ethiopian roots run deep.

it's late Thursday night + I'm having one of my "in the mood" late photo editing nights.
thinking about the day.
seriously, adoption has changed our whole life.
it has expanded our world view ten fold.
people that we might never have had the opportunity to know, we now consider family.

I mean, when did we ever go over to our "ethiopian parents" house for coffee ceremonies?
or go to gotcha day parties + celebrate orphans no more being in their forever families?

it's insane.
and I love every minute.


we want our kids to KNOW all about their culture.
so we love when getanah & wosene speak to them in amharic + even oromo (their tribal language)
we love it when we participate in one of the greatest traditions of their home culture - the coffee ceremony.

we love it when they have friends who come from the same places as they do.

tonight, as our sweet friend Lana's daughter Eva Rose met Camp + Asher for the first time, Lana told her simply that they come from the same place that she does.

Eva just studied Asher and said in her 3 year old voice, "mommy she has hair just like me & Lomi do".  Yes, Eva she sure does.  and her skin is the same as yours.
Eva strokes her skin and says an enthusiastic, "yeah!"
"and her eyes are black too"

simple conversation but it still stole my heart.

I love that that four little girls who once lived as orphans in Ethiopia, can now call each other friends in Midland Texas.  they can relate to each other.  even at a young age.  

I'm so thankful for the adoptive families that we are blessed to call friends!

and those of you who are adopting & don't know ANYONE who's adopting in your area... rest assured, we didn't either when we started this thing.  the bond of adoption runs thick.  you will meet "your people"!  pray for an adoption boom in your city! 

Emme, it was an honor to celebrate your gotcha day tonight.  I can't believe it's been 1 year since you've been home.  I still remember so well sitting in YOUR room with YOU IN IT just in awe.  after months of no Emme in that room, that day you spun me around in your chair it all became real.
you are a beautiful joyful  and have the best-laugh-ever + I'm blessed to know you! (jennas blog here!)

camp + asher, may you never lose your Ethiopian roots.  

happy friday yall! 

 in case you missed it this week:

I guest posted over on my girl Tara's blog here. 

talking about my No. 41 bag! 

All you ever wanted to know about Camp + Asher

well ok, not everything.

just wanted to say thanks for being super supportive of us & loving our family so well.  With two new babes added to our family, we tend to get a lot of questions!  SO... I thought I'd answer some of the questions we get every time we meet someone new!  (and ones that I never have really talked about on the blog!)

(sweet camp already taking care of his little sister!)

What are your kids names?
Camp Abel
why Camp?


Asher Asanti
why Asher? we always loved the name (it's in the greatest book ever written - the Bible) and when we heard her Ethiopian name was Asanti, it just fit.  Seriously, we just looked at each other and almost at the same time said "Asher".  and it was totally from the Lord as Asher means "happy or blessed" and she is just about the happiest kid I know.

Did you keep their Ethiopian names?
Yes and No.
Asher's Ethiopian name was Asanti & we kept it.  It has lots of meanings, but the nannies in Ethiopia told me it means "near to me" and this mommas heart loves that.

Camp's Ethiopian name was Kedir.  At first I loved it, as one of my brothers from Korah is named Kedir, but after spending a summer with him and watching him change his name after he got baptized (Kedir is a muslim name) we decided we didn't want our child to grown up with a muslim name.  SO - we chose Abel.  (pronounced a-bell in Ethiopia, and more like "able" here).  I met a sweet boy in Korah named Abel this summer and later discovered it meant the same thing as Kedir - "capable".  BONUS, my favorite scripture is Ephesians 3:20, "God is ABLE to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine."  (guess, I can cross that tattoo off my list).

How old are they?
Asher is10 months (almost 11) & Camp is 11 months

When are their birthdays? Will you celebrate them together? Did you pick their bdays? 
Ashers is Feburary 24th
Camp's is January 29th
YES we will (at least for the time being) celebrate their birthdays on a mutual date.
and then celebrate them individually as a family on their actual birthday
no, we did not pick the days.  they are days that were estimated by the people in Ethiopia, and we just chose to keep them!

