Precious

Is there anything more precious than a baby, a sweet, happy, good natured, joyful baby? I think not. This is how I would describe my sweet E.

Tonight, we took a walk (thank god spring is nearly here where we are-- it's been a loooonnnng winter), and E spotted the moon.

And jumped, arms outstretched, to reach it.

Yes, baby girl, jump for the moon. Someday, I think you just might reach it. And when you do, I suspect you will hug it and give it a big, full-lipped kiss.

There's been a lot of talk lately about Ethiopian adoption, as you all know. I've been thinking about our two adoptions and that some think it is wrong to adopt infants when there are waiting children.

In our case, we'd planned to adopt a waiting child our second time around. I could even picture what she'd look like. And then our agency said we couldn't adopt out of birth order. That meant-- if we were to pursue adoption using "our" agency-- that we'd have to adopt an infant as R was barely one (15 months, to be exact) when we started our second adoption.

We chose to stick with our agency and bring another baby girl home.

I don't know who's right and who's wrong in debate about infant vs. waiting child. Both routes have risks, pros, and cons. All I do know is that had adopted an older child... we wouldn't have E.

And then, where would I be? I'd be without MY girl.

My girl who jumps for moon and expects to catch it.

My girl who kisses me on both my cheeks, my lips, and my nose and gives the biggest hugs before going to bed each night.

My girl who loves to sing and dance.

My girl who brings such joy to our family.

My girl who loves passionately and deeply.

My girl who has already proven herself to be a loyal and loving friend.

My girl who is the perfect daughter for our family.

As she jumped for the moon tonight, I thanked God, a silent prayer, for being her momma. I can't imagine my life without her.

I love you, E-poodle.