My wife and I have adopted 2 daughters from China. These great little gals are currently our only children.

I was in the midst of a pleasant chat with a lady at work on Friday about Eliana and Karys and the girls’ first Christmas together. During the course of our conversation, I mentioned that Carmi and I planned to also adopt a son from China, “good Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise” as we say here in the South.

My friend’s countenance changed almost immediately and the voice took on a serious tone. She replied, “Well, you can’t adopt them all” as her head bobbed.

It’s not about wanting to adopt them all. However, it IS about wanting to complete our family. I need additional testosterone around the house for a better balance. After all, a man can only take so much pink and jewelry and High School Musical.

The more I ponder her statement, the more I realize in retrospect that most people have given me a “Huh?” look when I mention a third child. Why is it that having one or two children equates to normalcy but three (or more) is lunacy?

I guess we’re headed for the crazy house.

About a week after my last post I got laid off.  About that time, my cat started breathing like Yul Brenner after his 9th pack of the day.  My dog developed a sudden problem with his prostate.  So I’ve been home for a month, and the cat tries to jump on me every chance she gets.  As soon as she gets on me she hacks like she is trying to just get that lung out.  As I’m trying to get her off my lap so I can stop the boys from damaging the walls and each other, the dog starts slowly but very determinedly peeing on the floor.  On top of all that, my moms had a medical scare, and had to go into the hospital - in the armpit of Illinois (Rockford), for a heart procedure.  She’s fine, she was released from the hospital the same day.  Which is great, in no small part because I didn’t have to go to Rockford for another day.

But let me put it this way: if I owned a pickup truck, I would be VERY concerned that it would break down right about now.  Since I drive a 10 year old Camry with a side-view mirror that’s been missing for 4 years, I think I’m ok.

The good news is that I got a job offer on Friday, and I’m very excited about the opportunity.  Really truly excited about it.  But I gotta tell you - it was kinda fun hanging out with the boys, taking them to swimming lessons, rough housing with them, playing WII bowling, just hanging out.  In three months, we’re gonna have another child (on a side note, I’m very disappointed that DearWife is vetoing Luke as a name - I just want to be able to say “LUKE, I am your father” is that so wrong?).  It will be fun and crazy and stressful and great with 3 kids.  But it won’t be quite the same.  That’s the one constant with kids.  I’m happy to see them grow and achieve and learn.  But I’m always at least a little sad when they move past something - be it a toy, or loving the moon for 6 months, or saying spidews or anything else like that.

Ahoy me mateys! It’s Cap’n Newbie Dad and we went on a maiden voyage to ye ole Disneyland with our li’l 22 month-old pirate in training early last month. Part of the extended crew included Admiral Grandpa Newbie, Pirate Queen Grandma Newbie, and Pirate Princess Auntie Newbie. A coupla me fellow Cap’ns included Cap’n Cousin Jolly Roy, his 2 yer-old Pirate Princess in Training, and me boy’s Godfather Cap’n Crazy Cousin Eddie.

Bless me wifey the Pirate Queen Mommy Newbie fer surviving her motley in-laws! She was ‘bout to make me walk the plank and banish me to the depths of Davey Jone’s locker for all eternity. Our next voyage to the Magic Kingdom will most likely be just the immediate Newbie Crue.

One of me boys fav’rite books is ‘How I Became a Pirate’ by Melinda Long. And when our li’l pirate-to-be spotted the Pirates of the Caribbean, he really wanted to go on it. Avast! ‘Tis was a big mistake! It was really too scary fer the l’il fellow. He screamed and cried the moment our ship swooshed down the deep dark tunnel. But fear not! Me boy survived the perilous journey and even picked up the Pirate theme song. Check out the YouTube video. -Sniff Sniff- He does a papa Pirate proud!

I was visiting some friends. Their little 2-year-old son was getting ready for bed. As he was about to leave, my friends had their son make his rounds around the room, giving everyone a kiss goodnight. On the lips. I did it because I felt it would have made a scene not to, but it was kind of gross.

I wondered if I’d want to kiss my own children, or if I’d have some strong desire to have them kiss other people. Know what? I don’t. I still think it’s gross. My wife’s lips are the only ones I want to kiss.

Cheeks? Fine. Forehead? Fine. Actually, I kiss my kids a lot. But there’s something that just seems wrong about kissing a child on the lips - even if it’s your own. At first I thought that maybe it was just because my firstborn was a boy, but I have the same aversion to kissing my daughter on the lips as well. To be honest, my son actually gets a little upset that I won’t kiss him on the lips. He can’t understand. One day he will.

Now I know that many of you probably give your kids big smackeroos, and that’s fine. I’m not making a blanket moral statement. But do me a favor? When it’s bedtime, and you’re having company, give your kid a hug or high-five option as well, for the sake of people like me.

Every year I welcome and dread the Christmas season. I welcome it because of what it means and the joy that it brings to my family. I dread it because of the logistics involved in the shopping and decorating to get ready for what seems to often be an all too brief celebration.

Most years we’ve tried to provide an abundance of gifts for our girls. When they were younger, it seemed like the more presents they had the happier they would be on Christmas morning. But this year is going to be different. This is partly due to money (being broke tends to put a crimp in your Christmas spending) but more importantly because we wanted to de-emphasize the focus on material things. As my wife and I talked about ideas and discussed our plans for gifts for the girls we decided to be intentional about doing less for them (and for each other) while focusing on getting things for them that they wanted the most. In doing so, our hope is that they will enjoy and treasure what they receive more since what they get should be more special to them and much more desirable.

Perhaps it is because I grew up as a kid who was always bombarded with stuff at Christmas both by my parents and grandparents that I feel this way. I couldn’t tell you right now of one special Christmas gift I received as a child. I don’t have a particular favorite (although one or two memorable gifts do come to mind because they were unusual) in the way that most people can probably identify a special gift.

Hopefully my daughters will understand that their mother and I have made sacrifices this year to provide them with something special. My hope is that they will also see that Christmas has less to do with the material gifts that we receive but the special gift that God gave us in His Son. It’s my hope that your Christmas will be special this year, too.