It was more bittersweet than I thought it would be to give away Oliver and Soren's old baby clothes even though I knew there was no reason to keep it all.  Although Chris and I hope to have more children, the reality is that we'll never have another newborn. Yet it was still sad thinking that no other baby of ours is going to wear those teeny tiny sleepers, the winter hats with the bear ears or the onesies with the sassy sayings printed on the front.  As I dug through the boxes, I looked at clothes I hadn't seen in a long time and yet could still picture each of my children wearing every single item of clothing. I recognized the Robeez shoes with the dogs on them a friend had given Oliver when he was born, the sunhat Chris thought made the kids look ridiculous, but which I thought made them look adorable and the outfits my stepsister had mailed me that had belonged to my nephew.  There were my favorite outfits I had dressed the kids in and all those sleepsacks I had tucked them into at night.  As I looked everything over, I thought, wasn't it just yesterday that Soren was wearing or using these things?  And there I was resorting and repacking it all to give away.

The clothes carry memories for me, but they're not going to do anyone any good by staying in boxes. 
Instead of going through the hassle of selling everything, or donating to Goodwill, who'd turn around and sell it, I decided I'd feel better letting go of everything if the items could go to someone who'd have a real use for them.  So many people have helped us provide for our kids and this is one small way of paying it forward. 

After asking around, I found a church near my office that has a Karen congregation made up of mostly new refugees who come to this country with few physical possessions.  Along with helping these families with household items to set them up in their new homes in Minnesota, the church hosts baby supply giveways throughout the year.  Anyone in the community is welcome to come and pick out as much as they need of the donated clothes, toys and gear. 

With the adoption essentially stalled for the time-being due to government bureaucracy, the process of sorting through what we don't need to keep gave me something positive to do, even if it didn't put us closer to bringing our next child home.  Parting with my kids' baby things was an act of acceptance that the newborn stage is behind us and we're off on a new journey.