A Season of Firsts

We are entering a new season, a season of firsts. Which makes me think of the Olympic commercial with the decathlon couple in their home competing against each other, saying ‘first’ whoever gets done first.

So many parents want to be there for the ‘first’ for their child. First cry, first laugh, first diaper change, first crawl, first haircut, first steps, first words, and so on. They want to be their to rejoice with there child, because they are proud of them…each milestone is a huge part of who they are as a person.

With our adoption, we weren’t there for any of those things. And that’s ok. Someone else got to experience that joy with our boy. Someone else got to place those memories in their hearts forever. And it’s a reminder to us once again, that God gives us a season to steward this little boy, love him, and rejoice in the milestones he makes both when we are there and not there.

I’m a huge sucker for tradition, memory making and capturing what we can when we can.

So, Jason and I are basking in our new ‘season of firsts’ before we make a bunch more ‘firsts’ in a few days in Thailand.

This past week, we had our first diaper buying experience. Was so much more complicated than I expected…overnight pull-ups in 3T, everything is labeled, easy right? Nope, after staring at the wall for 15 minutes, came to the conclusion that Walmart was out of stock and went to Babies-R-Us and found what we needed in 2-seconds. Our ‘first’ was remotely stressful for a good few minutes, partly because we had been shopping all day and Walmart is supposed to have everything! But now we have diapers packed!

Then came the carseat. Our first time putting a car seat in. I believe the complication here was they gave us five different options depending on what our car features were. Might need to take it to the Fire Dept to make sure we did it right, haha - but you can’t move that thing, so it’s secure! And came to what we knew would be true, my car is tight with a carseat and at times, needing to put our 70+ lb dog in as well. Nice and cozy!

Another first, packing for three people. Oh my! We actually have succeeded at packing fairly light for our trip; however, your mind goes crazy adding more into the usual packing list. Cannot imagine keeping track when you have more kiddos.

A big first coming up. Jason and I have traveled overseas together five times. God has blessed us with these opportunities! Every time we either have family at the other side or a missions team with us. This time, it is literally just us. Now yes, when we get to our hotel, we will meet the adoption staff, but they don’t organize anything for us outside of the adoption. So, a first being an solo adventure for us! Super exciting for the freedom, but also a little stressful not having a missions trip leader to lean on ;-)

Those are just a few of our firsts. Here are the ‘firsts’ we cannot wait for: seeing our boy for the first time face to face, hearing his laugh, meeting his foster family, our first family picture, giving him the family he deserves, seeing him crawl into his freshly made bed across from our room, when he first hits American soil and the list goes on. Whether it’s a first or not, it’s special to us, and we’ll hold that tight as God molds him to our little family!

And let the ‘firsts’ continue in the days to come…