8 Years Old!

Today, you are eight years old.  Today, we have been a family for one whole year.  It has been a lifetime that you have been part of me.  It has not been nearly enough.  For the last two months you have been reveling in the fact that this day has been coming – a birthday all your own.  A day you do not have to share with any other children who happen to have September birthdays. 

For the first time in eight years, you know when your birthday is, and we are all going to celebrate it with joyful abandon. 

But recently, too, when the lights are out and you are having trouble falling asleep, you ask me quietly, “Where were you, Mommy, for my other birthdays?  I had so many other birthdays and you were not there.”  For years we waited for you, and you were waiting for us.  I would give anything to go back in time to heal those hurts and be with you every year on your birthday and every day in between.  And as I tell you every day now, I might not be able to do that, but I will promise to be with you for all of your birthdays in the future.  We’re stuck together now, kid, and I could not love you more if you were born to me.

You have grown (3 inches in 9 months!) and changed so much over the past year.  You are not the frightened, angry little boy who came home with us a year ago.  Now, you are a confident, funny, sweet little guy who enchants everyone he meets and brings joy to his family each day.  Your family and the folks at your school have dubbed you “The Mayor” because everyone knows you – you’re never shy, you are friendly to everyone, and always have your famous smile and wave for everyone you see, whether it’s a kid at school or the lady at the deli counter.

We always knew we would love the child that God would bless us with.  We were exceptionally lucky, I think, to be blessed with the most remarkable boy ever – you.  Never think for a single minute that you are not loved.  You are loved forever and always, to the moon and back.  Happy 8^th birthday, Little Dude.  

September - 7th birthday/entrustment ceremony.

October - family portrait.

November - new Christmas suit.

December - Christmas joy with Great-Grandma.

January.

February - first icicle.

March - Baptism day.

April - first baseball game.

May - Mothers' day.

June - summer fun.

July - fun with the dinos.

August - Finalization day.

Love Letter To My Child

My sweet child,

I want you to know that you are loved.  You have occupied a space in my heart for the last eight years.  Even though I don’t know your face or your name, I have loved you since the day the decision was made to bring you home.

I want you to know you are wanted.  I pray you never spent a moment asking if anyone wanted you.  We have wanted you to be a part of our family for a long, long time.  You will always be wanted by our family.

I want you to know that I pray for you constantly.  I pray the Lord blesses you and keeps you safe and happy.  I pray for your caretakers and I pray for your birthparents.  I know God holds you in His loving hands, but I plead each day He continues to do so, and that he smooths the path to our meeting.

Each night before I fall asleep, I hold a stuffed bear in my arms.  One day, after I have seen your sweet face for the first time, I will send you that bear to sleep with until I can come get you and bring you home.  I want you to know that when I hold that bear, you are the last prayer on my lips at night and the first prayer I whisper in the morning.  Thousands of miles away, I pray you feel that love.

Waiting for you but loving you always,

Your Mama