating about adding another child, and bringing home a sibling for Carter at the same time.

Well, you know how that turned out :)

But about a month into the process, we got an email with several new Reece's Rainbow babies from Carter's orphanage.  We could choose one of them, and if we weren't interested, Reece's Rainbow would list them.

Dennis was in that group.

Of that group, all of them have been adopted.  All of them have gone home to their forever families.  All of them have been chosen - and are now loved, cherished, adored, and cared for every moment of their day.

Except Dennis.

He still waits to be chosen.

Break my little heart.  It's just not right.

Of all the families that have been to Carter's orphanage to adopt their own treasures, none have ever spotted Dennis (to my knowledge).  I've even started to wonder if he was adopted, or if something happened to him.

Well, guess what?

He's still waiting.  How do I know?

Watch.  This is Carter's orphanage - his director is the man with the white coat behind the desk.

And the little boy with the striped green shirt?  That's Dennis.




He's still waiting to be chosen.  Maybe his Mama will see this, and have the same 'oh-my-word-that-is-my-SON' reaction that I did when I first saw Carter.

I pray so.

Want more information about Dennis' orphanage & city?  Email me - I'd love-love-LOVE to share!

One Thing I Know For Sure: Sweet Dennis - where is your mama?

Well, Hi!

Hi there - me again!  Miss you, friend.  How are things?  Good.

Well, unless things are bad.  Then, I'm sorry.

Grab your hot cup and cozy down in your chair.  It's time we catch up.

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Anybody else experiencing serious cabin fever?  This time last year, we were wearing shorts and tshirts.  Carters chubby toes were being squished into sandals.

Not this year.  We're still piling on layers each morning, and praying each night that spring comes quickly.

It's been hard keeping these two busy.

Pinterest has provided lots of fun activities.  Well, some are fun.  Some are total bombs.  I know it's a bomb when Haleigh looks at me and says "can we do somethin' fun now...?".  Love her honesty.

So we've been slicing our afternoons in half - half spent upstairs in Carter's room, half spent downstairs.  We fill the bathtub with colored water and splash around.  We paint.  We color.  We have snacks and watch movies.

And pray for spring.  Because I'm almost out of ideas.

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I knew that one day, I'd be glad I took this photo.  At the time, it seemed so wrong to take a freeze-frame of this sad little face.

But today, I can look at it and know that putting this furry boy to sleep was absolutely the right thing to do.  Look at his heavy, weary eyes.  Break my heart.

Moses has been gone for a little over two months.  I still hear him, sometimes - barking in the middle of the night, or licking his floppy lips, or clickity-clacking across the kitchen floor.

Losing a pet...stinks.  A whole lot.

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Remember that long & detailed post I did about potty training?  Carter was doing great with all of it - and then we turned his life upside-down and went on vacation.

He did okay with potty training on vacation, but the minute his little feet hit Wisconsin soil again, he was like a leaky faucet.  Frustrated doesn't even begin to describe how I was feeling.

Especially since I wrote that post about how great he was doing :)

Well...I'm happy to say that Carter is back on track.  I'd love to write another post about all the creative things we did to fix the faucet...but, the truth is - Carter worked it out himself.  Last Sunday, he just woke up in the morning and decided he was done with the whole 'accident' thing.  Because accidents are soooo 'January'.

And the little stinker hasn't had an accident since.

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Have you ever wanted something so badly, and tried with all your might to work it out?  And it doesn't work out?  And you get frustrated?  And then eventually, you just give up?

"Okay, Lord - fine.  FINE.  Just, have your way!"

Then, when you're finally content where you are, He comes in and gives you the desires of your heart? In His timing?

I've got a fun story to share.  But not yet.  Stay tuned :)

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That's all I've got for now.  Be blessed, friend.

One Thing I Know For Sure: Love a good catch-up!