Friday, April 27, 2012

I was caught off guard...

Last night Ryland asked me the following question:

"Mom, how does a baby get into a mom's tummy?"

Yikes.  My eyes got huge.  He's six... he's six...that's all I could think about.  I was caught off guard.  I hadn't put any thought into how I would handle these conversations.  I thought I had a lot more time to get prepared.  Well, I don't. Dustin avoided making eye contact with me with every fiber of his being and I could see him smiling, just waiting to hear how I would respond.  I choked.  I back pedalled.  I didn't know what to say.  I asked him exactly what he wanted to know, so that I didn't accidentally give too much info.  I didn't want to lie, but he's not quite ready for the whole truth. 

So I said the first thing I could think of.  "When people get married and want to have a child, they make the baby from love."  "I know, Mom...but how does it get in the mom's tummy?  From Love?"  "Yes, that's right."  He followed up with " and then God helps the baby to grow, I know that part."  

I feel for the kid.  He's confused.  He doesn't quite get it.  He knows that we adopted him and that he wasn't born from my tummy.  But, he doesn't quite get it.  He pointed to several different people "was she adopted?"  "was he adopted?"  "Why?"  "Why not?"  We're making progress, but we have a long road ahead of us and lots of conversations.  We'll get there...someday...one conversation at a time.



Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Family Day

April 15th, 2010...We *finally* met him.  We finally met our son.  After everything that we had been through in Kazakhstan, after all the unsure feelings.  We met a shy, nervous, giving little boy named Dias.  We met our son.  And we knew it instantly.



April 15th, 2012...We wanted to spend this Family Day in California.  We wanted to take time out of our crazy schedules and just have fun with Ryland.  Have fun as a family.  We did just that.



For those of you that know me, know that I don't get emotional often.  I'm emotional writing this.  It's still hard to believe.  I still have to pinch myself sometimes.  He's ours.  He's the best.  I am so proud of him.  He couldn't be any cuter.  He's tough and resilient, while being vulnerable and caring.  I love him so much.  I'm so proud of our journey to him, our hard fight.  It was all worth it!

Happy Family Day, Ryland. 

We love you more,
Mama & Papa