The Force is Strong with this One - Gotcha Day Anniversary

March 4, 2013

Playing with Dad, October 2013

New Delhi on Gotcha Day, March 2013

 

It's been a year. A whole year since we were given custody of T in India. Today is what the adoption world sometimes calls "Gotcha Day." A year ago today, we rode away from the orphanage for the last time. We stayed one night in a hotel together as a family, and started our long journey home the next morning. 

October 2013

On this day in 2013, we signed the papers, changed her into the first new clothes she'd ever owned, took her to the park to play and ate at a fancy outdoor restaurant, where we took great care to ensure that her meal was strictly vegetarian. We arrived in our hotel room and she asked us, "America?" We ordered room service and she looked at us nervously before digging into her rice. Would we allow her to eat with her hands? We did. She's got some serious rice eating skills. She got her first Barbie doll and snuggled up to me to sleep.

All the while, my husband and I exchanged looks of awe. We still do.

We say "the force is strong with this one." She is a force to be reckoned with. She is powerful.

Goodbye, India! March 2013

She is passionate. She is hilarious. She calls us out. She makes us laugh. She makes us melt. She makes us crazy. She makes us happy.

She's a princess and a warrior. She loves pink and piles on the accessories. She tromps around in the mud and the creek and plays in the rain until she's soaked to the bone. She blows kisses and throws tantrums. She has lots of friends and carries an air of confidence everywhere she goes. She adores teacher and excels in school.

She is so, so smart. She questions everything. She reads our mail. She finishes our sentences. She is musical, always singing.

February 2014

"How do you keep a wave upon the sand?...
How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?
She is gentle! She is wild!
She's a riddle! She's a child!
She's a headache! She's an angel!
She's a girl!"

Just like her Mama. Because,
She's my daughter. Our daughter.
God is good. Thanks be to God.