August 11, 2014 By 9 Comments

Home [2 Years]

Our journey and story about how God has stitched our family together…created our tribe…is one I love.  I love the details of Harper, Hudson, Solomon and Amon’s arrivals.  Each different and unique from the others.  Each containing God’s love and grace and mercy.  Each story continuing to grow our family and show us there was definitely more love in our hearts…one small human at a time.

Yesterday was Amon’s Gotcha Day and Amon’s story is crazy special.  I hope one day I can share all the details with his permission because it’s a good one.  When we were in the process of bringing Amon home my mom unexpectedly was diagnosed with an aggressive brain cancer and died just 10 days later.  Our world was flipped, turned and rocked…never resembling what it once was again.  And then we got matched with Amon…the wait was over and we started the final decent to bringing his sweet little baby self home…heart in need of repair and all.

I remember finally having him back in my arms once again that crazy special August 10 just two years ago.  My dear friend Ashley by my side and I hugged him the tightest and breathed his sweet smell in deep.  We were in Ethiopia less than 48 hours because of his special heart…back on planes and US bound quickly…the most stressful plane ride of my life…and I would say Ashley’s as well.  So many things to watch for while in flight…so many rules the doctor had given me to remember.  When I walked off the plane into the Nashville airport with backpack and oxygen machine in my hands and Amon strapped to my chest it was one of the most bittersweet days I’ve experienced.  Amon was home.  We made it.  He made it, but Mom was missing.  She was the first to hold each of our children after their unique arrivals and I’ll never forget the moment she snatched Solomon out of my hands at his airport arrival and just wept over his special life.

Yesterday I listened as Josh talked to Amon about our journey to him.  Our hearts were all a bit broken…some more than others, mine and Harper’s probably the most.  Amon had open heart surgery just a month after landing in Tennessee.  God has brought about so much healing in our entire family with Amon.  He used the wisdom and expertise of our local doctors to fix Amon’s heart and He used Amon to fix ours.  He sent healing and joy and hope through this incredible baby boy.  He sent laughter and smiles which sadly had been missing.  The way He used Amon to help Harper heal is something which still makes me weepy.  She was so sad and God sent her joy.

Amon’s Gotcha Day is a huge reminder to our family of hope.  That God is hope and He does not leave us hopeless.  He is enough and He is love.  And He comes through.  So we celebrated with donuts and cookies and with time just together.  It was a day to remember God’s goodness and mercy on our family.

 

 

Amon Kelley you are one special kid.  You are wild and energetic and crazy and fun.  You are sweet and good and joy!  God has already used your life to change the world and He will continue to do just that over and over again.  You are a world changer.  Thankful you are apart of our family.  Honored to be your mom and dad.  And grateful to God we get to celebrate your life again.  We love you tons!

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June 30, 2014 By Leave a Comment

Celebrating Solomon {Early}

Solomon’s Gotcha Day is coming up in a few weeks and sadly our family won’t be all together in the same place for the two weeks surrounding his special day.  We decided we would need to do some early celebrating while were all together.  Each year on his Gotcha Day we let Sol pick something special for us to all do together as a family.  Since he was old enough to pick, age 3, he’s chosen the Chattanooga Aquarium, then an Atlanta Braves game and this year he wanted to do another baseball game.  This is the last year our local Nashville Sounds will be in the old Greer Stadium so we decided to spend Friday night together celebrating Sol and celebrating our family at the ballpark.  It was perfect.

Sol chose pizza for dinner…eating in the actual pizza place…we got fancy.  Then we headed off to the ballpark and enjoyed sunflower seeds, M&Ms and ice cream in baseball hats.  Solomon was in heaven.  He is absolutely in love with baseball…he plays every single day…so being at a big ballpark and watching the big guys play made his heart happy.

There were even fireworks afterwards, the kids got to run the bases (those 3 little blurs our Kelley kids running super fast) and Harper was given two foul balls which she kindly gave to Sol and Huddy.  She’s a good sister.

Amon hung with us for the whole game, but while we waited for the kids to run the bases he gave into his tiredness.

We were some of the very last people in the stadium which was really cool and special for our family.  Everyone was exhausted, but we all agreed Sol’s choice for celebrating an amazing day in our family’s history was just perfectly perfect.

And what a special kid Solomon is…what an important role he plays in our family as son, little brother and big brother.  He’s simply amazing.

Happy Monday!

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August 12, 2013 By 3 Comments

1 Year Home

I could write a book.  Forever and ever long.  God simply gave us our hope back through this kid.

Amon’s name means ‘faithful’ and God truly, truly has been faithful to Amon and our family.  It was a long, hard, beautiful road to Amon.  One that was long and winding and we got lost some along the way.  We did not come off the path unscarred.  But we serve a God who heals and renews and when I walked into Amon’s transition home that day with Ashley by my side and they placed him in my arms for the second time, but this time for forever, I took the deepest breath ever.  A breath of release.  One of true joy.  I looked him over so carefully and took in how much he had changed in a month or so’s time.  I cried overwhelmingly grateful tears.

Then we journeyed home on what were the most stressful plane rides ever.  Ashley and I were crazy nervous, Amon was sick and we were toting all our gear plus a big, portable oxygen machine.  And the next 18 hours were insanely hard, but I knew we were being prayed for.  That Amon and his heart were being lifted directly to God.  And we made it.  As we descended into Nashville’s airport I brought out my video camera and taped Amon sleeping in the seat beside me.  We had made it.  God had made a way.  He had gone before us and led us each step of the way.

