'A Different Perspective'

Getting everything organized for Amelia's arrival has occupied a good portion of my free time for a while now and since my task list is nearly completed, I'm hoping our wait is nearly finished as well. It has been so much fun to shop for sweet baby girl items, wash and organize her clothes, and finish her room (pictures soon, I promise!). But, it's also time for me to start reminding myself, as well as Amelia's friends and family, of the emotionally trying times that are sure to lie ahead.

If you think of any 7, 8, or 9 month old baby, they surely know the difference between their parents and strangers. I am confident that Amelia is enjoying a great life with her foster family, and has no reason to believe that the life she currently has is only temporary. Jeff and I will soon arrive in Korea, as strangers to her, and take her away from every familiar face and environment she's ever known. This change in her life will be traumatic and we want to do everything we can to help this transition be as smooth as possible for her. When we brought Graham home, I thought I was prepared to see my child grieve for his former life, but all the reading I had done, could never prepare me for seeing him so sad and upset. Judging by the attachment Graham has formed with Jeff and I, and us to him, you'd never guess, that for weeks when he came home, he really wanted nothing to do with us. We were strangers to him, and we were the people that took him away from the only life he ever knew. The bond we have didn't form over night, and it didn't form without a lot of work on our part. We took the advice of our social worker as well as a pediatrician that specializes in internationally adopted children, and I can say with completely certainty, that the advice they gave, was some of the best parenting advice we've ever received.

In order to help Amelia understand that Jeff and I are her parents, that we can be trusted, and that we aren't going anywhere, we'll be the only ones to meet her needs (holding, feeding, comforting, diapering, etc.) for quite a while. I don't know how long a 'while' is, but we're going to take our cues from her, and just trust that we'll know when she's ready for her circle to grow. I know you're all disappointed to hear that we won't be sharing diaper duty! :) We'll be doing everything we can to keep her world relatively small and quiet as she adjusts to her life. We won't be taking excursions out and about, instead we plan to just lay low at home as we all get to know each other. We're not trying to be antisocial, we'll just be doing what we feel is best for our little girl. This isn't to say we won't welcome visitors though...as long as you're not traveling with a herd, you're welcome to come on by. And of course, we'd love it if you were at the airport to help welcome Amelia home!

I do a lot of reading on anything adoption related and came across an article titled 'A Different Perspective'. It really made me stop and think about what must have been going through Graham's head as he came home and what will soon be going through Amelia's head. If you have time to read it, I highly encourage you do to so!

And no, I still don't have any updated news. Since today is a holiday, the Embassy is closed. As a former teacher, I used to live for these days, now though, I feel like I can do without them.... Positive thoughts though, right??? Soon, we'll have good news to share!