Our Journey For Cole

Friday, September 19, 2008

1 Year Ago Yesterday...

This little bundle was placed in our arms, and in our hearts forever:)

It's amazing to see all of the changes Cole has gone through in the past year.

We are so blessed to have him in our lives.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Cousins

Cole's cousin Nicholas & his auntie ReeRee are visiting from CA, and as you can clearly see Cole is having a great time!

His auntie purchased the matching outfits per Nicks request:)

I should mention that the outfits also included matching vests, scarves, & long sleeved t-shirts not shown in the photos. Too cute!

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Boys, boys, boys!

My friend Lisa was passing through town, and asked if Cole & I would like to meet up with her and the boys for lunch.

BTW, Lisa is waiting to pick up her precious daughter from Uzbekistan.

Cole loves to be around other kids, and Lisa & I hadn't seen each other since way before we brought Cole home.

We all had a good time, and I'm looking forward to seeing her daughter at our next meeting!

Adoptive Mothers Poem

Being an adoptive mother is not for every woman. She must possess not only the natural mother instinct but an understanding and appreciation of the situation that brought a child into her arms making her a mother.

The adoptive family comes to be by choices made, choices made by the first parents and by the adoptive parents. This bond the adoptive mother has with her child grows over time, like the child did within his first mother's womb. Day by day, touch by touch, with each tear, kiss, and memory made they became a family. Adoptive mothers have that special knack to let love grow.

The adoptive mother knows that she is a mender of wounds, not just of the physical skinned knees with a band-aid and a kiss, but of the heart. She gives love, acceptance, and permission to ask and talk about the day he was born and of his first parents. Adoptive mothers are embracers, not only of the child with many hugs and kisses, but of the child's heritage and history.

She embraces the facts of her child's past with strength for herself and the child. She's not only a memory maker planning family vacations, activities, and birthday parties, but also a memorykeeper. She's a tier of shoelaces and of hearts. She weaves lives together into a tapestry of a new family, with many different brightly, colored threads showcasing their individualities and family origins. Together they create one unit attached to each other.

Adoptive mothers are experts at finding lost objects, but understand and validate the profound, deep loss left by adoption. She allows the tears to fall and grief to be felt, allowing the mourning of the mom not there. She is secure in knowing that she's not a replacement, but a finisher of a race for someone who, for whatever reason, could not run any longer.

This role is not for the weak of spirit, or the easily wounded. Loving a child not born to her but calling him her own, but this is what she does, it is her calling. She is a mother.

Quick Facts

Uzbekistan, in the ancient cradle between the Amu-Darya and Syr-Darya rivers, is the most historically fascinating of the Central Asian republics. Within it are some of the oldest towns in the world, some of the Silk Road's main centres and most of the region's architectural splendours. When To Go The best time to visit is in spring from May until the end of June, and in autumn from September until November. The weather is mild and in April the desert blooms briefly. In autumn it's harvest time, and the markets are full of fresh fruit. If you're interested in trekking the mountains, summer (July and August) is a better time to visit; at all other times the weather is unpredictable and there can be snow in the passes from Christmas to February. You may wish to remain in the mountains to stay cool, as the rest of the country will be sizzling at this time. But remember, whilst the mountains are pleasantly cool in summer, they are freezing in winter.