Our oldest girl already fits the oldest child, mothering role. In the few pictures we have of all three kids together she is touching and/or holding Isaiah in every one, usually putting his face close to hers. In the picture I got of them all together yesterday, it seems as though Isaiah did not want to cooperate for the picture, so she leaned down and helped him to look at the camera by putting her face right up against his. Miss Responsibility. She reminds me of me. Especially because she seems to internalize life more than her sister. And holy cow, looking at her pictures yesterday . . . she looks SO MUCH OLDER - not very little-girl-ish at all! It freaks me a out just a little . . . okay, a lot!. I have size 10/12 clothes ready for her so we'll see if I've guessed her size right.
Our younger girl is going to be the life of the Lee party! She has the biggest smile and a lot of spunk, I can tell! And I'm guessing she is good at going with the flow. She reminds me of my sister. I think she is the same size as Mya, who is 7, so I have size 7/8 clothes ready for her.
And Isaiah . . . all I can say is that he and Abram are going to be quite the pair! I have a feeling they are about the same size. I can't wait to see them running around together. I talk to Abram a lot these days about Isaiah (and the girls) during day-to-day things. For example, when we go to Target, we now use the big carts with seats for two kids behind the cart (feels like I am pushing a semi truck - those things are huge!). Abram sits in one side and we talk about how Isaiah - or "Aiah,"as Abram calls him - is going to sit in the other side.
Abram likes talking about the kids, but my sweet boy does not know what is going to hit him. People ask me how Abram is going to do when the kids come. And my answer is: I think it is going to be terrible for him for awhile. I think he will love having Aiah as a companion since he is extroverted. But, he is going to hate the fact that his toys are no longer his. Oh, and not having ALL of mom AND dad's attention . . . that is going to hurt, too. Poor guy.
Seeing the kids' pictures is always exciting, but to be honest, it also freaks me out and makes my stomach feel like it is falling out from underneath me (like on a roller coaster)! I know it is going to be crazy, hard, fun, painful, terrible and wonderful all at the same time.
But, just how hard and painful is it going to be? And how long is it going to take for them to bond with and depend on us as their parents? Are the girls going to accept me as their mom when they have already had and lost biological moms and a foster mom? Oh, and they don't speak any English. How is that going to go?
When people ask me if I am excited for our kids to come home, I never know quite how to answer. I absolutely cannot wait to see them and wrap my arms around them. But, I have more feelings of fear and trembling than I do warm fuzzies when I think of them coming home.
I guess the answer is that we are READY. We are ready to have our kids home. We are ready to become the family that God had in mind from the beginning of time. And we are ready to see how all of this is going to go down!
And we are depending on God to make it through every waking moment.
2 comments:
How long will all that bonding take? Each kid is different. For all of my kids the real ugly stuff was gone in 6-24 months. But after that it's a time game to when the security of "I belong" sets in in their hearts. In each of our 4 cases it has been years. We adopted Peter when he was 8 months - when he was 7 he knew he belonged and there was no turning back. James was 2 when he came home, and again he was about 7 before the security kicked in. Maryjane was 4 when she came home, and at almost 7 now the security is still not there. But we're close! :)
So do you have a fundraising update? I'm so excited for you guys I can hardly stand it. :) I know it will be hard - I am expecting it to be hard too and ours will be much littler! After I saw your FB post yesterday about getting new pictures, I checked my email and we got new pictures too! :) Can't wait to show them to you guys. I've been wondering - have you heard anything yet about their travel? (And I am very sorry if I'm the millionth person to ask you that!!)
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