We adopted our daughter, Bella Marie, six months ago from China, but the adoption process actually began over one year ago.

We knew in our heart of hearts that we wanted to have a child.  Since I was discovered to be unable to conceive a child, my husband, Dierks, wanted to try the next best thing: adopting a child we could call our very own.

So that was what we did.  It was daunting at first, but once we got the initial process started, we were determined to give a needy child a home.

About six months later, we were informed that our adoption was approved, which meant only one thing:  we were to get the child we had always dreamed of having.  We would be getting a little girl from China.  The adoption agency told us her name was Lee Xie Min, but we decided that we would call her Bella Marie.  The little girl was a year old and was said to be perfectly healthy.

If all went well, we would have our brand new daughter in just a few months.

Well, those few months of waiting seemed like several years.  We could not wait to hold Bella in our arms and cuddle her close, but until then, all we could do was wait, hope, and pray ... and get her room ready for when Bella did arrive.

It was fun shopping for little girl clothes, furniture, toys, and coloring books, as well as "pretties" for her hair.  It made the waiting period just a little bit easier to bear.

Then came the day when the adoption agency said the magic words: "She's ready.  She's on her way to America.  Come get her."  How long we had waited to hear those words!

The day we got Bella Marie turned out to be a day of celebration, laughter, excitement, and, yes, more than a few tears.  When the agent placed our new baby girl into my arms, I bawled like a baby as Dierks snapped picture after picture after picture.

My dream of becoming a mother had finally come true .  At long last, Dierks and I were parents to a beautiful little baby girl!

~To be continued.~