A Daddy and His Beautiful Princess

Last night I went out with the wonderful "Twin Moms" that so many of you have heard me talk about. One of the girls (I just can't call any of us ladies) was sharing about how her daughter came out dressed from head to toe in mis-matching, yet adorable dress up clothes. Her mom commented to her other son how nice her daughter looked. Her daughter proceeded to tell her, "No mom, I'm beautiful." That melted all of our hearts. It got me to thinking...why as women do we grow up and lose that sense of how beautiful we truly are? How do we not know that the God who created us believes we are more beautiful than diamonds, more precious than gold? One thought is that we don't ever hear it! Who tells us this? If you have or had a father or a mother who tells you this, what a blessing! I don't remember hearing how "beautiful" I was from my father much (I did hear lots of other compliments, but this one seemed to be missing). When I married Tom and he would tell me that I was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on, I truly DID NOT believe him. It has taken 9 long years of marriage and my own quest into who God has created me to finally believe that yes, I am beautiful!

This is not something I want my daughter to struggle with (even though most women do). I know that she will have an advantage though. She has the most wonderful father a girl could have. Tom plays dress up with her, he does her hair (for fun too :) ), and most importantly, he tells Lowa that she is beautiful every day! Some may think, "Isn't that going overboard?" We say, NO WAY! She needs to hear this from her daddy - better him than some random boy in high school. So, today I just wanted to say how much I love my husband for making me feel like I am the most beautiful woman in the world and for telling my daughter the same.

The Kiss

Our friend Chris has taken our family pictures for the past 2 years and he does such a wonderful job! This is a sequence of photos that he took of Lowa and Whittaker kissing. I've got to say, it really is one of the cutest dang things I've ever seen!!

As I was looking at these photos I realized how much I appreciate being a mom and having these two wonderful children. Yes, some days are difficult and they have plenty of arguments, but when it really comes down to it, my kids genuinely love each other. As I think about the years that are to come I often pray for my children and their relationship. I pray that as they grow they will love and respect each other. I pray that they will treat each other with kindness and enjoy each other's company. I pray that they are and will continue to be best friends. That's a prayer I can get behind! How I wish we all had that with our siblings. For those of you who do, cherish it!

For all of you with wonderful and precious little ones, these photos are for you too. They show that siblings argue and have their moments, but they really do love each other in the end!

Bye for now!

PS - If anyone wants to know about the pics, give me a call or shoot me an email, and I'll hook you up with Chris' info.

Me? Starting a Blog? I Must Be Nuts!

Well, all of you must think we’re crazy as it is, so I decided to add to that perception by starting a Gresham Clan Blog! Yes, we’re the ones with twins and now we’re in the process of adopting our Ethiopian child or children (could be twins again). We’re also the ones who are putting Tom through school to be a principal. He’s interning right now and working anywhere from 9-12 hours a day. Ok, I agree, WE’RE NUTS!

Unfortunately, I don’t get a chance to keep up with all of you regularly, but I’d love to share how our family is doing and what is happening with the adoption. This way, you can all know what’s going on here in Gresham World!

We have received the copy of our home study and it’s off to the AGCI headquarters in Portland for review. Once we receive the final version, Tom and I will head to Yakima to get our final fingerprints. This will allow us to get the Visa(s) for our child(ren). Then all of the paperwork is sent off to AGCI again and then off to Ethiopia where it is translated and hopefully accepted. At that point we’ll be on the infamous “waiting list.” That’s where we are in the process and it’s becoming more and more real every day. It’s such an exciting adventure God is taking us on!!

Lowa and Whittaker are doing wonderful. They are growing like weeds and talking non-stop. Every day Whitt asks me, “mom, how doing?” about 50 times. It’s hilarious and oh so sweet. Lowa is our little pretender. She likes to be a tiger, puppy, horse, pretty much any four-legged animal. She’s absolutely adorable. They don’t really understand adoption at this point, but we talk a lot about how their new brother or sister will be a part of our family and do everything with us. They just smile and nod thinking to themselves, “uh, sure mom!” It’s so fun to watch them grow and blossom into these amazing little people. What a blessing that I get to be their mom – I LOVE IT!

That’s it for now – more later.