Catching up on Secret Pals

Well, it has been some time since I posted a thanks to our April Secret Pal (at least on this blog), there's a really good reason for that. We asked not to receive any gifts in November as I didn't think we'd really be able to enjoy them while reliving and greiving last year. I think it was a wise choice as Christmas turned out to be grueling for us, we put on our happy faces for everyone else but privately it's been torture. Our pal held onto the gifts and sent the November (REading theme) and December (tiny tot toys theme) packages this month.

We received a wonderful set of books, believe it or not though, a few books were missing from the photo as our pal sent them separately and I had already taken the picture. There are a bunch of pop up books and even one on the toothfairy! Everyone knows how I love books and in fact the only registry we've done is for books from Amazon.

For December's theme we hit the jackpot, candy (E was loving this), ornaments which will look great on our mini trees, a checkerboard blanket/game (this was E's favorite, but not shown in the picture), a mug for me (love it) and a wonderful assortment of fantastic tot/infant toys. I've heard through other adoptive parent "BTDT" blogs that these harder toys tend to be a hit in China based on sensory issues, so you know they are going with us.

The last picture was a Secret Holiday Swap gift I did with the April group. Technically it wasn't supposed to remain a secret after the gifts were sent. So while the person I sent to (hi Mara) knows we sent them to her, E and I have no clue who sent it to us (ok, I have 3 great guesses and I KNOW that 1 is right :), it's clearly someone who has followed our journey from early on and may even have another connection they eluded to). Our 'Santa' has chosen to remain anonymous, while I think there's something neat about that and intriguing, I wish we knew so we could adequately thank her. She overwhelmed us with her kindness.

The diaper bag is exquisite and will likely see quite a bit of use. We have another diaper bag we also love but it will be great to be able to trade on and off! Also, the tea set is soooo cute, but I have to believe there might be an inside joke, MAYBE, just a theory, but it reminds me of the tea set I used to have. There were many other wonderful items, all incredibly thought provoking and clearly, a lot of kindness went into this gift. Thank you most of all for your kindness.

The thing that really gives me joy about the DTC swaps is that we send a package, filled with love and joy to someone who is in the same boat we are in. Someone anxiously waiting, longing, wanting to see their child for the first time and bring him/her home. It's through the monthly swap that we can remind ourselves that this journey is real, that our dreams will come true and that it's ok to 'nest', especially after all these long years... It's the nesting the helps us on this long, long journey to Magpie.