Hunter adopted a brother.

I wanted to share something I wrote on our adoption blog on here......

It's been months since I've updated our blog. I blame it on the fact that we brought home an infant who has kept us very busy. We have been 'adopting' our new son into our family, our customs, our life and definitely into our love. MalaKai is nine months now and brings joy and giggles to us on a daily basis. 

Today is one of those really busy days. 
The kind of busy day that there is no time to write a blog. 
Life happened so beautifully today though and I MUST tell the story. For in years to come it will need to be remembered.

My husband left this morning on a very early flight and I was alone in bed. About 5am rolled around and my nine year old son, Hunter came running frantically into my bedroom. He was shaky and crying. I immediately scooped him into bed with me and proceeded to grill him with  EVERY possible question about what could be wrong. 

"Did you have a bad dream?" "Are you sick?" "Does your tummy hurt?" "How can I pray for you?" Every answer was, "No." How could I possibly be wrong about EVERY one of my questions? 

In my deliriously tired state I remembered that I have learned that my when my son has something emotional going on he will keep it inside until he is ready to let it out so I gave up my interrogation and tried to sleep. (Oh precious sleep that I don't get much of with my little Kai) 

All morning Hunter would toss and turn and cry a little. Still no answer. What seemed like 5 minutes later.... 6:30am  rolled around and Kai let us know that it was time for our family to start the day. 

Hunter and I started getting his bottle ready and he let me know that he was ready to let "it" out. 
"Okay," he said. "It's a really embarrassing thing." To which I assure him every time that I have plenty of embarrassing moments and he can tell me anything. I wait quietly. He makes me guess at his cryptic words and I finally get it out of him as he collapses into my arms and cries, 

"I want more time with Kai!!" 

Through his crocodile tears and snot bubbles he tells me how much he is missing him while he is away at school. He doesn't want him to grow up so fast. He starts asking how long it is until Malakai turns one year old and then sobs again. He asks if I've captured pictures of Kai doing things that he keeps missing and on and on. 

I'm holding him and my sweatshirt is becoming increasingly wet from tears and has now become a tissue that is full of snot. Silently, I begin praising God and thanking Him for giving my son a brother. A brother he prayed so fervently for. A brother that Hunter has most definitely ADOPTED into his heart. A brother that Hunter will pray for, spend time with, pour into, teach, and sometimes torment. He knows now so beautifully what it is to have brotherly love. A love that you can't explain to someone. A special place in your heart for your brothers and sisters. (Your blood siblings, your adopted siblings, your siblings in JESUS!)

Oh how beautifully God orchestrated family! He showed us these earthly relationships to give us glimpses of love. The kind of heart wrenching, shaky, feverish, undeniably passionate and straining love. The kind of love that you don't want to miss anything because you adore that person so much. I watched Hunter's heart ache and stretch with love for hours this morning and I know Malakai is feeling it.

I believe God is showing Hunter, love on a whole new level and when all is said and done it will be just a very small insight into Father's extravagant love for him.

9 Months old

Malakai is crawling, pulling himself up from a sitting position to standing and really shaping an absolutely wonderful little personality. He LOVES new things and he loves to be around people and crawling all over them. He is eating all sorts of new foods. He loves his veggies and is really enjoying pasta now as well.
We finally had family pictures done a couple of days ago and I wanted to share them with you. We chose to do them in our home since this is where we are a lot right now. We sit around on the floor with Kai and play a lot. Enjoy!

5 1/2 months

MalaKai is growing chunkier and cuter by the second! He is really starting to be much more content and joyful as the days go by. It seems so long ago that he was pre-term and had to fight hard for life. He makes us laugh and gives us joy EVERY SINGLE DAY!!

Loves his Daddy and being tickled by his beard. Chubby wrists!!!

Play date with my sister and friend! He really enjoyed being in between two beautiful girls!

One of my favorite photos ever. I plan to have many more of these as the years go by. The brothers being goofy and loving each other.

He LOVES Mommy's straw cups!!! 

Almost got it....

Haha hahahaha haha!

