To Be Real

It has been different trying to write new posts now that I've made this blog's existence known. I have started a couple, then discarded them, feeling they were too revealing. When I first began this blog, not really planning on telling people it was here, it was easy for me to just write about whatever I was thinking. Now? Not so much. This is intersting and unexpected for me, as I've always thought of myself as an "open book" kind of person. I also have been unsure how much about these twins I want to reveal on a public board. While I want to talk about them, I also want to respect their privacy. It feels somewhat exploitive to talk too much about their specific lives at this point. I've been trying to put myself in their adolescent shoes, wondering what I'd be okay with in that situation, and what I wouldn't be okay with. So, please excuse me while I process this and try to get my new blogger hat on straight.

In the meantime, I do have updates to share. After switching to a different agency to complete our homestudy, things are moving along nicely. Fingerprints are being processed, we are just about done with the required paperwork, and the home visit is this next weekend. (By the way, this is another reason I have not been writing here as much lately. I've been writing a novel about myself - 9 pages!! - instead.) We have named the babies, as they had not been named yet, and names were needed to process paperwork. They are also required by DRC government to have a Congolese name, so we chose Swahili names for them as well. We had been expecting to have their given names be their middle names, but since they'd just been given the nick-names of Cito and Cikkuru, which mean "first born" and "second born" (which I've recently found out is pretty customary for twins in Congo) we did our best as American parents to give them good Congolese middle names. So, their names are Lauren Adia and Noah Kito. Adia (ah DEE uh) means "gift from God" and Kito (KEE toh) means "jewel, or precious child." It looks like they will be transferred to foster care anytime now, and I am very happy with the foster situation that has been worked out for them. We have been told that if eveything goes according to plan, we might be able to travel sometime in the August to October range. Thanks for reading and caring about these babies. The support we've received has been overwhelming. Please pray that God will continue to care for these precious little ones, and for all the other children of Congo.