At that moment I felt God’s love just absolutely pour over us and I sobbed with strangers looking on around me.  I wanted to tell them of Amon’s story…of his special heart…of the legacy God was creating in him even before birth.  I wanted them to know, but I just sat there and soaked it in.  We had made it.  God had finished what He had started in our family 2 years before.  He had renewed and fixed and healed and restored and I could not get off the plane and into Josh’s arms…the wee Kelleys arms…fast enough.

We were finally a family of 6.

God has done a mighty work in our family over the past year.  He has done a mighty work in Amon as well.  He fixed his heart.  He gave him life all over again.  He is truly a God of wonders who deserves every ounce of praise.  I feel so inadequate to be His child…to be so incredibly loved by Him.

So we celebrated Amon on Saturday…we celebrated our family of 6…we celebrated how amazing God is and what great works He truly does and has done.  Oh God, we are grateful and honored to parent this kiddo…this crazy sweet, amazingly awesome kiddo.  You have renewed our hope like we never imagined.

Happy Gotcha Day Amon.  We kind of totally adore you!

“They give us strength to hold on to the hope we have been given.19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and strong.”  Hebrews 6:18-19

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July 16, 2013 By 6 Comments

Africa Ice Cream Sandwiches

There’s no hiding it…we like to celebrate any occasion with yummy treats.  Totally how we roll.  Most recently we rocked out Sol’s 4th Gotcha Day.  We started the morning off with donuts…per Sol’s request.

He also asked for…wait for it…Africa shaped brownies with ice cream.  Later he asked if I could make them like an ice cream sandwich.  On their special days, I’m game for any celebratory sweet challenge.  I want to make their day waaaaaay special, so as long as the request is feasible I’m good to take it on.

After searching Pinterest…God’s gift to the human race…I found THIS PIN for Ice Cream Starwiches.

I used the same concept from the recipe, but made a few changes.  I used my Africa cookie cutter and I also used two containers of ice cream and smushed the ice cream into a 9×13 dish and cut the ice cream out using the same cookie cutter.  I really thought these might be kind of difficult, but turns out, they weren’t that bad at all.

They were yummy and the absolute best thing of all, was Solomon was thrilled.  He beamed.  He thought I was the best momma in the whole wide world.  Everyone devoured them right up…an extremely sweet, sticky Gotcha Day mess.

Happy Tuesday!

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July 12, 2013 By 10 Comments

4 Years with Solomon

Four years have come and gone and wow.  Solomon changed our lives yet again, as each Kelley kid does.  Today is his Gotcha Day.  We celebrate today not just as Sol’s day, but as a crazy special day for our entire family.  There are no presents, just lots of celebrating and sweet treats and him picking something special for us to do as a family to celebrate the day he was placed in our arms for forever.  A celebration of our family growing.

All week I’ve kind of been a hot mess crying all the time.  Last year his Gotcha Day was special, but so empty on some accounts because Mom and Amon were missing.  I’ve just been way overwhelmed with God’s goodness this year and just how special and amazing Sol is.  I’ve been way overwhelmed with the honor I have in being his Mom.  God could have picked anyone…anyone in the entire world, but He chose me to be his momma.  That’s insane.  And I’m incredibly grateful, honored and humbled for the chance.

Today I’m just weeping around and soaking up my Solomon.  His name means “wanted” or “longed for” and it just fits him so well.  We were over the moon, madly in love with him when they placed him in our arms.  God had been preparing his heart for us, and our hearts for him.

Harper was crazy about him…like smotheringish.  She had only recently turned two and she could not wait to get her hands on another little brother.  And, well, Huddy…that makes me cry all new tears.  They are my “twins”.  God has bonded Huddy and Sol in a very deep way.  They are seriously the best of friends and have a brotherhood…a kinship…that runs crazy deep.  They discuss what they will be when they grow up and most recently decided on being motorcycle riders so they don’t have to go to college and move out of our house.  They’ve declared they’re never getting married so they can live with each other for forever.  That’s just them.  They love each other deeply.  I prayed for their brotherhood long before we even knew they’d be so close in age and I continue to pray for their brotherhood…that it remains thick and strong and bold and that they would love each other madly for their entire lives.  Sigh.  They just make me all swoony.

Sol is just an awesome kid.  He’s loving and sweet.  He loves hearing about Africa and the more information I can give him, the better.  He’s the reason we’ll find ourselves back in Ethiopia far earlier than we’d planned on going back.  He wants to go so badly and we want to take him.  He’s passionate, proud and sensitive.  He’s determined.  He’d rather drown than come up out of the water without retrieving his dive stick off the floor of the deep end.  He’s daring and a small, little risk taker.  He’ll be our mountain biker or X-Games participant.  He wants to try everything on his own first…a super independent 4-year-old…which me and his teachers are totally thankful for.  He’s bold and won’t be pushed around.  He’s hilarious and will say just about anything to get a laugh.  He enjoys potty words and goes for shock value.  He’ll be Class Clown in high school.  He has one of the best laughs…this deep down, shrill laugh.  He remembers everything.  EVERY.THING.  Be careful what you say around this kid.  He’s affectionate and gives the most sincere hugs and kisses.  He loves spicy food and the color orange.  I love and appreciate every one of his qualities even though some of them drive me crazy or almost give me a heart attack.  It’s just how God designed Sol and I adore His beautiful, unique creation in him.

So Happy Gotcha Day Solomon James Altaseb Kelley.  You are just divine and tender and all boy.  God has blessed us beyond our wildest dreams with you.  Love you like crazy.

Today is a grand day for our family.  Happy Friday.

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