Childlike Honesty

I was tucking Alyssa into bed the other night. She was being a little funny and thinking she didn't need mom to tuck her in. Of course I eat that all up. I start smoothering her with kisses and singing love songs to her. I told her no matter how old she was I'd always tuck her in and love her because she will always be one of my babies...............Then she breaks down and starts crying.......just sobbing.........and she was saying, "mom I'm so excited to have Aidan home, but it's going to be different. I mean I have friends that are black, but mom, am I going to love a black brother?.....I want to love him.......... but I've never hugged a black brother before......I want to ............and what if I go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and don't see him and I bump into him? (okay--I chuckled to myself with that last question)....and mom I want to give him a family...........I'm just scared."
Oh, that just melted my heart. Just her honesty. I told her that I had some of those same thoughts too. That's I've never had a black baby to snuggle and hold tight. And I've never had a little black boy crawl in bed on Saturday morning with all of us before. And yes it is different, but that God would help us. That God would let us see Aidan for who he is and not his color. In no time we'll see him as our brother and not as someone different.
I'm sure each of us have thought this before. I'm sure our families has wondered how it will go... Yes---- we will official become a multi-cultural family. I'm sure there will be challenges we face with it. I'm sure we'll get lots of looks.......... My favorite saying is.............'it is what it is"..............this is our family and God brought us together....... We're in it together.
As I get to know other families in the blogging world that have adopted, I absolutely LOVE seeing family pictures that aren't cookie cutter perfect and all the same. It's a good picture of God's family.

Own calling

I was having a conversation with someone about adoption. He was telling me about this family that was adopting an older child from eastern europe..........and how they already had 3 or 4 kids and this child would actually be the oldest. He was telling me about why they wanted to adopt and blah, blah, blah. Then as he was talking about the difficulties and adjustments, my mind started to wonder...........I was thinking.......... 'what was this family doing?'.........'why would they want to adopt older?'.............'didn't they have a fine family already?'..............'are they crazy?'............................BUT then my mind stopped DEAD in my thought process...........I think I'M a crazy person to someone else.............Of all people, who am I to think or judge what is right for a family. Of all people, I should know that their is no "perfect" family. After all...........according to the world---we had an ideal family........1 boy, 1 girl......and it wasn't meant for us to stop there..........shame on me for thinking that............I couldn't imagine life without Aidan.......

So, last week end I watched 'Sisterhood of the traveling pants'. That was the first time I saw it and I loved it!! I loved it that here are these 4 girls and they had this friendship and yet they were SO DIFFERENT.............isn't it sooo good when we can accept each other for our differences..............even our differences in what we consider a 'perfect' family..........sometimes it's hard not to judge................but I think God has a different calling for everyone's life........It's exciting to see where He leads each of us........don't you think!!!!

3 years old

He's there..........we're here. This is kind of the weirdest feeling through out this whole adoption process. It's a special day............. our son's birthday..........yet it doesn't seem real. Thanks for a few birthday wishes for him already!!
He had a little birthday party with his friends at GLA. I think they are the cutest pictures......................anxiously waiting for the candles, licking the cupcakes, and dancing with friends. Wow---what a party!!!



Of course we are having a little party too for him. Alyssa wants a heart shaped cake for him. Our kids sure get the short end here...........it's either christmas parties or valentines parties for their birthdays!

Well, our wish for Aidan is that someone will give him an extra special hug for his birthday today. We're sending him lots of love today for Valentines and his birthday!!!!

xoxox

Hugs and kisses to our little sweetheart :)

Aidan

What's in a name? Sometimes I think I like the name Manuel. It means God with us. I love seeing Aidan's name..........Manuel. I like to think of it as God with him. I think of it as God assuring me that He is watching over our little boy even when we’re not with him.
Each time I see his name on our updates, I can hear his nannies calling his name when we went into his room. It's of French origin, so it's a little different. They pronounce it more like MonYell. I like that. I think in our city it would be pronounced ManWell, and it would just lead to more racial confusion...............so I don't think it's the best choice to keep it. Sometimes we still talk about it though.
In our minds he's our little Aidan, but reality is......he knows Manuel. We'll have to call him Manuel Aidan for a while...............I think. I don't know---we've never had anyone have a name change. Any idea's? I'm sure it's just total confusion!!
It's his birthday this week.............. He's turning 3 on Saturday...........We got some cute pictures we'll post soon.
i've just been thinking about the name thing lately. i guess it's one of those benefits to adoption, we have time to think about it. Time to try it out. How often do you get to do that???......We've even talked about the spelling. It seems most popular spelling it Aiden............we'll see.

little man

Weight: 25 lbs

Height: 31.75 inches (81 cm)

Adoption status: Courts

Sure does sound good to be in "courts"!! Sounds like he's doing great. He enjoys scooters and push cars that they have to play with. Part of our update included ..........."Manuel has started calling me by name, and he pronounces it “Alalie,” which I think is just adorable" (her name is Melanie) ............That's great to hear he's 'talking'.

If you're curious, GLA had written about their Christmas, and there is even a cute picture of Aidan in all the snapshots. He's with a marker in his hand, in a blue and orange shirt. And I just absolutely LOVE the picture with all the stockings hung on the building. Check it out if you have a minute.......
http://www.glahaiti.org/toddler_house_blog

Life on a branch

“Even when I am unaware of it, God is sovereignly working out the details of my life for His glory.” .............................I think if I had to write down all the details that God has worked out in our lives, I would have to write a whole book!!
I couldn't get this quote out of my head as I thought about it this week. (we’ve been studying this and the life of Joseph at church) It’s not something that happened overnight, or in one event.............it’s been 10 years of God guiding us baby steps at a time. If I wrote it all down, wow, what a great way to let the kids know how faithful God is to us, and that He does have a plan for our lives!!! God’s plan for all our adoptions were because of His sovereignty being worked out in ALL the details. There wasn't a single thing that was missed, God has a masterplan. I’m not saying it’s been easy, but it sure is exciting and brings such joy!
One of my favorite songs is "Lifesong" by Casting Crowns. "Hallelujah, Hallelujah, let my life song sing to You!!" ................I came to the conclusion that I’d so much rather experience life hanging and swinging on a branch and watching God work out details in our life, than to cling to the tree trunk and have everything planned and working how I thought it should have been. There is no greater thrill!!!

Austin's big TV moment!

We were at the Outdoor Discovery Center doing a little class one afternoon and the tv crews were there filming things. Austin has a minute of fame on wotv with the Maranda section so you'll have to check it out!!! I think it aired last weekend, but I just found it on-line. Once you hit play, the video clip is like 15 minutes long, the section that Austin is in starts at 5:30--- so skip ahead the 5 minutes and save some time :)

http://www.marandatv.com/2009/01/17/where-you-live-january-17-2008/

I love going to the Center. This past weekend we actually went ice-fishing there. It was a great time. Just when the kids were sick of it and wanted to check out some of the trails and play in the snow........that's when Paul caught 3 fish........go figure!!!!