One Hill At A Time: 2012

Years ago when I had just started teaching I was chatting with my friend Katie after school. We were talking about our weekend and she told me they were going to her in-laws to celebrate her husband, Mike's, Gotcha Day. I had never heard the term "Gotcha Day" before. She explained that Mike had been adopted as a baby and his family celebrates the day they placed him in their arms every year. I was so touched by her story and especially touched by how much he loved his parents and looked forward to celebrating with them every year the day they became a family.

Mike's story really affected me and the concept of Gotcha Day rolled around in my head for weeks to come. I developed a mental image of a Daddy chasing a toddler around the house saying "I'm gonna getcha!". I picture those little legs going as fast as they could while he's laughing all the way, thrilled to be playing this game with his Dad. Finally the Dad overtakes the little guy and they fall to the floor in a fit of giggles. The mental image captured my heart. In retrospect I think the Lord was preparing me for our future adoptions even then when we weren't at a point where we were thinking of children yet.

Years later we were beginning the process of adoption. As we waited and wondered what life would be like with more than two of us in our family my mental Gotcha Day image of the Daddy was replaced with Bryan. I could see him chasing our little one around. I could see the delight on his face and the love for his son. Knowing how much we went through in our journey to have children and how he longed to be a Daddy made the image even sweeter! I couldn't wait to see him chase our little guy around the house and finally wrap his arms around him and fall to the floor giggling "I gotcha!"

In October 2004 our dreams became a reality when our son was born. Jaden's birthmom allowed us to be in the delivery room when he was born. To experience being a mom from the moment of Jaden's first breath was such a gift! (We will forever be grateful, Danielle! Thank you!) The concept of Gotcha Day was something we had fallen in love with, however since the day he was placed in our arms was the same as his birthday, we decided to make Jaden's Gotcha Day May 2nd, the day his adoption was finalized in the courts. Once Jaden started crawling Bryan would get down on all fours and crawl after him saying "I'm gonna getcha!" and my mental picture became a reality. Jaden giggled and laughed and tried to crawl away with all his might and at the same time wanting to be captured. The joy I saw in Bryan's face was even more intense than in my mental picture and Jaden's love for his Dad was overwhelming. My heart was so full!

And here we are again, adding another Gotcha Day into the family. Yesterday was Lucy's first Gotcha Day! The fun thing about Lu was that she started crawling shortly after we brought her home. We didn't have to wait months and months to play our little chase game. Bryan and I both play it with her often and she just melts into giggles, loving every minute of it! It took a long time, Lucy, but we finally gotcha and we are never letting go! My heart is more full than I ever could have imagined with two beautiful children so full of energy and so full of love!

Our little Lulabelle has knit into all three of our hearts this past year - we are smitten! Lu skipped walking and went straight to running and 12 months. She is a quick little one and loves being on the move constantly! She's starting to talk now, which has been really fun. She typically just pronounces part of the word, but we understand her perfectly and she is elated when she realizes we understand her. She melts our hearts by blowing us kisses and clapping her hands when the Broncos are on and raising her hands during worship at church. At 18 months she climbed out of her crib and the pack-n-plays at both of the grandparents houses! That made for a rough few weeks, but I think we are finally all on the same page that once she's in the crib she is meant to stay in the crib! We are fortunate enough to live within 10 minutes of both sides of our family. Lu will have spend the nights often at both grandparents houses - she adores them all along with her aunts and uncles and cousins. Her favorite thing to do is play at the park. Her little legs kick and kick whenever we pass her favorites! What a climber this girl is - and no fear whatsoever! She will litterally climb a ladder that is as tall as me and whiz down the slide before we can get to the end. She also loves the water - we have another avid swimmer on our hands! Lu is a little peanut with a very big, bold personality. She is definitely the firecracker we were told Fuzhou girls can be! She is such a happy, happy little girl. Her smile is infectious. She brings us so much joy!

In honor of Lucy's first Gotcha Day I'm posting some of my favorite pictures from the last year. God has been kind to us in so many ways. We love you LuLu and we're so happy we Gotcha!