Anxiously Awaiting – A Journey Through Adoption

I knew from day one that adoption would be quite a ride.   Heck, I knew we were in for a ride seven years ago when we first realized that having another child on our own would be a challange.   But I don’t know that you can really be prepared for the ride.   It kind of feels like going to Disneyland.  Yet each day, the entrance has been moved.  And the opening time changes.   And all of the ride have been moved.  Some rides are broken, but you don’t know that until you’ve stood in line for a good long while.   You get on what you think is your favorite kiddie land ride, only to realize that it’s the biggest looping winding coaster you’ve ever been on, it was just disguised as a kiddie ride.   Or it’s broken.  Or it’s closed.  Or, haha – the line existed, but the ride did not.    And when you sit down for lunch, and think “ahhhh” I can take a few minutes and relax, recharge and ready myself for the next ride, and than your chair starts to move becuase SURPRISE it’s a ride too!    You think that you just want to take a break and not come to the park one day, but you paid so much for the entrance tickets, that you have to go.   And you just keep showing up, not knowing what is going on, and riding the rides.   You get some fast passes and think great – this is the ticket – and you come back and they tell you the ride doesn’t accept fast passes.   You get on the monorail thinking you are going back to your hotel, but it keeps skipping that stop, and dumping your right back in the park.   Your friends and family are all so excited for you – you’re going to Disneyland!  Everyone loves Disneyland!  Yay!   And they keep asking how fun it is and you think, it’s exhausting, it’s confusing, and every time I get to the front of the line, the ride breaks or is a totally different ride than you expected or someone else got your seat.   But you don’t want to confuse them by telling them that sometimes Disneyland isn’t fun, because they are so excited for you.   And you can’t really describe what it’s like to ride the rides anyway, so you just say it’s great.    You know that someday you might be in the right line at the right time for the right ride, and it’ll be great.   Or maybe it won’t.   Maybe you’ll never get on that ride that you’ve been dreaming of.   But the monorail will finally take you back to the hotel and you say goodbye to Disneyland and head home, so you’ll give up on the rides, and just be happy to go get back home.  

So for now I will continue to work on patience, and keep getting in line for the rides.    At some point it will be the right ride.  And it will be a fun one, and it will make the entire journey through the park worth it.

We had a loooooong weekend.   Long but fun.  Bella had a dance competition out in Gilbert that kept us busy all day on Saturday.   She did great – her duet got a High Gold, her solo got a High Gold, her group number got a Platinum, and was also awarded the “Way Too Cute” award and placed 5th overall in the 8 and under small group category.  Not too shabby!

This morning we met with a local adoption agency that works with Korea.   They had a particular little boy for us to learn about, and I think we both felt right away that it wasn’t the right fit for us.   There were a lot of issues that turned out to be bigger than we were told about.   But I think every part of this process is a step in the direction we need to go.   Maybe learning what isn’t right helps lead us to what is right.

This afternoon we were able to go celebrate our niece Molly’s first birthday.  She’s so cute, and just started walking – which is SUCH an adorable age.   I think she had a great time at her party with her friends and cousins.   Unfortunately I forgot my camera, so I didn’t get any shots of the birthday girl.     I’m usually good about keeping my camera in my purse, but left it sitting on my desk.

Here are some pictures from Bella’s competition…

Bella’s Solo “Catch Me”

Duet “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”