Growing up...

I know sometimes I think of my children as babies. I tell them all of the time that they are my babies and they will always be. With this said, I am also well aware of how fast they are growing! Everyday something new is said or done by one of these smart little people that makes me turn my head. Anna has learned so much so far in Kindergarten I literally beam with pride when she reads, writes or quotes one of the many things said by her teacher. She is the oldest, almost 6, so sometimes it is easier for me to watch her grow up than it is her brother.
Wyatt is my baby. He is getting so big in size that he is dressing like a kindergartener with a 1st graders feet, but my baby none the less. Wyatt and I have been able to bond together, heal together and come into a relationship far better than I ever could have hoped or prayed for. He is so intelligent and his language skills far exceed Anna at his age. He is quick witted and funny, always eager to make us laugh.
In the past few months he has started to realize that things started a little different for him than they did for Anna. When I talked about liking Apple Juice when Anna was in my belly, he asked me what he liked when he was in my belly. I told him that I didn't carry him in my belly, but rather in my heart. I didn't think too much of it, knowing he was too young to understand, until today. We were practicing our shapes and I asked him what shape "this" was. He answered " A heart, I was in mommy's heart". I was so happy to hear him say that he got an extra hug for a righter than right answer!
He has also been looking at old photo albums. He sees everyone's baby pictures and he wants to see his own. I do have a few of him, but they are framed and not in the old albums. I told him we had his book in the basement, a blue one I made for his first year. He went down and grabbed an album full of Aidric's baby pictures. "Look, there is Daddy holding baby Wyatt, there is Kate and Wyatt". I haven't figured out that one yet, I will eventually tell him that is not him, but for today it made him so happy.
He is not even 4 yet and already so smart. He saw a picture of his birth mother holding him in his life book and said "That is baby Wyatt, whos her?" I told him that was a lady who took care of him before Mommy and Daddy did. He knows he lived at Mrs. Moore's house and we recently went to visit her, so that was a good answer for him. We are so lucky that for the most part he has always had people looking out for him. Even when those people made bad choices for themselves, they still made better choices for him. Like choosing to sign the paperwork to help him find a family who could care and love for him. In my mind, his mother made a great choice for him. If her mother had done the same, whose to say she wouldn't have ended up living a completely different life.
I have spent years as a parent explaining difficult things for even adults to understand. Heaven, Loss and adoption have consistently reentered our lives. Helping my babies to understand such complex ideas has been made easier by the fact that they are just that, babies. They don't ask many questions, they don't need concrete answers, just a little something to help them feel heard.

Bragging Rights...

I really have to admit this blog post is more of a "brag post". Today is one of those days where I am beaming with pride. I understand that some of what we try to teach our children comes through in their personalities and some of it is just what God has given them. We can try our hardest to instill good values in them and lead lives that we would be proud for them to follow, but we can only do so much.
Anna has wanted to get her hair cut short for months. I have tried to talk her out of it, changed the subject and so on. She hadn't changed her mind and was tired of it being in her face, so we decided it was time for her to choose. When she said she wanted it short, I thought okay, we can do this. After posting the idea on facebook a friend of mine mentioned Pantene's lengths of love. I told Anna about it and she thought the idea was kind of icky, saving hair and all. She wasn't sure she would do it. I let it go for a day and today when I picked her up from school she still wasn't sure. Thanks to a friend who is the mom of a Cancer survivor she gave me the advice to tell her about a little girl named Riley. One of Anna's closest friends is a Cancer survivor, this little girl is a part of The Dragonfly foundation with her friend Lillie. She knows that Lillie had cancer and a little about it. Lillie hadn't lost her hair, Praise God, so she was unaware of that part. I explained Chemo to her (in the version for a 5 year old) and told her that Riley had to start it and would lose her hair. She then said that she wanted to donate her hair so little girls who were sick and lost their hair can feel pretty. By the time we got to the salon she was on board and excited to do this. My cousin, who has also donated her hair, gave her an excellent new hair cut, just like Anna wanted. She has been telling everyone that she is going to mail her hair for a little girl who is sick and needs new hair. And she is in love with her new haircut!
Her love and compassion never cease to amaze me. Simply hearing of 1 little girl who was in need she immediately changed her mind on something she was uncomfortable with to help her. God has given us a pretty amazing gift in Anna! I have a feeling she just might help to change the world someday....