A year ago today, Belane was in my arms again. Most (if not all) adoptive parents spend a whole lot of time imagining (sometimes agonizingly so) about what that first meeting will be like, and what it will feel like to finally have that child you have dreamed about in your arms.

Sometimes, the parents only have one or two blurry pictures of their child, and do not even have a real accurate idea of what the child looks like. Many parents find that their child is either larger or smaller than they imagined, or has grown/aged a lot since that referral picture. Most adoptive parents do not have a very accurate idea of what their child's personality is going to be like, how he will greet their his parents or how he will adjust to his new family and life.

Combine all of that "unknown" with lots of waiting and waiting, and parents have ample opportunities to imagine what that first meeting will be like.

Some kids come to their new parents cautiously and slowly. Some kids come to their new parents kicking and screaming. Some kids come to their new parents happily and willingly. Some are sleeping, some are crying, some are sick and some are petrified (and any combination of the above). Some have horrible tantrums and some barely say a word.

On one hand, I had the benefit of having already met Belane in person. I knew about what size she was. I knew what she looked like. I knew how she felt in my arms. I think that made the waiting both easier and more difficult all at the same time.

I had prepared myself that our reunion may not be joyful on her part. I told myself over and over that while I felt my heart forever changed the day we had met nine months earlier, that I was likely just another visitor to the orphanage to her. I have a feeling that the photo album we sent her (which had been read many, many times) and some preparation from the loving women at AHOPE had a lot to do with Belane being so happy and willing to come to me.

After all of my fears and worries, Belane ran straight into my arms (and stayed there for the better part of the next six months). :)

She was wearing a red velvet dress that was soaking wet in the back a year ago today. Since she never once had a bathroom accident the rest of our time in Ethiopia, I am not sure why she was wet! Her hair was just starting to grow in from a recent shaving. She had quite a few bumps, cuts, scrapes, scabs and scars, and she had that "orphanage" smell to her. But her warm little body snuggled right into mine as it had during our first meeting, and as she fell asleep in my lap during that cab ride back to the hotel, my heart breathed a huge sigh of relief and swelled with joy and contentment.

Day One with Belane - Part One

Day One with Belane - Part Two

Day One with Belane - Part Three

Day One with Belane - Part Four