We're going to China, we're going to China, we feel so happy.....this is actually a song from Ni Hao Kai Lan. MK bounces between this show and Super Why - she loves both! It is true, though, we are going to China. Not anytime soon. We have not been matched with a child. We are in the very beginning stages (paperchase) of our next adoption, and if things go smoothly, we hope to be bringing another little sister home to our family in roughly two years. Sweet story.....one evening we were talking with the children, mainly the boys but MK was present as well. We were discussing our plans to adopt again and we were asking general questions to see how they felt about the possibility of having another sibling. They, all three of them, were hands down in support of going to China for another little girl. The boys were pretty adamant that they wanted a sister, MK just wants a baby. We then presented this to them, "How would you feel about not being allowed to go on the actual trip to China? What if it isn't possible for us to go as a family to get the baby?" HMMMM. I knew this one would get them. I knew that some of their excitement about adopting again stemmed from actually being allowed to go to China again. The trip. They loved the trip when we traveled for MK. They loved the airplanes. They loved the fabulous hotels. They loved the attention. They loved feeling like they were celebrities. They loved the friends we traveled with. They loved everything about the trip. Everything. Even the 12 hour flight. So when we presented it as a "you may get to go when we travel again or you may not" kind of deal, I really was interested in hearing their responses. Did they REALLY want another sibling? Of course, MK was all about just telling us about her story, how she cried and cried until we flew on the BIG airplane to get her in Chongqing, China, etc., etc., etc. She was focused on what she understood of the question. The boys were silent for a moment. Then they both spoke almost simultaneously and said they wanted to go on the trip. My first thought was disappointment. I was really disappointed that they did not see beyond the trip. I was disappointed to see that they were putting a three week trip in front of a lifelong relationship. (Disclaimer....yes, I do know they are children) Then the boys continued slowly. One said, "Well, I do want to go to China again. I will save my money everyday so I can go on the trip to get our baby sister. But, if I can't go, I still want to adopt another sibling." OK, one son was totally on-board. The other son said, "Well, I just really want to go to China. I want to ride on the airplane." OK, one is on-board, and the other one, we were thinking, is not. I asked him why it was so important to him to actually go on the trip. He responded, "Because, I really want to be the first one to hold her." I love adoption. I love that our family has experienced adoption. I love that, one more time, we will, as a family, let a child grow in all of our hearts before we ever even lay eyes on her. I love knowing that even now, even in the earliest stages of the process, there is a little girl on the other side of the world who has her forever family praying for her and loving her from afar.

Wordless Wednesday

Different

At church this morning something so small hit me in the largest way. Ryan and I began volunteering in MK's Sunday School class today. The children were all sitting at a table when one little girl asked, "Hey, what's your name?" We introduced ourselves. Then, the lead teacher said, "Mr. Ryan and Ms. Beth are Mason-Kate's parents." Simple statement, one that I do not think twice about on any given day. Today was different. I thought twice. Why? Simply because here we were surrounded by 3 and 4 year old children who will say whatever is on their little mind at any given time. And for one small moment I panicked because I realized that this is the age that little ones notice differences. Differences don't matter so much at this age but they are noticed. And I quickly began to wonder what if one little one stands up and points out the obvious to MK. What if one child notices and says, "She doesn't look like you. You don't look like her. You can't be her parents." I am all about a plan. I am all about thinking ahead and having a plan, I like to be prepared for everything. I wasn't prepared today. I wasn't and I still am not prepared for what to say to the child that asks the inevitable. I want desperately to have just the right words and I will figure them out, but in the meantime, I am going to embrace the innocence.