Mak and Jack

As of June 27th of this year, I officially have two children. A hilariously funny and extremely empathetic soon to be eight-year old biological son, Jack, and an eight-month old little stranger living on the other side of the world in Chongqing, China. She is Qian Li Han, soon to be known as Makena.

Jack is a walking encyclopedia of animal facts who loves sushi, ramen and chicken nuggets. He likes to tell jokes, laughs easily, and is a laid back kid and world traveler. His favorite subject in school is Math. His favorite sports are baseball, karate, ping pong and bowling. He is devoted to his friends, adores his cousins and works the remote control on the television set better than me. (No surprise there.)

On the other hand, I know very little about Makena. I know that she was abandoned at a gas station when she was about five days old and that she was found wearing old clothes and with a nursing bottle and a bag of powdered milk. I believe that she was loved for five days by her biological mom because she was left in a place where she would be easily found.

I suspect that she probably has an older sister, or two, or possibly even an older brother. (Because of the current "family planning" restrictions imposed by the Chinese government, if the first born child is a daughter, a couple is allowed to try for a son. But if the first born is a son, then they are not allowed to have any more children.)

I know that Makena was placed in an orphanage the day she was found and that at four months of age she was transferred to a foster home. I'm told she eats rice porridge, meat soup and mashed fruit. She likes to go out and watch people in the street and she likes toys that play loud music. As the director of our agency put it, "She a party girl!"

Good thing. "We party parents."

When we finally travel to Chongqing in August (hopefully) to adopt her, we will be afforded precious few minutes with the director of the orphanage to ask as many questions as we can about her first eight months of life in China. It's a terrifying and heartbreaking prospect. Aside from the fact that we will all probably be sobbing with the joy of finally holding her in our arms, we will have to compose ourselves and shoot off a list of questions we hope to get answers to.

I can't imagine what it will be like for Makena to deal with so little information and so much mystery surrounding her start in life.

I simply hope she will be okay and that she will learn to feel secure with our love.

Last, I know Jack will protect her.

Isabelle