One Month In

Well, we're approaching the 1-month mark since our dossier's arrival in Kigali, which feels impossible. The busyness of the Christmas season and the distraction of having houseguests for two weeks helped the time fly by!

I have a feeling the rest of winter is going to stretch a bit longer. Cabin fever is already setting in, with spring still months away. The kids are going stir crazy in spite of their fun mornings at preschool, and I'm not much better. Working out on a treadmill in our cold basement just can't compare with evening walks beside the cornfields or reading books on a blanket in our backyard.

It's strange...sometimes our adoption feels like little more than a dream, now more so than ever. As eager as we are to meet our new addition, just waiting instead of doing makes it all a bit surreal. I thought this stage would be full of longing and impatience, but so far what I've experienced alternates between disbelief that it's really going to happen and sadness that we're missing so many precious moments with our baby. This was especially true on Christmas morning, when I was struck by the realization that one member of our family was absent from our celebration. I was so touched when a dear friend showed her understanding of this by giving me a gift - an ornament that read "God Child, 2009." How appropriate.

On a positive note, it's wonderful to be free of adoption-related responsibilities for the time being. Now that our paperwork is finished, I'm looking forward to turning my attention to some other goals: reading adoptive parenting books, catching up on my kids' scrapbooks so I can start a new one for our adopted child, and planning a fundraising event in May.

Between completing those tasks, working with Tim in our contracting business, volunteering in the library at our children's preschool, researching homeschooling curriculum for Annabell's upcoming year of kindergarten, potty-training Liam, helping out at church in the women's and children's ministries, educating myself about gardening (getting ready to plant my first one this spring), reading through the historical books of the Bible, learning to cook gluten-free foods, and painting our new shutters, I don't think I'll get bored.