welcome, little ones

Two new children entered my world this week.

"Ann" and "Olivia" joined the King family last Thursday, and they came to our house for dinner last night.

Technically, I met Olivia a few weeks ago, but only for a few minutes.

Seven and nine, they are funny and sweet. They like to show off their knowledge of spelling words and for dinner they requested bacon and cheese calzones and they didn't want vegetables for dinner, but Carrie made them pick one vegetable from the salad, so Ann had tomatoes and Olivia chose carrots. And for dessert, Ann had a cupcake with sprinkles while Olivia wanted a purple popsicle.

After dinner, while Carrie & Mike caught up on recent events, I found cartoon network on tv for the kids, and Olivia asked me to look up something about her name on my laptop. They piled up on Uncle Mike to hug him and tickle him - all three girls at once.

My friends have gone through a lot to welcome these children into their home, and they still have a long road ahead of them.

And E - the child they brought home from the hospital days after her birth - a gorgeous, well-adjusted, bright, funny, three-year-old is kind of in a whirlwind, too. She's torn between wanting to be a big girl and wanting everyone's undivided attention and how she fits in to this much bigger world now.

In their last home, they were among 12 foster children. They were safe and loved and protected, but it was made clear that this was not their permanent home. Here, they have their own bedroom and only one other sibling and their last name will change - Olivia is so excited that her initials will be "O K".

Yup.

It will be A-O K.

Welcome to our community, girls. We love you already!