Ladybugs and Dragonflies

I waited to address this issue until we had completed our home study and sent off our forms to the USCIS seeking approval to adopt a foreign child. That day has finally come and Sophia even helped me put it in the mail.

So here was my dilemma, such as it is. In the grand scheme of things, it can hardly even be classified as a true dilemma. I have been debating whether to construct a new blog for our journey to Keenan or to simply add on to this one. After careful consideration, I decided that there is really no way to separate these two events. We are a family, and when Keenan joins us, we are just going to be a bigger family. As special as each of our children are or will be to us, our lives are intertwined and I think one blog will have more continuity than two.

Now, the question remained, what do we now call the blog? The URL will remain the same, www.ourjourneytosophia.blogspot.com , but I have been trying to figure out what the new title should be. I'm not sure why, but "Journey to Sophia and Keenan" just didn't feel right to me. So here is what I came up with, and why....

For me, when I think of our journey to Sophia and China, I think Ladybugs. It is such a common symbol for families adopting from China. And Sophia is, after all, a little ladybug. While we were waiting, I obsessively bought every outfit that had ladybugs on it. I looked at every real ladybug as some kind of sign that our referral was on it's way. I never did see any ladybugs right before we got our referral, but somehow, looking for them just made me feel better. Therefore, I have concluded that ladybugs should be in the title.

Now, to figure out something that represents Keenan. I have been fascinated with dragonflies since I was a little girl. When my sister would sing to me Joanie Mitchell's song, "Circle Game", I loved the line "yesterday, a child came out to wonder, caught a dragonfly inside a jar, frightened when the sky was full of thunder, and tearful at the falling of a star." I think my infatuation with the little insect began then. I always look for them and while we were waiting for Sophia, I had a magical visit from two of the little guys while I was riding my horse one morning. They circled around Mambo's ears and stuck with us for over 15 minutes as I road him around the arena. Then in September, Colin and I were on the beach, standing at the base of some Michigan dunes, and we were treated to an amazing show as a whole slew of dragonflies made their way across the sand and the grass. Yup, I think dragonflies will be a perfect representation of our journey to Keenan.

So meet our new blog name, "Ladybugs and Dragonflies." While I realize this does not qualify as earth shattering news, it makes this new journey seem a little more real.