There is no denying that this child, our child, has personality. During his very first bubble bath, with his brother, he was so excited that he giggled, splashed, and displayed every ounce of excitement in his eyes.

I’ve been on a whirlwind this past month: Christmas, family visits, an international adoption, and emotional stress with our oldest child, AJ. Our new son, Gus, is thankfully very healthy despite an ear infection and two new molars that have been keeping him up at night.
I have been exhausted from travel and interrupted sleep, suffering from headaches and my own ear infection, and have done, in my opinion, nothing but laundry, change diapers, and feed Gus since returning home. Not that I’m complaining or anything…
But Friday morning I hit a wall. After two school snow days AJ had another day …read more

I find it amazing how quickly one can enter your heart and soul. I have admitted before that it took a while for us to bond with AJ because of his trauma and his aversion to attachment. Gus, on the other hand, slammed into my heart so quickly that I have not had time to adjust to it all.
He is a child that is so endearing and beautiful that one can’t help but stare at him when he is awake or asleep. He is timid with strangers, loving and cuddly with those with whom he is familiar, and simply put, …read more

Our second son is officially adopted and a United States Citizen. He is, I believe, one of the happiest babies I have seen. I have so much to tell you all but I also have a few minutes to nap and naps take precedence right now…
Enjoy this picture of Gus…age 12 months.

Wearing his Bugaloo Pirate Booties.

On
Pins and Needles
Waiting for DNA
to fly across Gulf of Mexico
Godspeed Fedex
I’m tracking you
Papa texted nervous
For the love of technology
email me, Embassy, email me

 
Our lights are lit, my garland hung, a few presents under the tree. But none of the holiday seems real. Not without Gus home this year. It all seems so fake, so humdrum.
For almost a year I have numbed myself to the Gus status…I have not allowed myself to believe in him, almost as if he were arriving via sleigh and reindeer instead of in my lap on Northwest Airlines.
And every time paperwork stalls his arrival I push the memories of him deeper into my aching chest and hope that someday Baby Gus will be near.
I dream of pineapple and …read more

Our representative is supposed to be picking up Gus’s birth certificate today. If it is ready he will be traveling tomorrow to Gus’s hometown to have it authenticated and then be requesting Gus’s final DNA test.
You all know what that means, right?
My heart is beating so fast right now that I can’t catch a breath. I’m nervous and anxious and deliriously happy all at the same time. And there is no way that I can even start to make this post poetic or descriptive because words just can’t form in my brain…my heart has it too jumbled.
I have not written …read more