All Things Adoption

November?!?!?! If you are like me, you are experiencing a slight state of panic (right on cue at this time every year) because Thanksgiving is 2 weeks away and Christmas is about 6 weeks away...yikes! Haven't even thought about preparing for our Thanksgiving travels, decorating our shoebox of an apartment in a toddler-friendly way, or buying (or making...more on that later) one single Christmas gift. Oh well. It will get done. Somehow.

For now, I've been convicted of simply bringing my focus to things that truly matter. After all, November is all about being thankful....for freedom, health, friends, and family to name a few...and our family would not be possible without ADOPTION. Words cannot describe my gratitude for what adoption has done for my life and our family. I know I've said it before, but the miraculous way in which Judah became a part of our family is truly amazing. Because we believe our God is sovereign, we believe that our story was ordained and orchestrated by the One who has adopted us as His children. Judah is a daily reminder of God's grace and love toward us. 

If you are considering adoption, are part of an adoptive family, or know someone who has been touched by adoption in any way, please celebrate with us this November, National Adoption Month! There are several ways we can all celebrate and raise awareness for adoption this month.  Here are a few I hope you will consider~ as suggested by our agency, Gladney Center for Adoption. 

~Wear a white ribbon in honor of National Adoption Month.

~Write an encouraging letter to a birthmother (email me or leave a comment for more details),

~Ask your local library to display books about adoption. Get them started by donating a book :-) 

~Give an adoption talk at a local school or read an adoption story book to a classroom of children.

~Ask your worship leader to say a prayer for birthmothers, adoptive parents, children living in orphanages & children living in foster care.

~Make an effort to reach someone considering adoption, whether a couple considering adoption or a birthmother.

~Organize a holiday toy drive for children who are waiting for permanent families. 

~Write a thank-you letter to someone who helped you think differently about adoption or who helped make your adoption happen.

~Light a candle in honor of all the birthparents who make the ultimate sacrifice by choosing to place their child  for adoption. 

Our family kicked off the month with fun adoption events last weekend. We are blessed to live in an area with huge support for adoptive families, and it is encouraging that Judah has opportunities to fellowship with other children who share parts of his culture and story. Saturday evening, we had the opportunity to get together with local families who all have adopted children from Ethiopia. We shared a delicious meal at an Ethiopian restaurant. So many Ethiopian beauties...who seem to share similar interests! Almost simultaneously, some of the children (including mine!) turned one of the tables into a "drum" and made some pretty interesting music!

Judah also had fun "wrestling" with the big boys...

And "flirting" with the older girls...

The following day, we attended a Gladney Family Association event in our area. It included any family in the area who has adopted through Gladney...international and domestic adoptions. It was so cool to see so many countries represented in one room :-) At the "art play date," the kids (and adults) had a blast while eating delicious snacks....

exploring their creative side....

playing "follow the leader"....

And most importantly, making new friends....

On this November Thursday, the Nix family is thankful for adoption and all that it means to our family and others across the world! 

Lion Feet and Halloween Week

I trust that all of you had a happy, wacky, spooky, sugar-filled, fun Halloween! I'm not much into Halloween, but I do admit that I had tons of fun dressing up my little lion and teaching him trick-or-treat etiquette....and eating some candy myself :-)

Our week began with "Boo at the Zoo" the weekend before Halloween! The National Zoo in DC has this event every year, and we will be returning for as long as we're here :-) It was a great way to get our family in the Halloween spirit (no pun intended). A trip to the zoo with treat stations and hundreds of cute little people in costume...fun! 

This is how Judah began the evening because he didn't want to wear his costume....

And this is post-zoo...guess the candy helped??.....

And do you see those lion feet?! He was terrified of them, but we snuck them on him during the gorilla exhibit at the zoo...sneaky Mama and Dada :-) 

He was very interested in the other children's costumes...

And this is was his favorite way to travel...

There weren't many animals out and about due to the cool evening and several zoo renovations, but Judah seemed just as happy with the fake ones...

He picked up the concept of trick or treating much better than I thought he would...

Because of that, our nutrition rules went out the window on Halloween...for the entire week.

At the end of our night at the zoo, we saw a Zebra on the way out. Judah loved seeing his black and white stripes...

And telling him "night night".......

On Halloween evening, we had more fun at a local park getting more treats and enjoying the playground as a lion :-) 

My dear friend, Susan, was in town and Judah had a blast with her!

Judah was most interested in the decor...pumpkins and balloons galore!

The evening was topped off with a little trick-or-treating at a few houses in our nieghborhood...just so he could get the hang of it :-)

By this time, he really had the candy in the pumpkin ("pumpeen") thing down....

Family pic in front of our neighborhood haunted house. The spooky eyes were not planned...just iphone camera quality!

And here's one attempt of Judah and his some of his sweetest girlfriends, Marilyn and Wren. Again, more poor iphone camera quality at night, but just pretend I tried to make this one "Instagram style." 

So as you can see, the lion headpiece never made it on Judah's head. We were lucky to get the bodysuit and feet on without meltdowns. Oh well, his little 'fro was a great mane substitute and we had a blast this Halloween!

Happy November Y'all!