Life.

Here we are nine days in to the new year. We've had a hard time adjusting to everything that's been going on around here. Life has been hard. The suffering and the hurt and the crying out to God that we have done, they all shape us and mold us into who we are. But ultimately, they bring us to joy. And that is what we should remember.

So yes. Nine days in. A lot has happened in nine days.

We started potty training Addison on the first. We haven't been very committed with it because I'm usually just overwhelmed with every day life...taking care of the girls, making breakfast, lunch and dinner. Okay that's a lie. Adam makes dinner 99% of the time. Getting Makayla to preschool three days a week, cleaning the house, folding the laundry, playing with my kids, homework stress, etc., etc. We have started potty training, but we're taking it slow. The first day, we jumped right in...straight to undies. It was too soon. We're in Pull-Ups now and sitting on the potty every hour. She has peed in the potty one time in these nine days, but I'm not stressing about it. I'm just taking it one day at a time.

On the second, I got my new tattoos. They are gorgeous and I am in love with them. Africa on my wrist, seven birds on my right forearm and hope in Amharic above the birds. Love, love, love.

Makayla has gone back to school. We are all happy to have our routine back, though I miss having fun family days together, snuggled in at home. We had an awesome snow storm over the break and Adam and Makayla built forts outside. They have loved it! Though it looks like they might start to melt today. :(

Just a little taste test. ;)

Makayla in her fort with her mail! :)

HUGE. I mean, HUGE.

Makayla next to hers and Kalkidan's.

And here is the entrance! For little people only...obviously. ;)

We started sponsoring another child in Ethiopia. This time, through Compassion International. We are SO excited because we think she found out that she will get to go to school on Gena! Which is so amazing. We are so thankful that God has blessed us so abundantly so that we can bless others. What a gift.

Our sweet Lemlem. She has been waiting almost a year for a sponsor.

Sunday, the 6th, was the first time we all went to church together! Kalkidan will be staying with us during the service, which is what we feel is best for her right now. The nursery is too much like an orphanage setting for her.

We celebrated Ethiopian Christmas on the 7th, which you can read about in my blog post here.

In between all that, I've been reading lots of books, taking lots of pictures on Instagram, loving my kids and trying to be in the moment. We have also, as a family, been doing our Jesus Calling devotional. Every night after I am finished reading it and explaining it to the kids, Adam prays for them. It's such a beautiful time for us a family and I'm praying that it will really connect us to each other and grow us closer to Jesus. And we've started taking daily vitamins together every night at dinner. It's not huge, but I just love it. I love doing things that connect us to each other.

Also every night at dinner, we read a question from a jar that we have sitting on the table. It's been fun to hear how the kids answer each question. I got them off the internet here.

Yesterday Makayla was super sick. Sweet girl. She is usually go, go, go and talk, talk, talk all day long. Yesterday morning, she just laid on the floor with her blankey and Doggy. When I asked if she wanted to eat lunch she said no, so I knew she was serious. At 11:30, I asked if she wanted to go to bed and she said yes. She slept until 2 and then came down and laid on the couch for another hour. After that she seemed to be doing better and was back up and playing. She didn't eat much at dinner and her forehead was still pretty hot. She took a bath and then came downstairs and just laid on the couch. When it was time for bed, she got off the couch and started screaming and pointing to her mouth. Then she barfed all over the kitchen floor. Poor girl. I felt so bad for her, but she was so precious about it all. We cleaned her up and put her to bed. She seems to be feeling better today, but I kept her home from preschool so we don't spread our germs.

Kalkidan started sleeping in her own room at night time for the first time last night!! We are so excited to have one room in the house that is just ours again. I know it seems like something so little, but it's a blessing to be able to sleep and not have to tip-toe in, praying you don't wake your 3 year old. :) Addison and Kalkidan share a room and last night was awesome. Addi usually cries for an hour every night...last night, she didn't cry at all! I'm thinking this is going to be really great for both of them. Our sweet little twinsies. :)

That's what's been happening here since 2013 started! Never a dull moment around here. Makayla's birthday party is on Saturday so we are getting ready for that, too! :)

Ice Cream Time!

I was having a slight panic attack about my upcoming mission trip that is happening in FIVE DAYS!!! I found out that someone that recently went to Ethiopia had some of her stuff stolen out of her luggage. So that had me freaking out for a good part of the day today. :/

But my team leader saved the day and talked me down from my crazy. Love her!! I'm back in Sanityville now and will be taking a carry-on with most of my clothes and toiletries and then a backpack with my fun stuff...laptop, Kindle, etc. :)

So the girls and I went out for some ice cream today after dinner since Adam was at Chipotle and Janelle just left this afternoon to go back to Maryland. We were lonely and needed a pick me up. :)

This little girl is a riot!! Love her.

