Today marks yet another special day for all of us! We have now been home exactly one year with Mason-Kate. It's funny, the boys still have the streamers hanging in their bedroom door from our welcome home decorations people left for us on this day last year. I can still feel the energy and excitement I felt inside one year ago today as we were on our final plane ride approaching Atlanta. I remember a lady who was just behind me on the longest escalator ride ever in the airport....she asked me if MK was my daughter. I beamed with joy and said "Yes"....she said, "I can see how proud you are to be her mother"....that stranger was so right. I was/am proud to be her mother. Last year we were united with our family on this day. This year we spent the evening with friends. Not just friends, though, very special friends. Last year, we did not know these people. This year, they prove to be part of an extended family of sorts. We are all tied together with the adoption thread. We told our story of how we were flying from China this time last year. One family shared that they will travel to be united with their son hopefully in May. Another family shared that they have been accepted into the Waiting Child program - they have two bio children and one precious little girl from China. Another family shared how they are "pregnant" after finalizing all of their documents for a domestic adoption. This, all in one year, and all in our little adoption group. How exciting it is for us to be a part of all of this. I love, love, love sharing our story, I love providing support to those who are struggling with adoption, I love being able to encourage those who wait, I love that MK was a "waiting child" who is waiting no more and I love the fact that when we adopted Mason-Kate, we not only adopted a child, we, in a sense, adopted a new way of looking at life.
