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Abram turned 4!!!

Abram turned 4 November 30, 2011. Yes that was 6 months ago. But never to late for an update. When he woke up that morning we told him he was four and showed him the number on his fingers. He spent the next two weeks waking up and telling us he was four. And saying it multiple times throughout the days. One of his favorite things to do is swim. He's like a small fish. He jumps right in without fear (scary but fun). Since his birthday was close to winter yet he loves to swim we had a "Polar Bear Plunge" party for him! It was a lot of fun having friends and family to celebrate and swim with.  Swimming in the winter might become his birthday tradition. We are so thankful for our little four year old boy!!!

A Reflection on Mother's Day

Last Mother's Day was a lot different than this years Mother's Day. It was technically my first Mother's Day. We had already gone to Ethiopia for our court date and Bruike and Sitotawe had become Abram and Ellis Wells which was something to celebrate. The hard part was they were not with us for Mother's Day. At the time we were back in the States waiting for the approval to go back and get the boys for good.

I knew it was going to be a hard day because it was a Sunday. We were going to church and there was going to be a baby dedication and I was going to see people I love and people that love me and I knew they were going to wish me a Happy Mother's Day. All wonderful and beautiful things yet all things I knew were going to make me cry. So that's what I did. I held it in as much as I could but spent a lot of the day in tears being thankful to be a Mom but sad that I couldn't be with my boys at the time.

Now that we've had the boys for a year, days like last Mothers Day seem so insignificant. I had hard days through the adoption process but being with the boys makes it feel like it was nothing. What I thought seemed like the hardest thing I'd ever done now seems like no big deal. I think about this good news trumping bad news kind of thing in a lot of areas in my life. Probably all. But especially in Mothering. Sometimes I feel isolated, without purpose, lacking in knowledge, and exhausted. But at the same time I can't rid of the peace and joy that comes from knowing I'm doing what I was created to do. I know that ultimately God is in control of their lives and if I'm being faithful than that's all I can do.

Tony and the boys made me feel incredibly loved and special on Mother's Day. Being showered with their gifts and love and just spending time with them made it such a special day! I only spent about 1 minute thinking about last Mother's Day. I was able to think about it with a happy heart knowing that's what it had to take to have a Mother's Day like this one. Sometimes we have to go through the hard things to get the greatest things in life. This has brought new meaning to one of my favorite verses in scripture, "God works for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28...I truly feel like I could go through anything and know that God is working in it for my good. These past two years have been a testimony to that. Thank you Lord for being my salvation and my joy and working for the good in my life.

A few firsts for Abram

Abram's 1st date with Mommy. 

It could technically be our second if you count a hot chocolate date to starbucks. But what I would possibly call our first date was going to the movies. We went to see the Muppet Movie. I thought it would be a good choice for both of us. We got all dressed up, drove to lexington, which is what Tony and I usually do for dates and then went to the movie. We had good snacks, good seats, and I really enjoyed the entertainment. I could tell Abram was over it by the end but I thoroughly enjoyed the music and sarcastic humor. I was a little disappointed that Abram didn't enjoy the movie as much as I did and thought the date might've been a bust. That was until we used the restroom after the movie. After we washed our hands Abram got to use the super high air powered hand dryers. They blew so hard that it pushed the skin back on our hands from the force. This was the best part of our date. I let him stick his head and his face and any other area that could reach the dryer and you would've thought that we paid for this wonderful entertainment. He was laughing and dancing and spinning from the joy that the hand dryer had brought to him. After this I knew our date was a success and I look forward to more dates with Him!

Abram's first Haircut. (As a Wells)

The time had come. We realized when it was getting harder and harder to get a pick through Abram's hair that the time had come to get it cut. Also after months of people asking, "What are you going to do with his hair?" It's funny how often people give us advice or comment on the boys hair. I had been told multiple times his hair was nappy but until it was from a reliable (same kind of hair source) I didn't believe it. I thought he had a nice little afro growing but then came out of my denial to see it was nappy as they said. At first I thought i'd just take some scissors to it and start cutting but Tony had a better idea. He got a football player from Georgetown that obviously knew what he was doing to come over and cut Abram's hair. What I thought would take minutes turned into an hour and a half. He had more hair then we could see. They had to lather it up with lotion to even get the trimmers to start cutting. But with a ring pop in his hand Abram was a trooper. He sat as still as possible and didn't complain until the job was done. Since then he's had a second hair cut and now has a cute little fohawk. It seems he likes to get his hair cut because he often runs his hand over his head saying, "Buzzzzzzz" and asking for another hair cut. He got a lot of attention from the mohawk too which he milked all the way. He'd go up to girls pointing at his head to see if they noticed his hair cut as well.  We've realized it's easier to maintain with it short so for now multiple haircuts are still to come. Here are some pics from the event.

