A Year Ago Today...

...I FINALLY got word that my case had been OFFICIALLY approved by the Guatemalan government, which meant that I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt for the first time that Isabelle was coming home! There are a lot of milestones and anniversaries throughout the adoption process that I'll always remember, and others that faded a lot faster than I'd have ever thought possible when I was in the midst of the process, but July 10 I think is one I'll always remember.

Click here to see my post from a year ago :) There were days, weeks, even months when it looked like I might never escape from PGN or ever make it through all the changes in laws and governments to bring her home! At my lowest, I remember finding out about the new addition of bringing back the birth mothers for another interview (in my case, it was more than a year after she had relinquished custody and 9 months since had last seen Isabelle) and giving Isabelle's birth mother (and all the others) the opportunity to change her mind.

That whole experience was emotionally gut-wrenching. On the one hand, if anything had not been done properly with the adoption process or if perhaps Isabelle's birth mom's situation had changed and she was in a position to be able to make the decision to parent Isabelle, then I knew that she needed to be afforded that opportunity. But the emotions that went into knowing that could happen were, well, let's just say not pleasant. Like had my head hanging over a toilet bowl kind of not pleasant. But God is good and miracles really do happen!

When I think about the last year it is amazing to know how far we have come, and how incredibly well Isabelle has done. I have a 2-year-old who:

• Asks to brush her teeth before dinner so she can use her Elmo toothbrush
• Loves music and is currently addicted to the Oh Brother Where Art Thou CD. Yeah, I know...
• Sometimes insists on wearing her yellow crocs to bed and almost always insists on wearing socks to bed. Must have gotten that from me. (The socks, not the crocs)
• Has begun putting herself in time out until she stops crying, at which point she gets herself out, comes and finds me and says, "Mommy, Belle nice now." I have to admit, it is really tempting to try to find reasons to put her in time out because she is so cute when she gets up! But of course I wouldn't really do that...would I!?
• Ate a whole apple today for the first time. Yeah, all I got at the end of it was one seed and the stem. Oh, and the sticker ;)
• Loves to be helpful and will vacuum, mop, take out the trash, carry in the groceries, put the groceries on the conveyer belt, and load the dryer...
• Can count to 10 but really prefers to start with 6
• Loves to wrap her little arms around my neck and hug me with all her might and put her hands on my cheeks and kiss me. Ahhh...
• Can get the dogs up in the morning, feed them, brush them, and lets me know when they need to go out
• Is starting to get really into her "friends". Currently her friends of the week are Mommy, Elmo, Jennifer, Susan, and Lella. Oh, and Faith and Eli. Of course!
• Loves older people. Which is good, because it means she is wonderful when it comes to doing shut-in and nursing home visits. She's the star of the show, they love seeing her, and it means I can cut out a few hours of childcare! She's been to Hospice to see a member in his final days and she's been to the Alzheimer's unit and to see a member on oxygen and one who is mentally challenged. I didn't take her to the lock-in psych unit, though...
• Can put her pants on by herself and would be happy if I let her wear an Elmo shirt every day of the week.
• Knows exactly where the bananas are in Wal-Mart and where we found the Elmo socks in Target!
• No longer has seriously bowed legs!
• Will randomly go up and hug people she really likes. Yeah, that goes over pretty well with the folks at church she has picked as her favorites as well ;)
• Has renamed her prince charming doll after one of my guy friends. Yeah, thanks Lois! Like that won't be hard to explain...
• Can identify her favorite blog I follow and asks me to turn on the music. And leave it on. For hours. Ironic that I was already doing that at work when she isn't even around!
• Can practically put herself to bed. I just change her, lay her down, and walk out. No tears, no noise, and by 7:05 PM all is quiet :)
• Remembers that she got scratched by a cat 2 months ago, that she fell off the changing table once, and that her thumb nail fell off last month, but NEVER remembers when I have a bad day or get mad...
• Is generally the most agreeable, happy-go-lucky, pleasant little person I have ever been around! And I'm not biased at all...people tell me that all the time! And they aren't even all related to her/me!

I am blessed. So very, very blessed :) Pics of the last 2 years to follow below...