It’s your birthday Alice Ray and what a happy happy birthday it is! It is hard to believe we have loved you for 365 days already, but also only 365 days...? I feel like we have loved you for a lifetime.

Ali - You are a force to be reckoned with. You have a strong beautiful personality. You love to make people laugh, you love dancing and rarely cry. When it does happen and you do get mad or sad, you are MAD or SAD. We love that about you, our little Taurus.

Your favorite person in this world is your Daddy. Your favorite word is Mama. And Bubba (aka Braydon) is the best at making you laugh.

You planked before you crawled and now you crawl everywhere. You stand up every single chance you can get, but you haven’t braved steps yet. We thought for sure you would walk before you turned one, but teething got in the way. No teeth yet, but gosh dang they are soooo close. Both front bottom teeth are making you a sad girl. Hopefully birthday cake will help.

It was the morning of May 15th that I got the call. I was leaving for work when our caseworker called. I was putting my stuff in the passenger seat when she asked “Are you sitting down?” I half-sat down. “Yes.”

“There was a baby girl born in the Colorado mountains yesterday and if you want, she is all yours.”

All yours...? I was struck.

What I have learned through the past year is that while technically Alice is ‘ours’ the truth is that we are hers. We asked. We prayed. We found. And before a judge and our closest friends and family, we promised to be HERS forever.

There is a song that will forever remind me of Alice. ‘Better Place’ by Rachel Platten.

It’s a better place since you came along...

Happy Birthday to our Missy Lou, Ray Bae, Baby Girl... we love you.