It's really happening

Everything came together last week.  Our tickets are purchased.  The dates are set.  The grandmas and great-grandmas have been notified.

We are so excited that this is finally happening.  I do have some doubts going forward about how things are going to proceed, what we will call her, how much Chinese influence will be in her life, and how American our little girl will be.  I found out that her name means literary musician, and it is beautiful.  I would be so pleased if she could be either.  It seems like it would be a shame to take the names away from her.  They are just as much a part of her as we will be.  It could be a long plane ride home while we talk about it.

I am worried that she will always have a chip on her shoulder because her parents left her on the steps of the police station.  I don't know that the love that we have for her and that we chose her out of all the children in the world will be enough.  I hope we can provide her with all the opportunities in the world.  I hope that she will have a wonderful life filled with happiness, joy, adventure, and love.  I am hoping she will free, confident, fun loving, laughing, and care free for much of her childhood.  I pray that we can give her these things.

I hope that the pain she will go through with the surgery(ies) will be minimal and that she understands we love her through it all.  Some people who adopt read a lot of books, analyze how things are going, have a specific plan to address the concerns, and get concerned if the other parties don't react the way they think they should.  I want to see how things pan out, react to the feelings, and get help if we need to do it.  Having read some of the accounts that are documented, I think many of the responses are skewed to problem scenarios.  I can't believe that every child is the same.

I look at how my friends are coping with their Chinese children, and I hope we can have a semblance of the joy they have in their households in ours as well.

This child is so loved.  I can't believe the responses from my community.  She has so many more aunts and uncles than just our family.  She has an amazing support system, and it boggles my mind.  The joy that I am feeling seems to be quite infectious with everyone I meet.  I am thankful for all the support and look forward to the future.

She is my joy.

Happy day

Hello,

Today is a happy day (and birthday for me).  We got our travel approval!  Leaving November 17, which is a special day. Feel like E's grandma is smiling down on us today.  It is her birthday.  So lucky to have everything come together today. Not sure I will have a better birthday than this year, but here's hoping!

Murals

I have spent the last week working on the mural for Sofie's room.  The castle is finally coming along! I am so excited about it.

Also, this is the week that we could find out when we are traveling to China. I can't wait!

Talking about updates

When things go so slowly, it is exasperating how everyone wants to know when we are leaving.  Now that we got the Article 5, I am more comfortable saying "hey, yeah, we could be picking her up in 6-8 weeks but who knows"... I wonder if it is like this being pregnant.  I suspect it is.  Thank goodness no one rubs my tummy!  I do get some excellent looks though when I tell people I am expecting a new child in a couple months.  LOL.

Colleagues and friends are asking about baby shower items, and I am completely at a loss as to what to put in a registry.  We don't know a lot about where Sofie is today, and it feels overwhelming.  I am thinking maybe I will just say your favorite kid book & favorite kid toy and see what happens.  I guess it could be total chaos with lots of duplicates.  I am really not used to registering for anything.  It is a weird feeling knowing that people are going to be giving gifts at all.  Don't get me wrong, I like it, but we eloped. There were no gifts.  I haven't gotten regular gifts for anything in years except for immediate family members, and even then... it isn't regular.  I will just have to cope with all the new virtual family (aunts, uncles, cousins) of this amazing person coming into our life.  Children seem to bring out humanity & love in even the crustiest of people.  Amazing.

Article 5 received

We received our Article 5 yesterday which means that theoretically we could be bringing home Sofie by early/mid December.  I am so excited and know it is going to keep moving.

I had a bit of a paranoid moment on Monday night where everything seemed very stacked against us, and I started worrying about the Special Need our little girl has.  I have faith that she will be the perfect little girl for us, and we will get what we need to be able to take care of her every day.  This was meant to be.

I need to finish her bedroom.  The mural has been going slow.  This weekend could be the one.

Thank you everyone for your thoughts & prayers for this little girl.

The rain is finally here

Today it rained - and not only a little misting but a nice, good, all day rain.  The kind that wipes the earth clean and lets us start over.  New growth will be coming up in my garden, and the grass will turn green again.  It has been 8 months since this last happened here, and I am taking it as an omen that all my pain and frustration with the last year is going to fade away.  

The rain was exceptionally cleansing for my soul.  It washed away the leaves and debris in my heart.  I feel pure and light and love for the world today... I find it amazing that the world is such an interconnected universe where we think of each other & love one another from so far away.  There have been many events taking place in the last month, which lead me to believe in the power of the universe and the unity of all of us.  I am blessed that I have love in my life.

In Norway, they have different expressions for love – it isn’t only romantic love and the love you have for your children and friends, but also the love you have for the people in your life.  I feel that love when I interact with my friends, some colleagues (LOL… some just make me swear a little), my hairdresser, the people who are MY people.  I have people everywhere, and I am so blessed to have their good thoughts in my life.  When I least expect it, I get a message of love from the universe, and I appreciate it so much.  Jeg er saa glad i deg.

It has been incredibly hard doing a foreign adoption - adoption of any kind is going to have the same type of waiting involved - and I am SO ready to bring Sofie home.  The mural is about done, and things are coming into place.  Work has calmed down, and we are ready to bring her into the new environment and take these next steps.  We are in the final race to the end – Article 5 should be coming this week and Travel Approval 3-8 (please not 8) weeks later.  Then we book the tickets and go.  I am going to have many things to be thankful for at Thanksgiving hopefully.

We hope that her foster parents are preparing her a bit for the transition.  I wrote a note last week thanking them for her care (how do you express gratitude & acknowledge the sacrifice that they have made in actual words?  Especially with a culture that is so uncomfortable with the expression of love?), and I know they will probably be getting it this week.  I did my best to try to sum it up, but I will be eternally in debt to these people I will never know who have been kind to my daughter and helped her thrive and develop.  This is more proof that there is love in the world – whether they can express it or not.

Who knows, we could have her in 6 weeks from now, and that would be a WONDERFUL thing.  The adventure is going to really be starting soon, and I can’t wait for you to get here, Sofie. 

We love you and are awaiting your arrival with light in our hearts and rainbows in our eyes.