Happy FIFTH Family Day, Mila!

Today is the day...Oct 22nd. The day that Kamila Naomi finally joined our little family forever and for always. If I would have been told 6 years ago the level of soap opra that would insue to welcome Mila home, I would have laughed in your face--there is no way half of that would ever be possible. An entire arm of the Catholic church baring the adoption?  *eyeroll* Ridiculous.  A judge demanding that a city-wide search be done for Mila's first family. What?! Is that even a thing?!  Having very real conversations about how to move or not move foward if Mila's first family was found and having even more real time on my knees, offering this child back to the Lord that was never mine to begin with.  Heartwrenching. Meeting the women who literally helped deliver my daughter into this world. Awwwww.What are the chances? Leaving for 93 days without any clue if there would ever be a return date CLIFFHANGER!...until Oct 22nd: when Mila ran into my arms forever.   

The journey since coming home has been far from easy. Teenage adoption is hard--asking an adolescent to set aside all their defense and coping mechanisms that kept them alive for the last 13 & 1/2 years to enter into a new country, new language, new culture, new family, new structures, new trust is as painful as it sounds. Add an extra chromosome to that mix and only one parent and it's 10/10 hard for everyone.  But after 5 years, we are solidly taking more steps forward than we are backward. Praise the Lord!  I know there is still a long way to go...for both of us...but I am confident that the God who lovingly navigated us through the Great Albanian Soap Opera of 2018 will continue to lead us by the still waters of His grace. 

We celebrated the day quietly...my teenager slept in until almost 8am (unheard of!), we ate a big breakfast and I suprised her with watching the entirity of HAMILTON (her absolute favorite, that for my own sanity I had previously assigned watching to July 4th only or it would be an every day request).  She asked to work on one of her new puzzles followed by hamburgers at Red Robin (also, a special event).  We ended the day by watching her Family Day videos--the first one from Oct 22, 2018 and now from the last year.    

Kamila Naomi, you are the sweet flower of hope that God placed into my heart and our family.  Your very existence is a miracle and we have seen the Lord move mightly because of who you are.  You are loved, Mila for exactly who you are and all that we will become together.  <3 (Also, your brother may or may not have hidden your toothpaste...I heard giggling, and that's all I know *wink*)