RACHEL ROBINSON PHOTOGRAPHY

Pretty soon after we moved to Houston our sweet friend Rachel took photos and I've been meaning to share them here. Can't wait to print and hang them in our home! AMAZING work, Rachel!

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED

If you told me 6 months ago that we would be living in a one bedroom apartment for 6 months... I would have told you, "you're stupid".

If you told me a year ago that we would have to wait 6 months to go get our son instead of six weeks... I would have said, "not possible".

If you told me 18 months ago, that Arthur would only spend 2 weeks in the nursery I was creating for him... I probably would have saved a lot of money.


Needless to say, things have not unfolded quite the way we thought they would this past year. It has been HARD, scary, weird, confusing, but it has probably been one of the most important years for us. We have grown as a family and I know I will look back on this time and understand why it all happened this way.

I feel like we are almost out of the woods. We finally moved into a sweet little 3 bedroom house in Houston and I'm finally starting to feel like myself again.

Arthur is growing and talking and running and we absolutely adore him. In the last few weeks, he has really grown up! He started school, had his first visit to the barber shop and has transitioned into a big boy bed!

I hope to get back to blogging regularly, but we all know how that goes. No promises :)

THE TRUTH

the truth is... I have stopped to write a few times and each time I have gently backed away, perhaps for fear of what might come out... or for fear that I will be misunderstood.

the truth is... I thought that after having Arthur home, my little page would be flooded with pictures, videos, adoption advice... I thought that even though my life was chaos it somehow wouldn't phase me because we have our boy home!

the truth is... I'm sad! I miss my home, I miss my friends SO MUCH! I miss Aaron. I miss Kansas City. I miss the snow... what?? ... I miss my job.

Arthur is most definitely my ray of sunshine each and every day, but this has been a very hard transition. I have wrestled with the way this all went down. I have racked my brain and tried to find peace about the timing of this move, the purpose of this move, the discomfort of this move... I haven't gotten answers I love, or found complete resolution, but the Lord has been gracious hear me and give me some much needed perspective.

First of all... remember that blog a few posts back where I was having a pity party? Complaining about life and our FREE apartment? I mean, really? What a brat! There are so many people who would kill to live in a place like this for a few months! And those people deserve this break more than we do. Thank you Lord for that little slap on the wrist

... now let's get back to today's pity party where I'm all "whoa is me, I miss my beautiful city and my beautiful friends". In a moment of grief and confusion this morning, the Lord revealed something so important to me! I'm not the only one who had to leave their home and their city and their beautiful friends! Arthur has just done the same! And despite having a mother who is a bit unraveled, he's handling it with grace and courage and laughter! He is growing and thriving! He is not letting this hold him back. He is embracing the life he has now!

So let this be the first of many important things my son will teach me :) I'm so inspired by this little person.

A QUICK UPDATE IN PHOTOS

I am sitting here at Starbuck's with the company of my ginormous to do list! My sweet, and oh-so-lovely sister in law is watching Arthur today and of course, the most important thing on my list is to share some pictures with you! Here you go!

PACKED AND ON OUR WAY!

BEAUTIFUL ETHIOPIA

HOME!!

WHITE CHRISTMAS IN LUBBOCK

TRAVEL, TRAVEL AND MORE TRAVEL TO ARRIVE IN OUR NEW, OLD HOME, TEXAS!

LET ME EXPLAIN...

So, I've been sucking at blogging and I wanted to let yell you a little bit about my "situation". The apartment that has been offered up to us so generously by Kingwood United Methodist is quite charming... And when I say "charming" I mean... old-fashioned? Meaning we don't have a dishwasher, or a washer and dryer, or a mailbox, or... You guessed it Internet! No Internet... Well, that's not completely true. Sometimes we can pick up wifi if we take the computer out on the porch, two apartments down. When I blog, I blog from my iphone and posting pictures proves to be a challenge. Come to think of it, life has been quite challenging and even thought his isn't really my style, I'd like to leave you with a sort of sassy list of positives. 1. Managed to fix most of the things that were damaged in the move with gorilla glue and furniture marker. 2. Peabody remembered how to potty outside! 3. We now have hot water! 4. The one bedroom is a great place for our family to bond... Especialy in the middle if the night. 5. We get a great discount on day care at the church! (too bad there are no openings for the spring) 6. Aaron and I finally got rid of our ringworm! ...yes, I'm serious. 7. Arthur's intestinal parasites are gone! So, the past month hasn't been the most glamorous, but who cares right?? My Boy is home!! Still can't believe it! I will do my best to get pictures up soon.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Wow! The last  30 days have been CUH-RAZY! (stealing that spelling from you, Darby) Here's kind of how things went...

November 29 - Leave for Ethiopia to pick up our SON! (with only one day to pack and make travel arrangements)

December 1 - Pick up Arthur on his birthday and spend 5 beautiful days in Ethiopia

December 6 - Party at the airport! Our sweet friends welcomed us home with signs and balloons :)

December 7 - Aaron gets sick... like can't move... like can't get out of bed... just ill... leaving me to care for our new babe. I was exhausted, emotional and to be honest... wasn't really that confident in my abilities as a mother, so my mom came for a few days to help out! SO GLAD we did that... even though we originally planned on the first few weeks being the three of us. 

December 14 - pack up my desk at work and introduce Arthur/say goodbye to my sweet Hallmark friends :(

December 17 - Going away dinner to say goodbye to our dear friends in Kansas City... BOO HOO!

December 18 - Jacob's Well one last time. This is the first church I've really felt a part of, this is the church where we found community, this is the church where I was baptized. I will miss that place!

December 19 - Pack up our car and leave our home to celebrate Christmas in Lubbock with family. 

Christmas was CRAZY!!! Always is... in both good and bad ways ;)

December 27 - Aaron and my dad drive back to Kansas City to pack up a small U-HAUL of things to fit into a one bedroom church apartment that will be our temporary home until our house sells. 

December  29 - Aaron's sister and I drive from Lubbock to Houston to settle into the apartment. 

January 3 - Aaron starts his new job at Kingwood United Methodist.

The truth... it's been tough! This is not how I pictured bringing Arthur home! It's just been chaos! We've kind of been in survival mode and living out of suitcases since we picked him up. I've had to let a lot of things go. Hopefully we can start to get into a rhythm now that we are settled. 

Just wanted to catch you up. More about Arthur and how freaking amazing he is in the next post... promise!