Happy July 2 !!!

Well ... I spent today a whole lot differently than I did a year ago today. Today ... I woke up to a sick baby. Nothing serious ... just a lovely fever virus. At 4 am this morning ... MG woke me up by talking ... constantly. I reached over to pat her back and realized that she had a temp. I took it ... it was 102. So we go trapsing thru the house to get the tylenol. She seemed to feel fine ... was jabbering away. After an hour of her talking non -stop and her fever going down ... she finally dozed off to dreamland again.

She ran temp off and on all day, but tonite, she has been just fine. Laughing ... oh my goodness ... she has been the silliest thing !!! We have played Ms. Potato Head ... puzzles ... read books...eaten popsicles ... whatever she could think up to do. At one point ... she was trying to wear a pair of my shorts, and get the belt on correctly.

She fell asleep in the floor watching Ms. Spider's Sunny Patch. ( I LOVE that show .. it has a very positive message about adoption and the idea that a REAL family is the family that loves you and supports you. )

Now ... you may ask what were we doing a year ago today? Well, we left Hong Kong about 9 am on a Thursday morning. With all of the time changes, we arrived in Detroit about 1 pm and had a 6 hour layover. Mari-Grace took a 2 hour nap in the floor of the Delta terminal in Detroit.

I remember the anticipation I felt as we boarded the plane from Detroit to Little Rock. I remember being so excited to get off the plane and see our family. I started crying when we landed ... and the tears flowed until we got to the car. I have never seen so many people. Probably a 100 were waiting for us...and that is NOT an exaggeration.

Mari-Grace was small enough to fit in a baby carrier. She was very over-whelmed, and clung to me so tightly. I remember Hannah running strait to her daddy. My Mom and Dad came straight to me and Kelley and Mari-Grace.

We rode home ... by the time we got to the house ... it was after 10pm. With all of the excitement ... I was a bit wound up, but MG was ready for bed. For the first time, she saw her home. She slept in her own crib ... in her own room. She saw her very own toys and more importantly ... she met her very own family.

She is sleeping peacefully in my bed now. She has come so far in a year. I'm looking forward to seeing what adventures the next year will bring.