I can't believe that today is finally here! Today is a day that we have dreamed about and prayed for over the past 3 1/2 years. Today is a day that I have been planning for over the past 9 months (I know…don't laugh!) Today is not just any old day in our household. Today is a day that we will cherish every moment, every laugh, every tear, every detail!!! Emotions will be high today with celebration, reflection, excitement, and complete awe of the faithfulness of God!
TODAY we celebrate Caleb's 1st birthday!
As we prepare for his birthday celebration, I reflect on that special day when I got to hold my little man for the 1st time! When the day finally arrived to go get our son, I felt like the hours and minutes passed by so slowly. We spent all day making sure we had everything ready in the house. After a whirlwind of a weekend, with only 3 days notice to meet Caleb, I knew that God knew what He was doing with only giving us 3 days notice. I know I couldn't wait another minute until I met him! Finally, the time arrived where we started our drive to go pick up Caleb. I felt butterflies in my stomach the entire way there. When we finally arrived at the agency, we got there before Caleb did with his foster parents. We had to take care of all of the paperwork first, but obviously my mind was not focused on paperwork when all I wanted to do was hold my son. Once all the paper work was complete, we still had no idea that he was there. So we came out of the room where we met with the representative of the agency, walked down the hall way, and then as we turned into a room we then realized that THERE HE WAS!
This one moment will forever be frozen in time in our minds and our hearts. As they walked towards us and placed him in our arms, emotions that had been bottled up inside of us for the past 3 1/2 years, as we prayed and waited for the day to be parents came pouring out. (Side note…I knew I wanted every moment of this to be captured in pictures so I had a sweet friend, Jennifer Hambrick, come and take pictures for us.)
Here is the 1st picture ever taken of Caleb placed in my arms. If you know me well, you know that I hate having bad pictures taken of me. BUT, when I look at this picture I think it is the most perfect picture in the entire world because all I see is the absolute pure, raw emotions of this moment. This moment is a moment I will never forget!!!
Here is our 1st family picture.
Now it's time to head home and start our new life with our new addition! YAY!
Even though he may not have grown in my stomach and we may not have been there the day he was born, he grew in our hearts long before we ever knew about him. Today as we celebrate his birthday, we reflect on this special day when we became a family. One of the reasons I loved the name Caleb is because it means "faithful". Kelly and I have always called this our journey of faith, so the name Caleb is perfectly fitting for our answered prayer and God's faithfulness to us. Caleb's middle name is Mark, which is Kelly's middle name. We love our little man more than life itself and thank God everyday for him! November is National Adoption Month and I couldn't imagine any better way to celebrate than to celebrate the birth of our son this month as well!
Now, even though this is such a special day for us and for Caleb, my heart still thinks about and prays for his birthparents. Questions go through my mind about if they remember that today is his birthday and are they thinking of him. You see, I can never be angry or bitter or resentful to his birthparents because they have us the gift that we couldn't give ourself. I will be forever grateful to them and this precious blessing that they gave us. In our family, Caleb's adoption will always be an open and very common conversation. His birthparents will always hold a special place in my heart. Even though we have never met them, I will always think about them. Just like Caleb has been adopted by us, we have been adopted by Christ and both stories are ones that we should never try to hide or be embarrassed about. The perfect example of adoption is when Christ adopted us so I know as long as I follow His example then we can never go wrong in raising Caleb.
Happy 1st Birthday to our little man! Mommy and Daddy love you so very much! You will never know how much joy, love, laughter, and excitement you bring to our lives!
