It seems a long time since I updated the blog. I had
originally thought I would quit blogging about the time that I gave the girls their
“100 Good Wishes” quilt, but then I kept adding entries.
This blog began as an adoption blog, to record our travels
to adopt our first daughter Josie and then Clara Rose a couple years later.
Since then I have updated the blog with many pictures and stories of happenings
in our family life. In the mix of it I have also included a few more “adoption”
themed posts. Over the years I’ve kept primarily to the superficially simple
stories of family.
Josie is now 7-years old, doing very well in first grade,
has lots of friends, is starting to do playdates without me or even her sister
tagging along, is very particular about what she wears (although she isn’t into
fancy clothes), loves her IPod touch and pop music, and is overall a happy, inquisitive,
and strong willed young girl.
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| Josie doing crafts at a Birthday Party |
Clara Rose is nearing her sixth birthday and is already, ALL about the boys. She has several friends who are boys, prefers to wear superhero shirts like the boys, and plays basketball better than most of the boys her age. She is overall almost always happy, likes playing-up being the baby of the family, and is forever the performing comedian.
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| Clara Rose with her Game Face on! |
We are entering a new stage with the girls, one in which
they are developing a greater ability to understand details of their lives and
ask more detailed questions. They are developing a greater sense of themselves
as a single individual and not just as extensions of mommy, daddy, their
siblings or our family. Oh of course they have a sense of themselves as part of
our family and our family as a whole, but they are coming to an age where they
recognize themselves as individuals all on their own as well. It is quite
something to witness, glimpses of them here and there in public interacting
with other kids, teachers, and coaches when they are unaware of your presence.
Along with this new era come more questions about adoption
and questions of “why?” Many of these questions we only have the answer, “I don’t
know.” The details of these conversations are personal and I feel humbled that Josie
and Clara Rose feel comfortable enough, safe enough, and find me trustworthy
enough to talk to me about their feelings being adopted. Feeling are conflicted
and confusing because you can be happy and love what you have and also miss,
want, and grieve what you barely remember or were not ever able to know. These
feelings are not mutually exclusive—they are simply and complexly feelings that
are felt.As they get older they tell me which pictures I am and am not allowed to post on FB, when it is and isn’t OK to give them a hug or kiss in public and all of that good stuff that comes with growing independence. They are clearly telling me when it is and is not OK to share parts of their lives outside of our family.
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| Me, Josie, and Clara Rose making Christmas Cookies |
So, this is my last post on the blog. I will still be around
reading and occasionally commenting on blogs, but I do not intend to start another
blog. If anyone wants to be friends on FB, send me a request.
Best to all—I have learned much from some of my followers
whom I have not ever actually met.
