Happy 4th Anniversary "Gotcha Day"

 Four years ago today, we were a bundle of nerves as we got ready to go to the Civil Affairs office in Nanjing to be united with our youngest daughter. We could hardly eat breakfast. The process came kind of quick for us, (after a long wait), but I thought I was ready. I know Mimi had wanted a sister for so long I was beginning to think we would be grandparents before our daughter got her sister! I look back now and realize that I was such a zombie that I didn't give myself the opportunity to soak it all in.

The Civil Affairs office was very difficult. To see so many children so scared, unaware that their lives would be changes forever on that day was hard for all us, but it was especially hard for the older children that were being adopted and knew that everything they had ever know would forever be gone. Of course we all knew that their lives were going to change for the better, bet they didn't. All they knew that they were told they were being adopted by foreigners who were coming to take them away. One of the moms in our travel group captured a picture of Mimi that expressed the entire story. I saw it a year or two after we got home and was so sad at the impact that the experience had on Mimi.She told me it was a very emotional room and she ached for each and every one of those children.

For some reason this Gotcha Day anniversary is different from the previous ones. I don't know if it is because Leah is more aware and has brought up conversations about "waiting" for me in China when she was a baby and crying asking where I was. I am not sure if she completely understands but she certainly has given me food for thought. Are we handling her questions the right way and responding to her comments appropriately? I don't know but I hope so.

The only thing I know for sure is that she is the most loved child on the planet and I for one cannot imagine our lives without her. Everyday we are blessed with her smiles, hugs, a sense of humor beyond her years, and an endless supply of love and energy. What a blessing she is to everyone that meets her.

Tonight we will celebrate with Chinese food at one of our favorite restaurants and ice cream afterwards. We will count our blessings and thank God for choosing us to be her parents.

Our Princess on her 5th Birthday a few months ago

With her Mommy on that fateful day