5th Referral Day!

5 years ago we saw Juneau's cute little face for the first time.  Fellow adoptive parents totally understand that moment of utter anticipation when after months (or years!) of waiting, there is an email in your inbox from the adoption agency, and you suddenly realize that it contains the picture of your son or daughter.  What an amazing moment that was.  It had been 13 months of waiting since submitting our application. It was in the midst of one of mine and Cris' long separations (I was in Kentucky for a surgical rotation, and Cris was in Hawaii). It was freezing cold outside, and I was snuggled up in my room, about 7 months pregnant.  I saw the email, and I just KNEW our girl's pictures were inside.   I couldn't look at them enough, and printed them out and hung them all over my little apartment. 

Juneau is getting to be an age where she is taking more interest in her story.  She sometimes asks about her adoption, or about Vietnam. When we went out to dinner and told her we were celebrating one of her special days, Nova said "When is my special day?". Juneau said "I think you only get a referral day if you are adopted, Nova.".  I love to see her being proud of her story, and proud of how we became a family.  In fact, her teacher told us that when each kid had to say something that made them special, Juneau told the class that she was special because she was adopted.  I'm sure there will be more difficult times as she gets older, and struggles to understand the circumstances of her story, but I am thankful she understands how special the miracle of her adoption is.