My baby girl. It feels so right and so good just to say that. Mine. My daughter. My Ella. I'm just in a bit of a gushy mood, so that's the tone for this week's Life With Ella :) And she recently started saying ma ma too, which just makes my heart melt every time I hear it.

This picture was taken in our hotel room in Hanoi only a few hours after she was handed to us for the first time ever. Her caregivers gave us a hot bottle all ready to go in case she got hungry during the Giving and Receiving or the car ride frrom Bac Giang to Hanoi. I think we were all in a bit of shock so hunger was the last thing on our minds, and she didn't take the bottle until we were back in our room and starting to settle down.

I don't even really remember if she got cranky or "told" us she was hungry. Now I know in a matter of seconds when my seemingly bottomless pit of a baby is hungry. She does not hold back and I love that about her. And I'm so grateful to be reminded of a time when she didn't know us and we didn't know her. Look how far we have come. It's amazing.

I'm slowly starting to pack things up to prepare for our future move and I came across the tee shirt she was wearing the day we met and that bottle. That plastic bottle with the pink cap that holds so many memories. It seems like yesterday and eons ago at the same time that we were handed our daughter and then that bottle. Her caregivers cared enough about her to think ahead and ensure that she wouldn't go hungry.

When that bottle was placed in my hands, so was the responsibility for caring for sweet little Cuc. And I accepted it readily. That first time that I got to hold my little girl and provide for her was so sweet. And kudos to my husband for capturing it on film! When I look at her face in this picture I see her checking me out and trying to figure out this new person. I also see a baby who is comfortable in the arms that she's been placed. And a mommy at peace and starting to experience the love that now explodes out of her heart. We're a perfect fit.

Don't worry, I'll do a "Daddy's Girl" life with Ella too ;)