Goodbye, Sugars and Dab Dab

So Tuesday I finally got the call. Sugars and Dab Dab, who have been in our care for almost a year, were going to go and live with their grandmother until their mother could get custody of them. Just like it did when those two marvelous creatures entered our world, our lives changed after that phone call. While we are happy for their family, our hearts break for the loss of a son and daughter, a brother and sister to our son, a niece and nephew to my siblings and a grandson and grand-daughter to my mother. We spent most of the remainder of the week in mourning. I would start to cry everytime they would do something cute because I knew that after this week, they wouldn't be with us anymore. I would start to cry if they did something that would normally drive me nuts because I knew that even though it did drive me crazy, I would miss it when they were gone.
Today we said goodbye. This is my farewell blog to these two beautiful children who changed our lives so dramatically.
Goodbye Sugars. You were only 7 months old when you came to us but you were such a happy baby. You looked just like a little cabbage patch doll. Your temper was something to rival even mine. You were quick to laugh and sometimes quick to cry but you were a constant joy.
Goodbye Dab Dab. You were 17 months old when you came to us and you were all over the place. When you came to us you wouldn't really look us in the eye. It took a while to gain your trust and even longer to gain your love but we will cherish it forever. We will miss your constant attempts to make our heart stop by doing things that could hurt you. We will miss your giggles and your dancing blue eyes. We will miss your wet, sloppy kisses.
God speed, our little ones. We hope that you will continue to carry the love we gave you and that, while you may not always remember us, you will remember our family and the fun we had.

Attached is my favorite picture of them. Even though I am not in it, to me this pic captures what family is all about. This is my husband Charles holding our son Eli in his lap with Sugars and Dab Dab on either side of him. Our dog Zoey, who passed away this past summer, is on the couch behind them. This was taken Christmas Eve last year as Charles read "Twas the Night Before Christmas"