This Is The Life

Greetings From Florida

We are so thankful.

Holiday Cheer Music

Oh, Bob Dylan.

Baby in a Basket

This baby likes to find small spaces with natural light to read her books.

One Year Ago Today

A year ago today we saw this face for the first time. We fell in love.

Her name means "song", which couldn't have been more perfect for our family.
These were the only two pictures we had until the end of February. We memorized everything about our baby girl from these two pictures.

That Was Fun

We went to Elliot's party yesterday. I can't believe he is 3!

I was a crazy camera woman at the party. The lighting was great and the subjects were perfect, so it had to be done. What was fun about Elliot's party?

Little boys who are terrified of carousels. At least I thought this was fun and cute. Seriously, who is afraid of carousels?

Carousels. (Rhett is riding safe on the bench.)

Birthday boys who prefer to go by "Bob."

Cupcakes and party hats.

Balloons.

Wax mustaches.

After the party Mezmur passed out at the restaurant. If only she would pass out at night than we would be great.

A Few Christmas Gifts For Those Who Can't Read Yet

Here are a few Christmas gifts that I'm very excited about and I really hope the kids will be excited too. They will, right?

This is such a cute book. I LOVE the illustrations.

I love this tree. You build each of the pieces. I just think it is beautiful and I hope Rhett is as excited about this as I am.
Here is a doll stroller for Mezmur. I think she will love it. She loves her little dolls and animals and she loves to push strollers around her friend's houses, so I thought she would like her own. I plan on a new special little doll for her stroller.

You Look Nice Today

The header photo is one of our family photos. We couldn't wait for Ryan to photograph our family of four. We chose to go to our favorite park. A park we spend many hours at, go to for concerts in the summer, and the park we celebrated Mezmur's first birthday at...our very favorite park. We were one of those really obnoxious families to photograph. I was certain Rhett and Mezmur didn't smile at all. I was sure my face was scrunched up with stress and Dan was sure his smiles weren't real smiles. I was wrong...I was also right in that I knew if anyone could do it...Ryan could. He makes EVERYONE look good. Go to his blog to check out the other photos. If you are in the Portland area I HIGHLY recommend Ryan of You Look Nice Today Photography. Especially if you are getting married...check out his wedding photographs!

IF YOU ARE FAMILY...CHOOSE YOUR FAVORITES AND LET US KNOW. CHRISTMAS!

The Wrong Call

Here's the story. The call that happened a year ago that devastated us. The call I still think about.

Let me preface this story by saying two things. First, Mezmur was meant for us. She is such a perfect match for our family that it is eerie at times. We were also meant for her. Not a lot of parents would have the patience for her antics like we do. I'm serious, she is crazy. Second, it's the nature of adoption. If our paperwork was in 2 days, 3 days, or one week earlier our daughter wouldn't have been Mezmur. It is so weird to think about.

What happened devastated us so much at the time. It made me question so many things. I didn't make it public, because it was personal and I didn't want to "hurt" our agency or our adoption. Today, I just feel like I want to write it down and get it off my chest.

Exactly one week before we got "the call" for Mezmur we got another call. A call for a baby boy. She got us both on the phone. I was crying, shaking, and couldn't wait for the news. This was the call I had waited so long for. The call I had daydreamed about. When she said "boy" I said, "Well, I guess Dan and I have something to talk about." It was like I birthed a boy. I couldn't push him back. Once she realized the mistake and we realized the reality of adoption she said good-bye and called another family immediately after hanging up the phone with us. The reality of adoption is that if you request a sex and age (for us a girl 0-14 months) that is what you are approved for. You can change this, but it would mean redoing some paperwork and getting approval of the change. I do believe our agency handled it poorly by immediately referring that baby boy out to another family before talking to us once more. Before making sure we were ok. I'm not sure we would have changed our paperwork, but knowing she hung up the phone while I sat there in shock and called another family for the same baby boy just didn't sit well with me.

I want to say, that I believe there is no agency that is free from mistakes of any kind. I also am so thankful for our agency for bringing us our daughter. I also feel as though our agency is one of the most ethical agencies working in Ethiopia right now. For all these reasons...I would use them again.

I Got Away

I got away...for the first time (alone) since before Rhett was born. No kids...no husband. I needed to get away and the kids needed a break from me too. It was perfect. I was invited to a baby shower a couple of hours away and thus came my getaway plan. After a lovely shower with MANY great women I broke away to head to my hotel. I brought my sewing machine, several projects to work on, dinner, a bottle of wine, and my knitting.

I was a half an hour into my time away and this is the scene from my room...

I took a little dinner break. I brought dinner, so I didn't have to leave the room and I could keep on sewing and cutting. Shrimp cake, orzo, and carrot salad.
Before too long...I (mostly) finished this tunic! It is amazing how much you can do with uninterrupted sewing time. The tunic is the Schoolhouse tunic from Sew Liberated.

Next, I started something for a little friend...I'm going to have to convince him that hedgehogs are friends with foxes.

Before bed I was able to (almost) finish these Christmas pajama pants for Rhett.

In the morning...I started another Christmas gift and I was able to knit for a couple of hours.

I may need to get away again before Christmas.

Why are things mostly/almost finished? Well, I didn't know I could get so much done with uninterrupted time, so I didn't bring enough projects and supplies to finish the projects I brought.

A Year Ago

A year ago our world was very different. I was wearing this shirt. Expecting a call about our daughter any minute. Receiving a devastating mistake call from our agency. Wow, that was tough.

Rhett was an only child and 4" shorter. Doesn't he look young?
Today, things are so different. It is almost hard to imagine our life a year ago. Before we knew about our daughter who was a world away. In a little over a week we celebrate the year anniversary of the first time we saw her face.