Before before shot.

Had his serious face on with the Georgetown football team watching.

Ellis enjoyed the entertainment too!

Abram's first job as the Ringbearer.

When we were first asked for Abram to be the Ringbearer in our friends wedding I was super excited. I knew he'd be perfect for it. He loves people, is good in big groups, and follows directions really well. It seemed I was right...or so I thought. We got to the rehearsal dinner and Abram did his usual. Walked around like he owned the place. Gave everyone high fives and ran around free as a bird. I bribed him with some candy to get him to walk down the aisle a few times. He did good. Walked slow, carried his pillow, stayed with his partner Hadley and when we practiced he did great! I felt really good about it and thought we'd have no problems. Then comes the day of the wedding. All was Wells as usual. We practiced up and down the aisle before all the people got there. Abram seemed a little more apprehensive than usual and even had a hard time taking some pictures. But he seemed to get it together. When the ceremony started we were hanging around in the back of the church. He was happy and everytime I told him what to do he just smiled. But it all changed in an instant. He waited in line during for his turn and when his time came it all started to fall apart. All I remember is seeing the lip quiver and the wedding coordinator saying, "Liz he's getting upset, He's getting upset Liz, he looks really upset." I laugh at is now but in that moment I had no clue what was going on or what to do. I hadn't prepared for this moment because I thought everything would be fine. Then everyone turns around and stairs at the little boy in the back of the church now crying his eyes out and just standing there. For a second I thought he was going to walk so I left him, and then he turned and looked at me, with everyone looking at him, now wailing. This seemed like it was a good 5 minutes of loud crying but it was probably only a matter of 30 seconds when I decided to do the only thing I knew to do. I grabbed his hand and there we went. I walked him down the aisle. With no shoes on I might add. I really wasn't prepared. At the time I was highly embarassed and thought I looked like a bad mom, etc. etc. Now I laugh about it and told my friend I'm glad I got to walk down the aisle in her wedding and walk with my son. Abram had another wedding coming up in August. This time I'll be really nervous, and try to have a plan b if everything falls apart. Turns out everyone thought he was cute and that thing happens all the time. After we walked down the aisle we sat on the front row and told him he did a great job and gave him some candy. Hopefully the memory will be a good one.

Abram and Hadley the flower girl.

Family pic looking nice. Doesn't happen often.

Super Baby Take 2

There are many words you could use to describe our youngest child Ellis. Big, free, funny, passionate, emotional, smart, sweet, wild...and the list goes on. He has done some funny/incredible things lately I'd like to remember. Therefore I'm writing a second post entitled Super Baby. We'll go in order of Events.

Event one...Ellis is approximately 14 months old at the time. Tony and I and some friends are sitting around talking, laughing, etc. Someone says, "Hallelujah!" Then what do we hear? The word Hallelujah come clearly out of a 14 month olds mouth. He went from ball, cookie, hi, Mommy, to Hallelujah. The word has yet to be repeated as clearly as it was.

Event two... I had heard a family tradition from a friend and decided I would like for it to be one of our family traditions. The tradition goes that on Christmas morning the first thing you do is take baby Jesus out of the manger and hide him in the house. Why hide baby Jesus you ask? Isn't it all about Him. Well... you hide baby Jesus but the first thing you do in the morning is look for him. When you find him you place him back in the manger singing Joy to the World! And Jesus and his birthday is restored and the day starts all about Him! This was something we wanted to start right away and was probably one of the things I was most excited about on Christmas morning!

When we came out in the morning I showed Abram baby Jesus and explained to him what we were going to do. I told him to close his eyes and then I would hide baby Jesus. Little did I know sweet baby Ellis was paying close attention. At this time...15 months. So Abram is closing his eyes and I hide baby Jesus. When he opens his eyes he begins to look. He looks under blankets, pillows, couches, and doesn't see baby Jesus sitting with all the presents. To humor myself and involve Ellis I asked Ellis, "Where's baby Jesus." Ellis smiles and then walks over to the tree to pick up baby Jesus! We laughed hysterically as we sang Joy to the World and placed baby Jesus back in the Nativity.

