"It's done," Mary said.

I've been having a hard time coming up with just the right reflection on the past year. It sounds trite to say that I can't believe it was a year ago today that we got that phone call from Mary, the one that made me drop the phone as I went sliding across the dining room floor to yell for Ted, the call that filled my head with giddy elation and a high that lasted for days.

I will never ever forget breaking down and sobbing as Mary told us, "It's done" and then standing in the kitchen with the California morning sunlight streaming in as I called my mom. I will never forget seeing Susan out of the corner of my eyes come into the kitchen while I was on the phone with my mom and hearing her SCREAM with both her hands over her mouth as Ted told her the news. I cried again as I hugged her.

I paced and paced and paced around as I made call after call. I had never felt so light. We managed to get ourselves showered and dressed, and while Ted played basketball at the Hollywood Y, I sat outside a coffeeshop talking on the phone and checking the dozens of comments that were coming in on the blog. Every time I drive past this small shop, I get sentimental as I remember the love from fellow bloggers that day. Later that afternoon, I had lunch with my lovely and hilarious friend Staci at a French bistro-type place filled with beautiful things. She gave me that day a hat and mittens for Abe that ended up appearing in Abe's adoption announcement a few weeks later. That was a great hat.

The next few hours were a blur. We'd been given an expensive bottle of champagne for our wedding from our next door neighbors which we'd been saving for a special occasion. This day was the day to open it up. We drank down the whole thing and went to bed that night with thoughts of one certain little sugarplum dancing in our heads.

One week later, we were on a plane to bring him home. As wonderful as our referral day was, the first time we saw Abe's face, it truly didn't compare to March 3, the day everything was finalized. It was only until this day that I felt I could truly breathe deeply, knowing, as Mary said, "It's done."