The faith of a child

There are a few special stories about Carson and adoption. I want to get them down. Not that I'll ever forget them, but I want to remember all of the details.

When we first told Carson about our plans to adopt he was very excited. He has been every step of the way. We told him in March. We explained that we didn't know if he would be getting a little brother or a little sister, but we knew he would be a great big brother. Of course, one of his first questions was 'When?'. We explained that it wouldn't be in 2008. Perhaps in 2009 or maybe in 2010. We just didn't know. We knew that God had a plan for us, and we'd just need to wait and see. He asked again about 2008 and we told him that would be just too soon. It takes a long time for all of the paperwork and visits to happen. He still wasn't satisfied and commented that it would 'maybe' happen in 2008. We didn't want him to get his hopes up so we continued to stress that it would probably be in 2009 or 2010.

We first learned about Grace on June 17. It was a Tuesday. Daddy, Carson and Papa Chip were playing outside (remember Papa Chip was here recovering from surgery). Our social worker Vicki called that evening and said she needed to tell us about a little girl. She explained there was a little girl in Minnesota...she had been with a foster family since birth...she was about 16 months old...she had open heart surgery at 5 months of age...she had a mild hearing loss. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Vicki asked if we wanted to move forward and without talking to Travis I said yes! (That's where over 14 years of marriage pays off!)

Not wanting to get our hopes up, I asked for more info. We submitted our profile for consideration. We learned a bit more and we knew we were already falling in love with a little girl that we hadn't even seen (and for a bit we didn't even know her name!). Soon, this little girl's social worker came to tell us more about her. Everything felt so right. She seemed like the perfect little angel to add to our family.

We still hadn't told Carson at this point. It was incredibly hard not to talk to him about it. We've always been so open with him. We knew everything needed to work through all of the steps of the process and that everyone involved was okay with Grace joining our family.

On Wednesday, July 16, Carson informed me that he needed a new sister. Up until this point, he had gone both ways. Either a brother or a sister seemed pretty cool to him. He was adamant that day. I told him that brothers were pretty neat too, reminding him that both Mommy and Daddy had brothers and we had a lot of fun with them (well, when they weren't beating on us, but I didn't go into that). He replied back "I need a sister." Gulp.

He proceeded to tell me that he needed a sister that had a new liver, just like him. He also needed a sister that had hearing aids, just like he did. I fought to keep the tears in check. No easy feat. How could he know that our little angel had heart surgery and hearing aids, just like him (okay, so he was a little off about the liver transplant, but still pretty amazing!!!). I knew that God was talking through Carson. I told him, as I held in the tears, that we'd just have to wait and see what God's plan was for our family.

During the day that day, I visited with one of Grace's therapists. We talked about who she was and how she was doing. I asked about her likes and what gets her excited. Quickly, the therapist responded "bubbles...she'll do anything for bubbles".

That afternoon, we emailed Grace's social worker and said "YES!" We had known it in our hearts, but we knew it 100%.

Late that afternoon, Daddy left for Winnipeg to be with Nana for her surgery the next day.

That Wednesday evening, Carson and I made a trip to Target. We wound up in the summer clearance aisle. I found a jump rope for Carson as well as another fun summer outdoor toy. He looked over and there was an entire aisle of bubbles. He looked at me and said/signed "I need to buy bubbles for my little sister". Okay, big lump in throat for Mommy. He still knows nothing of Grace. As much as I wanted to buy every single bubble merchandise in the store, I feared that if I did, it would reinforce that he was getting a sister. We still didn't know for sure. So, I told him that when we find out about a new brother or sister, we will come and buy some bubbles.

We found out on Friday, July 18. At 4:33 p.m. That's when we learned that we indeed had a daughter. She would be ours. Forever.

This is when Travis was in Winnipeg for Nana's surgery. Of course, Daddy was over joyed.

We waited to tell Carson until Daddy got home on Sunday, July 20. Of course, he was thrilled to learn that he was going to be a big brother. He was indeed getting a little sister. One that had had heart surgery and hearing aids...same as he did. He was certainly surprised. And very excited. But deep down, I think that Carson knew all along.

And that Sunday afternoon we went to Target. Carson bought bubbles for his new little sister.