12 Months DTE

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Tomorrow is a bittersweet day for us ~ twelve months ~ yes, a year ~ since our paperwork went to Ethiopia.  We are thrilled to be a year closer to our little one (or ones), but it has been hard to see our wait time estimate increase three times in the past year and realize the likelihood of more increases is pretty high.  We are so thankful we can trust in God's plan for our lives & our family!  We are also thankful that this week there were a few referrals for families in our agency!!!  Our current unofficial numbers are...

Infant Boy (0-18mo) = 49

Young (under 4 yr) siblings = 28

Siblings with older child = 8

Toddler Boy (19-47) mo = 16

Over the course of the year, not a day has passed without some daydreaming about our sweet boys.  So many unknowns - will there be one or two?  How old will they be?  Will their personalities be like J, or C, or totally different altogether?  What will their laughs sound like?  Will they be able to learn to trust me and love me?  Is someone taking care of them now?  Are they going to bed with empty bellies tonight? 

To our boys...I wish I could start now telling you now how much you are loved and wanted.  Not only are you missed, but you have missed a lot of things this year....

• Big Brother J turned 6, graduated from Kindergarten, and is now in 1st grade.  He lost his first 2 teeth this year, and thinking of you & Ethiopia, threw his teeth up on the roof for the Tooth Birdie!
• Sister C went from a barely talking 2 year old to a silly chatterbox of a 3 year old ~ always dancing & singing.  She thinks of you a lot too ~ her imaginary friends are often Ethiopian :)
• 2 new boy cousins were born this year!  
• My Grandma (your GG) passed away in June.  I am so sorry you never got to meet her, because she was the BEST EVER.  I will tell you all about her someday!
• We took many day trips to Baltimore and visited the zoo, Science Center, Port Discovery, and went to lots of Orioles games!  Your daddy can't wait to someday take all his boys to cheer for the O's!
• The annual beach vacation
• Many many many fun times just being together as a family...can't wait until you are here with us!  We love you!!

We don't really have a great estimate of how much longer this journey will be, but we know that in this time of waiting, God is knitting together the story of our family!