And this treasure is such a beauty, inside and out. Love her.

These gorgeous girls have my heart. I will treasure this picture for years to come!!

Addison kept backing up to her sister when I told them to stand by each other for a picture. :)

This is what she does when I try to take a picture. :)

Big Sister had to copy. :)

Enjoying her very first ice cream cone!!!

I'd say she loves it. :)

This girl!! She is so amazing!!

Makayla said, "I want an ice cream beard!" HAHA!

She got really sad when it started dripping on the driveway. Poor girl.

But we cleaned her up and she's happy again!!!

Makayla was trying to get her sister to look at the camera for the picture. HA!

Such a sweet little cheeser!

Just enjoying life...

Then this happened... :(

And then this happened. Yep, that's Makayla giving her cone to Addison. I am so thankful that I captured this. What a precious sight. No coaxing from Mommy or anything. Just the pure instincts of her heart to give her little sister her cone when she dropped hers on the driveway. Such a compassionate and loving little girl. I am so proud.

I also got prayed for by some fabulous people at our church. This was the first time anyone has laid hands on me for prayer. They prayed for my mission trip and it was such a huge blessing to know how much people care. And guess what? The pastor knew my name! The last church we attended for almost a year, the pastor didn't know what my name was, so this was a nice surprise. It's nice to know that people will be praying for me while I'm gone.

I literally leave in 5 days!!! Less than that now since it's so late here, but oh my gosh...

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!!! 

I am so excited to have the opportunity to be going on a mission trip to a country that I dearly love. I've been praying my heart out this week and sharing all my anxieties with Jesus and praying that He would calm my heart. The only thing I'm really anxious about right now is not getting all of my stuff when we arrive in Ethiopia...or someone stealing something from my bag. But, I've been talking it out with God. And that ice cream helped a little bit, too. :)

Cleveland Indians!!

So today we went to see a Cleveland Indians game!! Adam got four FREE tickets from work, so obviously we HAD to go. It was SO MUCH FUN!!! My mom came with us since Addison was free (under 2) and it was just awesome. Totally, totally awesome.

Here's Addi before we left...complete with Oakland A's baseball hat and fake ice cream cone.

First of all, we got there right as the game was starting, so perfect timing!! Then we're heading to our seats and we realize that we are SUPER close to the field!! We were nine rows away from first base!!! It was AWESOME!!!!

Check out how close we were!! This is from our seats and with NO zoom. RAD.

Totally stoked to be so close! 

Gosh, I love these people. :)

 Then we got a free tote bag that some dude threw at us. Super fun. :) Makayla and Addison totally clapped every single time the fans cheered and clapped. It was so cute and they are total naturals at cheering for teams!!

We got some nachos and cheese, fries and cheese, cotton candy and sausage sandwiches...totally worth all the heartburn and stomach aches we were feeling later! HAHA!

Awesome view!!!

The very best part about being there?

We were on the Giant Screen!!!!!! You know when they zoom in on people and then they look all dense because they don't know they're going to be on the huge screen? Well that was us!!! Adam and I saw him and Addison on there at first and my first thought was, 'Who is that cute baby?' and then I realized it was my cute baby!!! Then I got in and Makayla jumped in, too! They were on us for quite a while and it was SO TOTALLY AWESOME!!!!!! I've never had something like that happen and believe it or not, I've been to quite a few games!!! It was super rad and I'm sad I didn't get a picture of us up there, but the memory of it will never go away. It was so much fun! Our fifteen seconds of fame! HAHAHA!!

We were on there!!!!!!!

Makayla loved it!!

Addi getting into trouble, as usual. ;)

Love this view!!

SO close!

This is from up top when we were leaving. Totally awesome!!

Sadly we had to leave at the bottom of the 10th inning because Addi was getting grumptastic. She did SO well without a nap for the whole day, though! The Indians ended up beating the Mariners at the bottom of the 11th inning! I'm sad we missed them winning because I bet the crowd went wild!!! But, at least they won and we had an awesome day together.

I got crazy sunburned, but it was worth it. Next time I'll probably wear sunscreen, though. Thankfully, my amazing husband remembered to put it on our girls, though. It was a little late, so Addi's left arm got a teeny sunburn on it, but I'm sure she'll be okay. :)

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mamas out there! I had a wonderful Mother's Day!! Got a beautiful card from my precious girls. Had our moms over for dinner. Got some spending money for Ethiopia and a gorgeous flower for my porch!

