Four Years ago today....

Four years ago today we flew from Beijing to Nanchang and rushed to our hotel where, maybe a half hour later, we opened our hotel door to meet our daughter for the very first time.  She was accompanied by the orphanage director, assistant director, and an Ayi.  We were informed that she could walk,  and that she likes to sleep on her belly.  Although I can't recall having ever seen her sleep that way since that day.  She laid her little head on my shoulder and my heart just melted.  I was able to ask how she liked her bottle made and how to pronounce her Chinese name.  And just like that, they were gone.  And just like that, we were parents.  She was silent, stoic, bewildered, very observant, and so much braver than any 15 month old should ever have to be.  That broke my heart a little.  Well...a lot.  She wore a diaper that was about 2 sizes too large, and smelled like sweat and baby-powder (which I later found caked in her little neck rolls) after an almost 4 hour car ride.  She looked very healthy, and she was the most beautiful sight we'd ever laid eyes on.  And she was ours.  After almost 13 years we went from being a couple, to being a family.  And she went from being an "orphan" to being a daughter.  I once read in this post that adoption is like Gods redemptive answer to a tragic situation, and I truly believe that. 

 

 

By the next day we were starting to see the many sides of her personality showing through.  Silly, sweet, spicy, funny, yet serious and moody at times, strong, brave, keenly observant, and incredibly smart.  She is, to this day, every bit the same girl we met on Father's Day, June 21, 2009.  She is a complicated, multi-faceted girl and we wouldn't have her any other way.   She has been the perfect fit for our family since day one and we couldn't imagine our lives without our girl now.