HOME ONE YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can hardly believe it, but Little Hot Stuff has been home for one year already! CRAZY!!!!!!! I have had the time of my life with her this year. So many moments- some of near insanity as I adapted to being a mom and left the "All about me and Loving it" stage of life....Then, so many many moments of pure joy just looking at her and thinking about how much I missed her when we were not together the first year of her life. I feel like I look at life so differently now. I maybe just have a hint of realization about how precious life is when we are able to be with the ones we love. I still look back at her in the car and am brought to tears thinking about how blessed I am to be the momma to this awesome child!
I am so thankful that her loving birth mom made the sacrifice to give Bianca a different life, and I know she must miss her so much. I hope someday we will get to meet her and Bianca will be able to know her if she so chooses. And I am also so thankful for Iris and Hugo, Bianca's foster parents and their great family. They took care of Bianca for almost the full first year of her life and they loved her so much. She will always know them.
I am thankful that we are a family that has really experienced God's love in our lives and we get be a part of that every day.
I love watching Eric be such an amazing dad, and I love seeing how Bianca loves him. I love watching my mom and dad, and Eric's mom with Bianca- and how her little life has changed them so much. She brings so much joy to so many people. It is wild to really capture in words. It blows my mind when I think about how much God has used a little child for so much good in such a short time.
I could never have imagined loving so big! Bianca has made all of our lives so full of laughter and love, and I am so thankful that God would allow us to be her parents. I am humbled by it almost every day. That is why educating people on adoption has become my mission along with caring for orphans. If people and families could only grasp just a little of what we have experienced by having Bianca in our lives, the choice to adopt would feel so different. It is a step of faith, yes, but it is just so much bigger than that. It is not in the least a sacrifice, but instead, the biggest gift I have ever received.
Take a look back at some of our favorite "homecoming" pics one year ago.

This is her last medical check photo we got right before we went to get her.

This is mommy Iris, Bianca's foster mom who loved her so big.

This is our last night all together. Bianca's foster family and us. Our night to celebrate this child. What a great time we had together!