We Gotcha!

I've taken lots of pictures lately, and we just got back from an epic road trip that I need to post about soon, but I feel bad that I haven't made mention here of Leah's special anniversary that happened last month.  March 12th was the one year anniversary of Leah's gotcha day.  Last year (when it was actually March 11th at home) I received the best birthday present ever.  (It turned out to be the best although I felt the most intense nervousness/anticipation/I'm sweating down to my elbows feelings I've ever felt in my life on that particular day!)   I still can't look at pictures of gotcha day without getting all teary, and if I watch the actual movie just cue the water works.  It was emotional to say the least.  One of these days when I have time I want to post some looks back to Leah's time and our time together in China.  I am truly amazed at how far she has come.  The Leah of a year ago was a 16 lb. 16 month old who was just learning to eat solid food, roll over, and stand with help for the first time.  When I look at her today I am sure of two things:  Leah is a valiant little spirit who is tough beyond what I can even imagine, and she has a loving Heavenly Father who watched over her in the toughest of circumstances and has helped her to bloom.  She is amazing, and I feel so blessed to be her mom.  She has brought so much love to our family.  

This is not a great picture at all, but you get the idea.  Leah is holding a picture of herself in China when she was almost a year old.  She weighed less than 12 lbs. and was wearing tiny baby socks that were baggy on her.  Leah now wears a 2T and her feet have grown to a size 5 which is huge for her!  The physical changes in Leah are not the most profound though.  Leah has learned to love.  She now gives hugs and kisses with meaning.  She wraps her arms around your neck and holds on tight.  She giggles until she has the hiccups.  She tells us she loves us and can sing most of the words to "I am a Child of God." She is sweet and smart and everyday I look at her in amazement.  She knows many of her ABCs, speaks in the cutest little sentences, and counts.  She has an amazing memory.  Quick story—at the beginning of Leah's little dance class each week her teacher calls roll.  After about the second week Leah would point to each girl whose name was called.  She learned their names before I did!  This week as a crazy coincidence we ran into one of the little girls from her class on our Spring Break trip.  Leah immediately recognized and called "McKenzie" by name even though she was soaking wet from swimming.  Her mom was shocked and I was too!  Leah is a determined little soul.  I have watched her do things with only one hand that her brothers have struggled with at a much older age...like peel an orange.  Nothing stops this girl.

Something that does my heart good is that finally in the last month or so Leah has slowed down her eating habits a little bit and become picky.  I take this as a good sign that she is finally confident her next meal is coming.  It used to be that she would eat anything and everything as fast as she could, but I think we have gained her trust in this area.  Although her table manners still leave a lot to be desired (this is something the boys laugh about nightly at dinner) she is learning to pick and choose the things she wants to eat and isn't afraid anymore to say no to food.  A great step in her attachment to us!

Leah has us all wrapped around her little finger, and she has taught us all lessons about how to be more compassionate and understanding.  I am so grateful we took this leap of faith and brought our little girl home.  I know she was always meant to be with our family.  It just took a few miracles along the way to get her here.  We gotcha Leah and you're stuck with us forever!