Merry Merry

This was that fastest photoshoot I've ever done (about 4 steps from our garage door)! These littles are so tollerant of the cold I had to bribe them to come back inside. About 30 minutes, after more hot chocolate inside, they were all bundled up and back out in the snow having a blast. Love my little cuties!

Merry Christmas from the Murphy's!!

I Wud Dew

A couple of nights ago I wasn't feeling well. I was sitting in the upstairs hall only verbally participating in the bedtime ritual, letting BJ take over. Lainey all on her one came to me and wrapped her little arms around me for a gentle hug and a kiss on the head. And then in a whisper she said, "I love you" (sounding more like "I wud dew")! And then she was off again, running into her room to put her bitty baby in her crib and tuck her in for the night.

Oh, how I love this girl!

Community

When we started our adoption process a couple of years ago, we stepped out feeling pretty alone. I was an adoption blog nut/stalker, but didn't actually know anyone myself who had adopted internationally. During that time I remember thinking a lot about how I took for granted the community available to me during my first pregnancy. Of course lots of women in my life - my sister, my Mom, my friends - had been pregnant. There were so many people I could talk to if I had questions, fears, or wanted to prepare for the way our life was about to change.

But when adopting, as with a lot of experiences in life, it was so hard to find someone who could really get it, unless they've been there.

It wasn't until 5 or 6 months in that I discovered (though one of my blog addictions) a thriving online Chinese adoption community to connect with.

Enter hallelujah chorus!

The group was made up of families at about the same place in the adoption process as we were, so we walked through it all together. This group of families, with selfless and passionate hearts for children, is amazing. They picked me up at my lowest, encouraged us, and gave us a chance to encourage others and celebrate together with each passing milestone (understanding posts that would just read things like "DTC!!!!!!!!!"). And there are so many examples of ways the community helped walk us through the nitty gritty, in a "what do we put on line 4b of page 76 in this USCIS document" kind of way.

Amazing.

And now, we feel so blessed and have community in a lot of ways. By keeping in touch with families we met in China, through the adoption/foster community group we have formed at our church, through a new group of Chinese adoptive families in our community, and through some truly beautiful friendships I have formed with people I may never meet.

My sweet friend Melanie, who I met in our online Chinese adoption community, sent this awesome bag for Lainey completely out of the blue. Oh, my heart. I just love her!!

I never could have imagined that an unexpected extra blessing through our adoption would be the friendships we would gain. We are so blessed and so thankful!