The Whole Story

I've had a few conversations recently about the value of telling the whole story, not just the happy-ending, final product part of the story. Our story in starting a family is a long story. Dramatic. Painful. Multi-layered. Providential. Scary. Hopeful. Devastating. Years of story. How sad it would be to only tell a part of the story.
Our babies will also have a long story. Their story will mainly include Brian and me as their parents, but will also include a chapter of abandonment, loss, grief, new country and language. The months and years of their story that leads up to them becoming Diaz's matters, too.

In the wise words of a few friends, your WHOLE life story is valuable because God's written all of it. He has never once left them or abandoned them. He's been a part of their story since conception, and will continue to be even in our home.

I promise to say "yes" to the whole story - theirs and mine.

Nesting :: Baby Room

I need some help. I've been in serious nesting mode these past few weeks!!!! We're getting our house ready for these babies to come our way, but can't do the baby room (they'll share a room) until we know if we're getting 2 girls or 1 boy/1 girl. It's a little frustrating, but will be so fun once we know!

Here's where I need your help:
What websites are great for baby decor?
What products/baby stuff can we not live without?

If you want to give us a little more educated resources, here's a few things we know:

• We DO NOT want to over run our home with baby stuff. We don't feel like we "need" a lot of baby stuff, but we do know we'll need some key supplies...
• We don't have anything yet: crib, curtains, dresser, etc. We're hoping to use our queen bed for our toddler. We're not getting a changing table.
  
• If we do have 2 girls, we don't want a crazy pink room. But we would like to use pink as an accent.
• We do not want a predominantly African room. We're open to some key Ethiopian accents that we'll get when we pick them up.
  
• Our style is very cozy, homey, and yet modern. Our living room is already decorated African style. Our wall colors for the most part are pretty earthy.
• We don't want to spend a lot of money on this room. :)

Have fun! Can't wait to see your ideas!!!

God of All Time

Today means that we've been on the wait list for 4 months! The time has actually flown by, and we've really enjoyed these past 4 months together - seeing movies, sleeping in, keeping the wine in the wine rack on the ground, spontaneous change of plans. We recognize that every day we are closer to becoming parents so we're taking advantage of these days.

As I've been thinking about "the day" when we get our referral and then "the BIG day" when we bring our kiddos home, I've been thinking about it in terms of Finally vs. It's Time. Some days it feels like we are finally becoming parents, after nearly 3 years of trying and waiting. Yet there are an increasing number of days that I realize it will be more of the reality that it's time.

God doesn't make mistakes on timing. In fact, for years I've been quoting "the right thing at the wrong time is still the wrong thing". Predominantly, I've used it with others about the timing boyfriends, new jobs, buying a house, or whatever was wanted NOW instead of LATER. The truth of the matter is that God is a God of all time - past, present, and future. The kids that will become Diaz's will be exactly the ones who need to be in our family. It will be right for them and us. God never gives us something and says, "finally!" When he gives us what's best for us at precisely the right moment, I can only imagine heaven announcing to the universe, "IT'S TIME!"

Trust me. When we get that phone call about our babies, we will announce to the world IT'S TIME!!!! In the meantime, we are being strengthened from the inside out (ask to feel my biceps...not too bad these days).