Explaining the name of the blog

After hearing Mark's story of the blog's name, I thought I should set the record straight (then, maybe I can finally give him the password so that he can post something himself ;) ).

We had always talked about having 3 children, and as we started the adoption processes, we decided upon 2 girls and a boy. After Ji Ji's adoption and our move to Germany, Mark had his hands full with the girls and with Ji Ji at home. We frequently talked with the girls about adding a brother to our family and they liked the idea, but the timing was not right. The adoption of the boy was put on hold indefinately and sometimes we talked about our family remaining with 2 girls.

This past May we were in Brugges for a long weekend and as we were waking up in the hotel, both girls got in bed with Mark and I. It was a tight squeeze but we all fit. There was a small amount of space in the middle between Nora and Ji Ji. Nora then said to both of us "see, there is room for a brother here". That got me thinking and talking about the brother again.

After many discussions, we decided that we would start the process for the brother but as an older child who could immediately fit into our lifestyle such as the travel that we do as a family and being able to play with the girls. Of course there are other challenges inherent in adopting an older child and we are currently reading and learning more about those but I will save that topic for another post!

On September 1st we started gathering the paperwork. We had a few delays waiting for the Singapore and German police reports and then waiting for the I-171H from the US Consulate, but all has been completed and our documents were sent to China last Friday, December 23.

Now we have time to start thinking about how our lives and the dynamic of our family will have changed by this time next year. This decision will impact our intended move back to the US, the time we as parents are able to spend with each girl, and the girls' relationships with each other. We feel that this will be a positive change though it may take some time to work through all of the obstacles to get to that point. We are willing to take this next step and I am very proud that we as a family are open to this new experience and the changes it will make in our lives. This time is very exciting. (JR)