Our 8th Gotcha Day

Last weekend we celebrated the day we became parents.

8 years ago, when we got the call that changed every single part of our lives.  Little Josie Girl was on her way and it will forever be my most favorite day of the year.  So many dreams came true that day.

Josie has always been interested in her adoption story (unlike Gabe who looks at us like we are nuts when we try to tell him about his).  This past year was a big one for her in terms of dealing with what it means to be adopted.  She found out she has older siblings and her birth mom's name and had a lot of questions that we just couldn't answer for her.  There were tears and "Mommy I miss them" even though she'd never even met them and, man, there are some big emotions that come with adoption.

We've always been open with her.  We wait for her to ask and we divvy out details based on what we think she is mature enough to handle.  And sometimes we second guess ourselves.  Should we have kept that to ourselves?  Should we have waited for that information?

There are a lot of blogs about adoption that show you the miracle of Gotcha Days and finalization and the glory of saving children from places that aren't safe or good.  But not many dive into this hard stuff.  The questions you'd rather not answer and the statements that cut you right through your heart. The idea that there are other people out there that your child shares a connection with and how to reconcile that in your own heart, let alone help them work through it.

That's the stuff where redemption can happen.

And there is no easy way.  Like one of my favorite children's book says; "you can't go over it, you can't go under it, you can't go around it, you've gotta go through it."

But you know what is easy?

Celebrating the day the journey started.

The day we first held our miracle girl and a family was born.

She decided to celebrate by going to Build-A-Bear followed by pizza and yogurt with one of her buddies.