The support and encouragement we've received from our family and friends has been so wonderful to have and we deeply appreciate it. On February 28, some of our friends from church are hosting a noon meal in celebration with us and as a fund raiser to cover some of our travel costs. Others from outside our church are also welcome to attend if you are interested. Just contact us and we can let you know more of the details.
Another one of our friends offered to come and paint the nursery for us and she did a beautiful job. Yesterday, I spent some time playing with Mandy in the nursery and it made the change seem more real. We think a lot about Michael and his daily life. As we get up in the morning, he is going to bed for the night. When we sit down for supper in the evening, he is waking up and ready to start a new day.
I still remember vividly the excitement when we met Mandy for the first time. We were sleep-deprived from the time change, but our adrenaline made us alert to everything that was happening. Somehow we maintained our energy through the first few days as we held her almost constantly during her waking hours and often while she was sleeping. It was an odd mixture of mourning with her for the disruption she was experiencing and the joy of finally being connected with her.
We sometimes get surprised responses from people because we are adopting a boy from China. Many people have heard of the one child policy in China and have seen the high number of girls that have come to the United States from China in the last 10 years. One of the reasons our adoption process has taken so long with Michael (almost 4 years versus 6 months with Mandy) is because China has loosened their policy and fewer children are being given up for adoption by their families. At the same time, domestic adoption is becoming more accepted and embraced. As a result, the number of children available for international adoption has dropped dramatically. We are glad for that as our first desire for any child is that they could be raised by their birth parents. China is also becoming increasingly westernized and their reasons for giving up their children for adoption are becoming more and more like the reasons we see here in the US. As a result, the percentage of boys that are available for adoption is increasing while the total number may be declining.
If you have further questions, feel free to ask us. We would prefer you do so in a more private way, as children can often internalize and reinterpret these kinds of questions in ways that may not be the best for their development. We have always been open with Mandy about her adoption, and want to continue to nurture those questions in her in a positive way.
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