Sutton Foster on Her 'Amazing Journey' to Adopting Daughter Emily: 'We Found Each Other'

Sutton Foster is counting her blessings — especially when it comes to her 10-month-old daughter Emily Dale.

“I feel like things are better than ever and that’s nice to say at 42 years old,” the Younger actress told PEOPLE at the 23rd Annual Critics’ Choice Awards at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, on Thursday.

Explaining why she and husband Ted Griffin made the decision to adopt, Foster says, “I know there’s many ways to have a family. My husband and I met later in life and came into obstacles of having a biological child.”

“I’ve always been a fan of adoption and it just seemed natural — as soon as we started pursuing adoption, it was as if heavens opened up. Someday, I can’t wait to tell her,” she adds. “It was a really beautiful and amazing journey to find her, and I feel like we found each other.”

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RELATED VIDEO: Sutton Foster Welcomes Daughter Emily Dale

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And even though Foster says motherhood is incredible, she also points out that it’s “terrifying” and she often “can’t remember the last time I’ve showered.”

“I literally went from hobo mommy to Hollywood glamour in about an hour,” she jokes.

“It’s wild but amazing,” the new mom says, adding that “the big thing that flashes in my mind is what took me so long. Why did I wait so long? But I think I was waiting for her.”

The veteran Broadway actress also mentions how the biggest surprise of the whole journey has been “how much it changes your life and how much it changes your marriage.”

“There’s six months of like, ‘Oh my gosh, everything has changed. How do we navigate this?’ ” she explains. “And then you break apart and you rebuild back together — you become this new unit and it’s really beautiful and hard, and grown up.”

Foster also reveals that adopting a daughter has caused her to feel an extra sense of responsibility.

“I feel like I have a whole other family that I don’t want to disappoint. I want to make sure I do my best for her, and also for her entire birth family,” she says. “It’s really important to me that I navigate it as gently and bravely as possible.”

She also adds that she and her husband have “no secrets” when it comes to sharing Emily’s story, adding that they “feel really blessed.”

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Foster’s rep confirmed to PEOPLE exclusively in April that the couple, who wed in October 2014 after getting engaged in August 2013, had welcomed their baby girl.

“Our lives are forever changed, and our hearts are exploding,” Foster told PEOPLE at the time.