THREE!

ONE

TWO

THREE!!!!

Mihret is THREE!

She LOVES birthdays!  Loves to eat cake! Loves the excitement she has seen at all of our birthday's this year... she could not wait to celebrate hers! We have been SO fortunate to be able to celebrate THREE birthdays with her! We were in Ethiopia to meet her on her 1st Birthday!

July 12, 2013 - She woke up to balloons all over the house and signs that her sisters and Erik and I made for her (she may not know how to read - but she understood it was all about her!!) :)

She is still pretty cautious and embarresses easily... so we decided to just have a low key family party to WOOOP it up for her. She had a ball! Her cousins came and they played in the kiddy pool and on the trampoline.  She opened sooo many FUN toys and blew the candles out (on her multiple requests for a chocolate CHOCOLATE ice cream cake) about 5 times.

One of her VERY, VERY Favorite gifts was from her Grammy (My Mom) - she made about 10 outfits with matching American Girl doll outfits for her and gave her a dolly that looks just like her! (not American Girl yet, she is still tooooo little for such a fancy shmancy doll).  

 

This one was one of my FAVES! Embroidery and Bloomers! LOVE!

If you ask her what is her Baby's name... it is "JUST BABY!" :) Well... Baby comes with us everywhere now.  SO FUN! I LOVE IT!

Some of Mihret's 'Terrific THREE' favorite things right now:

 

We sure LOVE this little Hershey Kiss and are so BLESSED to celebrate her sweet life.

She is a gift.

2 Corinthians 9:15
Thanks be to God for His inexpressible gift!

Class of 2013

....we had a GREAT celebration!

for MADISON'S High school GRADUATION!

We decided to go to Eastern Washington where most of our family live...

My sister and my mom outdid themselves with decorations, food, and planning a FUN filled night!

Grammy and Honey

SO happy to celebrate her! She deserves it! She has worked so hard! She has grown up and matured so much! She wasn't a super fan of high school and didn't want to go throw the line (but, I still wanted her to wear her cap and gown). :)  Instead of going to high school her senior year she went to a community college and earned both high school credits and college credits! She is now a sophomore in college... She will finish her AA - specializing in Elementary Education next year and then complete her degree at a 4-year University. REALLY excited for her and her future as a teacher!!! Such a knoble, selfless profession - and I know she will be AMAZING at it!!!

CHEEEEERS!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS HONEY!

I LOVE YOU!

...and I am  SO-SO-SO Blessed to be your MOMMY!

...Those Pesky Pronouns

It really is FUN to hear what new, funny thing is going to come out of Mihret's mouth.  She is starting to sound more and more like a teenager (thanks to her older sisters) :) ...a little scary sometimes.

Buuuuuut... one thing we've all noticed is her interesting use of pronouns...

It goes a little like this...

"What HER making?"

"US need to make cookies."

"Where is HER?"

"What's YOURS name?"

"There's cheese on YOURS lips Mommy. :)"

"Does Jesus live in YOURS heart?"

"What did HIM say?"

Soooo... we are casually correcting her (I think it is a little endearing, and it kinda makes me smile sometimes) when we hear it and hoping she will get the hang of it pretty soon, ...I don't remember her sisters experiencing those pesky pronouns the way she does (although, it has been a reeeeeeeeeally long time since they were that little)  ;)

Note: Pronouns are wonderful little words that make speaking and writing easier.  Imagine if you had to use your name every time you refer to yourself.  Instead of saying, "I left my keys in my car," you'd have to say, "Iving Pigwart left Irving Pigwart's keys in Irving Pigwarts's car." And just think how irritating this would be if your name really was Irviing Pigwart! - from blog.writeathome.com

Quinty

Her name is Quinty.

She is Mihret's 'Best Friend'.

She lives in our neighborhood.

When Mihret opens up the front door Quinty runs over to grab her to play... with chalk, water balloons, riding scooters, swinging on our swing, eating popsicles, finding bugs, dancing, skipping.... laughing.  

I stay back a little... and watch. ....and my heart is happy to see another little person showing so much kindness to my Mihret. 

It's one of those things this Momma will always watch out for. Girls can be so mean, really mean. I honestly think in my 18 years of parenting, besides the 'What to Expect When You're Expecting' books - I had to purchase my share of literature on Mean Girls... And how to help my girls avoid them, deal with them, and never become like them.

Mihret fits our family like a glove. Her personality, her laugh, her facial expressions... Glory to God. She is a Silly Sanders for sure. :) But....

I wonder what struggles she will face as she gets older...
living in a community that is not very diverse....

I wonder if she will be picked on because of the color of her skin

I wonder if people will make fun of her name

I wonder if people will ask her questions about her first momma

I wonder if she'll be uncomfortable

I wonder if she will question her identity

I think right now feels sorta easy, as far as her lil friendships go. I think there will be challenges ahead and I know that I am so ready to show her absolutely all the LOVE and support that I possibly can. I know I will need His guidance to help me say the right things, do the right things....
(I may even need to buy a book or two.)  :)

I do know that being a part of this AMAZING adoption community has been SO helpful - from awesome blogging buddies, to our AGCI friends, Facebook groups, our social worker, and the God of the Universe in our corner for encouragement, guidance and support; I feel like we are in GREAT hands.

Graduating...

...where does the time go...


 

it felt like just yesterday

she was coloring me little pictures
writing me silly notes
singing her ABC's
learning to ride a bike
playing hide and seek
roller skating
skinning her knee
holding my hand

I ordered these today...
{sigh}
 

 ...excited for her to begin a new chapter in her life...

but sad that I am a little less needed.

sad to be seeing her a little less everyday...

she is becoming such a GREAT 'grown up' 

independent

responsible

compassionate

she is going to make an AMAZING Elementary Education teacher!

She's already an AWESOME person

fantastic daughter

COOL sister

I love you HONEY! I can't believe you are graduating from HIGH SCHOOL!

I am so blessed to be your Mommy and I thank God everyday for your precious life.

Go.

BE AMAZING.

Change the WORLD - as I know you will.

Learn, make mistakes, laugh, love...

...but always come home

cuz

I miss you already.

XOX

Referraliversary #2

2 years ago today, we saw Mihret's sweet lil face for the very first time.

We already loved her way before we saw this precious picture of her... 
...She captured our hearts then, and still does.... everyday.

Our lives were changed FOREVER May 2nd, 2011 - and we cannot imagine our crazy lives without her.  We thank God for her sweet little soul.  She is such a blessing.  She has taught all of us more about compassion, selflessness, patience, kindness...

She reminds us everyday by her sweet little smile that there are millions of orphans still waiting for a family to love them like ours... we pray.

Today, she looks at her picture from two years ago and says, 

'That's ME! ...what happened to my hair?' :)

So, we talk about Africa, Ethiopia, where she lived... 

and how God chose her especially for our family.

We are SO grateful for her little life!

Happy Referraliversary Mihret! YOU ROCK our crazy WORLD!

XOXOX