What a difference a year makes...

Sept 7th, 2004: Ruby is born in Jiangxi province-Nanchang, China
Sept 7th, 2005: I receive her Referral and fell HEAD OVER HEELS IN LOVE!

Jan 31st, 2005: My Official LID
Jan 31st, 2006: Ruby is officially WALKING ALL BY HERSELF!

It's amazing to me the difference a year makes...

Sometimes milestones can come sooner than a year; for instance... when Ruby was handed to me in China on Nov 20th, 2005, she could barely crawl, she merely dragged her lower body with her hands scratching & clawing at the floor in desperation to become mobile. Poor thing, she looked like a soldier on maneuvers...

Within the first few weeks, I taught her to crawl... then within the next few weeks, to pull herself up and 'cruize' holding onto things... baby steps, right?

Then, just yesterday, my girl decided it was high time to just take off & get shit done, so off she went!
No more holding Momma's hand out of necessity, now it's out of desire & love, not desperation or fear.
She's walking ALL OVER MY HOUSE & I'm BEYOND THRILLED! I have baby gates & live in a small but cozy 5 room apartment, so no worries about her newfound mobility, just a gate here & some toys there & we're good to go!

It's just amazing to me to think about all that's happened in my life in a matter of a year, & when I start to think about all these things, my thoughts turn to my friends who are currently in the midst of the 'process' and are either paperchasing or brown envelope waiting, or DTC or LID, and are either waiting for or have just received their Referral and or TA etc...

I wonder what they'll be able to say one year from this date... will they too be celebrating a milestone of their own? Most likely... and all I can hope for is that I can be there to share in their joy!

HERE'S TO ALL OF YOU WHO ARE STILL WAITING TO PUT YOUR ARMS AROUND YOUR PRECIOUS CHILDREN! YOU ARE ALL IN OUR PRAYERS EVERY NIGHT!

*BIG GROUP HUG*

-Amy & Ruby (& Bear too...)