I can hardly believe that a mere 24 hours from now RP and I will be "celebrating" our first "Gotcha Day" anniversary! I still remember being SO anxious to get to the orphanage and walk out with her as a family, yet SO scared about what would come next. For as long as I waited and anticipated that day coming, I was also really sensitive that this would be a life-altering event for RP, disrupting the only life and only home she had ever known. I remember packing and unpacking her stuff for the trip, packing and repacking my suitcase in an attempt to keep myself busy (and hold on to what was, by that time, left of my sanity!), and worrying about our flight from St. Petersburg to Moscow. I am surprised that the outfit she wore out of the orphanage that day didn't have huge holes in it because I swear I held it, folded and refolded it, and just stared at it a million times while I waited to go and get her.
Today RP and I spent a "girls-day-out" at the mall, shopping for a dress for her. Thursday (our Gotcha Day anniversary!) I am having her one-year adoption pictures taken as well as her third-birthday pictures. For her one-year adoption pictures I actually found the exact same outfit she wore home to the US in her size, and I can't help but marvel as to how much she has grown. The original outfit she wore home was a size 6-9 months (yes, she was 22 months old at the time!) and the outfit she is wearing in the pictures is a size 24 month. For her third birthday pictures I wanted a really girly dress, so it was off to the mall we went to find the perfect one (which, by the way, will also serve as her Easter dress this year - yay for multi-purposing!). We found a beautiful pale pink silk dress that I call her "princess dress" and I can't WAIT for her to wear it, although I will have to be sure that she partakes of her "picture day M&M's far from this dress if I have any hopes of her wearing it for Easter in April. The dress is actually a size 2T which both thrills me (because she has truly thrived since arriving home with me) and saddens me (because I really can't call her my "baby" anymore - no more shopping in the baby section!).
Gotcha Day will be spent snuggling with RP and cherishing the day we truly became a family - not just on paper, but being together and growing and developing as a family unit. This year we are doing pictures on that day, and probably a nice lunch/dinner out along with lots of one-on-one time as a family. This is such a special day for us that I want to set the precedent, even before she truly comprehends what it means, that we spend this day reflecting on what we have, cherishing our time together, and relishing the fact that we found one another and can celebrate our love as a family. After all, that's what it's all about!
No comments:
Post a Comment