Event three...Ellis often hangs out with me while I'm doing laundry. Our washer and dryer our in one of our bathrooms. While I'm transferring and folding he'll sit and play in the clothes, play in and out of the shower, and do whatever to entertain himself. One day while I'm folding he walks over to the toilet and says, "Caca." Caca is the word we use for poop around our home in case anyone didn't catch that. I just looked at him and laughed thinking that was cute. Then he proceeds, "Caca, Please!" I realized that he was insisting on pooping on the toilet. I thought I'd try it out so I grab the potty seat and place him on it. He sits there for a while and then it happens!!! I was shocked! I immediately errupted with joy and praised him for what he had just done! He smiled with his huge grin and began clapping for himself! And then he just kept pooping and peeing on the potty and all was right with the world. I wish. :) I won't tell you what happened after that but he is still not potty trained but will every once in a while do his thing like a big boy.

Lastly for now... I've been trying to teach him to say I love you. We're doing the point to your eye, cross your heart, and point to who you love. He won't do the eye part or the point to who you love part but he crosses his heart, says love, and smiles. It warms my heart every time. Especially when you don't tell him to do it. It's a funny thing though because Abram always did the eye and the point part but forgot the love. Our love for them is continuing to grow deeper and deeper and it's exciting when we get a glimpse of their love for us as well.

That's all for now for the Super Baby! I'm sure more posts will come!

The Terrell Family

Please pray for some of our friends who are currently in Ethiopia visiting their little boy Xander!!! They are on their first trip to Court. We are praying they are passed and will get to go back to get their little man soon. The Terrell Family. This is a picture of Abram and their daugher Hadley as the Ringbearer and Flower girl in a wedding this past December!

Preschool...what a gift.

One thing I love about Abram's preschool on top of the teachers, the kids, the location, and the curriculum. I love teacher gifts. I love to make crafts and give gifts and I'm thankful that there are many holidays to be able to come up with teacher gifts for his teachers. Thus far we've been able to give thankful spiced tea jars, Christmas frames and Candy, and Rolo Cookies for Valentine's Day. I'm excited to come up with aka "google" more ideas for future gifts. And I love watching Abram hand his teacher a gift and give them a big hug.

On top of teacher gifts Abram's preschool has been a huge blessing to him and us. It has helped him verbally, socially, and gives him something to look forward to. Every time I pick him up from school he gets in the car saying, "more school, more school!" And then we count down the days until he gets to go again.

There are a couple memories I don't want to forget about his preschool. One was the first time he actually said something at Show and Tell. I had been putting random toys in his backpack to take to school for participation but the thought hadn't dawned on me to put something in his bag he could actually say. That was until he was given a stuffed cat. At first I wasn't sure what we'd be doing with that stuffed cat but I did notice every time Abram picked it up he said cat. So one day I decided to put the cat in his backpack to take to school for the day.

When I picked him up from school that day I could tell there was an excitement in the air. One of his teachers came up to me to tell me what had happened at Show and Tell that day. Abram stood up as usual, took his item out of his back pack and then he spoke! Cat!!! His teacher said all the kids cheered with excitement when Abram was able to say what was in his bag!!! It was a great victory for Abram that day and all the kids were happy to share the experience with him. Since then his vocabularly has widely expanded and now we can put more than just a cat in his backpack. Even though it might just be a car Abram is still able to fully participate in Show and Tell!

Another special moment was when I took Abram late to school one day. I will admit we are late everyday but this day was a little later than normal. When we walked in some boys saw that Abram was late and immediately ran over and hugged his neck! They were surrounding him and hugging him so much he wasn't even able to take off his jacket. They were telling him they missed him and were glad he was there today. And then asked him to come with them to play trucks. It warmed my heart. It's hard sometimes when I pick him up from school because I want to know everything he did and what he thinks about things. But our conversations are still very limited. When I saw those boys hug him and talk to him the way they did it gave me a comfort and ease that he was loved and loved those boys in return.

At first I wasn't sure if preschool was for us or the way to go but for now it is a wonderful blessing to the Wells family and I'm excited for more memories to share!