My sweet Iris

Our sweet Iris Michele has been home for 8 months and I realize I have not written a post directly about her yet in quite some time...

A year ago at this time we didn't know what to expect - we had seen her picture and eagerly were awaiting to hold her, meet her & have her feel "real".
The first time we met her she was sick & quite subdued. This was NOT the real Iris :)  
The second trip to Ethiopia when we actually got to take her home with us, well, I should have known something when she was the only child that day getting placed who screamed bloody murder because she was so attatched to her caregivers. Honestly, that was a good thing, but I remember thinking honey, please stop crying, you are making me look like I am not doing something right. Mostly I remember feeling sad for her  that day because she was leaving a world that she had felt safe in and entering a new phase which must have been so scary.

Fast forward to our first month together. I don't say this much but to be honest I really struggled. I expected the transition to not be so hard with two children. It was REALLY hard. Still is, at times. I didn't know how to respond when she would fall on the floor screaming or when she would almost shake when food was being prepared because she felt so desperate to eat. Of course you read about these issues, but in our case that was years ago & somehow I thought it wouldn't quite be so stressful.

We were very fortunate that she has mellowed these past few months as she feels more bonded to us and honestly from the start she connected with us quite well. She began almost immediately to call us mama and daddy and was very quick to give us affection.

More and more I realize that the hardest thing about raising Iris is that she makes me aware of my sinfulness! She pushes my buttons, she drops things on my toes/feet causing me to shriek in pain almost daily & follows me around like a lost puppy. She makes lots of messes, loves to throw things in anger, cries at the top of her lungs when she doesn't get her way and I realize just how selfish I am by how I respond to all these things.

Her positives far outweight these small negatives. This girl LOVES me and Joe. She laughs, giggles & kisses us. She forgives me time and time again when I lose my cool and she loves to snuggle in our laps and just be near to us. She is a very girly girl who loves shoes, wearing jewelry & getting dressed in cute outfits.
She brings Blake his drink each night, she hands him toys, she eats whatever I make (are you listening Blake?) and she is quite brilliant. That girl can unscrew any cap you give her, which I found out after an entire container of bubbles made their way to our carpet.
Can I just talk for a moment about her body? It is SO CUTE I can't stand it. Her face is like a doll, she can mimick any look I make...she has these great little chunky legs that are irresistable & a chest that is catching up to me :)  Nomatter what she has on she looks like a million bucks.

I love that she is a part of our family. I love that this Christmas she will get to be surrounded by so many people who love her and prayed for her and helped her to be our daughter. I love so much about her and I don't deserve to have such a beautiful sweet Ethiopian daughter. Oh yeah, and Blake is kind of crazy about her too, which causes me to swoon from time to time when I watch them hold hands or hug.
I have everything I could want this Christmas because I have Joe , Blake & Iris and get to share them all with my wonderful family in Florida. God has been so good.