Simon is 16 months today

Hard to believe but it has been three weeks since we first saw Simon's precious face and today he turned 16 months old. We think about him all the time. We talk about him all the time. We wonder about him, share our hopes for him, imagine our life with him and make plans for the things we will do together as a family of three. Looking back, the nine months we waitedto learn about him seems to have gone by in the blink of an eye! It sure didn't feel like time was going by quickly; August and November were particularly difficult months. But now it feels like we've known his face forever. We have memorized every tiny feature. It feels as though we know his pictures intimately yet we long to know him in person ... what his laugh sounds like, what makes him smile, does he ever feel sad, does he understand the huge change that will happen in a few short months, who does he play with, what are his likes and dislikes, what are his mannerisms ... these and many more questions keep rolling through our minds.

We got a note on Friday that said that our paperwork is on the way back to Ethiopia. That paperwork included a little photo album for Simon with photos of me and Mark, our parents and Simon's room. We labeled them and his caregivers will tell Simon about us and show him our pictures, probably sometime later this week! We realize that he's probably too little to understand but it's exciting to think that they will begin working with him to help with the transition. We even tucked a little note behind one of the photos ... it's in English so I'm not sure if any of the nannies will be able to read it to him but some day he will know what it says and how much we are longing to have him home with us.

There's a family that I met through the extra classes I took at our agency ... they passed their court date on Friday and are hoping to travel in February to bring home their son. They have offered to carry a package to Simon for us! We don't know if they will get to meet him or not -- the boys are in different locations -- but at least our little package will get to Simon via our agency's staff. We are so grateful to Tom and Stacy for helping with this! We have been sleeping with a little blanket between us for about a month. This might sound strange but one thing we were told was that if we can send something with our 'scent' on it, it could help Simon to not be so afraid of us; that we could at least 'smell' familiar to him. So we will be sending the blanket and a little car.

A fun thing happened today ... the local newspaper featured Mark and his Ailor Photography blog as their 'blog of the week.' The article appeared today and the post they chose to highlight was the one from receiving our referral titled, "It's a BOY!" So fun! Our realtor even called and left a message for us here at home when she saw it ... she was glad to see we were adding some children to the house. Guess she thought we'd be lonely here as a family of two!

Simon, you are already so loved and anticipated! Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, playmates and especially Mommy and Daddy ... we love you so very much!!! We pray for and hope for your health, safety and happiness. Keep growing strong and be a good boy and we will keep working towards the day that we can hold you in our arms and tell you in person how much we love you!