6

i got a phone call yesterday informing me of some changes going on on the other wide of the world.  some changes that involve my family.  this phone call has me feeling that i am supposed to say 'yes' once again to what God is asking me to do.  and today 'yes' is a much harder word to say than 'no'. 

i'm overwhelmed.  i'm scared.  it would force me to rely completely on my faith.  and it wouldn't just be changing my life, it would be changing 6.

i can't think of anything more important that i could do with my time on earth, but i'm finding that importance can be a heavy load to carry.  i promise to share more as soon as i can.  until then, if you're the praying kind would you mind throwing a few up for the 6 of us?  

love,

megan, josh, gerald, geraldine, mohamed and mamie

  

Tuesday's Best

we were all hugs and happy babies this morning.  i miss them already.

the babies buttered me up for this skype call with the sweetest surprises in my inbox last night...

"stay bless".

love, us

Mr. Darlin

so i have this friend named morgane.  she is beautiful.  she sings her butt off.  she writes incredible songs. she cooks a mean 3am t-bone.  she sends the sweetest monday evening texts wishing me a happy-skyping-eve.  she also happens to be an incredible mother to two of the most beautiful and perfect children on the face of the earth.  

her son, wayland, is 3 years old and calls me 'miss darlin'.  seriously.  he came up with that on his own. wayland, we have already decided, will be gerald's best friend.  they will be in a band (duh) and it will be called panda because they are black and white (duh) and that is just plain cute i don't care who you are.  anyway, i was over at their house the other day and wayland saw a picture of gerald and geraldine on the wallpaper of my computer (duh).  i pulled him up on to my lap and, pointing at them individually, asked him to tell me their names.  here's how the conversation went:

me: "way, who is this?"

wayland: "gerald."

me: "and who is this?"

wayland: "and deen."

AND DEEN.  how stinkin' precious is that???  i looked over at morgane and told her that her son might have just named my daughter.

this, of course, brought up a big question.  how exactly does one spell 'deen'?  is it 'dine', just like the end of her name but that everyone would mispronounce as if they were about to sit down to eat for the rest of her life?  or is it 'dean' as in james?  or is it a more feminine 'deen' like wayland's aunt meesa suggested?

i decided that since wayland picked her name he should be the one to spell it.  this did not come easy for sweet mr. darlin.  turns out, there is a lot of pressure in picking the spelling of a name.

so, mr. darlin took some time... and i got the following video text from morgane this week.

'deen' it is.  gerald and deen.  forever and ever amen.

Hey... So... Ummm....

hey... so... ummm... i got the following e-mail this week:

As all of you are aware, there has been an adoption ban in Sierra Leone since 2009. The ban was put into place until the adoption scandal involving the organization HANCI could be properly investigated with conclusions and recommendations.  The findings from the investigation have been released with the accepted recommendations from the Sierra Leone government. TRS currently has a full copy of the report and is reviewing the contents.

It is currently being reported that the adoption ban has officially been lifted 

although, we still have many questions with regard to how adoptions will look moving forward. The government has not made any statements with regard to allowing current adoption cases to go to court under the current law while they are passing the new adoption law through Parliament. It is possible that cases will not be heard in court until the new law is passed. 

catch that?

the adoption ban has officially been lifted.

those are 7 life changing words, my friends.  a simple 'wahoo' will not suffice.  since i found out it has really been more of a 'holy-shhhhh-it-is-going-to-be-amazing-i-am-so-excited-oh-no-i-need-to-get-three-more-jobs-i-wonder-what-kind-of-bath-toys-they-like-is-it-too-early-to-start-stocking-their-closets-oooh-i-should-finally-set-up-apple-tv-because-it's-been-in-the-box-for-months-and-we-could-snuggle-up-for-so-many-movies-they'd-better-like-disney-because-i-haven't-seen-the-little-mermaid-in-forvever-i-wonder-if-i-still-know-all-of-the-words-where-is-my-old-cabbage-patch-sleeping-bag-it-would-be-vintage-by-now-oh-god-daycare.'

dear babies,  here we go...

love, me

Tuesday's Best

tuesday = skype day

brought to you by the number 2 and the letter 'o'.

the 2nd appearance of an Off the shoulder look from baby girl.  

she is most definitely her mother's daughter.

swoon.

