From A Mom of Boys and a Bulgarian Princess

Dear Life,

It's been awhile.

The face we fell in love with

Life has been turned upside down for us.

Our girl is finally home!

"Gotcha Day", February 16, 2014

The boys (minus the one parking the car) waiting for their sister at LAX

(Photo cred: Julie Presley)

Daddy meeting his daughter

(Photo cred: Julie Presley)

Kumaka holding Sofi's hand for the first time (she's looking at him like "Oh no, I'm in trouble")

(Photo cred: Julie Presley)

She is amazingly, wonderfully perfect.

Gazing at her...in awe.

(Photo cred: Julie Presley)

Her spirit shines through whenever she graces us with her smile.

She can be silly.

She can be sad (usually when she's hungry).

But she's perfectly made and amazingly perfect.

The first week she came home, as I contemplated this whirlwind we call "Stepping With Sofi" (also known as "Steps to Sofi"), I was given a confirmation that felt like God whispering to me "This is right. You have done what I have asked. She is with her family now. Thank you" Tears coursed down my face when I realized to the core of my body that adopting Sofi was something that was absolutely something that God wanted us to do. It's hard to describe that kind of emotion.

(Photo cred: Julie Presley)

Watching my husband love on this sweet angel, my heart melts into a puddle on the floor.

Watching every single one of my boys hold her with adoration and do their very best to make her smile gives me peace. She is the glue that bonds our family that we didn't even know we needed. This tiny, 5 year old angel holds so much power in her hands, her sweet smile, her beautiful brown eyes.

As we have been with her for a month, and seen some specialists, things have been brought to our attention, and some realities we never thought we would have to face are here. Things that are hard...extremely hard.

Sofi does not have Spina Bifida.
She in fact has severe Cerebral Palsy.
She had a lesion in her head at birth that was maybe corrected (we are awaiting an MRI to see what is going on in that sweet head of hers)
She had hydrocephalus and now has a shunt.
There are many things that most likely will not change for our sweet girl, no matter how much therapy she has.
Honestly, these words have been hard to hear, and are even harder to write.
Make no mistake, she will have the best medical care we can give her.
We don't expect changes, but when miracles happen, we will rejoice.

We have cried many tears in the last few weeks, knowing that her path is not the path we expected.
We have humbled ourselves, and asked God, "what is Your plan, because this was not mine".

We came to a very important realization.

Sofi came to our family because of love.
The first component of family is love.

Because of the many people that have loved our family, and this sweet girl, she has a mommy, daddy and five brothers.
But more importantly, our family is learning about love from a pure source....our sweet daughter.