fear not.

Regardless of Little Dude's needs, we are pushing forward.  We simply cannot leave him in The Bad Place and we know that we have the ability to care for him.  This certainly threw us for a loop, though.  Not what we thought or planned.  But then, it's so often not what we plan, isn't?

I just keep going back to what I was told about this process.  So many said it would change us, but they said it in a good way.  They said we would grow as people and learn a great deal.  I can see that now.  This process will mold us and shape us into people we never would have been without adoption.

I wish I could let this Little Dude understand just how grateful we are to pursue this process.  Already we are learning so much about ourselves.  It is because of him. 

Our only real worry was because of this little girl:

(That's an old picture of Chelsea from Hilton Head Island in 2010)

We would never want to harm her, especially because she has special needs herself.  We would never want to make a choice that might impact her care or leave us unable to meet her needs and the Little Dude's needs. 

But today, even as we hear more fearful things and even as we worry, we stand firm in our choice to bring the Little Dude home from The Bad Place.  We believe it is right, and I am personally very glad of this.  He needs the type of home we can provide.  Chelsea excels even as she has needs because of the interventions we've provided...and we will provide them to the Little Dude too. 

I spent a month touring nine different preschools to find the right fit for my daughter, and today we found the place we believe will work the best for our daughter.  I know many moms wouldn't tour nine preschools, but we did.  We would do the same for our future son, if he can even go to preschool. 

A picture from a year ago - sadly this was taken at my grandmother's funeral (I miss her so much!) but I thought you might like a picture of me and our little girl.  She had just started walking in this picture and still couldn't talk much or feed herself.  Oh, what a difference a year makes... (She was two months away from being 2 in this picture; now she's almost 2 months away from being 3!)

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers as we negotiate through this unpredictable journey to our Little Dude.