Are they siblings?
well, yes they are!
might not have been born siblings, but they are siblings now.
They've also been together since they were 1 month old in 2 orphanages, the transition home, and now in their joint room at our house.  (blog about their room coming soon!)
yes, they share a room.

Are they sleeping? 
not sure why everyone asks I'm sure every new mother this question, but yes they are sleeping.
they don't usually wake each other up at night, but they often wake each other up during nap time.
thank goodness I have a pack-n-play set up in the guest room in case one of em is getting fussy

What are their personalities like? 
they couldn't be more different.  and I love them both!

Asher for sure is a party waiting to happen.  she has this smile for the camera thing going on, and she makes friends pretty easily.  She is sassy, girly, attention loving and I love her so much.  reminds me of someone else I know :)

Camp is the sweetest.  he's my little music man.  he always has to check every new thing/person out and he looks at you real serious.  but once he knows you, man.  he has the cheesiest smile and he just lights up when I say his name.  he's wise it seems.  always listening or watching everything I put in front of him.  I love him!

Well, that's all I can think of for now.  I'm sure there are more questions - send em to me if you've got em!

Camp + Asher are really passionate about getting other orphans home.  They are totally for adoption fundraisers and especially ones that involve them getting to be a part of it ;)

My friend Melissa created this coloring book called "The ABC's of Coming Home".  It's a journey through the alphabet that introduces things to adopted kids that may be unfamiliar.  Plus, I think it would be fun for bio kids too!  Who doesn't love to color?  Buy yours here & support their Sierra Leone adoption! 

*ps, this weekend I pretty much just recovered from being sick last week, so I'm a little behind on emails and comments.  hope to catch up the next few days! 

encouragement in the wait...give1save1

in case you don't know what give1save1 is, let me introduce you.
my adoptive momma friend Beth started it when she had the thought that "one person can't give an adoptive family $30,000 but if 30,000 people gave just $1...."
since then it's turned into more than an amazing opportunity for adoptive families to raise funds.
it's become a little community!

what started with just a Africa site....

has turned into sites for//
domestic adoptions
Asia
Caribbean
and coming soon europe 

seriously, if you are adopting or have a girlfriend who is - tell her about give1!  Families are nominated for each site each WEEK to be the "Family of the Week" - that week people have the opportunity to flood that families paypal with dollar bills yall!

our week on give1 came at just the right time.  god ordained.  it was an amazing blessing.
so what are you waiting for?  email subscribe to the blog.  watch the videos.  get to know the families.
let it be a part of your weekly "blog reading".

oh, and I posted over on the Africa blog last week :)  find it here.
I may be a slow contributor...but I'm working on it!

and beth did an amazing post today about what it looks like to adopt a child from a "waiting child's list" I found it very insightful :)

oh, and last week they posted this I Like adoption video - if you haven't seen it....please do & get the tissues ready.  here.

so every orphan can find their home,
wynne. 

I used to wonder.

I used to wonder.

what was on the other side of a photograph?
beyond the pretty clothes & clean faces
was it an act?  what all went into capturing that single moment in time?

what was it like to get up 3-4 times in the middle of the night with a crying baby?
were you annoyed/exhausted/sleep deprived?

when your kids were napping or you were out on a date, did you miss them?

when your kiddies were sick, were you miserable?  did life really stop?

when people brought you food & it was cold by the time you ate it because you were putting your baby down, were you annoyed?

I used to wonder all these things.  I used to wonder how my mom friends did it all, how they did it with such grace.  I wanted to know what the "mom life" was all about.

and now I know.
and I think I know why my questions above were always unanswered.
god just gives special supernatural grace to mommas. (and surprises!)
he designed us to be nuturers, to put our children above our own needs, to be multitaskers, to get up in the middle of the night, to meet our babies every need.
the creator created me that way.
it's not always easy or pretty or "put together"
it's hard, exhausting and it reminds you how selfish you really are.  it's no joke.

but more than all of that - it's beautiful.  glorious.  joyful.  you are so in love that you can't even remember what life was like before kids (yes, all those cliche/cheesy things people told you before you were a mom were TRUE!)

and I'm not taking any moment for granted.
even when they wake up early from their naps when I still want some mommy time, or when they spew their baby food in my face.

#momlife
it's a beautiful thing.