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Melaku at thirteen months and now staying with us in the guest house waiting on the US Embassy.
Melaku getting ready to say good-bye to Ethiopia and hello to America.
No one rocks a Hawaiian shirt like James Thurman (seventeen months).
James has spent a lot of this year sleeping at the most random times.
Hanging out with mama and brother---A LOT.
He knows how to cheese and how to rock a bear mask!
Brothers and friends.
Never long without a smile and a ball.
First haircut at a barbershop. Two years old.
Today is James' "Gotcha Day". A year ago today we picked him up from the orphanage and took him back to the guest house. We waited a few days for clearance from the Embassy to travel and then made the arduous trip back to Kentucky and to John Owen. It has been one of the most difficult years of our lives for many reasons that I think most people wouldn't understand. Adoption is an incredible thing, but it is so incredibly difficult on many different levels.
I remember writing at the beginning of our first year home that we had lost all anonymity. We no longer entered the public domain unnoticed. A year later, I'd say that's probably accurate, but we no longer notice the stares or odd looks. God is gracious.
We've all learned a lot this past year. I know a lot about sensory issues and how to help a little person navigate through them. I've learned that sometimes you've just got to take the tonsils and adenoids out to help a fella hear and learn to speak. Our year really was a time of learning about each other and growing more in love with each other.
Happy Gotcha Day to James Melaku. He's a really neat little boy and the best James around!
