It's been 7 months.

7 months ago today I saw this picture.

I read the attached paragraph that told me a scant amount of info about her sweet little life.

And that's all I needed to see and know.

An overwhelming amount of peace filled me and in my heart I knew she was my daughter.

Wow, what a whirlwind it has been.

Last week I was at the extreme level of excitement.

This week it has become more surreal.

 

And the enormity of it all, frankly, is a bit overwhelming right now.

I am in a bit of a zombie state as my brain and my heart try to make sense of all that is happening, all that has happened (what has happened in her life and our lives that has brought us to where we are today), and all that is about to happen....  

 

A very well meaning person said to me this week, "You must really like 'projects' since you keep getting more and more kids to help."  Knowing that she was speaking out of naivety helped me to reply gently, "They are not projects.  They are real children.  Real children that have lived a life of hell.  Real children that desperately need to know they are loved.  And they are now my children.  They are real people." 

 

I have known she was my child for exactly 7 months.

But my heart has not connected with her until the last several weeks.  The paperwork, and life in general, has been too fast and furious for me to  have the time to dwell on her. 

 And this week, that is pretty much all I am doing.

She is my baby girl.  

And she needs to come home.

I really hope that my heart can relax a bit when I see Marc holding her on FaceTime.  

We will see.

In the meantime, there have been some smiles around here.

The other night, while I was up late working on her quilt, Marc sat close to me and was practicing saying her name as he listened to it repeatedly on Google translator.  Oh man, I think I cried, I was laughing so hard. 

The only thing I have packed so far is her clothes.  And before I packed them I laid them all out to show Marc so I could give him the necessary instructions.

Oh man, that was funny too.  Dressing his daughter for two weeks is going to be a stretch for him.  ;)

Can't believe its only been 7 months.

And I can't imagine it being any longer.

This is torture.

6 days till my boys head to China.

10 days till I get to see Abby wrapped in her daddy's love.