Kids Say...

My older girls have really enjoyed showing off their new sister. This started as soon as we received Juliana's referral pictures. They each wanted their own set of pictures to take to their CCD classes so they could tell the other children about their newest sister. Now that CCD has started back, the girls rush down after their classes and beg to take Juliana to show their friends. This past Sunday, Juliana was completely surrounded by little girls all wanting a turn to hold her. She was remarkably compliant with being passed around. She is not so willing to go to adults. It was another of those moments where I was kicking myself for not having my camera. It was just too cute to see all these 5-10 year old girls fawning over this little girl who probably got more attention in that 20 minutes than she had ever had.

I also enjoy the cute stories many parents have shared with us. This adoption journey we were joined by many families' prayers and support. The kids of these families seem to have a special place in their hearts for little Juliana. I will share a few of my favorites.

One 8-year-old little girl was wondering if Juliana would be able to speak English. She thought because Juliana is Chinese, she would speak Chinese.

Another little girl (I think she is about 10) thought I must not know my math. She couldn't figure out how I could be waiting more than 3 years for a baby who was only 10 months old.

My own children are not exempt. I remember trying to explain the ins and outs of the adoption with Bear. She was trying to grasp the fact that Juliana would not grow in my belly, but another woman's. I thought she had it until she pipes up, "Yeah, but Dr. P (my OB) will be there to help her too, so she'll be just fine."

A little boy who followed our blog while we travelled has offered to come up with a list of "B" nicknames for Juliana so she didn't have to just be "baby". I might take him up on this as I am not really happy with that title either, and there is always the hope that I just might someday have another "baby", what would I do then?

Another boy following the blog while in China, asked dh on many occasions what scorpions tasted like. We even were on Skype with that family while in China. When dh said he didn't try one, little T was insistent dh do so and let him know how they were. While dh is pretty brave when it comes to food, he wasn't that brave.

It really has meant so much to us to have so many prayers and such support as we welcomed Juliana into our family. I especially treasure these little stories from the kids.