Adopting Out of Birth Order

When adopting from Ethiopia, it is not uncommon to have only "guesstimates" with regard to a child's age. The further away from the baby stage a child gets, the harder it is to determine their age. Since children are not relinquished with birth records in hand, the folks in Ethiopia do the best they can to assign a child a birth date. Such was the case with K'Tyo.

When we first inquired about him, a birth date had not yet been assigned, but the general consensus was that he was a young 3. From the looks of the first pictures we received, we thought that to be fairly accurate judging by his appearance. So, in essence, we would be practically twinning he & Kaya.

Right before our court date, we were finally given a birth date for K'Tyo. Surprise!! According to this new information, he is almost 2 years older than Kaya, so instead of artificially twinning we were adopting out of birth order.

We were never really concerned about any of this because we knew God meant for this little boy to be in our family. Since that time, I have done lots of reading about the pros & cons of artificial twinning & adopting out of birth order...I am not trying to be controversial at all, but it's interesting b/c many "experts" say there are more cons than pros. However, there are lots of adoptive parents that think it's been a wonderful thing.

For us & our family? Hands down, it's been a wonderful thing.

Seriously, I have posted several times over the last year about how K'Tyo has not missed a beat with his place in the family. And he & Kaya? I did not pose them for this picture. I happened to have a camera close by when they came around the corner all giggles.

Now, don't think they don't have their sister/brother moments. Dude...Kaya is completely full of her 3-ness, which as far as I'm concerned, is way more challenging than 2! But K'Tyo is definitely one of the most patient & easygoing kids with his sister's shenanigans, & before you know it, she's over her twist & they are back to playing.

These two never cease to melt hearts with the way they stick together. When we are walking someplace, K'Tyo always takes Kaya's hand. When they want to play outside, you can find K'Tyo tying Kaya's shoes for her.

Much has changed over the past year (mostly the size clothes & shoes K'Tyo needs!), but I am so thankful that this sweet relationship between this brother & sister is one thing that has remained beautifully the same.

A Lot Changes in a Year

Here are 7 of my 8 reasons to celebrate Mother's Day!

I am thankful every day to watch these children grow. And reason #8 that's missing from the picture? (aka Kaelee) She's up & left the nest for her senior year of college. *sniff*

Last year, I spent the majority of Mother's Day on an airplane.

Many, many miles, several time zones, & an ash cloud delay later, this was Mother's Day for me. It was a day I will never forget.

Just for fun, I took a picture of K'Tyo in the pants he was wearing one year ago today. He thought I was a bit loco, but we had a few laughs about it.

To make up for the silly dress-up, we pulled out the special duds. Is he not growing up & as handsome as can be??

In a way, I can't believe it's been a year already that we came home from Ethiopia, but on the other hand, it seems like he's been here forever.