~THE END~ Anniversaries and Announcements

A year ago today we were in Kazakhstan and met Ava. As Amber will tell you I get ridiculously emotional when I think about those precious first moments with our daughter. It is amazing to think that it has already been a year - and that it has only been a year. The period leading up to that day in October was at times very hard with the seemingly interminable wait; but that day arrived, and it was perfect. Ava continues to do wonderfully well, and she is the perfect addition to our family. She is truly amazing with what she figures out how to do and how much she understands of what we say (Yes I am biased, but I am allowed). If you want to see how much she's grown, here's some (staged) pictures showing the difference. -Jason

Ava and Daddy

We both get teary when we think about meeting our little girl and how big she's grown already. We could not love her more. I now know what it means to be "in love" with your baby. It is the most wonderful, indescribable feeling. She is an amazing little person. And she is also exactly like us! She is is always doing something that is just like Jason or I do. She does so many cute things. She loves to wear my heels around the house, sing, dance, clean and talk on the phone just like mommy. She likes to tell us long "stories" with tons of gestures. It is adorable. She also loves to give kisses and hugs. I could go on and on about all that Ava does but that would take a very long time. Here are some pictures that show how much she has grown in one year. Look at all of her hair...It's all curls in the back! -Amber

Ava and Mommy

Before and after Pictures

As you can see, she is doing fantastic. At a year to the date of our meeting, Amber & I think it's fitting that we close the blog at this point. Ava continues to take more and more of our time, and the blog is really an afterthought now. I do want to thank all of you who followed the blog, who posted comments, and who just took the time to watch our journey and share a little bit in our joy. The support we received from everyone has meant a lot to us.
Also in the way of an announcement, we're no longer adopting from Kazakhstan (as the blog theme mentions), rather now we are beginning the process for a domestic adoption to get Ava a little brother or sister! So our adoption journey continues, but we now leave you as an overjoyed family of three on our way to becoming four.

Thank you for sharing in my journey, supporting my mommy and daddy and all the love and gifts you have given me!
-Ava

Ava's Re-adoption

This was just a formality but we had to go before the judge and sign some paperwork so Ava could get a NY state birth certificate. She has been ours for almost a year now so it was interesting to go to court again and re-adopt her. She was intrigued by the judge and just stared at him the entire time.