Just a quick update since there is so much to do! We leave in THREE DAYS to pick up our daughter. We got the civil ruling on May 8th, she turned five years-old on May 10th, and we heard about our final ruling May 28th.
In the midst of all of the logistics and flurry of activity to book hotels and flights (four of us on the way there and five coming back!), I am re-reading Karen Purvis' Connected Child. I think constantly of how many changes this child has experienced in her young life and how scary the next few weeks are likely to be for her. When the initial cloud of euphoria is gone and we are left with our "forever" family of five, balancing her needs and fears with the uncertainty my two older children are bound to experience about their new roles in our family will take all of the energy and love I can muster. Please send me your warm thoughts and love as we enter this new chapter!
We are coming, Ying-Tzu, and we already love you more than you can imagine.
Congratulations! I am so happy for you. Take extra batteries and lots of memory cards for your camera and video camera. It is wonderful you are all going on this incredibly important trip. Have you seen the life books by Beth O'Malley? I have her book and downloaded reports. I think for the adoption of an older child they are great. Have a safe trip and keep us posted? I will try to send a link to a blog that has great examples of life books.
ReplyDeleteHi, Elizabeth again!
ReplyDeleteCheck out the link to the sample life book pages on this blog.
http://salsainchina.blogspot.ca/search/label/Lifebooks
If you decided to make a life book for your daughter I hope it helps.
Elizabeth