Today is Ella Day. Chip and I met our daughter one year ago today in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. After months of gazing at photos of a baby that would be ours, and wondering what she was like, we got to see and hold and touch our baby girl.
Having Ella in our family is such a gift. So often, when we first came home from Africa, people would comment on the gift we were giving our baby. The gift, I suppose, was the opportunity to grow up in America. I'll never forget when Ella and I met a woman while we were out shopping one day. Ella smiled and waved and blew kisses to the lady who turned to me with tears in her eyes and told me how lucky I was to have received such a gift. And that's how we think of Ella. She is a gift from Africa, from her birth mother, and from the people in Ethiopia who took such sweet care of her.
Ella’s brothers are equally smitten. Nathan's second grade teacher told us during our conference that Nathan talks about his baby sister almost every day. And Ian won't let Ella go to bed without lots of hugs and kisses. We have our frustrations - Ella is a walking, talking (running and climbing) 18-month-old daredevil in a pink tutu. But, most days, we have loads of fun and more love than I ever imagined.
Having Ella in our family is such a gift. So often, when we first came home from Africa, people would comment on the gift we were giving our baby. The gift, I suppose, was the opportunity to grow up in America. I'll never forget when Ella and I met a woman while we were out shopping one day. Ella smiled and waved and blew kisses to the lady who turned to me with tears in her eyes and told me how lucky I was to have received such a gift. And that's how we think of Ella. She is a gift from Africa, from her birth mother, and from the people in Ethiopia who took such sweet care of her.
Ella’s brothers are equally smitten. Nathan's second grade teacher told us during our conference that Nathan talks about his baby sister almost every day. And Ian won't let Ella go to bed without lots of hugs and kisses. We have our frustrations - Ella is a walking, talking (running and climbing) 18-month-old daredevil in a pink tutu. But, most days, we have loads of fun and more love than I ever imagined.
1 comments:
I agree - she is a gift! We love her so much!!
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