May 2, 2007 -A Very Special Date

A year ago tomorrow we received Leah's referral. I think I remember every detail of that day. Bill came home early and we waited by the phone. Our agency called and told us about our little princess whom we named Leah Meili. After the call we went to the computer to look at Leah's picture. She was beautiful. We both immediately got on the phone and started calling everyone we knew. I called my mom first. It was the second call about a new grand-daughter she got that day. Abby was referred about 5 minutes before Leah. We met my mom and dad for lunch so they could see Leah. My mom then showed every waitress her picture. Bill's mom, dad, aunt and uncle came over later that evening for dinner. I went to work that night and became one of those parents who shows baby pictures to you even if you don't ask to see.

Though the day we got Leah was wonderful, Bill and I both agree referral day was the best. For two and a half years we had said we were adopting a baby from China. We didn't know when we would get her. We didn't know where she was living. We didn't know what she looked like. Referral day changed everything. We could look at a map and see where she lived. We found video of her orphanage. We could even check the weather. She was real.

Referral day was and always will be our day. In October we think of her birth parents who must be thinking and wondering about her on her birthday. On Gotcha day we will think of Leah and her nannies who took care of her for 8 1/2 months. Leah had to say goodbye to them and the only home she ever knew. The day we left China was exciting but Leah was saying goodbye to her country and her culture.

May 2, 2007 was the day we fell in love with the cutest little face in the entire world.

Picture taken July 2007