Obviously, I've been thinking of the fact that soon we will have Pryor and Boone with us. Up to this point I honestly try and not think about it too much. There isn't anything I can do except pray. I plan, worry about adoption paperwork, adoption money and even what child should I pick. Doesn't sound very politically correct, but it is true and I'm not a PC person anyway.
They are 7 and 8 y.o. and Shepard was 8 y.o. when we got him. He didn't cry one time when we took him away. He HAD to be scared out of his mind though. I think it helped a lot since he had Remi with him. Shepard and Remi did not know each other and had been living in separate places, but two weeks before we got them, they were sent to the same place and told they were going to be brother and sister. Amazingly, they were TOTALLY bonded to one another when we met them. They said the director even gave them little jobs together. It was so sweet of her to think ahead even though she had 1,000 other orphans there to worry about.
Later Shepard told me Remi saw Mike and I come into the room and she said to him, "They are here." Can you imagine what was going through their little minds? Relief, confusion, excitement, fright and countless other emotions all at the same time.
They didn't know any English, but while we were still in China if Shepard would get out of our sight Remi would give us a look and we would hear her soft, little voice say, "Shepard?" Likewise, if Shepard lost sight of Remi, we would hear him say, "Remi?" Then, for quite some time after we got home if I got on Shepard about anything, I noticed Remi would be watching close just to make sure I was treating him right. After several months, Remi finally stopped watching me. She knew I wasn't going to kill him and she knew he deserved me screaming at... I mean talking to him when he would throw one of his temper tantrums. Yes, Shepard is almost a perfect little boy, but he did have some fits at first. That is another story for another day, but I will just say when he would throw one of his fits I would have to holler "kids come help!!!" Together we would get his glasses out of the way before he could throw them across the room and then hold him down, or I would just sit on him until he apologized and turned into the perfect little boy again. Oh boy, Lord help me in China with Pryor while Mike is away adopting Boone. LOL
Today I met Whitney, Lael and Andrew for breakfast. You can't help, but think how perfect Andrew's life is. He has a Mom and Dad that give him their undivided attention 24/7. Andrew goes everywhere Whitney goes except when his Daddy comes home from work. Contrast that to Pryor and Boone still in China living as orphans. How MANY normal stages have they missed? Probably about all. There is a chance they had some time with birth parents who took care of them, but probably not much before they felt they could not care for them and give them even the basics to survive.
Whitney didn't appreciate me giving Andrew tastes of bacon and teaching him to constantly give mean looks. My Mom always said "You love to stir other peoples' kids up."
