Rocky

I know you're not supposed to have favorites and I love you all, but my favorite gift for Michael was from my cousin Emily. She knitted (crocheted? I don't know the difference, shame on me.) this stuffed animal named Rocky! As in, from scratch. There was nothing and now Rocky exists. She had a little tag around his neck that said "Hi! My name is Rocky!" I looked up, found her in the sea of faces at the Adoption Celebration and said "You made this by hand didn't you?" She confirmed with a nod. My heart got all chokey (I seriously wish I could just deal with emotions like a normal human).

But wait. It gets better.

I pull this book out the gift bag. "Oh how cute!" I think, "She made the character from this book!" I open the book. YOU GUYS. SHE WROTE THE BOOK. Emily wrote the story and her friend Alex did the illustrations and they had the book printed (we have the first edition, I feel like such a rock star. They have the second and third copies.)

She wrote a book and made a stuffed animal by hand for our son. 

Emily - thank you, thank you, thank you! We love you so much!