Today.

Today is a rather important day! Jude finally has his surgery to close his cleft palate. And along with that, comes tubes in both ears....and oh yeah....circumcision. Yikes. Good luck with that, buddy. ;)

And as glad as I am that my little man will finally be on the other end of these procedures, part of my focus is not on him today.

Because, today also happens to be the 2nd anniversary of Rylie's Gotcha Day!

2 years ago, we saw her face to face for the first time. There were lots of tears. Lots of uncertainty. Lots of hope. She dropped the title "orphan," and claimed the title "beloved daughter." 

Over the next few weeks, there were more tears, and screaming, and tantrums, and me wondering what the heck we had gotten ourselves into. I learned how very vulnerable she was. I learned how very inept I was. I realized there was only one avenue for her healing....and it wasn't me. 

Over the past year, we have found redemption and grace, development and growth. For both of us. And for our family as a whole.

That day, 2 years ago, changed everything for us.

And so, even though we are with her brother today, and not her...well, today we celebrate our Rylie girl.

Rylie, you are wonderfully made and amazingly strong. You are a survivor and the bravest person I know. And while you still challenge me every. single. day, I love you more than I can express and I am so glad you are mine. You are my best teacher to date. And I praise God that He picked us to be your family.

Happy Gotcha Day Rylie Layne!

We celebrated last night with a little dinner in her honor!