Saturday, December 19, 2009


Journey of Three Hundred Nights



We're quickly approaching the ten month anniversary of when the older girls joined our family. I was just thinking that at some point I will stop counting days and months, and I'll just smile and say the girls have been here a long time. It's sort of like being the mother of an infant and reporting on their age to admiring strangers, except in adoption parlance this is called "family age." So, the girls are approaching their ten month birthdays of this family. Today they had medical check-ups and we learned that they have grown! Diva Darling is 13.5 pounds heavier and has grown 3.25 inches. Princess Moxie is 3 inches taller and gained 13 pounds since March!

One thing that i was reminded of recently was when Princess Moxie cut her right hand when the garage door slammed shut unexpectedly. (I still get chills thinking of that injury.) After cleaning and bandaging it, we prayed that it would heal quickly. Later that evening Marta showed me her LEFT hand and said, "Look! It's healed, it's a miracle!!"

Some of the funnier things said and done this week:

Diva Darling ran down the stairs in our house holding an orange tube in her hand. "This Colgate?" "No, face scrub," I told her. She looked ready to vomit and said, "Eeewwww, no taste good at all, Mom." "Yes, but look how clean your teeth are," I said laughing my head off.

Later, at their dental appointment Princess Moxie ran into one of the dentists in the hallway. He is a big, funny, gregarious guy and after listening to his act for a minute she asked pointedly, "Are you Dr. Seuss?"

As Princess continued down the hallway she saw the huge aquarium with not only fish but also snowmen and Santa figurines inside it. "Who knocked down the Santa?" asked Princess. The receptionist replied, "One of the fish did it." Marta quickly shook her finger at the fish tank and said, "Ok, you fish, you're in time-out."

One very poignant moment this week came at the dentist's office. One year ago I had brought Princess Sparky for her check-up and shared with the dentist (Dr. Seuss) that we were adopting two girls from Ethiopia. He admitted he didn't know where in Africa Ethiopia was, so I got a pen and paper and drew him a picture of Africa. Well, this past Saturday he told me that he has signed up to go on a trip to do cleft palate surgeries...in Ethiopia!! I stood there with tears in my eyes thinking what an awesome experience-in so many ways on so many different levels!

I wish you world peace and serenity in your home--

Love,
M.