Welcoming Lion

My dearest, darlingest Renee,

First of all, let me say that I love you. You’re sweet & kind & open-hearted, and you deserve so much happiness. You have a beautiful family, Crapshack or no, and I know that Bunny is the light of you & your husband’s lives.

Your blog is one of the first that I began reading. We commented back & forth, twittered together from time to time, and I began to think of you as a friend. When I read that you were trying to adopt a son, a brother to Bunny, from Ethiopia, my heart was so full of hope for you. But the process was stalling, and understandably you were nervous and anxious.

I met you at BlogHer. We wandered Chicago together, we chatted, we got a pedicure together! We ran in the rain, and we visited a tattoo parlor. We both thought about getting tattoos but chickened out. I had a lot of fun with you, hon. You were a highlight for me that weekend. Sitting at dinner with you and Issa (our virtual host today) at that Italian restaurant a couple of days later was wonderful. I learned a lot about you, and I liked it all. You are a wonderful mother. You’ve already written Lion a letter. You sit and play dinos with Bunny for hours. You love her artwork. You encourage her creativity and yes, you may stumble, but we all do. You’re human, and you’re approachable, and warm.

Now you’ll be a mother a second time over. You’ll have a son, which I hear means you’ll be a different kind of mother as well. In fact, you’re already a mother a second time over. You already have a son. Your son. Lion. I’ve only got girls, so I can’t give you any advice on boys.  But I can give you a little hint about life with two kids.

It’s busy. You’ll be exhausted. At some point, it’ll seem like there is never a time when someone isn’t screaming, crying or whining.  But it’s OK, because you will have wonderful moments when they play together & love each other, or they both tackle you with giggles and smiles and hugs and kisses. It will make up for all the difficulty, I promise. I think you already know that.

You’ll be frazzled, but just whip out your iPhone and tweet us! We’re here for you. I personally would be honored to share the experience with you.

I’m too far away to throw you a party. I can’t make you a mimosa or pour you a beer and raise a glass to you in celebration. What I can do is take a little time to write for you. Take a little part of my space and dedicate it to you, and to your happiness.

So here’s to you, and your husband, and Bunny, and Lion. Especially Lion. That beautiful little boy has a wonderful mother, and I know I’ll be praying that you will see him & take him home in just a few short weeks. March, maybe. That would be perfect – in like a lion, out like a lamb.

Oh, and the most important advice I can give you: stop now. Now, you have one parent for each kid. At three, you run out of hands and you become outnumbered. (haha)