6+2=8?

Simple math for a simple mama tells me that if you have six and add two more you get eight. Eight is the number of legs on a spider and the number on that hard, black ball that you poke with a stick. It's the number of notes in an octave and it's the number of toes on my husbands feet (figure that one out).

Eight...seems like a small number if I'm talking about years of life, or ounces of water I drank today, or the amount of money I've spent on groceries. But my perspective of eight changes when I look at it through the lens of how many chocolate chip cookies I ate today, or how many pounds I gained this week, how many hours in a car with kids, or how many times I wake up in the night.

Eight...
Eight???
Eight!!!

Don't know how eight makes you feel, but this number, lately, can leave me staring at the ceiling at 3 a.m. or it can kick my butt until the last phone call is made and the last paper is signed. 6+2=8. Most of you are familiar with the six - Matty, Stac, Jade, Taiter, Libby Lou, and little Binny. But the two will remain a mystery for a few more weeks, months or even the next year as we sign, stamp, and fingerprint our way through this process. Adoption agencies have given the thumbs up to proceed towards the two, but US Immigration will have the final say. For now we take the next step and prepare our minds and hearts for a family of eight until we're told otherwise. Excited? Yes! Scared? Yes! Worth it? Yes!

...Because they matter!

January 29, 2010
The day we became 6!