6 Months Ago Today...

Six months ago today my husband and close friends welcomed Ian and I home from the longest, most excrutiating time in VN (for those who don't know, we set out for VN to adopt another child, but after spending 1 month with him we gave him back to his birthmother - then we were blessed with Ian!!!). I still get emotional thinking about seeing David again after being separated under such difficult times! It was such an incredible feeling to be able to introduce Ian to many of the people who prayed so hard with us that we would be able to bring him home!!

I can't believe that we have had him for only 6 months!!! I can't remember our lives without him!!! He has changed and developed so much over these past six months! Since we have had him he has learned how to crawl, and just began walking 2 weeks ago. He now has 6 teeth and is trying to push 2 more through! We have stopped giving him formula and have started giving him whole milk using a sippie cup. He has discovered how to say "uh-oh" and waves bye. Everday his personality shines through even more than the day before! He is still happy most of the time - but lets us know very quickly if he is upset about something!!!! We absolutely love him more than we ever thought possible, and are still falling more in love with him everyday!!!

However, today I have been thinking about our time in VN when we first met him. We were still trying to disassociate ourselves from the other child that we fell in love with when we first saw his referral picture - and trying to allow ourselves to fall in love with this new child that God had so graciously blessed us with! I will never forget seeing Ian for the first time... the nanny place him in my arms and he smiled at me and immediately and patted my arm!! I think that it was that moment that I knew that he was my child. My husband kept warning me not to get too attached until we knew he would be ours for sure - but I knew at that moment it was going to happen and he had been waiting for us!!!! I read stories before we traveled about people who become instantly attached when meeting their child and I was praying that it would be the same for me, but it didn't happen when I held our original child. I didn't let on that I felt that way because I was ashamed of it, little did I know what would happen down the road. When I held Ian, I knew he was ours! Everything we went through led us to Ian, though I would never want to relive having to give Brenden back after being with him for a little over 1 month and then David leaving to go back to work 2 days later. I am so incredibly thankful for the journey to Ian because it makes me cherish him even more!

I have not shared any pics of us in VN with Ian, but I felt that today I should share some special pictures of us with Ian in VN - and some special family pics!

The first time we met Ian!

Ian and I at the G&R with the orphanage director

Our first family photo taken at the airport after we got off the plane.

Ian's announcement

Our first formal family photo.