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Posted by on Aug 12, 2015 in Adoption, Family | 2 comments

Hudson has a family!

I fell asleep last night, phone in hand, with full intentions to wait up for the moment pictures were posted of Hudson (aka Apu) meeting his parents. Our household has been a flurry of back to school madness and today was our first day! It was Hannah’s first day of kindergarten and Eli’s first day of second day. So emotions were already high! Thanks to the kindness of my beloved Obie Nugget (who must always take his longest jaunt outside during middle of the night hours), I did wake up a little after midnight and saw that sweet boy in the arms of his mama and baba. I gave Eli the same bleary eyed wake-up call a few hours later. He held the phone as close as he could, studying his worlds colliding-our friends, Meghan and Chuck, holding Apu-now Hudson- in the same room we met Eli a little over a year ago. As we got ready for the first day of school, Eli chattered about his wish to...

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Posted by on May 1, 2015 in Adoption, blogging, Family | 4 comments

Happy 8th Birthday Eli!

It’s F-I-N-A-L-L-Y here! Eli’s birthday is tomorrow and it’s a day he’s been waiting for, counting down to, and asking about almost daily since his very first few weeks home. And now-it’s here! Birthdays in the adoption community are yet another reminder of what most of us take for granted. Not just the cake, the presents, or the parties……but even the very day itself. Eli’s birth date is an estimation. All children who are found are given an estimated age. To simplify records, everyone is assigned a birthday on the 1st of the month. In the last few weeks, I’ve found myself wondering: “Was today the day Eli was really born 8 years ago?” “Was it even 8 years?” I’ve wondered about what it must have been like for his mother-whether she realized right away that Eli had a disability or whether she realized only months later. I’ve wondered if her heart is heavy as the snow melts and spring blooms. If I could, I would show her this...

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Posted by on Apr 26, 2015 in Adoption, Family | 0 comments

Sharing a past, sharing a future: Apu’s next chapter

Twenty-five Sundays ago, I shared a story about the other little boy at our table. Tonight-I share the beautiful next chapter for this little boy! When I shared our family’s wish that Apu would be adopted, the best outcome I’d imagined was learning that Apu had been adopted. I didn’t know if I’d ever even find out the identity of his family. I didn’t know we’d be able to give Eli any details about Apu’s life since they last said goodbye. I simply hoped that I could tell Eli that because he carried such a big and heavy love for his friend across an ocean into a whole new world that his friend, too, would have a chance at everything Eli worried he was missing. I’m so proud of my sweet boy. While there are so, so many ways that Eli is completely different than those first few days and weeks, his sensitive, loving, and thoughtful personality has remained the same. The reality of the next chapter is even...

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Posted by on Nov 2, 2014 in T-shirts, BeTheGood | 3 comments

The other little boy at our table

Today is Orphan Sunday. Full Plate Mom wrote a nice post on the love-hate relationship, I too, feel when I hear this word. Eli has been home for three months. He’s a brave, funny, and smart little boy who is adjusting so well to his new world. There’s so much to update on Eli: his love for puzzles, his hard work to learn the alphabet, our concerns as we receive more medical results, and his first Halloween ever! Today though, I want to share about another little boy who it often feels like is with us-especially at the table. Eli doesn’t often feel like talking about China. We’ve tried to take his lead when he’d like to talk and when he’d rather not. He seems most reflective and talkative about China when we eat together and there’s one person who has never left his heart….and now will never leave mine.   Apu is 4 years old. He was Eli’s best friend in the orphanage. They shared a bed. Eli...

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Posted by on Aug 13, 2014 in Adoption, Home | 1 comment

Coming to the surface

We’ve been home for 12 days and I still have moments when I look at Eli and can’t believe he is really here. Since coming home, we’ve been immersed in our own version of cocooning. Much of the literature around adoption and attachment suggests a period of cocooning. During this time, families try to avoid overstimulation, limit visitors and outings, and most importantly-spend time together focusing on meeting the needs of the new child and in our case, the new-to-sisterhood child. Besides posting some too cute for words pictures and keeping Hannah’s schedule mostly intact, we’ve unplugged from much of our usual worlds. We have enjoyed visits and visiting a few close family members and friends. Eli and Hannah love the park and we’ve made a consistent effort to embrace our moments of peace and harmony.   We’ve learned a great deal about Eli in just a few weeks. From the medical (today was his first orthopedic appointment) to the hard to hear (as interpreters offer brief glimpses of...

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