One month and counting (part 2)

Ben & Will - Holding the Letter of Acceptance from China (Aug 1)

Yesterday was the one month anniversary of meeting my daughter, but today is the one month anniversary of her adoption into our family. Like I said yesterday, it has been a complete roller coaster.

One question that I get frequently is this: How do the boys like having a sister? The answer is: They adore her. They really do. Now, we have our moments of "Oh no! She is drawing on my paper!" or "Hey, give that back, Kate!" or "She hit me again!" We also have moments of jealousy where one or both of the boys want to be babies again so they can be rocked and cuddled. I am a very cuddly mommy, so I am happy to comply on that one:)

But for the most part, they think she is awesome. To give you a little background on our story, we made the decision to adopt in November of 2004. That is 4 years ago. In other words, there has never been a time in Will's memory that we weren't talking about Baby Sister. She has always been there. And Ben has been a constant source of encouragement over the past four years. When I was sick and tired of waiting and didn't want to think about adoption anymore, Ben would crawl in bed and pray for his Baby Sister every night, like clockwork.

When we first met Xu Na (does is bug you that I like to use all of her names and switch them out a lot?), she did not want me around at all. This really worried Ben and Will. I can remember Ben giving me extra hugs because she would hug him and not me. And I can remember Will saying, "Mommy, doesn't she know that you are a good mommy?" Neither of them really understood why Kate initially didn't want me around, but they both instinctively knew what their roles as Big Brothers were. They would purposefully give me hugs and kisses when she was watching to teach her that I was safe. They would laugh at my silliness to teach her that I was fun. I dressed them and fed them so that she would know that I would provide for her. Of course, we do all of these things on a daily basis anyway. But the boys knew that she needed to see it. They knew that they were her teachers. When she finally came around, they told me that they were really happy that she finally liked me. And because they had been waiting for her to allow me to hug and dress and feed her, they were relieved. They didn't have the huge jealousy that I thought they would.

Now that we are home, they are teaching her how to play with toys and to color and to sign. They continue to be an example of love and kindness (well, most of the time).

I am sure that there is some big theological lesson or sermon illustration hidden in there somewhere, but my exhausted brain won't allow me to think about it too much. Plus, I don't need huge life lessons right now. I just need to remember how thankful I am for my beautiful boys, who are a blessing to me daily. God is good. All the time.