We added to our family !

This morning Roger picked up the new addition to our family. A 6 month old boy. We named him Koby Estrada. The boys were so excited, they spent a good portion of today outside. Matthew wanted to do everything that Koby did, including drinking from a bowl and licking everyone. Koby followed Christopher every were, he just fell in love with him. Enjoy the pictures!!!

10 years this year!!

Roger and I just got back from a one week vacation to Cabo San Lucus. We celebrated 10 years!! Hard to believe. We had such a great time being together focusing on the beauty of what God has given us- each other. We spent time doing basically nothing, it was a blast. By day 2 I had a little melt down. I missed the boys terribly and realized just what a huge part of my life they really are. You don't grasp the bigness of that until you are away from them. As we were lying by the pool I watched a mom play with her little boy. He would jump into the water right in front of her, he thought her reaction was pretty funny as he splashed water into her face each time. His name was Christopher, well that did it as soon as I heard his name and saw the amusing similarities in there personalities I lost it. I think Roger was a bit surprised, but I just needed a moment. Other than that I was fine. We were able to talk to the boys each night over the Internet. My mom watched them and said that she had such a great time being with them and getting to know them more. It was a great time for them as well. Each year on our anniversary we ask each other this same question, what kind of husband or wife do we want to be one year from now? This has led to some of my favorite conversations with Roger and some personal challenges for myself.

"Happy Daddy Dinner"

Christopher came to me early last week with this idea: "Mommy I really miss daddy, I think that we should plan a surprise party for daddy, like one to tell him how much we love him." So with that began an amazing journey into the heart of this little boy and his plans for a "Happy Daddy dinner." For those who really know Christopher you know that he never lets anything rest and he thinks through every aspect of his plans. So I wasn't surprised when he came to me with a whole agenda and a menu. I know he's not the average 7 year old boy. He was so concerned and put so much thought into making this special for daddy. He made a banner, we pulled out all of our leftover party decorations, found some silly hats at the dollar store, planned out games to play and made "masanga" (one of Christopher's specialties). We had such a great time showing daddy how much he is loved. Roger's favorite was the Easter egg hunt which had one thing that Christopher loved about daddy in each one. It was such an amazing opportunity to really see Christopher's heart. I have realized many things about him but mostly just the fact that he fits so perfectly in our family. I could not have imagined a more, perfect little boy for our family. I even think of the implications that his love has for Matthew, as he watches his big brother grow into the man that God has designed him to be.

The Journey of Matthew (soon to be Estrada)

This week has been such a whirl wind of emotions; good and bad. On Thursday and Friday of last week we were sitting in a court room listening to the attorneys closing arguments and waiting with a huge measure of anticipation for the judges decision. I can not put words to the feelings that completely and utterly overtook my body. I seriously felt like I was dreaming. Although, I knew that it wasn't a dream because Roger's hands were so wet from perspiration I just knew I had to be awake. And then on Tuesday to get the news that they had terminated parental rights. It was so unreal that we were that much closer to having the full freedom of loving Matthew in the fullness of being our son permanently. That is such a strange concept to put my thoughts around, the fact that I do love Matthew as though he was my own and I have felt that I have loved him reserving nothing from him. On the other hand now knowing that he will be ours forever there are different implications for that. The seemingly simple things like buying him an outfit one size bigger has been a struggle for me to do until now. I know this sounds funny but I went to Old Navy the day after and bought him a few 4t things.

Christopher knew on a small scale what this last week was about and he knew that on Tuesday we would find out were Matthew would live forever. He kept counting down the days to when we would find out. When we told him he said, "I knew that God was going to choose us to be his forever family."

Jumping on the band wagon

All this talk about something called "blogging" of course I had to check it out. So here I am ready to jump in and share in the world of blogging!!