Blog Posts

I am obviously not doing a great job keeping up with the blog. I have begun to find that, while I have a lot to say and share, I simply do not have enough hours in the day to do it all. I will do the best I can to continue our blog, because I love doing it, but I cannot promise a weekly post. I imagine it will only get worse when Georgia arrives, but we will see. Thanks for understanding!

The Question

The Question that I had been waiting for finally arrived, and while I had been expecting it for some time, I was not quite prepared for it. I'm not sure that a parent can ever be truly prepared for these questions, but you simply do the best you can. You answer as honestly as possibly, while taking into consideration your own child, and hope that you said the right thing.
After completing Bubba's nap time routine (read a book, 1/2 cup of milk, sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Rock-a-Bye Baby, ABC song, and say his prayers), he stopped drinking his milk and looked at me. I knew some sort of questions was brewing, but I wasn't sure what. Then he began:
"Baby grew in your tummy?"
"Yes."
"Baby was in your tummy, then Mommy and Daddy picked her up from the hospital?"
"Yes..." *This is when I figured it out!!
"Mommy and Daddy picked me up from Guatemala?"
"Yeesss..."
"Baby was in your tummy when Mommy and Daddy got on a plane and picked me up from my house at Guatemala?"
"Yes..."
Then there was a pause in the questioning. He looked at me with pleading eyes, as if to say "OK...I've got something going on in my brain but I can't figure out how to ask it."
So... I gave him a little help and said, "And you want to know when you were in Mommy's tummy?"
"YEAH!" he exclaimed, looking at me as if I had just read his mind.
"You didn't grow in Mommy's tummy. You grew in another lady's tummy until you were big enough to come out. Then Mommy and Daddy ("and Baby in your tummy" he interjected, predicting what I was about to say.) flew down to pick you up in Guatemala. We brought you back to live with us and be our little boy forever. Mommy and Daddy love you very much, and you will live with us forever."
"Yeah. OK!" he said. "Where are we going after nap?"
I laughed and knew I must have satisfied his curiosity because he was on to the next topic. I'm not sure that I answered his question in the way that I should have or the way that the experts suggest, but I did the best I could. Our goal is to be as open and honest with him as possible, but I also don't want to give too much information at such a young age. He now wants to watch a movie on Guatemala, so I am actively searching for him. This new baby has peaked his curiosity in adoption in ways that I never could have imagined. While I am thankful for the opportunity to talk with him about it, I am also nervous that I will say something wrong.

Kids Say the Funniest Things

Baby and Bubba have recently become very interested in boy and girl things. During commercials I always hear "Is that for girls?" or "That's not for boys!". They have started asking questions about what girls/boys have that the other may not, what boys/girls play with that the other should not, and what colors mean boy or girl. Bubba is also beginning to realize that certain names almost always indicate the gender of the person (ex: Emily = girl; Bob = boy), while Baby has focused on things that Mommies have/do that others do not.

This new-found interest has made Bubba and Baby pay close attention to strangers in public and has brought up many interesting conversations, thought-provoking questions, and publicly embarrassing comments. On our recent plane ride to Flagstaff, our children made the following comments to COMPLETE strangers:

- (To the man sitting next to me on the plane) "Hi! I'm Baby! When I was a baby I ate from my Mommy's boobies. What's your name?"

- (Bubba to Evander sitting down on the plane) "Daddy, that lady is REAL big!"

- (To the girl sitting next to me on plane home) "Oh... your toe nails are green! Can I get green toes?"

- (Bubba in airport) "Hey Mommy, boys don't wear earrings?" "No, boys don't wear earrings." "That man has earrings! (Pointing to an extremely large man) That man has 2 earrings! Why does he have earrings? Is he a girl?"

There have been many more comments made, but I won't continue. All I can say is thank goodness I'm not easily embarrassed!