1 Week!

So now in less than a week we will be on our way. Just can't wait to be on the plane and have everything done. Right now we are in the middle of gathering everything together and hopefully start packing this weekend. I think I could open a pharmacy with all of the medications we are taking. Better safe than sorry though. We are just waiting for our final itinerary but it should be similar to our first trip. Mom and Dad are busy packing too and will be coming up on Tuesday. We will be celebrating Caleb's 5th Birthday in Toronto on the 21st.



I posted this on our trip to China for Caleb so I thought I would post it again for Clara. I found it on another blog and thought it sums up how Clara may feel when we get her. It will be one of our happiest days but for her it will be one of her scariest.

Dear Family and Friends,

As we prepare for the arrival of our daughter, we have learned that while decorating her room and stocking up on lots of girl stuff, even more important is the emotional health of our child. In her short life,  she will have gone through more changes and life altering experiences than most adults could handle. Imagine how much harder the changes will be for her. While she may not consciously remember the events, she will still experience immense loss, including feelings of grief and trauma. She's already experienced the loss of a birthmother and will soon experience the loss of familiar and comforting foster parents as well as the sights, smells, and language of her birth country. Her world will turn upside down. She will struggle with feeling safe and secure and she may lack the ability to trust that we will meet her needs.

We have prepared to meet her emotional needs so that she does learn that we will always take care of her and we will always keep her safe. In order to form a strong and healthy attachment we will allow her to regress so that she has the opportunity to go through all of the emotional stages with us despite her chronological age. Although it may appear that we are spoiling her, we have learned that it is best that we meet every need quickly and consistently. Until she has learned that we are her parents, we will need to be her primary caretakers at all times. It is essential that we always hold her, feed her, and do all of the nurturing. You may wonder how long this will take, but the timeline is different for every child. We will have to just follow her lead

We have all been waiting anxiously for our child to arrive but she has not been waiting for us. She may show her grief and confusion in many ways and we are prepared to help her through it and prove that we are a forever family and this truly is her last stop.

We know that we have the best family and friends and we thank you in advance for your support and understanding.

Kari and Bernie