Kaister

Malakai is 15 weeks old today. A few wonderful things about him.
-He talks and smiles everyday.
-He loves playing with his toys.
-He is trying desperately to get his whole fist into his mouth.
-He sleeps 11 hours a night and loves going to bed at 7pm.
-He eats every 2 hours during the day.
-He despises his car seat but takes naps in his swing.
-He takes his baths in the sink.
-He IS LOVED!!

Easter 2013

My sister made his Easter onsie. All of my boys wore ties.

Bow tie.

Big smiles!!

Taking a bath.

Malakai 7-Weeks

Malakai is thriving at home. He is growing and eating and we fall more in love with him daily. He got a virus last week but was better in 5 days and the Doctor was pretty surprised by how fast he got well.
He is 7lbs now and has definitely found his lungs! Enjoy the pictures!

 

Kai and Mommy

Kai is having many times during the day that he is VERY awake. He likes people to be around!!

Cheeks are getting chubby!

Hunter feeding Kai his whole bottle!!

MalaKai photo shoot by my sister. February 1, 2013

Adjusting to life at home.

Malakai is doing really good at home! He is growing and eating like a champ. The Doctor said not to be alarmed if he slowed down on his eating because of moving him into a new environment but he hasn't slowed down one bit! He will have his first pediatrician appointment tomorrow to see his growth. We are loving having him around and we are a little tired too! ;)

Hunter holding Kai for the first time.

Our first walk as a family.

Trying out the Moby Wrap. He loved it!

Dave and Malakai konked out in front of the fireplace.

Dear Nicole

I'm not much of a writer.

I'm a talker.

I love to use my voice to show my excitement, my sorrow, my fears, my dreams, etc. So, deep breath....Here is my attempt to explain my honor of you, my gratitude toward you and my absolute love toward you and our precious son. I hope and pray you will understand my heart even though you can't see my face or hear my voice.

I'm really into the meanings of names and so I thought I would look up what your name means. It means, "people of victory". How beautiful is that?! You are a victorious person! I thought I would take a stab at defining what your name means to me.

Nicole: One who is courageous and laughs in the face of danger. Someone who thinks of others before herself. Easygoing. Strength and honor. Loves to laugh. Surrounds herself with good people.
Heroic.

Nicole, I know I've said it before, but you are my hero. You CHOSE to give your son life and you CHOSE for him to be loved by an army of people for his lifetime. There aren't too many girls who would have made that choice for themselves or their child. You chose to think of his life above your own and that is honorable and beautiful.

I love that you understand adoption. I love that you educated yourself about it and that you pursued it heartily. I love that you invited friends to help you choose and that you allow people to speak into your life but you are not afraid to be you. I love that you chose us. ;) I love that you allowed kids at the high school to come and touch your belly and to be a part of this awesome adventure you've been on. I love that you pursued God through this journey. I love that you cared about what you put into your body so you wouldn't harm our son. I love that when you met us there was an immediate connection and it was so easy. I love that you loved Hunter right away and allowed him to be a big brother right away. I love that you allowed us to know your family. (Dennis, Connie, Kristen, Kyle and Chase-we are honored to raise a part and piece of who you are.) I love that you honored me by allowing me into the birth room. WOW! I love that I got to see our son come into the world and see how much of a "rock star" you were in delivering him. I love that you spent time with him in the hospital. I love that you let us get to know him right away. I love that you visited and had alone time with him. I LOVE that YOU love Malakai.

You didn't walk away.
You didn't give him up.
You gave him more of a chance.
You gifted him to a family that will love him MUCH!
You gave yourself time to grow up more
and continue turning into the beautiful woman that God has created you to be.
You will have a voice in his life that no other woman will hold.

 Since November 2006 I have wanted another child. I've longed, cried, ached and basically screamed at God for this desire of my heart. There have been extreme highs and devastating lows but all of that time has led us here to this moment.
December 3, 2012 was a major highlight of my life because that is the day we heard from Hope's Promise that we were chosen. I had no idea how much I would adore you and then how ardently I would fall in love with our son. I heard this quote once and it really applies to how I am feeling right now.

 "Making the decision to adopt a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."-Elizabeth Stone (italics-Tara Powers)

My heart has been connected to yours for eight months and will be forever.

Love,
Kai's second Mommy