Buy a child?

There are fees when adding a child to your family, no matter how you look at - hospital/dr. fees in having a biological child, legal fees when adopting a child. One cannot "buy" a child. A friend of a friend told me today how she was so glad to finally meet me and my children. I said my thank yous and waved my goodbyes. As we were walking out, she said, "I tell **** all the time that I wish they would let us buy one but they probably wouldn't because we're too old!" For the record, we did not "buy" our girls. Our girls stole our hearts and we would have it no other way. All of the fees, donations and travel expenses can never add up to the joy that our girls have added and will continue to add to our family. Pryce said it best today when he yelled, in reference to his sisters, "Hey mom, I think they picked just the right ones for us!"

Random pics.....

Maddox is warming up to the idea of a pool.

Someone is not too proud to ride in his sister's pink butterfly boat.....

Our little MK - wow, has she grown up SO much in recent months. She decided, without nudging from our part, that she wanted to do swimteam like her brothers. She is one great swimmer and we are so proud of her strong spirit.

Guilty as charged.....one of her fav pasttimes, climbing and then standing on objects that she should be doing neither on!

I asked Pryce to play with the girls one morning and this is what I walked into!

Strawberry picking - we did this in April. I love this picture because it shows how MK is always leading the way with Maddox. She is so good to her!

Our visit with my Nannie. We were so glad to see her and introduce her to Maddox.

And, last but not least, our visit with the Rhodes and Hatcher families. The Rhodes were the very first family that we met who had adopted from China. We met them one week before they traveled to pick up their daughter, Mia. The Rhodes now live in Germany so our visits with them are too few and far between. During the wait for MK, the Rhodes introduced us to the Hatcher family. We have all become great friends and we love the bond that we all share!

Same, But Different

I know a number one rule in parenting is not to compare your children. Naturally, I do. The boys and the girls. My boys are like salt and pepper, different yet they blend well together. With my girls, the verdict is still out yet I can definitely see differences where the adoption experience is involved. For instance, on Gotcha Day. MK was just mad that she was being separated from all that she knew but she was easy to soothe or distract. She played well with the boys, even laughed at them on the first day. She interacted. Maddox was so sad on Gotcha Day. There was no soothing or distracting her, she wanted no part of interacting with any of us. She had/has the largest tears ever and they were just streaming down her face on that day. MK HATED that we chose to give her a bath on Gotcha Day - she screamed like crazy, so loud that Ryan even said he didn't think he could go through giving her a bath everyday. Maddox loved her bath on Gotcha Day. She actually gave us a little smile during that time, her first smile for us. We ordered pizza for dinner on both Gotcha Days - MK would not touch hers, Maddox ate an entire piece. However, MK has proven to be our good eater and Maddox is our less enthusiastic diner. On their first night with us, Ryan rocked MK to bed and she slept soundly through the evening....and she has continued this trend.....the only time she has ever had trouble sleeping has been during her first week post-op. Maddox did well in China with sleeping. However, since coming home, she has her good nights and her not-so-good-nights. And, she feels an urgency to wake up with the sun which, in my opinion, is just too early! MK communicated her dislikes by outbursts of yelling - if someone got too close, if someone did anything she did not care for, she would just say, "ahhhwahhhh" very loudly. Maddox has no time for yelling, she goes straight to the physical approach - hitting or pulling hair. One just wanted her space, the other has a streak of jealousy. Both girls adjusted quickly to their new home. Both adored their brothers - a mutual feeling. Both loved Finley immediately. Both found the stairs to be a challenge they wanted to conquer. Both attached nicely, each had a preferable parent from the beginning. Both love books. Both love music. MK loves ballet - we are thinking Maddox will be best suited for a faster pace style of dance, she has her own style of dancing and it is so cute. MK likes to be right under our feet and has to be given ideas on how to entertain herself. Maddox likes to wander and play with her toys. MK would sit for hours on the steps of the pool. Maddox is all about walking around the pool to find the best pair of shoes for her little tiny feet. MK would lie in her crib talking until we went in to get her. Maddox stands up and cries the minute she wakes up. Both have streaks of independence. Both girls have found comfort and love in their family. We are so glad to call them OURS.