4xfaithful: Mothers

Our two babies, G & K, each get to pick one book before naptime and one book before bedtime, and we read them both together. Funny enough, the day before Mother's Day, G choose Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too? by Eric Carle

(or "Car-row" as she insists). And, no, I don't think she had a clue it was almost Mother's Day.

And although we hadn't read this book many times (fairly new to our fam), G, being the quick memorizer that she is, learned it-word for word, cover to cover. She was so excited that day to 'read' it to K and I...and she did. And as I was listening, my eyes were open again. "Does a kangaroo have a mother? Yes! A kangaroo has a mother- just like me and you. Does a fox have a mother? Yes! A fox has a mother- just like me and you."

(And so on throughout the entire book.)

And with her sweet voice reciting & K's eyes & ears glued to the book,

my mind begins racing.

All of the animals can say that

they have a mother.

The children of this world cannot.

And I went further.

When our two new little ones come home, this book will very likely have a different meaning to them. At what point could they read this book and say "Yes! We have a mother too." When will they consider me their 'mother'? (Yes, I already consider myself their mother, and we aren't even close to being matched yet. But that's different.) Will this book- and the countless others out there like it- cause them pain? For how long? Or will it bring them joy that they have a mother now? Or will it be both? I'm thinking a combination of all of the above.

G & K innocently (as it should be) got a kick out of this book.

#3 & #4 will have a different perspective of this book.

Of this world. Of mothers.

God, please give us the words to speak when they come to our family. Let us know what to do and how to do it. Let us be sensitive to those things of which we need to be sensitive. Let us minimize their pain as You heal them- body, mind, and spirit. Let them know that they have a father, a sister,

a brother, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends,

a church, a community.

And, God, please let them know very early that

"Yes! We have a mother too!"

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So my little G has a birthday coming up. How can my first baby be turning FOUR?! Well, she's been talking for a while now about her upcoming birthday. In fact, she's been talking about turning 4 since she turned 3. I've been begging her to stop. Ha. (I ask her all the time to stay little, don't get bigger or older, just stay Mama's baby - she knows I'm *kind of* joking. Her best response to me has been: "But, Mommy, I HAVE to eat my veggies, so I'm going to grow." =) Anyways, I guess she's going through with it. She's turning four in a couple of weeks. And since she's been trying to plan her bday for oh, a year now, I have asked her what 'she wants.' Well, since she found an American Girl magazine at her Noni & Popi's house, she has been pretty excited about maybe getting one of those, flipping through the magazine daily. So, she her Noni & Popi for a 'new baby doll' for her birthday. Pretty convinced she wanted one of those type of dolls, I asked her which kind (regular one, baby one, twin, skin & hair color, etc.) she preferred. Several days, she thought about it & tried to make up her mind about which one of these special dolls she hoped for. She talked about every detail, taking this decision very seriously. She knew she only had one shot at this doll.

Then, several days ago, when I asked (Noni needed to go shopping!), she had changed her mind. Thoughtfully, she said

"I don't want one of these dolls. I want to adopt a baby from the Cabbage Patch Hospital. I want a baby like my Cherry Blossom (the name she chose for the baby she 'adopted' from there last year). Cherry Blossom wants another baby that looks like her. So I want to adopt one like her so she will be happy.

So they will be the same and have each other."

I was astounded.

I'm telling you, heart of gold, this one.

We have NEVER talked to her about the reasons behind us adopting siblings- or the reasons we are adopting at all for that matter. (She still doesn't fully understand adoption, as we have purposefully kept her innocent about many details regarding why there are orphans, and what that means. We know that that time will come, and that it will be important for her to understand. Now is not quite the time.).
All she knows for now is that she's getting 2 new siblings when she's 7 or 8 years old...and that they won't be from Mommy's tummy. And she's excited!!

And, yes, what she is feeling about her Cabbage Patch is what we have thought of for #3 & #4. We want them to have each other. To have 'someone like them' in that regard, in our family.

(And, of course, we want to love on two more!)

What insight.

What confirmation.

Thank you, yet again, God, for using our 3 year old to speak to us.

Adoption. Yep.

Siblings. Check.

Left to Right: Cherry Blossom, G, Apple Pie

(Imaginative child!)

The official Cabbage Patch Hospital: http://www.cabbagepatchkids.com/visit/

Is it odd that I feel like God talks to me through

word games, books, dolls, and children?!

I've been known to get it from street signs and Michael Jackson songs as well.

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Happy Mother's Day!

Meet me- the mom.

...and the amazing mom that taught me to be a mom? Isn't she beautiful?!:

The 3 responsible for me being a mom:

Truly, a happy Mother's Day to me!

More from the day & week to follow:

G had a Mother's Day Luncheon at her PreK 3 school.

She was sure to dress fancy & told me to do the same! ;)

A braided crown seems kind of fancy...

Totally in love with this child. We're enjoying the luncheon together!

Time with my girl

Thanks for these- they're beautiful, Cuban Daddy!

Let's note that I also got to sleep in & received breakfast in bed...wow!!

K woke me up w/ breakfast singing,

"Happy Birthday Mother's Day to you!"

After a yummy lunch with the family, K chose to sing in the rain.

I absolutely LOOOOOVE times like this. When my kids wake- from nap or night time- they need their 'wake up time' ~~like their~~ ~~daddy~~ because they're babies. And they both insist on Mommy holding them. I so don't mind. It's the best cuddling imaginable.

Today was especially long and sweet. Soakin' it up.

Me & the babies

G had her Gymnastics Awards Night & she's actually really good for such a little squirt!

~~Didn't feel like cooking~~ Celebratory dinner!

K is a funny little guy. On this day, he insisted on carrying around (Everywhere!) the blankey from his bed. You can imagine how fun our errands were. Me: "Ew, don't let the blankey touch anything!" I think what it was is that he was super tired & just associated it w/ sleep. I wasn't in the mood to fight it. It was kind of sweet.