One Year Later

When they say time flies, it really does. Like....fast!

It's been a year already, and looking back I can hardly believe how much my life has changed in that amount of time. Or how much my baby girl has grown!  It's crazy!

I love the age she's at right now.  Her personality is starting to shine through. She loves to talk to herself in the mirror, throw food off the tray of her high chair, and lick the windows.  She has two bottom teeth and the top ones will make their appearance very soon!  She has taken steps by herself but still loves to crawl; she gets around faster that way. And she loves to cuddle with her mom and play with her dad!

We had her birthday party the weekend before Easter, and it turned out well except that both Aria and I were sick and didn't have much energy that day. But it was so nice seeing all of our friends and family there to celebrate her first birthday with us. She received so many presents and new toys, more than she has room for but I have to admit, I love the mess!

Now that she's a year old, we've started to make a point of telling Aria her adoption story a few days each week. Of course she is still too young to understand, but I want her to be familiar with the words. We have a few adoption/infertility books that we read to her as well (our faves are Sweet Moon Baby and Wish).

It's a little awkward sometimes because I feel like I'm sharing a big secret but she has no idea what I'm talking about! I'm sure she will start to understand soon enough, and the word adoption will be part of her vocabulary. But it will take time for the meaning behind that word to really sink in.

My hope is that she will know we loved her before we even met her, and that she may not have come from my body, but I still love her as if she did. Being adopted doesn't change any of that. She is so very special and her family loves her to pieces! She is absolutely the greatest gift I have ever and will ever receive in my entire life.

Aria's smile and laugh make everything better! We are so very grateful!