Adam made us all chicken fettucine alfredo with salad and veggies. Oh man, it was so good!! Then Sarah (Adam's little sis) made us a lime cheesecake for dessert. We had a great time just hanging out and chatting it up.

Then everyone went outside to play and Addison fell and whacked her face on the ground. Poor girl! She was going after the ball and it rolled away and she fell on the pavement. :(

So, here are some pictures from our fun day.

Addison found a four leaf clover yesterday! Guess it didn't help her out too much.

My precious gifts from the Lord on Mother's Day. LOVE them.

And again. I am so thankful to be their Mommy. <3

Our family on Mother's Day! Don't think we forgot about our Ethiopia Baby today!! Adam was reppin' for him or her all day. :)

My mom and I. I am SO thankful for her. :D

My two moms. They're amazing.

And here is Addison's little face. It's not keeping her spirits down, though! :)

Last Week!

Last week was crazy busy! I let my life get the best of me and I totally forgot to blog about it. Instead I just enjoyed it! :)

Addison had her first ever popsicle on May 1st. She totally loved it.

Last Wednesday, I turned 28 years old! I know, I can't believe it either. My day was wonderful. I went to bed on May 1st reading the sweetest text message from my mom and then woke up to awesome texts from my family and countless birthday wishes on Facebook!

The girls and I went to lunch with my mom...Fiesta Jalapeno's. YUM. She got me some pretty fabulous stuff from Delicate Fortress, which I am in love with!! :) I left Makayla at my mom's and took Addison to the doctor because she's been falling lately while walking. There's nothing in her way and she doesn't trip on anything. So weird. Anyway, I took her to the doctor to see if she had an ear infection or something and that would affect her balance. He checked her ears, saw a bunch of wax, took the wax out and in the process, nicked both of her ear drums. I know, right? Not cool. She was SCREAMING so I knew it was bad. He said she'd be fine, but there might be some blood coming out of her ear later. Way to freak a Mama out!

So long story short, she's fine. She hasn't tripped since we took her to the doctor. Which sounds very much like when she wasn't walking and we took her to an orthopedic surgeon and she started walking the next day. This child. ;) There was a lot of blood in her ear the next day, but like I said, she's fine now.

After that, we headed home for nap time since my precious girl was exhausted. She napped and I'm sure I watched some tv show and waited for Adam to get home. We went to Olive Garden for dinner and Addison hated life. I don't blame her, though. We got through it (somehow!) and headed home for bed time. A pretty great birthday...except for my baby girl getting her ear drums nicked. :(

Last Thursday was Adam's 28th birthday! We're a day apart...pretty sweet, huh? :) Makayla had a Mother's Day Tea at her school, too. So Addi and I went there. It was pretty cute. They sang two songs that they made up and then we had some snacks. We met Adam at Pizza Hut by his work for lunch and had a fun time. After that, we came home for nap time and then we went to Old Carolina for dinner with my mom and stepdad. It was really fun, though Addison was still hating life, which makes it difficult to take her anywhere. :) And that was that!

Whenever we pick Makayla up from school, Addison runs into the classroom and they are SO happy to see each other!! They hug and I was trying to catch it, but the kids were all lined up so it didn't work out. :) 

Her flower cookie.

This is what Addi does when I take pictures of her now. I think she's trying to fit herself into the shot. ;)

Not the greatest picture of any of us, but it's me and my girls.

Makayla with her precious little card and coaster that she made me. <3

Friday we stayed home because we already spent enough money this week!! HA!

Saturday we went to Empress Taytu with Adam's mom, stepdad and little brother. It was amazing, as usual!! This is only the second time we have ever been there and the third time we have had Ethiopian food and I think it gets better every time!!! We had great conversation and then met a sweet Ethiopian princess named Sofie. Her little face was painted up from something that was going on in Cleveland. She was so precious! I was coming out of the bathroom and she was going in and asked me if anyone else was in there. I told her no and she said, 'I want to go look in the mirror and see my face.' I told her she looks beautiful and she said, 'Mmmhmmm.' BAHAHAHA!! The girls both loved her and little Sofie even came over to say hi to the girls. It was super precious.

Before we left for Empress Taytu.

Daddy and his girls before dinner.

Take one at a family photo...

Take two...

And take three...the best we're gonna get, I think! ;)

Sunday we stayed home because our week has been crazy busy! And then Monday was our anniversary...