January to January

I really should wait & post this at our family day, and I probably will post a similar one then, but for now, here is a sneak preview.
Last January, I had referral pictures in hand and was waiting on Travel Approval. A family adopting from the same orphanage was kind enough to ask for Madeline when they visited in late January and took lots of photos to send to me! What a gift! The only other pics I had were from October! This is how she looked in January of 2009...

Fastforward a year, to January 2010...Could this really be the same girl? Her chin is still that sweet little heart shape, her eyes are still every bit her eyes, her round cheeks are still there, but there is a change, and it's not just age...
Her smile is bright and her eyes sparkle- her skin is glowing and her hair is shiny! She stands with confidence and runs to me when I go to pick her up at Daycare and says "Mama!" laughing and giggling- she runs to hug Jeremy when we get home crashing into him with an exclamation of "Baba Baba!!!" She was healthy and appeared to be well taken care of when she became a part of our family, but she did not have the love of her family to fill her soul. This is the difference a year makes.

It wasn't all easy, it wasn't all hard. It fell somewhere in the middle. Some days felt long, most felt too short. That there is not enough time in a day to play with her and take it all in and really relish every single moment. Every late night, every shared cheerio and piece of cheese, every scrape and cry and every bottle has made our family stronger, and has made her confidence in her forever family stronger. Because this time, as we near the anniversary of the last big trauma in her life, life will continue, and it will not change. We will continue to be a family, we will continue to have late night bottles, middle of the night cries, trips to the park and the zoo and the grocery store, bubble baths and family time chasing each other around on our hands and knees underneath the dining room table. We will continue to be a forever family, forever.

But still, I can't believe what a difference in our daughter from January to January.