Life in the Fast Lane

We have been busy living life in the fast lane at our house!  It's none stop motion or sheer exhaustion.  I don't think we live "in the middle" with three kids three and under.  But I wouldn't change it for the world.  I've taken a bit of a technology break in order to spend more time with the kids and keep them busy as we had a terrible case of spring fever and lots of spring snow in Michigan. We also managed a trip to North Carolina to enjoy seeing family from NC, spending time in a big pink house with my nieces and nephews, siblings and parents and we survived the 17 hour car trip - each way with three kids! :)  I'd call it a great last month.  
The boys have really grown and are getting tall (well, tall in Ethiopian standards).  They love school, playing with their friends, jumping on furniture (if I can't get them outside enough), riding their scooters and bikes, playing baseball, playing musical instruments, putting together puzzles, reading books and testing boundaries with their parents.  David has come into his own with a rather comical side.  He's good at one liners and has a great sense of humor.  Thomas tries to follow suite but his one liners tend to get him in trouble. The boys have taken to snuggling in bed together lately and have had many nap and bed times where they share a toddler bed. I love these twin moments.  I'm not as fond of the ones where they gang up on me!
Jennifer has changed a ton and is growing like crazy.  She eats non-stop and is quickly catching up in size. She's 18 months and has left me wondering where time goes.  She has a handful of words she loves to say (Mommy, Daddy, PaPa (with lots of extra emphasis), Cassie, Tinkie (The Summerfield's dog), RyRy (thanks to a week in NC Rylan taught her to say this after asking her to repeat it 20 plus times a day!), more (which she also signs and can now "yell" in sign language as she slams her hands together in an exaggerated fashion as she throws her body into the more sign - it's a sight to see), no and BB (which is her bunny she loves to snuggle with and her pacifier).  She has begun running after the boys trying to keep up which has resulted in many bumps, bruises and skinned knees.  Thankfully she is tough and bounces right back.  She is going through a phase where she is "addicted" to carrying around her bunny and having her paci.  I try to remind myself she won't be ten asking for her paci and bunny. She is also teething again which means 3 or more teeth are coming in.  Why that girl needs to do everything all at once mystifies me!  Breaking one tooth at a time is hard enough, much less three.
Blake and I continue to try and keep up with all three without dropping down exhausted after bedtime.  Thankfully the hugs, kisses and sweet faces make it all worth it.

David and Jennifer - trying to take photos of all three is a treat!

Fort Macon in NC.  The boys loved the soldiers.

Of the faces!

David, Thomas & Jennifer

What We've Been Up To...

I can't believe it's been over a month since I've blogged.  Where has the winter gone?  It must be all the colds, crud, fun in the snow and crazy indoor behavior has my head spinning.  Well...where to begin.  We've had our fair share of crud around here.  Most recently all three kids had ear infections and the boys both had walking pneumonia - that was a long week for mom!  Thankfully we made it though that and were finally done with colds and crud and able to see Nama Denise.  We are thankful her chemo treatments are going well and even more thankful when we are all feeling well and can hang out with Nama.  Spring also brings the end of basketball season which means pep band for daddy.  Thankfully he is home more now and we are enjoying our time together as a family.

David continues to grow (yes, he is finally getting taller!) and change.  He has a funny personality that makes us smile and his humor has us laughing.  One of my favorite sayings from David is "I have an idea"....then a long pause and then the big reveal.  He is loving preschool and has learned to write his name (and it is very legible).  He loves to do puzzles, read books and be silly.

Thomas also is getting taller and skinnier by the day. He enjoys doing puzzles (and is amazingly fast at them), eating breakfast (his favorite meal of the day)and one he asks for the moment his eyes open every morning.  He has recently taken to helping feed Jennifer which is very cute and he LOVES to climb (I'm having a hard time finding indoor places for him to climb on!).  We can't wait for spring and scooter riding.

Jennifer is every changing.  She has cut a few more teeth (she does so 3-4 at a time) and has developed quite a personality.  She throws fits when she doesn't get her way, challenges her brothers to give into her every need, and has developed a love for tutus.  We went a whole week where she boycotted pants and would only wear her tutu and leggings (thanks Lyndsey for the fun heart leggings they are her favorite!).  Oh my the "princess attitude" is in high gear over here.  Thankfully she is also beginning to talk more and we are certainly enjoying hearing more words from her sweet voice.  She does still use her sign language and has learned to "yell" more in sign language.  We hope to catch this on video on of these days.  It is hysterical how animated she gets as she jams one finger into her other hand signing "more."  I love watching her personality change and her mind grow....it sure makes for some fun moments at our house. :)

King puzzle makers!

Thomas "the bear"

Being sick brought movies and popcorn.

Hey mom...I know where the cookies are!  

Can I have one..NOW!

Jennifer loves to brush her teeth.

Happy 91st birthday great grandma!

This is what happens when you light 91 candles on a cake.

Reading with Aunt Liss

Jennifer loves to sit in her doll stroller and be pushed around by her brothers.

Snuggling in bed with mom and dad.

Jennifer snuggling with her three bunnies.

All my little readers.  We love books around here.

Driver/Summerfield Band

Jennifer's first pigtails!

Big girl hair.

One cool little sister.

