My two year old

Caleb's birthday is tomorrow, but with all the craziness going on in our lives the only day we could have  a mini celebration was on Friday. I may or may not have cried several times throughout the day.

Last year on Caleb's birthday I really thought that we would be in Ethiopia ready to take him home. That was not the case and on his first birthday I was a mess. I am his mommy and I was not there to celebrate my baby! It was hard. Really hard, but then the Lord in all His goodness and faithfulness gave me a sweet present. In the late afternoon of his first birthday I received an email from my agency with a "Please keep a secret" in the email. When I opened it, there was my baby with a birthday hat on his little bald head, icing on his chubby cheeks and all his friends around him. The nannies loved our sweet boy so much and knew that I could not be there, decided to throw him a first birthday party. I can't even explain to you how unheard of this was and how much this meant to me. 

I have a lot more pictures with  more kiddos, but unfortunately some of them still do not have families, so I am unable to post them. BUT I will forever cherish the HUGE blessing that the Lord did and I know that Caleb will as well.

Birthdays have always meant a lot to me. Not because of presents or making sure my kids feel spoiled, but I love having a day where we can thank the Lord for their lives and to reminiscence about all the God has done. Yes, I do this with all my kids. We are thankful to be each one of their parents and God has done a work in each of our kids. We love to be able to look back and praise Him for them. God allowed me to not miss one of those opportunities with Caleb.

My two year old!

Caleb had a ball on his birthday. He was running all over the place. He really only opened one present because he just wanted to play with it. That is huge as well. When he got home, it took him about two months to even know how to play. We had to teach him to play with toys. He had never seen them before and had no clue. Now, he is obsessed with cars and trucks. He has a beloved police car that he says is "Daddy's car!"  For his birthday my mom got him a bigger one that lights up. He was in heaven! He even sleeps with it.

 He hears music and he must shake his booty (just like his momma) so he thought it was hilarious that we all sang to him!

Unfortunately I did not get a single family picture. :(   I guess it is a good thing, since I was crying most of the time :)

Thank You Jesus for allowing me to be his mom.  How blessed am I that even in the midst of sorrow you bring joy! More than I could ever hope for or imagine.  I am excited to watch Caleb grow into the man that you want him to be.




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After much prayer and clear direction form the Lord, I unfortunately am not going to be able to go on the mission trip to Ethiopia. My heart hurts just to write that and I really am upset, but God has His reasons and I need to obey. Thank you all so much for donating and sacrificing for the trip. Your money is going to the team. Some people still have money to raise and what I was given will go to them. Thank you all again for blessing me and now to bless others.