Our family of 4 is about to become a family of 5. Our "new" family adventure is about to begin. We leave for China very soon to meet our son. As you know when we first began this process a year and a half ago we were going to have to take our 2 boys with us to Colombia because we were required to stay there for 8 weeks. Because we only have to be in China for 2 weeks we are leaving the boys with family and meeting Judah on our own. It will be just the three of us for a few days. I'm not sure that will give him enough time to be prepared for his two older brothers and the hugs and love they are planning on attacking him with.
The other day we were discussing sharing and my 4 year old said that he would be a good sharer, the 2 year old, however, yelled "I'm not!" We are working on it.
I can't help but be a little nervous about how the new family dynamic is going to affect my boys. There are so many wonderful life lessons that they will learn having a sibling of a different race. And in a week our family will become a "minority" family. There are things that we are all going to have to learn how to handle.
My mind is slightly overwhelmed with a myriad of thoughts and emotions. I can read all of the books (I've read a LOT), and I can prepare myself the best I know how, but when the moment comes and I have a new child, I just don't know what is going to happen. I just keep praying that he likes me, Jason, the boys, even the dogs. (Having an animal "live" with you is a totally new concept for this little one.)
Will I be a good mom to an adopted child? Will I be what he needs? Can I help him grow into a young man that knows even though he was left at one point, that God had a bigger plan for him, that he came into a family that prayed and worked so hard to get him?
Wishing I could say thank you: Because the orphanage is so far away from the capital of that providence we probably will not be permitted to see where he has lived for his short 2 years. How I wish I could meet his caretakers and thank them personally for loving my baby boy! Also, being there (and knowing me) I'm sure I would try to scoop up as many children as possible to bring them back home with us! How it pains me that so many little souls need families!
Will he be sad to leave his friends? His "family"? His toys? His ... life? Everything is going to change. A couple of young, white, middle class Americans are about to flip this little ones life upside down. We don't look like him. We don't talk like him. We don't eat the same foods. Wear the "right" clothes. Our smiles are slightly familiar from the photos he has been shown of us. Those photos will soon speak, and hug, and kiss, and laugh. How I long to hold him! How I fear his fear!
My heart longs for my Judah. Our .... lives ... are ... about ... to .... change.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Waiting on Travel Approval...then we are off to China!
Much has happened in the past few months. And we have been so busy with life, preparations, and paperwork. We formally accepted the referral of our little boy. After our acceptance we collected some items for a small care box to send to China. It included a photo album of our family, home, dogs, etc., a bag of Smarties candies, a yellow t-shirt with little robots all over it, chap sticks for the orphanage care takers (it was suggested that we do this-Jason thought we were to send chop-sticks..lol, but I said I was pretty sure they had those already), and a letter with pictures and a child-like description of what is going to happen. It starts out by stating “I’m your new mommy (then there’s a picture of me) and this is your new daddy (picture of Jason)” and so on. I bet I could copy some of it on this blog so that you could see. It is all translated in Chinese, too, so that the caretakers can read it to him every day. The caretakers were very excited to get our pictures so that they could start preparing him for the adoption and having a new family. I am forever grateful for that.
We had originally decided that we would name our child “Judah” and that he would keep his current name as his middle name. Our little boy’s Chinese name is Tao; therefore, he will be Judah Tao Blackwell.
While visiting some friends on vacation last week we got word that an itinerary was sent to our email and that we were to take a look at it. We thought “itinerary” meant activities, places we would go, etc. while in China. We opened the email to find plane tickets dated for July 31stinstead. What?! That is only 2 weeks away. The tickets were needed in order to request our VISAs for China, so the July 31st date is not set in stone (but could be). We are still awaiting our travel invitation from China as well. As soon as we get that we can solidify the dates of travel.
Now, unfortunately, last night we received a call that Judah had gotten very sick with an infection of some type and was in need of a surgery. That was the only information that we received. We are currently awaiting more information on his condition, infection site, surgery, and so on. If he is unable to travel due to this procedure, then our travel will have to be pushed back, as well. You can only imagine how much I want to be with my baby boy as he endures a surgical procedure alone.
I know that so many family and friends are praying for his healing and our speedy travel plans so that we can quickly bring our son home. My son! How I long to hug him and take care of him. Our family is almost complete. Come on travel approval!
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