Words fail me....they just can't suffice the depth of how changed we are from this day last year 2009 to this day in 2010! We met Chelsee a year ago on March 2, 2009 in a 7th floor room in the Civil Affairs Building in Hefei, the capital of Anhui, China. A tiny, brave little girl who took some Cheerios from my hand and kissed my cheek at the urging of her former care givers. Fu Mei was what we called her and I gently eased my way in to her heart. Slowly, carefully, gently. And 24 hours later, I signed official papers making her ours forever! Big steps after countless hours of waiting and hoping and praying!
Now, 4 inches taller, 5 pounds heavier, I throw this sweetheart named Chelsee around like a sack of potatoes! Still brave, but oh so funny and oh so smart! She is clever and articulate and hysterically funny! She is whiney and pouty and tests all of our strength and patience as any 4 year old can!
I watched our Gotcha Day video again yesterday. This time with Chelsee. As I was explaining it to her, I asked her what she remembered. She remembered alot of it. She said she was scared. She knew she was meeting her new "mama" and that she had to sit in the back seat of a car for a long time. She looked at me as I teared up and said "Are they happy tears?" She knows they are cause I tell her every single day how happy I am that she is my daughter and how happy she has made all of us. She got pensive as she continued to watch the video. A tiny little tear came to her eye and she asked me to kiss it. She said it was a happy tear too. And thanked me again for coming to China to be her mommy. We shared a wonderful little moment just the two of us!
Later, we all went out to dinner at a local Chinese restaurant. Ken, Tricia, Garrett and my mom joined us too. Trish brought her a little cake that said "Gotcha" on it. I surprised Albee and Julee (and everyone else too) by dressing Chelsee in the Chinese outfit that we sent to her in her care package. She was wearing it as her outermost layer the day we met her! It still fits and so do the boots she had on that day. She LOVED putting them on. We went through all her Gotcha Day clothes and we reminisced. These are special to me because it was all she came in, but I am glad to know they are special to her as well. I will see how many years she can still wear (or will want to) the beautiful pink outfit. We had a wonderful celebration. It was a VERY special day!
Still no words.....but here are the pictures:
March 2, 2009:
March 2, 2010:
2 comments:
We are on the waiting list to adopt a female toddler up to age 4 from Taiwan. It it encouraging for me to follow and read about the success of adopting a "older" toddler! You have a beautiful daughter and I look forward to following along!
Hello Iam Mona from Norway - we also have adopted a girl from Anhui. Can I contact you by mail? Please send me a mail: mskif@broadpark.no
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