A first for our house...and random musings...

I did something today that I have never done before. I washed, dried, folded and put away a load of little baby boy clothes. We have gotten so many clothes for Charlie from other people, that we honestly haven't bought him any clothes ourselves beyond the few things we sent over in his care package. Our friends the Williamsons just had their 4th (and apparently final) baby, a girl, a few weeks ago. Their only son is now 3, so they have kindly given us all his 12+ month clothes. I say their new daughter is apparently their last child because Bridget told us very firmly that she does not want the clothes back...

Anyways, I've always thought that little girl clothes are so much cuter and more fun to buy than little boy clothes. That may be true, but there is something so...I don't know...fun about PJs with monsters on them, little t-shirts with applique trucks and fire engines, soft little sweatpants with football logos. Today I am enjoying boy clothes. And waiting for our little boy, who right now has likely just eaten his breakfast in Seoul and has no idea that he is going to have to switch languages, cultures, continents in just a few weeks. As excited as we are to bring Charlie home, we have to acknowledge that Charlie is likely quite happy where he is. Although Sheref and I, his foster parents, and all the social workers and adoption personnel realize that he cannot stay with his foster family and there literally is not a family for him in Korea (we know this because each Korean child is held for adoption in Korea for 6 months, after which time, only if no family has been found in South Korea, the child is released for international adoption), he doesn't know this. As much as people say that kids and babies are resilient, changing your whole life, sights, sounds, smells, touches at nearly 1 year of age is a big deal. I'm not really worried. I think in the long run Charlie is meant to be with us, and that he will adjust and be a happy kid (did you see the joyous kid in the new picture below?). But he is about to undergo a life-changing, stressful event. He is not an abandoned orphanage-dwelling child. He is a happy, well-cared for, and loved child. And he will not for one second stop being that, but his little world is about to be turned upside down. We are praying for a smooth transition for him, and if anyone reading this would like to do the same, that would be, in the words of Lucy Unal, "totally rockin'."