Hannah's First (Group) Date

I really thought I'd already posted these amazingly cute pics of Hannah and her first interactions with one of her new baby buddies, Michael. They really seemed to hit it off at her welcome home shower. He's a little younger than she, but he'll probably always be taller. We really love his parents, so we may just draw up a contract and seal the deal now. Oh, wait, Eli might be a little jealous, and he's got a great family, too. Then there's Jack, and of course Logan, and both of their families are great - whatever is a mother to do? [Sigh]

So many choices; so much time.

Happy Girl, Safe Driver

If a picture paints a thousand words, here's a couple of quick short stories for today:

Why Adoption? Why China?

I've been mulling this over for months now, and I don't really have my rationale in the best wording yet, but I wanted to begin this while I had a quiet moment. I'll probably come back to it and edit it later, but I know if I don't start now, I may never, so here goes. The following are some of my (many) reasons for adopting and for going abroad to do so:

• The uncertainty of domestic adoptions: I'd heard one too many stories of biological mothers chaning their minds after the babies were born (a totally understandable thing, knowing the huge emotional impact a baby-in-arms can create), as well stories of biological families taking legal steps to obtain (and winning) custody after a child's birth. While Lee and I might have been able to deal with the risk of facing this loss, we didn't want to do so, and we knew that Jaycie could not handle this type of disruption after praying so long for a sibling. The heartbreak would have been devastating.
  
• The large number of parents waiting to adopt infants domestically: In our research, there seemed to be an incredible number of parents waiting in line, so to speak, ones whose "portfolios" were waiting (both online and in agencies) to be chosen by birth parents. From what we could tell, the wait could be short if a family's was chosen quickly, but the typical wait appeared to be 2 years or higher. A "chosen" family might also get part of the way into the process, paying thousands of dollars of a birth mom's expenses, only to find themselves starting over and losing every bit of that money if that bio-mother changed her mind. This doesn't rule out domestic adoption for us forever, but it was a factor this first time.
• The problems inherent with adopting older children: This issue may be one that touches some people's hot buttons, but it's an issue for many young families, nonetheless. So much happens developmentally and emotionally during the first three years that impacts a person's entire life. With the U.S.'s system of trying at all costs to keep the bio-family unit intact (which is admirable in some ways but not always in the best interest of neglected children), the majority of children who need homes aren't deemed "adoptable" by the courts until they're three or four years old. Having that amount of instability in a young child's life might create problems that no amount of love and care in the world could overcome. At this point in our lives, we didn't want to take that risk or tackle that challenge. Again, we aren't ruling this out for the future, but it wouldn't have worked for us now.
  
• The enormous number of babies living in foreign orphanages, particularly in China: Our rationale for going to China was largely influenced by issues raised in this book, The Lost Daughters of China by Karin Evans. For a great interview with the author, go here.

This is way heavier than recent postings, but I wanted to start the dialogue. More later.

(photo by fellow traveller Trish M.)

Yipes - Another Tag!

This is an interesting tag game. Here are the instructions from my friend Beth:
1) Grab the book closest to you
2) Open to page 123, go down to the fourth sentence
3) Post the text of the following three sentences
4) Name the author and book title
5) Tag three people to do the same

"I had a journey toward acceptance of myself and trusting the way God made me. Paul had a journey toward trusting God as well. God used the weakness in the other to push us down a road we wouln't have walked otherwise."
--from the book Fresh Brewed Life byNicole Johnson

Eek - I haven't even tagged the others from my last post so here goes: I tag Vivian, Dana, and Karen. (BTW, do I have to tell them, or do they just read this and post their tag response? I'm obviously a novice at this.)

Tag, I'm IT!

I was tagged (first time ever, BTW) by a fellow adoptive blogger mom at Dumplings Three and asked to list six strange things about myself. Here goes:
1. I love cheesy pop music - I particularly like the songs on my Partridge Family and a Brady Bunch greatest hits CDs.
2. I began reading at a really early age (somewhere between 3 and 4), and I can't walk or drive past anything in print without reading it.
3. I used to bite my nails, but I don't anymore; instead I chew on my cuticles to relieve tension.
4. I struggle to throw away anything that has writing on it without reading it first, and I seldom throw away letters; because of that, I have tons of boxes of cards letters from friends, several dating back to when I was in third grade.
5. When I was a child, I would get upset if my mom made a PB&J sandwich and put the peanut butter on the wrong side (I think I liked it on the top); flipping the sandwich over didn't fix it (can you say, "type A personality?").
6. I am related to Jesse James.

I've got to tag some of you guys, but I've got mommy duties calling. Be forewarned -- I'll be back!

Jamming Out in Her Jammies

The reports we received about Hannah before we met her said that she was fond
of music, and we can really tell based on what she likes to play with. Her Cosby grandparents got her these maracas for her birthday. One is a traditional shaker but the other is high-tech; it plays music, counts, and changes colors when shaken or tapped.They're really cool! She also received an amazingly interactive music table (we removed the legs b/c she can't stand unassisted) at the shower hosted by friends from church. It plays jazz, bee-bop, and other musical styles, teaches opposites, letters and numbers and lots of other fun concepts. Several friends got her the same toy (another fun one that all the one year olds love - a fan-powered musical ball popper), so I exchanged them and was able to get a neat-o drum that lights up with numbers and letters; it responds to Hannah's tapping it with a bongo sound and other fun effects. We love to jam out in our jammies!

Creative Pals

Isn't this adorable? My friend Carla used something called a "Cricket" to make the letters and custom card and wrapping paper. I'm planning on framing it somehow and using it as wall art. My friends are so very creative!