Celebrating one year together!

What a year this has been! We celebrated with dinner out and Rylee got to choose where we went. We all thought her choice would be "China" (really our local Chinese restaurant) but she surprised us all with going to Logan's and she would go in a princess dress! She munched on her popcorn shrimp, drew pictures on the kids menu and we spoke casually about meeting her one year ago. She told me when I was helping her get ready "Mama, we celebrate dinner for one year dat we meet at China. Dis is when China say I can have my Mommy! They say I can have you right Mama?" Sometimes she just amazes me with how she really just gets it! She tells me we are a family and she is so proud to tell everyone whenever we are out somewhere "Dis my Sist! Dis is MY Mama - Dis is MY Daddy!!!"

When we were waiting to be able to go get her, I worried endlessly about whether she would like us? Would she even want to be part of our family? Would she love us, love me? Now she tells me many times a day "Mama, I LOVE you!" I tell her that I love her too! She says "Say, I love you too BABY, Mama!!" "I am you little baby Mama, right?"

She knows, just like I do, that we missed a lot while we were waiting. Her and I both look a little wistfully at tiny babies. One day we were watching a family with a little baby, both of us lost in our own thoughts. I was wondering what Rylee would have looked like at just a few months old, what she would have felt like nestled in my arms, and hoping that someone comforted her and held her when she was that tiny. I never wanted to put these wistful thoughts into words but Rylee did it for both of us. "Awwww, I wish I could be a little baby and you could feed me and hold me like that Mama" as she looked longingly at the Mama and her little baby. I put my arms around her and told her that I wish I could have been there when she was a tiny baby, because I am sure she was the most beautiful baby and I would have loved to have been able to have her then. But we have each other now, and I am so thankful that we are together now!