Happy 2nd Gotcha Day Zoya!

2 Years ago today, we walked out of Zoya's orphanage, holding her in our arms, never to return! You can read about Zoya's gotcha day HERE. I can't read that post without crying. Crying for the nothingness my daughter had for almost two years and crying happy tears for the new life she was given! As I was reading back over posts I had written around the time of Zoya's gotcha day, and our days as a new family of three, I felt as if time was just slipping through my fingers at a suffocatingly quick speed. I almost can't remember Zoya being that small and fragile. I almost forget she lived in an orphanage for almost two years. I almost forget she wasn't always here with us. I almost forget she grew in another woman's womb and that woman is out there somewhere. I will never, however, forget the day we got to walk out of that orphanage with our girl! The day was a mix of excitement when we walked in with chocolates and champagne for the orphanage staff and then let down when nobody even wanted to tell Zoya goodbye; when they simply walked toward us with Zoya only wearing a diaper, all she owned.  They held her as if she were not even worthy of a gentle touch, and coldly handed her over to us and just.walked.away! She was nobody to anybody there. But she is everything to everyone here! She has brought so much joy to our lives. Zoya's heart has melted into ours. God surely knew exactly what he was doing when he created this special girl!

Celebrating her Gotcha day by eating at her favorite restaurant (mashed potatoes and chicken!)

Zoya's new "model pose"

Zoya is growing up so fast...too fast if you ask me. She's more mature and she's talking so much! In fact, tonight she looked at Shawn and I and said "Car. I want keys please." WHAT?! She just seems so grown up to me. How is that possible at "only-almost-four"??? My heart is at a loss for words tonight and I'm feeling proud, but also pretty sad about how our little girl is growing up so fast. We have so many hopes and dreams for her, but our biggest dream continues to be that she would use her God-given talents to contribute to this beautiful world. And she is already doing that at 3 1/2 years old! Her zest for life is contagious. People often say to me "Is she always so happy?" That answer would be a big fat "NO", but she experiences life without holding back...the happy and the sad, love, frustration, every emotion imaginable experienced at it's fullest.  She is so aware of everyone around her. Her intuition far surpasses the intuition of most children her age. There is no way to put Zoya into any "box" ever created. She is simply Zoya. I so want to be just like her when I grow up! I wish I had better words tonight to do my sweet girl justice! Since I don't, I'll share pictures.

My biggest life lesson from Zoya: Dance when you feel like it!

Sweet girl feeling sad for the dogs in the mall....that face shows her empathy perfectly!

We celebrated with some ice cream!

She talked Daddy into giving her the keys to the car ;)

"Okay, seatbelt's on...NOW can we go???"

I've been seeing a lot of this lately...Zoya has finally started RUNNING!

She's acting like a teenager already!

Throwing the bottle....

"oops, how did that happen? I'm innocent but my face says it all!"

Happy 2nd Gotcha Day! We are proud to call ourselves your mama and daddy! We love you so much....how much is so? Way Way more than you'll know! 

(taken from one of Zoya's favorite books "I love you so much.")