Sharing My Room With My New Brothers - Cal's post

I think that this is very exciting. And my mom always says I have the most room of all of the bedrooms in the house. So, I am very excited. We are going to put our old bunk beds in my room for them. These are the same bunk beds that my mom and Uncle Phil used when they were little and Maddie and I used in Syracuse and Phoebe and I used in our old house. Since we are doing that, my mom is trying to get some new stuff. I am hoping we will paint the bedroom soon. We may all sleep in the same bed sometimes- just like in this photograph from Christmas Eve! But what I really think is that the new kids are gonna treasure the electronics, but they will also like playing outside and going swimming- just doing all sports!

The Flying Tomato and Our Referral

We have had a couple of very special and crazy weeks in our family. We actually received our referral! It all happened very fast- though it did not take us by surprise. I remember interviewing agencies last fall and all of them saying that referrals were happening shortly after Dossier's and homestudies were done. Some of the more well know agencies have slower referral times now- because the programs have become so popular. Which is great for the kids- but some of the parents went into this thinking that they would get referrals much faster- and are now waiting. There was no wait with our agency- they are so new and since we are one of the first families there were babies just waiting for families. This week our family was also celebrating a big event- so the referral and the big event were happening at the same time. You can imagine if you were related to the Flying Tomato and got your referral during the Olympics? (I wouldn't mind being related to him. He seems like a neat guy and his family also seems really great!) Well, you can imagine that it would be almost too much to take in all at once.

Our family, too, has been wonderful. So supportive and happy for us. My father was so great. He asked all of these great questions about interracial families and attachment. It was so nice to know he was thinking through all of the challenges of adopting a child of another race. Also, all of the things that come up because your child comes from a place which is absolutely nothing like here. They may live in a mud hut. They may not own shoes. They have never eaten with a fork and a knife. They may have never seen a TV or computer. They will be shocked to see that we have a dog in our house. They will not know what to think the first time they go to the grocery store. They may never have had the chance to navigate stairs. The list is endless. Mark and I have spent quite a bit of time reading about attachment, about grief and loss, about interracial adoption. We have been on an online support group with over 1,000 members from around the world and have learned so many things. Like our child will never have had a bath in a bathtub before. It will be a new and maybe kind of scary experience.

Its great to have a family who sees the big picture and gets why bringing these boys home is so meaningful and important. I think we all know that our time here is short and what we do with it is so very important. And what is the most important thing you can do while you are here? To love and be loved. How blessed we are to have two more children to love- and how even MORE BLESSED our family is that there are two more little people who will adore them all so much.

We have worked so hard to get to this point in our lives and like the Flying Tomato - the victory lap will be so very sweet.

And when we worry about our choices and when the fear sets in we can remember this:

Matthew 21:21-22

Then Jesus told them, “I assure you, if you have faith and don't doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain 'May God lift you up and throw you into the sea,' and it will happen. If you believe you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."