Jennifer and Brayden

She couldn't be happier holding all three of her bunnies.

She thinks she's hot stuff when she gets to sit forward in the car seat.

She must stand on the stool like her big brothers to brush her teeth.

Jennifer loves playing outside and building snowmen.

This girl has crazy bed head!

She has begun to love watching a few minutes of TV with her brothers but needs to snuggle with this yellow blankie (thanks for the beautiful blanket Aunt Mary Alice).

David loves to paint!

Jennifer's tutu fetish...

Riding in the stroller - one cool chick.

She likes to wear a backpack like her brothers (notice another tutu).

I'm a big girl!

Gods Perfect Plan...Three Years Later

I'm amazed at how God brought Blake and I into parenthood.  He brought us to our knees and showed us if we were faithful one door after another would open and lead the way to creating a family.  What am amazing family He blessed us with!  I recently read a post from a good friend of mine who commented on how amazing it is that God brings strangers together to create families.  Well said Sharon!  God is amazing and has perfect plans for us.  He knew who our children would be before we did...we just needed to be faithful (which is sometimes easier said than done during the adoption process).  However at the same time that His perfect plan for our life was coming together I am certain that the boys' Ethiopian mom felt abandoned by God.  Why couldn't she care for her children? Why had her father and husband died within months of each other leaving her pregnant and caring for her younger siblings?  As I was experiencing amazing joy she was experiencing amazing heartache.  My heart still breaks for her as I think about the joy I had meeting our (wait...God's children, whom he charged Blake and I to raise in His name) boys for the first time.

Those first moments at the care center were full of anticipation, anxiety (would I recognize my boys), joy, love, gratitude (for the nannies who took such great care of the boys), and terror...I was about to become a first time mom almost 8,000 miles away from family and friends....would I know how to care for them? Would they hate me (yes, but that would be short lived)? Would I know what their crying meant? Then we saw the boys, held them tight, snuggled them, kissed them and simply couldn't stop looking at them...love over took everything.  I imagine that this type of intense love is just like what God has for us every day.

Then about three hours later we got into a van (without seat belts!) and held onto them as we headed back to the guest house.  It was official...in a matter of three hours we had gone from Blake and Julie to a family of four!  Oh the emotions!

When Blake and I took the vows for better or worse I am certain we didn't think about what the next two weeks of our lives would hold!  It would be the greatest joy in our lives, the most intense fear, total exhaustion, frustration like we had never experienced, and the most love we had ever felt.  When I think back to that time I am amazed by my husband who was a rock of strength. 

And now as I look back three years later it seems like we've known the boys their whole life.  The anticipating and waiting is just a memory and those long two weeks in Ethiopia and the crazy trip home are memories....We now live life as a family of five just the way God planned it.  Although I must say who would have thought three years ago that I would be mom to two three year olds and a one year old three years later...not me! But I wouldn't change it for the world.  Happy Family Day Busters! We love you!!

Our First Photos of the Boys

Amare

Asaye

We waited and watched you grow up in photos

(which was very hard for mommy and daddy).

Asaye & Amare

Amare

The night before we met you we practiced putting on the baby carriers

 (little did we know how much time you would spend 

in them and how much you would love them).

As we walked into the baby room there sat our sweet Asaye on the floor.  

Then the nannies woke Amare up from a sound sleep and placed him in our arms.

Best Moment Ever! Finally hugging our babies! 

We couldn't take in enough of them...

we just kept staring into their beautiful eyes.

The first moments at the Guest House. We laid the boys on the bed 

and stood back in amazement...we were finally parents!

Amare

Holding the book we sent them of our photos.

Asaye

I had purchased these jammies for the boys and couldn't wait to put them on them.  

Everything we had done was green for David and blue for Thomas.

I lost it when I saw this moment.  An exhausted daddy and David snuggling!

I loved watching Blake play with the boys.  It was such joy to finally be 

holding and playing with our boys.  Our family was complete.

The boys shared a crib while in Ethiopia.

Daddy and Thomas hanging out the first night.

David loved our first dinner out in Addis.

We spent LOTS of time at the guest house.  Once other parents from our agency came it was fun to hang out in the common areas together.  We were thankful for the playmat one of the families brought...and all shared it!  Did you know five babies could play with a playmat at once?

There was a beautiful grassy area in the back yard of the guest house.  

Blake enjoyed taking the kids on the spinning contraption.  

"Special Delivery from Ethiopia" onesies

Oh the memories of trying to feed the boys in the pink "bath seats" that Blake had purchased for them when we needed something to put them in while trying to feed them (we were first time parents we hadn't thought about having to feed them cereal and with two how we would do that!).

David loved eating!  

(Some things haven't changed.)

Thomas wasn't so sure about eating.

(And that too hasn't changed.)

Daddy and his boys hanging out in our room.

The boys wouldn't fall asleep without a bottle in their mouths. 

Playtime on the floor.

Finally after a day or two we saw Thomas' amazing smile.

David was much more easy going and loved to smile.

Mommy and Thomas.

Daddy feeding David.

Thomas hanging out with daddy on the balcony.

David was always a ham for the camera!

Daddy and David

Thomas and Daddy

FINALLY A FAMILY!

Three Years Later...