Happy Family Day, Ellie-Kate!!!

Two years ago today, I held my precious Ellie-Kate for the first time. What an ocean of emotions and memories... I remember seeing those eyes in person for the very first time. They were penetrating, afraid, yet hopeful. She didn't cry as I took her in my arms. She just seemed to fit in, like always. A bit fearful of Roger's whiskers to begin, he was the first one to get her to sleep. She still loves to sleep on her daddy's shoulder :) I remember hoping that the other girls would get good pictures (they did!) and that the paper work would go smoothly (it did!) and that we would get photos from her time in the orphanage/foster care as well as a few of the things that we had sent to her (we did!). God truly provided for us (yes, as always!!).

She only cried when they forced her to comply with a foot print. She was emotionally and physically exhausted by that point. By the time that she woke up (as we were standing in line for her passport picture in another building), she was ready to play. We knew that she was going to love sports when she took an empty water bottle and heaved it across the room, right into the back of Kailan's (her cribmate) dad's head. She does have an arm :)

In the past 24 months, we have learned so much about our little girl. She's eager to learn and to DO! We celebrated Family Day today by going to COSI, and her favorite phrase of the day was "I want to do that!" She yearns to play sports and to interact with her world. She can dribble a basketball with ease and hit a softball across the road. She shares Emmy's passion for sports and music, and it's no mistake that she strives to imitate Emmy. Emmy hasn't always appreciated the transformation from "little sister" to "role model," but Ellie-Kate forced it. She loves "her Emmy."

Ellie-Kate is so smart. Now three years and almost two months old, she carries on conversations with ease, and she reminds us to put on our seat belt and to turn off the lights and to stop at the store for whatever we need. We call her our baby GPS because she knows Athens so well. If we go past our usual turn, she tells us about it, and she announces what we're passing and how to get to different places as we drive through town (and even parts of the surrounding countryside). Further, she remembers names so easily. Whenever she's with a child at the rec center or pre-school, she learns his or her name, and she announces it when we see the child out in public. Sometimes, she'll look at an adult and say "oh that's so and so's mommy.) Usually, she's right :)

I just treasure her... When I think about all of the things that I read about adoption, I know that she's so bonded with us. I'm not sure what she recalls (or will recall) about her time in China, but, thus far, she does not like to be around Asian people or to look at pictures from China. In fact, such episodes usually prompt nightmares for a few nights... I guess if that reaction constitutes her only "scar," we're so fortunate, but my heart aches for her. I praise God that she was generally well-cared for, but, well, she hates to be still, and she hates the dark, and I think that she likely had her times in a dark nursery or immobile in a bed, due to her hip problems. With love and God's grace, she'll keep healing from the challenges of those early days.

After all, in the past 24 months, we have been to countless doctors, and we have been so tremendously reassured-- the hole in her heart has healed completely without intervention; both of her hips (previously displaced) healed completely without intervention; the spinal biffida occulta continues to be a non-issue, even with potty training. Only her ears remain as an ongoing health issue-- yup, she gets ear wax, and, apparently, Asian ear wax can be so hard that it can only be surgically removed. Thus, we go up to Columbus twice a year for ear wax removal :) Once labeled as a "special needs baby," she's now been recurrently labeled as a "perfectly healthy child."

Over the past 24 months, we have watched as she has so completely integrated herself into our family that more than one person has remarked that she looks like us (interesting, given her raven black hair amid the other blondes...) and that she fits so naturally with the other girls. However, she is just one of us, and even her personality melds so well with them. She is "such a little sister," even though she can often be the most mature one in the room.

On this special day, Ellie-Kate, I just want to say "I love you." You're such a special gift, and the past 24 months have truly been the most blessed and joyous of my life. You absolutely complete our family, and I can't imagine our lives without you.

With much love,

Mommy