Theological discussions with a 6-year-old

Meagan is a deep thinker. People say she's shy, and she is, but she's also very much taking everything in....chewing on it and forming her own opinion about it. She is also already a master debater. For example, the other day she was crying and emotional about nearly everything. I was trying to have a serious conversation with her about controlling her emotions and she just wasn't getting it. I said, "Meagan, do you agree that you cry ALOT?" She replied, "Yes mom, but do you agree that you yell ALOT?" Touche' indeed. Ok, so now you know what I'm up against. We try to talk about God, read the Bible, etc. fairly frequently. Meagan is going through a phase where she is skeptical about everything, including God. It seems like once Santa Clause was out of the picture, there went the Easter Bunny and God. Funny thing is she still believes in the Tooth Fairy. Go figure. Maybe if God left money under her pillow she would believe in him too. So, while most other six-year-olds are happily saying their prayers and drawing pictures of the "pearly gates", mine is disputing how God could have created the universe out of thin air. Last Sunday at church, the minister was very excitedly describing heaven... no more sadness, perfect love for one another, etc. I whispered to Meagan, "Hey, he's talking about what heaven will be like...isn't that cool?" She responded with, "How does HE know?" We had another funny little discussion last night. We just happened to be reading about Moses and the plagues on Egypt, in particular when Moses turned the water in the Nile into blood. Meagan said very solemnly, "Mom, that was Jesus' blood in the river." I guess since Christianity places so much emphasis on Jesus' blood, she figured all references to "blood" must have something to do with this. I said, "I don't think it was Jesus' blood." She then gasped in horror, "Then WHOSE blood WAS it?"

Disclaimer: If you tell Meagan that I revealed any of the above information, or even that you viewed attached silly picture, just know that it is ALL OVER for me. Indefinite period of silent treatment, in the "dog house", guilt trip, whatever you want to call it. It will not be a happy time for mom. If you love me at all, think before you speak.

First Big Owie

I had yet another of what I like to call "bad mommy moments". Nini was playing with some picture frames I had on the floor (don't ask why they were on the floor...I think I had been debating for a few weeks where I should store them) Anyway, Nini decided to put her hand through one of the frames, breaking the glass. No stitches, but it bled a WHOLE lot. And the nice folks at the Immediate Care center only charged $141.00 for a dose of Tylenol and this fancy bandage. What a bargain. Nini is pretty ticked off about the whole thing because these just happen to be her "sucking" fingers. I hate it when my sucking fingers have owies on them.

Here are more b-day party pictures

2-Year-Old Pictures

This photo shoot was slightly more successful than when we got family photos 6 months ago. That said, you may notice that Alina insisted on taking her shoes off half-way through the session and that she is always looking to the right (this is where I happened to be standing holding out the cookie bribe). Also, below are some pictures from yesterday's get together with my family. We celebrated Nini's and Kyle's birthdays .

Mom and Fred sporting matching "Brown County" hoodies

14 candles (12 for Kyle and 2 for NiNi)
The "queen" opening her presents.
Signing "thank you"

A New Year!

Hard to believe it is the middle of January already. Here is a little update on our comings and goings:

Chris is applying for a new job within his company. The position is called a "business analyst" and would get him off the the phones all day and sounds like something he would really enjoy. As you can see from the photo, the stress has been really getting to him lately. Luckily, NiNi loaned him one of her "lovies" until he's up and running again.

Speaking of the Neen-ster, we just had our 6 month post-placement visit with our social worker. I think we all performed beautifully and are a little baffled that we can keep passing ourselves off as a "stable parental unit". NiNi continues to get speech therapy once a week and her vocabulary is really taking off now. We recently bumped her up to 3 days/week at the sitters and she hasn't seemed to even notice. Now I take Saturdays off and we get some much needed family time. Here is NiNi playing with fake food, her new favorite past-time (and as an added bonus, we can check off another developmental skill "pretend play")

Meagan is becoming more and more.....what is the word...."complex." I once heard this quote and now I believe it. It went something like..."A daughter's love for her mother is matched only by her desire to be separate from her" You can say that again! Chris says she is exactly like me and that is why I get so frustrated sometimes. Well, what does he know anyway! Here she is at the children's museum a few weeks ago.

