Happy, Happy 4th Birthday Gracie Sofia!!

The family, with the standard

only-the-parents-looking-at-the-camera

pose

Gracie flying high on the bars at her birthday party

Showing her special trick "shake it", with help
from Mommy and Lily Bean



Parachute time!

Quick, jump on top!

Up, up and away!

Running, jumping, flying!

A picture that Mommy and Papa have

waited for 4 years to get

Worth every second of the wait

Today Gracie turns 4 years old. We celebrated this weekend with a party at Little Gym with friends and family. All of us had such a great time.

I can hardly believe that I have finally given the birthday party I have planned in my head for so long. It is surreal to think that this time last year we weren't even certain she was coming home. I have been overcome with emotion so much in the past few days.

Do you have any idea what it is like to hang a picture ornament of this child on our Christmas tree for three years without her here? To look down to my side and see this precious being help decorate our Christmas tree, is just nothing short of a miracle. To be able to sing "Happy Birthday" to her in the flesh, is nothing short of a miracle.

Some of you may not know this, but for quite some time during our adoption process the experts said "this will never go through". We got zero reliable information about her and our process for almost 2 years.

Anyway, I do not want to focus on the negative, but rather the fact that the miracle did happen. The feat that wasn't to be conquered, was. The child without the family, got one. The family with a hole in its heart, had it repaired. It was far from an easy process and our transition hasn't always been smooth, but somehow, we have come together as a family. There is love, there is trust and there is understanding of each other.

Somehow, I have suddenly become "Mommy". I have been "Mama" since Gracie came home, but now it is "Mommy, look" "Mommy, help me please" "Mommy, here". I really like it. For me it signals a deeper relationship with Gracie.

I am feeling so incredibly connected today to Gracie's birthmother. Somehow, I know this brave woman must be thinking of the precious child she gave birth to today. I want her to know how courageous an act I think it was planning for Gracie's adoption. I want her to know that we love Gracie, that we will take care of Gracie, that Gracie is important and special to us. I want her birthmother to know that as Gracie's birthmother, she is a part of our family too. We are all connected, forever.

I am so incredibly blessed in this life to have these girls, this husband, this family. I am so grateful to be a mother and be a part of these incredible beings' lives.

As is said in Willy Wonka, " Do you know what happened to the man who got everything he ever wished for? He was very, very happy."

Love, Mel