Tuesday's Best

tuesday = skype day.

gerald was all about the close up kisses today.  

geraldine?  couldn't have cared less.  baby girl was far too concerned with the dry pancake she was wholeheartedly hoovering down.

happy tuesday!

love, m&g&g

Gerald and Geraldine

today is the day.  today is the day i can finally talk about these beautiful, perfect little nuggets i've been posting about.  remember when i said it was bigger than country music award show hair?  i bet you're gonna believe me...

one night in october i couldn't sleep so i spent the night online researching different orphanages in africa that i could volunteer at.  the next day i had lunch with my bestie, melissa spillman.  turns out she too had africa on the brain.  the day before she had lunch with 2 women from spring hill, tennessee who founded an organization called the raining season (TRS) that runs an orphanage called 'the covering' in sierra leone, west africa.  melissa asked if i would be interested in taking a trip to the orphanage with her someday.  i cried in my greek salad and said yes.

fast forward a few months and i am now a mother to twin two year olds that were taken in by the covering.  yep.  read that again.  mother.  to.  twin.  two.  year.  olds.  due to the atrocities of human trafficking there has been an adoption ban in sierra leone since 2009.  this means that in the foreseeable future none of the children at the center will be placed in permanent homes.  to counteract this TRS started the forever family initiative.  a forever family is matched with each child/sibling group to provide emotional, spiritual and financial help to these kids for the rest of their lives.  we are, essentially, a family that just doesn't live together.  we skype weekly.  i can visit the center as much as i like but am required to visit at least once a year.  and i have every intention of bringing my sweet babies to live with me the very moment that ugly adoption ban goes away.

i'd like to introduce you to my favorite little nuggets.  meet gerald and geraldine :)

so, i am a mother to twin two year olds.  if that doesn't produce an instant anxiety attack i don't know what will.  but the steady anxiety attacks have given way to heart bursting amounts of excitement that are only occasionally sprinkled with anxiety filled moments.  and the anxiety filled moments have given way to tremendously overwhelming periods of faith.  and the periods of faith have shown me what it feels like to be a follower of God.  and it turns out being a follower is the biggest, bestest, most awesomely powerful thing that i have ever experienced.  turns out... i like what i look like as a follower.  i like what it feels like to say yes with my whole, terrified heart.

i have an entire box of clothes sitting in my office that i will bring with me when i travel to see them in july.  i spend nights scouring blogs of anyone who has ever taken a trip to the center in search of baby pictures of g&g.  i have been known to watch a 7 second video of gerald waving for 45 minutes straight.  my mom put their faces on a coffee mug.  my dad adds every tuesday's "best of" skype photo to his screensaver at work.  they call me mommy.  i call them little man and baby girl.  they are mine.  i am theirs.  we are a family.

we are a family.

The Megan James Family

my annoyingly gorgeous, unbelievably thoughtful, overly generous, gigantic hearted, super talented, good hair rocking, oversized sweater wearing friend, meesa, gave me the sweetest gift this weekend:  cards for the babies.  their very first cards, in fact.  

what's the deal with these babies i keep talking about, you ask?  well i STILL can't write about them here and it's driving me crazy.  so until i can actually talk about them i will continue to keep writing about them without really writing about them.  it's cheaper than therapy.  deal with it.

we had a big weekend, those babies and me.

and i'm talking BIG weekend.

like bigger than dinosaurs big.

bigger than country music award show hair big.

big.

until i can share i leave you with their first cards... thank you, mees.  

g&g are going to adore their auntie suss.

I Pick You

happy valentine's day.

love, gerald and geraldine

(i'm still not allowed to share details on these two perfect little nuggets... but i will as soon as i can!)