Chillaxin'!

Summer is HERE!

Yes, it's officially SUMMERTIME here in Middle Tennessee!!! The days are long, and we are staying outside until dark. SO FUN! The kids have been in the sprinkler, are getting ready for swim lessons this week, and leave for the beach in a couple of weeks. WHOO HOO!

My girl, Miss Macy, LOVES the sprinkler! It's SO stinkin' cute!

Hope all you folks out there are starting your summer with some FUN!

More Changes...

For those of you who are local and know me, I just wanted to share a change going on in the Humphrey House. As I mentioned a couple of months ago, I took the job as the coordinator of our church's bookstore and coffee shops. This was "supposed" to be a small part-time job, but quickly grew to 35 or more hours a week. We were okay with that, as we felt like it was God's Provision for our family. Sundays were hard, because I didn't see the kids AT ALL until 5:00pm. I was working hard and liking my job, but was missing our "family time" on the weekends. ANYWAYYYYY....after just 11 weeks "on the job", I was approached by our Executive Staff about taking on a bigger role at our church. They wanted me to come onboard as the church's Volunteer Specialist. It's a full-time job (about as many hrs as I was working already), but after explaining that I didn't want to be away from the kids in an office 5 days a week, they offered to let me work part of my hours from home. SCORE!
We are pumped about this new venture. I LOVE our church and the people that work there, and am super excited to be in this new position. My Mom says I'll be good at it because, "Amanda honey, you just love to talk". Yep. That's me.
So, just wanted to let those of you who are at LHBC with us know that I've made this change!

Not Sure How It Happened....

I'm not quite sure how it happened, but somehow this little baby...

graduated from Pre-K this week, and will head to the big world of Kindergarten this fall. (Pictured here with his precious, PRECIOUS teacher, Ms. Debbie, who we totally L.O.V.E and wish she would just go to kindergarten with him.)

I think it's important not to let your kids hear "Oh, I'm going to miss you and be so sad when you are gone and blah, blah, blah" because I don't want my kids to think there's anything to be sad or apprehensive about. But not long ago I was telling Aidan how cool "big kid school" was going to be, and that I will miss him being here but will know he's having fun". His response was, "Oh don't worry Mom, you'll still see me on Saturdays and Sundays."

BWAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!

(Insert "ugly cry" here.)

I mean I'm READY and all for him to go to school, but I'm NOT READY for another woman (his teacher) to be influential and with him ALL DAY LONG, when I have been that woman for the past 5 and a half years. Erg.

Oh well. August will come, and he will go to school, and I will probably cry.

And he will love it.

Macy's Dedication

I remember last Mother's Day typing a post about how I felt incomplete without my daughter home with us. (Read that one HERE.) We were waiting for our referral and I was DYING to get that magic phone call.
Well, this year....my heart was complete! I had four little ones wishing me "Happy Mudders Day, Momma". I didn't get the whole "breakfast in bed sha-bang" that a bunch of other Momma's got, as since I work for our church I was there preparing for our services at 6am, long before my babes ever woke up. But celebrating later in the day was just as fun. And this year our church's Baby Dedication fell on Mother's Day - so we were finally able to dedicate Macy.
We have dedicated each of our kiddos at our church. And since Hannah was born, we've always taken the siblings up on stage as well. We felt like it was a family affair to present our child to the church, and it's always gone smoothly. Well, Saturday night I realized, "Wow, we are totally going to be hauling FOUR kids ages five and under onto that stage. THIS should be interesting."


So yes, it felt like we took up half the stage. And I"m pretty sure we were the only ones with four kids up there. But other than Hootie announcing "I'M GRUMPY!" at the top of his lungs just before we went on stage, they all actually did pretty well.
(And let me just give a Shout-Out to my amazing hubs. Since I have to be at church so early, HE is the one who gets them dressed for church each Sunday. Granted, I have everything laid out for him, and I do the girls' hair once they get to church, but doesn't he do a GREAT job?!?! Pretty impressive, huh? I think that should be a Love Language: "Husband Can Care For Children". Sorry ladies, he's taken.)

