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Four years ago we entered a sweltering hot room with 8 other families to have our lives changed forever. Babies were screaming and all of us parents, grandparents and siblings were desperately trying to pick out the new addition to our lives based on photos that were months old. We were looking at all the children and then the nanny holding Nadia pointed to me with Nadia’s hand and I could hear her saying, “Mama! Mama!” I thought I was going to faint right there.  It was agony waiting to hear our name called so we could go forward to meet her. Here is our Gotcha Day video for those who haven’t seen it (or would like to see it again).

Sweet Nadia we love you so much! You are such a delight and so much fun to have around. You say the funniest stuff and so often I wish I had a permanent recording going because I can’t remember it all. You love to dance and make up songs. You love to take photos and now to also stage videos. You are eager to learn and have a memory that shocks me most days. You can be incredibly strong-willed, but I think it will serve you well later in life mixed with your sweetness. You have become such a good big sister to Amelie. You try to teach her things and I hope they are all good since she tries to imitate every single thing you do. It’s a delight when you say things like, “She just said this or that for the first time. Isn’t that great?” I love that when we told you that we would buy you a Batman and Superman t-shirt you immediately asked if Amelie could have one of each too – “so that we can match.” Right now you love all superheroes and Batman most of all. You want to fight for justice like they do; I hope that fire continues to burn in you and God uses you in an amazing way.

As I watch you grow and learn more about the world, I am so grateful that God saw fit to make you a part of our family.

Click the photo above to see the whole album. (lots of photos in this one)

This was by far our busiest day on our trip. We got up early and ate breakfast at the Spring House Family restaurant. Then we stopped at Walmart to buy an umbrella stroller and more sunscreen. We also found Batman and Superman shirts for the girls which thrilled Nadia to death! We headed over to Broadway at the beach to go to Ripley’s Aquarium. Nadia was really excited about this and wanted to get in and start looking around. They had a special shark exhibit which was really cool.

This cracked me up!

After the aquarium we walked around the boardwalk to have lunch at Amici’s Italian restaurant. We stopped to feed the fish and Nadia laughed at them jumping on each other to try and get the food.

We made our way to We R Sweets to buy 57 pounds of salt water taffy and then let the girls play outside on the dinosaurs.

We also went in a store called “It’s Sugar” which had the best sign ever!

The girls were asleep before we got out of the parking lot.

We gave them a real nap at the condo and then headed to PF Changs with everyone else for dinner. That is when the call came about water pouring out of our house. Dinner was wonderful as always, but I was busy texting and making calls trying to get things figured out.

Here we are after dinner with no idea what condition our house was in

Click the photo above to see the entire album.

On Monday we got up and went down to the beach. The girls had so much fun!

Nadia called this area “her island” and had a blast playing in lots of water without fear of the waves crashing over her.

After nap time we hung out at the condo and then headed to Captain George’s Seafood buffet. I worked hard at eating my weight in crab.YUM!

On Tuesday we had more beach time in the morning. Nadia was hoping the girls would want to do a craft with her so we brought supplies and did it in the afternoon.

All the girls posing with the completed masks.

Nadia bought this light up gun at a beach store and she had a blast with it. Here are some fun shots of her, Reagan and Amelie on the balcony.

I love this one!!!!

That night Kim made everyone spaghetti and homemade meatballs that were fantastic!!!

Click the photo above to see the whole album.

Amelie woke up and immediately went to the balcony door and said, “Side side side!” She was ready for the beach and some more playtime!

Claire getting ready to hit the waves.

Nadia in the condo all proud of how fast she can climb up the stool.

For dinner we all headed over to the Burro Loco. The food was yummy and we had a good time.

And clearly I wasn’t thinking here. I should have had Mike in the photo with us and asked another person to take the photo!