Introducing...

.....Eliana Tizita Mullins and Alexander Mikiyas Mullins!

Yes, the greatly anticipated post is finally here! We have passed court, and are now the proud full-time parents of Eliana and Alex.

We have had these two little ones for several days now, and it has been awesome. I would be lying if I said I wasn't tired. Wow. Wes and I are exhausted! But it is the most beautiful exhaustion we could ask for. It is so worth it.

The day we left the orphanage, the nannies cried. It was so bittersweet. Fortunately, we've been back since, and we will be going back again many times before we leave.

It felt amazing and surreal to bring these two little miracles home with us. As we were climbing into the van to go back to our guesthouse, I could hardly believe we were finally going to be with Alex & Eliana 24/7. I just didn't seem real. After 5+ years of waiting to bring children into our family, this was it. This was the miracle of all miracles. Simply amazing.

Once we got back to the guesthouse, we gave them both baths. Not because they were dirty, but because we were just excited to give our children baths for the first time in our care. They loved the water. We used the sinks in the bathroom, and they just splashed and splashed. We dried them off, put yummy smelling lotion all over their beautiful brown skin, and just soaked in the goodness of it all.

I have to say that overall, these two are some of the happiest babies I have known. They are so easy to please.

Alex is all boy. He loves to get into everything. He is much stronger than Eliana, so he can crawl pretty fast, and can pull up to standing and grab things off of shelves. He apparently hates sleeping, so no matter how tired he is, he will fight it. He will rub his eyes, lay down on the ground, but sleep is not an option. Fortunately, this translates into about 11 hours of sleep at night. Score. He laughs all the time, and he is absolutely attached to Wes. He is ALL daddy's boy. I am second in line, but I don't mind. He laughs a lot, and is full of mischief. Love him to death.

Alex

Alex

Alex's first bath

Desta & Alex

Eliana is all girl. She is petite and delicate. She has the most awesome smiles, as she is still fairly toothless. She has a hilarious little face she makes when she thinks something is funny. She is SO easy. She just sits in her little spot, and laughs and coos while she plays with her toys. She takes good naps during the day, and is a fantastic eater. Everything makes her smile. And when she sleeps she is either curled up in a ball, or has both arms spread wide out while her legs are spread out in an all out split. It is SO cute! She still wakes up a couple times at night, but a little formula put her right back to sleep.

Eliana

Eliana



Eliana



Eliana



Eliana - photo by Cara Dee Photography



Eliana



They both like to bang each other on the heads with their hands or toys, and they both think it is hilarious. They are both crawling, so there's no leaving them alone for even a second. We are definitely kept on our toes all day. Again....so worth it.

And now we wait. We have to wait on paperwork from court to go through. We have to wait for our obligation letter to come back from the U.S. Then we have to wait on our embassy date. We are just praying it will go quickly. We love Ethiopia so much, but we are eager to get home also to have some good time together as a family in our own surroundings.

Thank you again and again for all your continued prayers. You have no idea how much we have felt them. Simply amazing.

Signing off for now to got change some diapers....

Nurse & Eliana

Nurse & Alex

Mine & Wes' hands on Eliana's little chest

Desta & Alex

Nannies, nurse & twins