Our little princess received a pink Bible, which she's rather proud of.

Wow. Five out of Six of us are looking at the camera. Now that one's Blog Worthy.

Here's one last pic. Remember Jadon who came home just a few weeks after Macy came home? (Read about that HERE.) Well, he was dedicated on Sunday as well, and we just had to snap a pic. You know, to show at their wedding and all. (Doesn't Jadon seem thrilled to be holding Macy's hand?)

Hope all you Momma's out there had a great Mudder's Day!!!

What being in a family for just 6 months can do for ya'!

Today we celebrated our Macy Bereket being home a HALF OF A YEAR! And since I practically have a camera attached to me at all times, I just HAD to take a picture to remember the day. And then I had to go back and look at OLD pictures of her. What a SHOCK to see these pics side by side. She doesn't even look like the same kid! Sure she's grown, and yes she has hair now (yippee!), but look at her eyes. You know how they say the eyes are the window to the soul? Well, whoever "they" is, they are totally right. Do you see the hopelessness, confusion, and fear in that first pic? Can you even imagine what she was thinking? She had just been brought to the orphanage in that picture. Imagine the uncertainty my daughter had going through her innocent little mind. Little did that precious child know that we were praying and waiting and praying some MORE for HER.
And then look at that silly, happy little girl in the second picture. Wanna know what she was thinkin' in THAT picture this afternoon? She was wishing her Momma would hurry up and snap the stinkin' picture so she could run off and play with her brothers and sister. Oh the JOY in that picture! And the safety and love you can see in THOSE eyes. THAT picture makes me smile!
So, in six months Miss Macy has done some growin'. That's because the girl can EAT. And eat and eat and eat. Since her first dr. appt here on American soil 6 months ago, she's grown TWO AND A HALF INCHES! And FIVE POUNDS! That's a LOT for a little girl who started out at just 22 pounds for almost three years old! (FYI, my other kids were OVER that weight by their FIRST birthday.)

Her favorite foods: Pizza and Pasta - she's totally our Italian Ethiopian
Her favorite activities: Picking out her many outfits (total diva!), coloring, taking all toys away from Houston, her "bigger, little brother".
Her favorite sayings: "Oooh la la", "More snack, please", "Rock me, Daddy".

Her language skils are crazy good. She can understand EVERYTHING we say, follow directions, and talks a TON. Gone are the days of her using any of her native language and singing the songs she learned with her birthmother (which makes me a little sad). Hannah will still try to use some of her Sidaminga and Amharic words with her little sister, and Macy just gives her that "Whatchu talkin' 'bout, Willis" look.

Thanks for sharing our journey with us!
I'm looking forward to looking back at these same two pictures in ANOTHER six months!!!

Happy SIX MONTHS HOME, Miss Macy! We love you more than you will EVER know!

P.S. One more thing...I have been AMAZED at the response we've gotten to Macy's adoption video. Completely DUMBFOUNDED, in fact. I've had people- total strangers- from other parts of the country contacting me saying what an impact it's made on their friends and family. And I'll tell ya, folks. That's what I WANT. I want others to see our journey, and to be moved. And prompted. 'Cause ya know what? There's 146,999,999 more Macys out there needing a home.

Our video is finally finished!!

On Thursday we will celebrate Macy being home SIX MONTHS!!! HALF A YEAR!!! She has now been with us longer than she was in the orphanage and transition home combined. We are AMAZED at this sweet child EVERY SINGLE DAY! It's only taken me six months, but I've finally finished her Adoption Video. For those of you who don't know, I am TOTALLY "computer stupid", so accomplishing this is nothing short of a miracle. I hope you enjoy. I'm also hoping someday I can watch it without needing a tissue.
(NOTE: BE SURE to scroll to the BOTTOM of THIS page, turn off the music on the Playlist - stop is the circle with the two lines, Mom - that way you can hear the music that goes along with the video.)
Oh, and if you'd rather see it FULL SCREEN (the way I like to see it) check it out on Vimeo by clicking HERE.
Okay...NOW you are ready to watch! ENJOY!!!!

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