A lot of people don't celebrate the day they met their child. For many, it wasn't a happy day. Many children grieve horribly. For some the day was so stressful they just can't think of anything to celebrate about it. Some people even feel that its a negative day for their child, a day of loss --country, culture, language-- and therefore not something to be celebrated.
These are all perfectly valid sentiments and each family is different. But, for me, the day I first held Georgiana in my arms will go down in history as one of the best days of my life. For years I dreamed of having a little girl to complete our family. When we applied to adopt from china the wait for referral had been at 6-8 mos for a few years. Just our luck, the very month we submitted our paperwork to china, the slowdown hit. Our 6-8 month wait turned into 31.5 grueling months of massive slowdown. I admit, I cried a lot. I had zero faith that it would happen.
But then eventually on 9/28/08 we did receive our referral! About 10 weeks later on December 7th, when she was exactly 11 mos old, we waiting outside a conference room in our hotel. I was looking over the railing at the ornate circular stairway when finally she came into view. Sweet, stoic Georgie being carried up the stairs by one of the swi workers. She was wearing a puffy brown puppy outfit and little shoes with pumpkins on them. She looked confused and concerned. I've seen the look many times in the last two years. Her sad look. It broke my heart that night and its broken my heart every time since.
She was then abruptly placed in my arms by the swi director and, just like that, she was ours. Before we traveled I'd given thought to naming her Georgiana Joy instead of Georgiana Rose. In retrospect it would have been a good choice. She is a joy. An absolute joy. I cherish my daughter. She is one of my greatest gifts. She is sweet and smart and so beautiful. I feel so lucky to get to be her mama.
I fully recognize that just because Georgie Day is one of the greatest days of my life, G may at some point feel differently. If and when that happens, we'll have to reassess. But until then, we'll celebrate!
This is G on the original Georgie Day:
Bobby and G were a little under the weather but G was really excited about Georgie Day so we decided to go out anyway. For the second year in a row we went to PF Chang's. Certainly not traditional chinese but so yummy! G got her gift from china, a small doll, that she loved! She sat it next to her on the seat during dinner. Any attempt to move it were quickly rebuffed.G opening her gift
G doing her favorite thing in the world, coloring!
The pix of us are just not very good. The one below is probably the absolute best. bummer.
G with her dolly
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