How quickly time passes!

Four months ago, at this very moment, your father and I walked into the court room in Vladiovostok, Russia...knowing our lives were about to be changed forever. An hour & a half later - at about 4:45 p.m. (we forgot to look at our watches for the exact time), we heard the words that we had been waiting so long to hear. We were found fit by the Russian court to be your parents! We would not officially become a family for another 10 days, but in our hearts, we were already a family.

In four months' time, you have woven yourself right into the fabric of our life...in fact, it seems like you've pretty much been around forever. They will never completely disappear, but the memories of what life was like before you came into our life are fading.

As we approach your 2nd birthday, I am often overcome with sadness that we did not know you on the day that you were born, and that we seem to have missed so much -- but at the same time, I am ever thankful that we have come to know you. We may have missed your first tooth or your first smile, but we will cherish the tooth you are cutting right now - the "first" since you have been ours completely, and your first smile the day after we brought you back to the hotel.

Many prayers have been answered, and many things happened just right - on our journey to you. God has such a perfect plan for our lives, and as I stop to contemplate all of the things that happened perfectly (though how imperfect they may have seemed at the time) to bring us to you, I am overcome with awe. We try to imagine life with any other child and the images do not come. You are the perfect fit for us, and I pray we will be - if not perfect, then - good, fair, loving parents to you.

Again, I say - where has the time gone? In a month, we begin your first postplacement report - and I can still remember the pain of waiting for you to come home. My feelings are often a bit surreal and they are difficult to put into words.

But please know, I've loved you since before I knew who you were...and I will love you forever. Happy "Four Months" - and an early Happy Birthday to you, my precious child.