Kate's 3rd Family Day

Dear Kate,

It was three years ago when we first held you in our arms. We had been planning for this special day ever since seeing your photo a few months earlier.  Our beautiful baby girl!

I had picked out the most adorable teal dress with matching headband for you to wear on our Family Day. I had imagined us anxiously waiting for you in the Green Room at FANA and you appearing around the corner carried by a loving FANA staff member or adoptee. But our Family Day did not go as we had planned. Life would throw us a bit of a curveball. Instead of meeting you at FANA, we would be navigating our way to the pediatric ICU at Simon Bolivar Hospital. You had been admitted the night before with RSV and Influenza B. 

We had some difficulty gaining entry into the fortress of a hospital ward, but thankfully Jorge Rico was able to get us inside to see you. It was heart wrenching seeing you so sick. You were on oxygen and had an IV in your neck. I scooped you up and didn't want to set you back down. We were able to hold you and feed you before having to say our goodbyes. We would be back again tomorrow during visiting hours.

Day after day, we would visit you in the hospital. One day it would appear you were on the mend, and the next you'd take a turn for the worse. It was difficult not knowing how you had weathered the night.

We would spend nearly two weeks visiting you in the hospital until you were finally strong enough to be released on a dark cold rainy Bogota night. 

By the time we got back to our apartment, Rose and Cole were fast asleep. But Owen and Nana Bev stayed up to greet you "home".

Oh, how strong you have grown since then! Our little nugget who was in respiratory distress for the majority of our stay in Colombia is now our rough and tumble 3 year old, always wanting to do everything your big siblings do.  

With the warmer weather, Pa has been taking a couple of the older kids golfing every weekend. And that just wasn't going to fly with you! You would ask over and over when would it be your turn to go golf. With the attention span of a typical 3 year old and a voice as loud as a rock band, we all had our concerns, but you insisted. And now Pa brings you to the driving range too so you can golf just like the big kids.

You still love wearing dresses. You'll often say that you want to be a princess and in your mind that can only happen if you are wearing a pretty dress. 

Pa started calling you his "Princess" and you returned the favor by calling him "King". It's actually quite hilarious to hear. When Pa gets home from work, you'll go running to the door shouting, "KING! KING!" Or when you wake up early in the morning and want to find Pa, you'll stand at the top of the steps screaming, "KING! KING!" Mind you, most of the household is still fast asleep. But speaking in a quiet voice doesn't seem to register for you. You are always talking - whether happy, sad, excited or scared - at at least 100 decibels. You are one loud princess!

You go-go-go! Constantly running at full steam ahead. But being only 3 years old, you do tucker out mid-day. I'll find you conked out fast asleep in the silliest of places - from in a doll bed to falling asleep standing straight up!

For your 3rd Family Day, you wanted to go "look for turtles" so we set out on an expedition to do just that.

We ventured off for the bridge just down the road. There's a small pond that the bridge crosses and sometimes we are lucky to spot some fun creatures. Well, today happened to be one of those days. Just as we walked onto the bridge, I noticed a big turtle making its way towards us. But all our commotion sent him in a bit of a frenzy. He quickly aborted his plan to cross towards the bridge and turned back around disappearing into his surrounds. I thought, "How lucky were we to have seen a turtle!" But you decided that we needed to find a baby turtle instead, so we continued our journey across the bridge, looking at the logs, leaves and mucky water hoping to spy a baby turtle. Unfortunately, we reached the end of the bridge with no baby turtle in sight. Thankfully you didn't seem to mind too much. 

We headed back home to play on the swing set and run in the yard. 

Less than an hour later, you were fast asleep on the couch, still gripping ahold of my phone where you were catching up on your favorite YouTube channels.

For dinner, you requested one of your all-time favorites - mac and cheese! So we picked up takeout from Noodles and Co and enjoyed a delicious meal outside on the deck. 

After dinner, we sang "Happy Family Day to You!" while you blew out the candles on your cupcake. 

A very Happy 3rd Family Day, sweet Kate! We love you to the moon and back!