Looking WAY Back

I have noticed that almost every year when I am home for Christmas I end up in my dad’s study looking through the photo albums from when my sister and I were little kids. I am really grateful that my parents took so many pictures because a lot of my childhood memories stem from looking at those photos. Now that everything is digital I find that Damon and I have most of our photos online and the majority of them are not printed and organized into albums. I am making a promise right now, on the internet for all to read, that when the little Buster is here I will print out photos and organize them into albums. Okay, I am glad that is out there so that I will be held accountable! Last year at Christmas Damon and I were still several months away from making the final decision to adopt but it was definitely on our hearts and minds. I remember pausing at a few photos from when I was four to five years old and thinking about their significance. Like most kids, I latched on to a few things and was fairly obsessed. I know that I went through a stage when I had to wear dresses. I actually have a memory of being on Columbia’s campus with my dad and he was pointing out all the “cool college girls” who were wearing pants. I wanted nothing of it, which is odd to me because now I would rather be in jeans and a t-shirt over a dress any day. I would say that the dress obsession overlapped another very important obsession. I LOVED the movie Annie. I am not even sure the word obsessed does it justice. I knew every single song and owned all sorts of Annie gear. I remember my Grandma Virginia took me to see an outdoor production of Annie and I loved every minute of it. I get that most girls my age at the time were also obsessed with Annie. I get it. But it just pleases me that at the age of four and five I had such a huge heart for orphan Annie. Some people would call that a coincidence but I believe it was just the beginning. It was the beginning of this adoption path.

I thought I would endure the embarrassment to share a few photos of the obsession with you.

I think I was Annie for two Halloweens in a row. My mom recently apologized for turning me into Annie with the measles instead of Annie with freckles.

Please note the Annie nightgown. How cute is my little sister?!

Maggie and I in our matching Annie dresses. I would like my mom to explain the state of my bangs in this photo. Wow.