April 23

April 23 will be the most bittersweet day of the year for me, always. Two years ago we stepped off the plane with our daughter and went home to become a new family. Our flight got in so late so Jack was the only one that met us at the airport, with Brian, my mom, stepdad, dad and some friends. I will never forget seeing Jack. It was the first time I had left my kids for more than 48 hours. He ran to me, I ran to him and after a seriously long embrace he scooped up his sister. It was priceless. And within 24 hours, all 4 kids were in the bathtub in smiles and we began our new life.

Here is Anna just an hour after she was given to us. Such a scared little girl.

And here is my baby today. I took these pictures this morning. She is not a scared little girl at all. She is full of spunk and fits in this crazy family beautifully.

April 23rd is also my dad's birthday. This is the first without him. He would have been 70 today. This was just last year on his birthday. He had been craving a hamburger from a certain place and we surprised him and took him to lunch there. When my brother was driving him there he thought he was going to the doctor :( but was so thrilled to see us all. Just over a month later he passed away. This is the last picture of him with my kids. And I'm sad about that . But so happy to celebrate for Anna.