How I Became Your Mom- Dragonfly

I read a blog post by another adoptive mom where she used Mother's Day every year as a chance to tell her kids how she became their mother.  Well, Mother's Day was a week ago, but I'm going to start this tradition this year anyways.

My oldest child is Dragonfly, currently 4-years old (almost 5).  She is my only girl and an absolute delight.  She has declared that "being a scientist is better than being a princess" (I didn't tell her that- she concluded that on her own).  As a scientist, she wants to know all the details of how and why about everything.  She loves worms, animals, and her family.  She also loves Jesus and understands a lot of theology.  She teaches her brothers important concepts like, "God is a spirit" and "Jesus rose from the dead so that you can go to heaven when you die."  She's the leader of the kids and often acts like she's twenty or so years older than them.

To start the story about how I became your mother, Dragonfly, I need to start several years before.  When your daddy and I were dating, I asked him how he felt about adopting.  He said that he'd be ok with it, so that's how I knew I could marry him.

After we got married, Daddy and Mommy wanted to start having a family right away.  For some reason, we never had any babies from my tummy.  We talked over the years about adopting kids, but it never seemed like the right time to us.

In 2010, an opportunity came for us to work in Botswana, southern Africa for a few years.  We loved being in Botswana and thought that maybe God had our family waiting for us there.  Many things about Botswana didn't work out like we had hoped and planned, so we ended up coming home to the USA in early 2011.

When we got settled in the US, we felt like it was the right time for us to pursue adoption.  We started the foster care process in March 2011.  We were so excited to finally have a family, and we spend lots of time getting ready for you.  Mommy bought lots of stuff for our nursery and knit colorful starfish for the walls.  Our nursery theme was "We Made a Difference for That One," because of the "starfish story."  It turned out to be a perfect theme for your room.

The day you came home (Oct. 2011) was one of the best days of my life.  The saying is true: "From the moment they placed you in my arms, you snuggled right into my heart."

You were three months old the day I met you, and as tiny as a newborn.  You had had a rough start and were pretty sickly.  Your now green eyes were dark and huge.  You had forgotten how to suck a bottle, so I spent many hours dropping milk into your mouth.  Slowly, you started to gain weight and grow.

When daddy got home from work that day, he was so excited to meet you.  He decided that you had been named perfectly.  He loved being a dad (and still does) and spent a lot of time playing silly games with you, singing to you, and teaching you things.  You'll always be his special princess.

You didn't sleep very much the first few months, because you didn't know if you'd be safe at our house.  Slowly, you learned to trust us and came to love us too.  When you were fifteen months old, the state allowed us to adopt you.  That was such a magical day for us- the day that we officially became a family (Oct. 2012).

You've changed so much since the day that we first got you.  I'm really excited to see the woman you will become.  And, I'm very blessed every time you call me "Mama."  We love you very much, Princess.