Things That I Couldn't Know

 

4 years ago today, there was no way of knowing how our lives were about to change. We were so nervous and scared and excited. The emotions were all over the place and unless you have traveled the road it's hard to explain.

 

 

4 years ago we were in China about to leave for Nanjing where we would meet our daughter for the first time. We were the only family in our group traveling to that area and that was unnerving. We were on our own.

 

 

4 years ago we knew we were getting a little girl who was born with some unique features. That was scary. We didn't know what to expect or really how to plan.

 

 

4 years ago we had no idea where we would be 4 years later. We had no idea that the little girl that they handed to us, who was sick, scared, tiny, unable to eat, unable to talk, reluctant to smile, basically an empty shell of a child, would 4 years later be so full of life.

 

 4 years later, Emma has blossomed and changed and so have we. She is full of life and energy and quick with a smile. She loves her brothers so much and never lets them leave the house without that one last kiss.

 

4 year later, there isn't a day that passes that I don't think just how blessed I am to have this girl in my life. She is my daughter. She is not of my blood, but she is of my heart and soul. She makes me smile and cry. She makes me laugh every day. Yesterday's laugh was about explaining a time out on the football field. She kept asking me "are they in trouble". Yes, she knows a thing or 2 about time outs.

 

 

I worship the ground this child walks on. I long to see what her life will become. She is determined and feisty and smart. She has overcome so many obstacles already in her short life and by being her mother I have had the privilege to witness what determination and strength really are. When I see her write her name and attempt to tie her shoes. When I see her jump and run on the soccer field, when I see her do so many of the little things that you and I do without even blinking an eye, I realize just what an amazing kid my daughter is.

 

4 years ago, I remember the nanny that was with Emma asking our guide if we were "okay" with Emma's hands and feet. I wish that nanny could see this girl now. We were "okay" with her hands and feet then and even more okay now. She is our blessing. She is our miracle. She is our daughter.

 



 

Emma wanted me to take a picture or two of her "big mupples". She was is very interested in showing them off.