We are gearing up for a busy first part of the year with Alina's birthday Jan 26th and Meagan's about a month later on March 9th. I am also about to embark on a fundraising effort to benefit children in China....more details to follow!

Holiday Photos

Beware: Slightly Depressing

Well, there is a beautiful fluffy white blanket on the snow on the ground, but my girls have yet to play in it. Meagan has strep throat and an ear infection. Alina has pneumonia. Thank God for really strong antibiotics, Immediate Care centers and a nice pediatrician who treated both kids when I only made an appointment for one (free of charge). So, the last 3 days have consisted of the usual sick kid routine....mommy and daddy taking turns going to work, the washing machine running almost constantly, and 2 AM rocking, refilling humidifiers, taking temperatures, giving tepid baths, etc. But they will feel better soon. As Alina's fever reached almost 104 degrees last night and all she could do was whimper miserably, I couldn't help but think of the kids who don't have a mom and dad to hold them when they are sick. The kids who learn that crying is of no use because no one comes to the rescue. The kids whose only concept of "parent" consists of a person who comes and goes according to shifts and holidays. I'm sure that other adoptive parents agree that once you see orphaned children, it changes your perspective on most things. For example, I can't watch the movie "Annie" without crying. We have the DVD and probably watched it a hundred times before going to China. Now I can't even get past the opening song where Annie is dreaming about having parents: "Maybe now it's time, and maybe when I wake, they'll be there calling me baby. Betcha he reads, betcha she sews, maybe she's made me a closet of clothes. Maybe they're strict, as straight as a line. Don't really care, as long as they're mine." I recently heard about a little boy who is 5 years old and blind. His file has been sent to a number of different adoption agencies and returned. Now he is considered "un-adoptable". Another agency is graciously sponsoring his education at a school for the blind. But, apart from an act of God, he will grow into a young man, never having a mom and a dad. I often think about some of the kids at Alina's orphanage. I wonder if they have found families or if they are still there... about to celebrate another birthday as an orphan. I know, there will always be orphans and suffering and hunger in the world. It's true. It's also true that many people have the means to add one more child to their home. Chris and I bring in a middle income, live in a small 3 bedroom ranch, and have a staggering amount of student loan debt. The last thing I want to do is elicit more "Look at you, you're doing such a good thing!" comments. It's not that we are so special or saintly. It's just that we've seen the needs with our own eyes. If more people saw, they would feel the same way. I know that many people want to adopt from China and are discouraged by the ever increasing wait times. It doesn't seem fair that there are children who need homes, couples who desperately want a child, yet it takes nearly three years to match them! I would often say this to myself when we were going through all that we went through with adopting Alina and Mayah...God is more powerful than the Chinese government. Things can definitely change. At the same time, the wait for special needs children is still considerably less...about 7-8 months from log-in date to travel the last I heard. Most of my friends who read this blog have already adopted. And of course my family has heard this spiel before, but maybe this can inspire some ramdom person that comes across this blog. If not, I still feel a little better for putting it into words.

6 Months Home

It just occured to me that today is the 6 month anniversary of Alina's adoption day. June 11th is the first day we met, but it wasn't "official" until the 12th. Looking at her picture from that day reminds me of what a different kid she is now. Doesn't that despondent sort of look in her eyes break your heart? She didn't want to play, didn't want to eat, and didn't want us to put her down for an entire week. We didn't even know that she could really walk until a week after we got her! And look at her now...sporting 5 extra pounds and feet that are a whole size bigger (maybe the bigger size is just to accomodate the "chub", I'm not sure), holding her own in fights with her sister, learning new words and signs everyday (just yesterday I caught her looking in the mirror pointing to herself and saying "Ni Ni"), and totally eating up the love and attention from mom, dad, and a whole host of aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Oh, and throwing tantrums when she doesn't get her way. Yep, sounds like a typical almost-two-year-old to me!