A Very Special Day....

Tonight, a special treat. I am giving the normal staff writer the evening off and decided today to try my hand at writing. Now forgive me if this posting isn't as eloquently worded as others, I am much better at writing proposals that justify PM hours and contract modifications than I am at blogging. But, here goes!

One year ago today, a very special moment occured. A moment I thought fate did not have in my cards. I became a mom and we became a family. It was years in the making and did not occur the way I thought it would occur. Who would have known, after all the years of trying, seeing tiny little heart beats on ultrasounds, 8 cell embryos under high power microscopes, countless tests, operations and medications and doctor appointments that my child was chosen for me already! Fate would have her waiting for me half way around the world. I can't tell you what it is like to carry a child physically and feel that little life grow inside you, but I can tell you what it is like to carry a child in your heart for months on end, waiting with no indication or control over the situation, for a stranger in an office to select your child and then send you a few small photos. The "stork" was a FedEx plane and "labor" was a 16 hours flight from Newark to Hong Kong and "delivery" was in a small, hot crowded hallway in the Guangdong Adoption Affairs building in Guangzhou China. And on April 2nd, 2006, "GD04" as we were known became a "mom."


And now, here I am, one year later, looking back and wouldn't change anything about the way my life has happened. "Little Miss Magic" as we sometimes call her has captured our hearts, home and life. Her cute little smile, devilish little "look" when she knows she is not listening to you, her deligthfully full laugh when you tickle her or do something silly. She was handed to us in the blink of an eye - "gotcha day" they call it - and completely and perfectly fits in to our family. She loves music, playing drums like her dada, she loves hockey and expensive shoes like her momma. She takes all things in stride, not letting life get her down. Now all is not just a great stroll in an English Rose Garden either. She has tested me more than anyone or anything I have known. And just when I think I have had all I can handle, she gives me the biggest hug a little 2 year old can give, pats me on my back and says "I wud you" and I seem to forget what I was mad about and realize that this is the best and most rewarding part to being a mom. I would not change a thing about her - she is my daughter through and through. Matched to us perfectly by fate and a very special worker in the adoption affairs department in China.

So, perhaps there is such a thing as fate. And perhaps, no matter how hard we try to control fate, fate will always win. So in closing as it's late and need to get a few moments sleep before I get my wake up call, but I will leave you with pictures from our "Gotcha Day" celebration where we spent the day at the NC Zoo and a very special saying. An ancient Chinese belief about fate and how all the people we are going to meet and all the things that are going to happen will occur, just according to fate and inevitably in the right time and place.

"An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but will never break."

Enjoy!!

Ann Marie "Does fate see a sale at Talbots", Michael "Can I take over writing now" and Savannah "Little Miss Magic"