8 months ago

8 months ago today we had landed at the airport after 20 plus hours of travel with the sweetest baby ever and were more than ready for a shower, a nap and the rest of our lives.

I can't believe we have been home 8 months with the fabulous Miss Kiya. I am still in awe of her every day. She is truly a blessing and I am so grateful for every minute that we have together.

Ethiopia is forever on my mind. I am anxious to get back and to share it with Kiya. I made a picture book full of pictures from our trip to Ethiopia so we can share it with Kiya. I have plans to make actual story books for her to explain how she came to join our family.

We have showed her the picture book and started talking to her about Ethiopia. We know she can't understand what we are really saying but we feel it is important for us as parents to practice telling her story.

In the book are pictures of Addis Ababa, Hossana, the orphanage she was first taken to, her first nanny, her Ethiopian mom, and our first days as a family. She loves books and loves to turn the pages and is really good about sitting through a book. She touches the pictures and it is just so sweet.

The first time we read the book (okay there aren't a lot of words more of a reference for us to speak from the heart), Kiya reached out and touched her Ethiopian mom's picture. I don't know if she truly recognized her or if it was just random but either way I cried.

Her tiny little fingers reached out and touched that picture. She didn't touch any other picture in the book. Is it possible she knows that face? Every time I look at that picture, I look at Kiya and try to find the similarities.

I look forward to sharing this book over the years with Kiya and maybe some day we will be blessed enough to return to Ethiopia with Kiya and she can meet the woman in the picture in person.