& now she's 3!

3 years ago, there was a Mother in China that gave birth to this sweet little girl that would become my daughter.

I find her birthday to be an emotional day for me and the upcoming period of time as her birth mother loved her, nursed her and then made the ultimate sacrifice to abandon her some time later, which would set her on her journey that would ultimately bring her to the other side of the world, where we would become her parents. I'm in awe of the journey. In awe that we, who are so undeserving, would be chosen to love her for the rest of her life. I am humbled by her journey and grateful for exactly the way it played out. Every agonizing second of the wait, was only part of the journey that made it possible for her, Wan Hu Ling, to become my daughter.

Within the past year, my girl has blossomed in indescribable ways.

She is my hero.

So we honored her birthday with simple little gifts and then invited our friends over to sing the "Happy Birthday to Me" song that she so loves to hear and delight in her cake.

It's all about having balloons and cake in her eyes.

As a Mother, I have a pain not knowing what time of day was she born. Was it early or late? Was she born alone or were there adoring eyes that wanted to meet her as she took her first breath. Millions of unanswered questions that will just be chalked up to part of her journey.

Oh how I wish I could give her her full story, the story of who she is and why we have her now. I can't, so we move forward in life and I hope all of her questions are answered one day and her birth mother feels deep within her soul that the child she gave up is so deeply loved.

Every year I add a bead to her growing Pand0ra bracelet that I will give her when she's 13. Or at least that's the age I have in my head for now.

This year I gave her the Guardian Angel bead, mainly because her Auntie A always calls her 'Angel Girl' and when I saw it, I thought of EG.

One of her 16 gifts from China.

Welcome to your 3rd year of life angel girl!