T-Shirt SALE!

Y'all remember this old gem? (The shirt, not the guy)

Although we love this shirt, we are getting a new design for our second adoption so all of these must go.  They are only $10!!!! Our sizes are limited so order yours today!

ORDER THEM HERE 

Be on the look out for our new design coming soon...they are fabulous! 

And Then There Were Five!

I know what the world is going to say...are you crazy?  I suppose to the world we are.  We have a one year old and a two year old and we are about to grow again!

We are adopting!!

This time from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  It's a girl and she is one! So my kids are officially...one, one, and two.  Bring it on!

This process will look a lot different than our Ethiopia experience, but in three ways it will be the same.

PRAYING, FUNDING and WAITING

I mentioned in a previous post that the Lord was doing some crazy stirring in my heart and now we all know what it is!!  A little precious baby girl!

So buy your mom something pretty from our store tab up top and help us bring our girl home.

One Year Home and Video

It's been one year since our feet touched down in America with our newest child.  I won't lie and say this year has been easy but I can say with certainty, we are in a great place.  We've had some really hard times this past year and there were times I just didn't know how we were going to make it.  Looking back I realize that Addis was grieving in his own little baby way.  That seemed crazy to me at the time because after all, he was a baby.  However, something that was so special to us, adopting Addis, was possible because of complete tragedy and despair for him .  He was ripped from everything he ever knew, was picked up and taken across the world by strangers, introduced to new food, faces, culture, flashing lights and so much more.  Since then, I have learned so much about the trauma that comes with lack of attachment at a young age.  I wish I would have known more then, but we can't go back and we can only look forward.

About a month ago our precious Addis flipped the switch.  He is like a different kid.  So much more content and secure.  He's started interacting with people and usually doesn't have a complete melt down when I leave the room. 

God has blessed this year in an incredible way.  I would never have guessed the lessons I would learn.  Addis is a completely different person but I'd say we are all different because of his precious little life. 

Here is the link to our video about bringing Addis home.  It was the longest flight ever but was all worth it when we arrived at the airport to so many loving faces!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb_SWVAb9a0


And if you haven't seen our video of meeting Addis for the first time last February, here it is!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY5vZZV82KA

There's a stirring.

I've never been one of those people who feels constantly in touch with what God is telling them.  My motto is usually to hunker down, be sensitive to the Spirit, grow in faith, and believe even when things are quiet. 
But today, there is a stirring.  It can't be explained.  For two weeks I've been waking up in the night with nothing but my prayers to occupy me, waking up early (even before the kids) to lay in bed and pray, and I'm distracted in every area of life because of this stirring. It's fantastic.  I love it when the Lord deals with me like this.  It's exciting and scary.  I can't wait to see what God is about to do in our lives.
This song was on my heart all through church today.  It's an oldie that we use to sing back in my youth group days, but it's definitely becoming the mantra of this day.

Check it out here...
(This was originally sung by Caedmon's Call but I can't find that version.)

 

Mommy's Heart Went Pop!

As I mentioned in my previous post, one of our key concerns with readying our lives for Addis to join us was to diversify the play room.  I knew right away that our book collection was gonna need some work.  It seemed like the majority of the books we had about babies talked about "bringing them home from the hospital" or "when you were in my belly" etc.  I loved these little book for teaching Stella about how she joined our family, but they simply would not do for Addis.  His story is so beautiful and I want to celebrate the special way he joined our family too. 

I have a pretty good collection of adoption books for children.  Some of them have sweet bears who are so glad to have their "adopted" cub join their family.  Others speak more to how "my love will find you where ever you are."

Today I came across the most eloquently written and beautifully illustrated children's book regarding adoption, specifically from Africa. 

Mommy's Heart Went Pop!  An Adoption Story

by Christina Kyllonen and Peter Greer

Illustrated by Jeff Brown

This book truly gets at the raw beauty of adoption.  All of us adoptive moms are thinking the same things.

"Who is rocking my baby tonight?"
"Who is taking care of his boo boos?"
"Who is singing to my baby?"

And because there is nothing else we can do, we wait and we cry and we pray and we decorate their new room and we dream about our little one, and our friends don't know what to do so they throw you a shower, and when all that's done, we sit in their little empty room and look at their little empty bed and we wonder if we will ever be a family and we cry and we pray....and our hearts get bigger and bigger.

Then in the middle of the night we get the email or the phone call and it doesn't matter that it's 3am because we haven't been sleeping in three months anyway because we keep checking our email through the night for the one that tells us we are cleared to go.

Finally, we fly across the world to our little one and our lives are never the same and our hearts really do go POP!

If this is you at any stage of the journey, then I must insist that you immediately go to this link and buy this book.  It's the kind of book that you will want to prop up in your child's room and read to them every night.

And as if that isn't reason enough to buy this book...

All the proceeds of this book will go to the "rubymyles fund." This fund is administered by 4-more and provides grants for adoption and support to organizations addressing the orphan crisis.

Racist Pancakes?

My family has a long standing pancake tradition.  All growing up, on special occasions or not, our family was treated to smiley face pancakes.  We would wake with anticipation on random Saturdays to find Greg in the kitchen whipping up a batch of these famous treats.  I thought it was time to bring this tradition into my home, so for Jonathan's birthday, I made my first batch of these grinning beauties.  I just knew Stella and Addis were going to be so excited with my blue eyes, red grin, super fun breakfast.

Stella took one look at those pancakes and said, "But Addis is brown?"


It caught me by surprise.  For one thing, we have never had a discussion on what color any of us are and to be honest, I didn't think Stella was even aware of the skin difference.  I have done what most multiracial families have done, diversified the play room.  We have our Hispanic Jonathan Berry Cabbage Patch Doll, our Ethiopian beauty that I don't let the kids play with because she is too pretty, Stella's favorite doll named Tumiany who she won't sleep without, and on and on.

But this one snuck up on me.  I was making only light brown (as we refer to the other three Berry's) pancakes and it didn't sit well with Stella.  I love that about her.  So I did what all shamed mothers do when their children correct their mistake, I made a batch of brown pancakes and all was well in the world. 

Clearly I need some work on my smiley faced pancakes.

I am confident this won't be the last of these learning moments...but my lesson was learned here, I will never make only light brown smiley pancakes ever again!!

Once-A-Month Cooking

So, many of you have asked how the freezer cooking is coming along and I have to say, I'm a total believer in this process.  I no longer have silly guilt trips because the hubs and kids are eating cereal for dinner once again.  Instead I just throw something from the freezer in the crock pot and we all actually get to eat something hot.

I really do love "From Your Freezer to Your Family."  I love that she includes the grocery list and labels.  The meals are fantastic but I have found that for my toddlers, it's not super compatible.  Last night I made the Cumin-Cinnamon Pot Roast.  Jonathan and I loved it but the kids wouldn't touch it.  I'm usually opposed to cooking a special meal for the kids but I'd be a liar if I didn't admit that all four of us ended the meal with good ole mac and cheese.

There is a freezer cookbook that I would totally recommend if you are like me and need more "toddler friendly" ideas.  It is called, "Once-A-Month Cooking Family Favorite."

I have found this cookbook a tad more challenging to navigate at first but once you get the hang of it, it's quite simple.  The recipes are fantastic and include some of your freezer must haves like your chicken and dumplings and meat loaf but it also has some very interesting recipes that I can't wait to try.