Kate is Nine!

My girl is nine. What in the world!? It’s like she turned 8, we celebrated Christmas, there was a pandemic and here we are again at 9.

It seems like yesterday that I was sitting at work, stepped away from my cubicle for 2 seconds and came back to a very exciting voicemail from our adoption agency.

“Kelley. Hi, it’s Jean.* If you can give me a call back whenever you are available, that would be great. If you can somehow get Kevin on the phone, that’s even better.”

Fast forward about 10 weeks from that first call and I was sitting at work and got another exciting call on a Monday morning.

“Kelley. Hi, it’s Jean. Lori had her baby this morning so it’s time for you guys to come to Raleigh!”

Oh my. The emotions. I left work immediately and Kevin and I met for lunch, though I was too wound up to even eat. The next morning, on our 4th wedding anniversary, we got to meet her!

And now that tiny baby is 9. Craziness. Kate is one of the kindest kids you will meet. Yesterday I ran to the grocery store and when I came back, she and Karsten had made me a snack (Snickerdoodle Cookie and Chocolate Milk) and had made a card for me that said “Thank you for being my Mommy”.

She cares about others, and is such a little mommy. It’s funny because as a younger kid, she was never into baby dolls. Lately, she has really gotten into them, and I can totally see it. I can see how she has always wanted to help Karsten try and do new things. In fact, when Karsten was a little baby, it was almost impossible for us to keep Kate from touching her. She is also the one that taught Karsten to ride a bike. She is Karsten’s biggest cheerleader.

She is still our artist, who is so talented. She loves to watch youtube videos showing you how to draw new things, and her pictures almost always turn out just as great as the tutorial!

She ended 3rd grade at home with virtual learning and we found out today that she will be starting 4th grade in a mostly-virtual world. Her school starts in 2 weeks and will be in-person for one day a week and the rest will be virtual. It will be different, but we are still excited for a great year. If anyone can handle it, Kate can!

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On Friday we started the celebration by doing something that Kate had looked forward to for quite a while- she got her ears pierced! She got nervous at the last minute, but found her courage and was so proud of herself. We are too!

Happy, happy birthday, Kate! We are so thankful to be your parents and love you more than you can imagine.

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