[spaypets]

DD has been home 2.5 years (she's 4) and I'm trying to remember exactly when it stopped feeling like a day dream. Certainly getting her referral picture made it more real. And of course, holding her in my arms made it really real. But even then, sometimes I'd stumble a little. Because, of course, when your child first comes home, she's a stranger. There are things you don't know.

But by the time we'd had her longer than we hadn't, she felt every bit my daughter. I'm still awed by her, but she is one of us. I see us both reflected in her face (even though she doesn't look a bit like us).

Your feelings are normal and you just need to push through them.