Since this is national adoption month I have been thinking a lot about our adoption of Iris. With friends and friends of friends who are in the process now it all feels so fresh to me.
So many times I look at Iris while she is playing and think about the day it must have happened. The day her birth mom had her and left her. I don't know many details and I don't think it's my place to share much more than that, but it's not a great mystery with orphans in Ethiopia being abandoned by their birth mother/ family. But I look at that sweet face, her healthy growing body and wonder if her birth mother ever thinks about her or if she's even alive. I can't imagine being left by my mother at birth, living in an orphanage for a year and then flying home with strangers to a new country, new language and a new life. My girl is so strong.
To be honest the bonding has been harder than I thought. Don't get me wrong, she bonded to us quickly and we loved her from the start, even before we saw her photo we loved her. That began the day we filled out our application! Having her home though, having Blake who is only 4 months older, and then bringing in a newborn in less than two years of having her home...it's been an adjustment. It's been chaotic, stressful, exhausting but of course wonderful and rewarding too.
I see her insecurity. I see her shyness around others and her bubbly spirit at home (she never stops talking at home!) I think my favorite is seeing her love my mom. The woman who encouraged me throughout the three year journey more than anyone else. The woman who became a huge supporter of adoption, my mother. She and Iris have a very close relationship and I love that.
It's strange to think that two years ago at this time we had not even met her! We had gotten our referral in September and had been told it would probably be spring till our court date. Then low and behold we got the call that the day after Christmas we'd need to leave to get there in time. We spent new years in Ethiopia...can it really be almost two years ago?
It has been a great thing but a hard thing. I wanted kids and I got them and quite quickly. To think the Lord chose her, a sweet little helpless newborn girl in a small village in Ethiopia, 5 hours from the capital Addis Ababa & made her ours. I love adoption. I love Ethiopia. I love Iris.
