Thank you and some other things you should know

We sent out this letter to some family and friends, but I thought I would post it here to.

As we prepare to bring our son home, we want to say "thank you" to all of you for praying for us, and encouraging and supporting us in this process. We cannot adequately express our gratitude for your support and your willingness to join with us. THANK YOU!

We have the diapers out, the crib set up, and the bottles ready. By all external accounts, we seem to be prepared. But there is no way to fully predict what this transition will look like for our family. The only thing we can be sure of is that it will take time for us to adjust. In the adoption education classes and seminars we have attended, one of the key "take-aways" is the necessity of simplifying and slowing down your life when you bring in a new child. It is very important that our son know that we are his parents, and that will mean that we need to do all of comforting, feeding, bathing, and bedtime routines for the first several weeks after he is home. It is also important that we keep things calm so that he can adjust to his new surroundings without being more overwhelmed than he already will be. So it may seem that after all this planning, excitement, and build up, we are taking our son and hiding away. That is what we are doing:) but not forever, and not because we don't want you all to be a part of his life. We are so excited for you to meet him and get to know him and we so appreciate you waiting out this time of transition with us. 

I am attaching a document  (in the above "pages" bar of the blog) that talks about how to talk (and not talk) about adoption. To be honest, there are some things on this list that we have already said (we are still learning) and there are some things that we did not find offensive--so don't be alarmed, we are not on the lookout and ready to pounce on anyone who says the "wrong" thing:) But we did find this helpful. The one thing that stood out to us is the way we talk about our adopted son. He WAS adopted. He is not continually being adopted. He is just as much our son as our biological children and we don't want to refer to him any differently. Thank you for helping us in this. 

Thank you for your continued prayers for our son and our family. His escort leaves today and will arrive in-country on Friday. They will all leave (with another escort and another child) on Sunday and will arrive in Cincinnati on Monday. Please pray for safety and a smooth trip. 

I think I have said "thank you" several times already, but I'll say it again. Thank you! Without your support, prayers, and presence, this process would be so much more difficult. 

Love, 

Maria (for the rest of the family)