G'night Gracie

She's really our daughter.
There are times when I look at Grace and think about how blessed we are. It still seems like a dream, that we could fill out some paperwork, travel half way around the world and bring home the most precious and perfect daughter. She is a one-of-a-kind treasure that we have been entrusted with completely. It's still just hard to fathom the responsibility that comes with that. I'm completely 100,000% committed to this relationship and who would ever have thought? That fierce love that I hear people talk about with their biological children - I have that same love for Grace. Sometimes I just want to wrap her up in my arms and make sure nothing, ever, hurts her. Right now she has a cold that won't go away and an ear infection that's clearly bothering her. Yet she is a trooper - you would never know she was feeling bad except for the cough and tugging on her ears. And I feel so guilty not being able to stay home with her and keep her away from all those germs. She deserves more of my time. I miss not being home with her.

She amazes me every day. She has a new word that she loves to say - "ball". In fact we had the TV on tonight and she saw a commercial with a volleyball and a tennis ball and she pointed to the TV and repeated over and over again "ball, ball, ball, ball". She not only says "ball" she loves to play ball. Big or little, she loves her balls. Do I hear soccer player in her future? You never know. It's amazing to watch her enchanting personality develop. I just want to breathe in every minute of it and not forget a thing.