Merry Christmas

"Merry Christmas" by Third Day

There's a little girl trembling on a cold December morn
Crying for momma's arms
At an orphanage just outside a little China town
There the forgotten are

But half a world away I hang the stockings by the fire
And dream about the day when I can finally call you mine

It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas

As I hang the tinsel on the tree and watch the twinkling lights
I'm warmed by the fire's glow
Outside the children tumble in a wonderland of white,
Make angels in the snow

But half a world away you try your best to fight the tears
And hope that heaven's angels come to carry you here

It's Christmas time again but you're not home
Your family is here and yet you're somewhere else alone
And so tonight I pray that God will come and hold you in his arms
And tell you from my heart I wish you Merry Christmas

Christmas is a time to celebrate the holy child
and we celebrate his perfect gift of love
He came to earth to give his life
and prepare a place for us so we could have a home with him above

It's Christmas time again and now you're home
Your family is here so you will never be alone
So tonight before you go to sleep,
I'll hold you in my arms
And I'll tell you from my heart,
and I'll tell you from my heart

I wish you Merry Christmas


If anyone has ever sat through Christmas after Christmas, wondering what their baby (or in my case, sister) is doing, if she's born, if she's crying, if she's happy, loved, cared for, you get this song very well. So many unknowns. Painful unknowns. I remember last year at Christmas, staring at Reese's picture and crying because she wasn't home. Another Christmas without her there.

4 days after Christmas, we were DTC. That will always be one of the happiest days of my life. Along with getting an envelope from Mom with a sheet of paper in it saying that the paperwork and payment were at Great Wall and that we should be DTC on the 29th. We were. 5 months later, Reese was with Mom and I. We got her on the 28th, and she was officially ours on the 29th of May. 5 months to the day since we were DTC.

This year, I'll be able to hold and snuggle and love her, as much as she'll let me (some times she's really lovey with me, and other times she wants nothing to do with me). Every precious smile makes me know the wait was worth it. Painful, no doubt. But worth it. Contrary to popular saying, when that baby is put in your arms, it doesn't erase the wait. It just makes you see the reason for it. As best as there can be a reason. Every smile and giggle and 'I love you' just sinks into your heart and makes you smile. You fall more in love with every second that passes. And Reese just has one of those smiles. You can't stay mad when she smiles. She truly has a love for life, and I know that's what allowed her to go through everything she's been through and still smile like that.

Reese, I love you.

Also, we have TONS of birthdays in December in my family and friends.
So...happy birthday to...
Rachel (on the 3rd?)
Brittany (on the 3rd)
Uncle Jeff (12th)
Michelle (13th)
Papa T. (14th)
Scott (15th)
Mom (17th)
Me (LOL, 20th)
Rachael (29th)

Sorry if I forgot anyone.

Also, next Wednesday (the 19th, the day before my birthday), we go to court to re-adopt Reese and to get her an Arkansas Certificate of Foreign Birth, which will list Mom and Dad as her parents and Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, P.R.C. as her birth place. She will OFFICIALLY be ours, and be able to get a certificate of citizenship. Since Dad didn't travel, she didn't get one right after we got home.

Happy Holidays everyone.