The First Time Ever We Saw His Face

referral day from Leslie Bullington on Vimeo.

Walk Tall

This morning Faith and I were singing the Ziggy Marley/Paul Simon new classic "Walk Tall"*

Walk Tall, Walk Tall

Even when you fall, get up!

And Faith turned to me and said very seriously, "That's really true, Mama."

*And yes, we were singing in public. Loudly. Because we also subscribe to the philosophy of the new Ravi somebody song "If you want to sing out, sing out!" We have learned so much from Kids Place Live on XM Radio.

Scream for Your Supper

Davis has been yelling lately. A lot. The boy has discovered his voice. And it is a fine one indeed.

A little while ago he was sitting in his high chair eating some oranges. I was distracted by Faith (who was learning how to write her WHOLE! LAST! NAME!) and heard lots of yelling from Davis. AAAANNG! AAANNNNG! AAAANNNNNNG!

"You know, you could just say, 'Mama,' if you want my attention," I told him.

And to my surprise he said the sweetest little, "Mama."

And before my heart could really get all warmed up over that, he started in with the yelling again. Only this time it was, "MA-MA!! MA-MA!! MAAA-MAAAAANNNG!"

Snow Day!

A Day in the Life

I'm going to try to blog our day today. If you think this sounds super boring, remember grandparents read this stuff.

8 am - Faith was up first this morning. I've already denied three requests for "a kid's show" on TV. There have also been whines about how cold the house is(?) and how she has nothing to do. ["Mama - I don't know what to do! I don't know what to think about!"] We did get in a good conversation about MLK day, though. One highlight: "I know what color God didn't make anyone in the whole world - BLUE!"

When Davis started making noises we went in to get him. Faith asked me to leave, and she's been in there singing the Hokey Pokey and Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes to him for the last five minutes. There's been lots of giggling. From both of them.

9 am - Faith is exercising her one-hour-a-day-of-TV-max rights while I try to bring some semblance of order to the house. Davis, a-boy-of-very-many-toys, is playing with a sock.

10 am - School time! Faith is doing her homeschool co-op homework and I am reviewing my co-op lesson plans. Davis, a-boy-of-very-many-NEW-toys, is playing with a large plastic screw from a toy tool set that used to belong to his mama.

10:10 am - Faith is finished with her homework. This girl knows her letter N.

10:15 am - DANCE PARTY!

11 am - Art time for Faith and her faithful apprentice

11:45 am - Lunch. All our favorites - grilled cheese and tomato soup with oranges for Faith; peas and pears for Davis. For some reason I have in my mind: Peas in your hair/ Peas in your hair/ Looking like a fool with peas in your hair.

12:15 pm - First insubordination of the day. Quickly squashed with time out. Davis, a-boy-of-very-many-toys, is playing with one of Faith's belt. I am noticing a trend.

12:20 pm - Is it naptime yet?

1:15 pm - I find a small amount of peas in Davis' neck roll. Lovely.

1:20 pm - Faith Bullington, M. D., has some unorthodox methods of treatment. But great bedside manner.

2:30 pm - Everyone naps!

O.K. - I guess I should have called this "a morning in the life." Because I am done. Hope you enjoyed this slice of Bullington family life pie.

Beautiful Names

Aren't these beautiful? You can read all about how to create and purchase one from Dayspring and/or have a chance to win one at The Nesting Place.

Every family with adopted children seems to have some awesome evidence that their adopted children were meant to be theirs. I used to read these and tell myself not to get too disappointed if nothing that cool happened to us (you know, besides the whole miracle of adoption itself and getting to bring home our son.) But I did pray for some small sign. Some indication that our boy was indeed ours.

When we were expecting Faith, we looked for a name which meant "light" for her middle name and found Eleanor. At her dedication we read the verse in the sign above to illustrate the meaning behind her name.

One of the first things I did when we were referred our son is to look up the meaning of his beautiful Ethiopian name, Berhanu, which we planned to keep as his middle name.

It means "Your light."

At first I marvelled at the fact that God had given us this sign, that he had directed our boy to be given a name so similar to his sister's. And then I realized I was being silly.

Because what I should have been marvelling at was the fact that God had directed the naming of BOTH our children. As they are each equally His children as they are each equally ours.

The verse is a prayer for them and for ourselves.

Merry Christmas from the Bullington Board