8-3, Em's First School Pics

Five years ago when Sven and I were discussing pursuing the adoption after five long years of waiting, he made the comment, "it would only be a few years before she would be in kindergarten."  I looked at him as a mother does when you know he knows nothing what it's like to stay home day in and day out changing diapers.  The thought of 'only a few years' of changing diapers, playgroups, toddler tantrums and nap times was daunting seeing how Nik was 10 and becoming more self-sufficient every day.  The bigger picture of having a daughter in our family prevailed and we pursued bringing home a little one to fill that void.  At the time, another few years of waiting seemed relentless.  But in hindsight, thinking how very different our lives would be now had we not waited is monumental.  It is the most important lesson of "good things come to those who wait" that I will ever know.  If I stopped long enough to really think through these past four years, I'd be typing in tears.  How we were blessed to be chosen as Emalie's parents, I will never know.  How Sven's at-the-time logic could have proven to be true, I will never know.  Four years is four years, right?  Wrong.... four years at the academy seemed like a lifetime.  Four years of staying at home learning to know more about our baby girl and enjoying that time with her has passed in the blink of an eye.  God help me, I'm going to be that kindergarten parent bawling my eyes out as I wave goodbye to my baby on that first day of school.  She may be 'only' going to kindergarten, but I swear she's an old-soul and it's not too far out of the realm of my imagination to imagine that first day of college and wondering how all that time had passed in the blink of an eye as well.  Lucky for me, as you can see from the photos below, she's a happy girl who loves to make you smile.  The next question:  in school, will she be the studious child in the first photo..... or the wild class clown depicted in the last photo?  I truly believe this special child can and will be anything she wants to be.... so I guess we'll see!