A Message of Peace, Hope and Love


Okay. I couldn’t resist the title of this post. Those of you who have followed us in the blog know that our previous posts have been, um, how shall we say, truthful about our experiences adopting our second child from China and the transition home.

For those of you who don’t remember, or are new to following our adventures, a quick summary:

Pre-Trip: Yay, a son! Incredible excitement! Can’t wait to go back to China!

Arrival in China: Yay, a son! Wow, it’s hot. Wow, I’m tired.

1st Week in China: Yay, a son! Really, really miss Jenna (our daughter, who stayed at home). Wow, it’s hot. Wow, I’m tired.

2nd Week in China: Yay, a son! Really, really miss Jenna. Okay, it’s hot. Seriously. Have I mentioned that I’m tired?

Arrival Home: Yay, home! Yay, Jenna! Yay, a family! Jeez, it is hot! Wow, I’m tired.

1st month home: Aarrgh! Two kids! When will the crying and fighting stop? (And that’s just Mom and Dad). Stop hitting! Stop pulling her hair! Be nice! It’s sooo hot! I’m #%*&^# exhausted.

2nd month home: See 1st month home.


And so on.


I am happy to report that we seemed to have stumbled into some semblance of a normal life. There are good moments. There are bad moments. There are incredibly great, Norman Rockwell, “aren’t we the luckiest parents in the world” moments. There are terribly exhausting, doubt-inducing, “I’m pretty sure I’m the worst parent in the world” moments. In short, a normal life of parenting. And it is pretty good.


Will’s adjustment and development has been amazing. He is an incredibly happy child, full of spirit and adventure. Which makes him the odd man out in our family. We’re not quite sure how to deal with happiness and bravery.

He is engaged in speech therapy (primarily as a result of his palate repair) and has developed about 15-20 words that he uses appropriately and consistently, and that we, at least, can recognize. True, “vacuum” and “jacket” sound remarkably similar, but what are you going to do? One of his clearest words (other than “eat”, which deserves a post of its own) is “football”. Yay, Dad! And yes, he uses it to refer to sports ranging from soccer to basketball, but it is clearly “football”. So, he’s got “eat” and “football” down. Who said I couldn’t raise a son?

Jenna’s transition has been a little more difficult, but is going well. She had a tough few months, with the addition of a 19-month old brother into HER family on top of the challenge of starting kindergarten. But she has made it through. The ratio of “I don’t want a brother” to “I really love my little brother” has evened out quite a bit, and she is doing really well in school. She loves to read, and write, and to make up her own stories, which usually involve a princess named May. (And no, not “Mei”. I asked.)

Perhaps the greatest joy over the past couple of months has been seeing them play more and more together. Or perhaps I should say, NOT seeing them play together. They have developed this wonderful propensity to play together, quietly, upstairs in the gameroom. We’ve done our parental duty to check and ensure that Will has not been bound and gagged during these periods, and can safely say that Jenna has allowed him to remain free, as long has he obeys her instructions. She is, after all, the big sister.

So, a summary. Yay, a son! Yay, a family! Wow, it is starting to get cold. Wow, I’m really tired. This is pretty good.

I’ll leave you with this. As we were putting up Christmas decorations a few weeks ago, I walked past the dining room and saw Jenna playing with some decorations she made while in pre-school. The two with which she was playing were an angel (made out of paper plates) and a Baby Jesus in his “crib” (made out of popsicle sticks, burlap, etc.). She was holding the significantly larger angel directly over the head of Baby Jesus, saying (in a very, very stern voice), “Wake UP, Baby Jesus! Get UP! Get Up!”

Now, we are not known for our deep understanding of, or strict adherence to, biblical stories. But I am fairly certain that this is not how things went down on the day of the good Lord’s birth. I could be wrong, though.

For now, we’ll stick with the message of peace, hope and love.

Our best to all of you during this holiday season.

Greg