Celebrating J's 2nd birthday

Yesterday we celebrated J's 2nd birthday.  It was also two years to the day that we hugged his first mommy.  It was a special day and J was surrounded by many people who love him. I will keep this post short, but yesterday can be described best from the message we received today from J's birth grandfather.  I wanted to share this message, but keep their privacy, so names have been deleted.
This is the text message I received. It brought tears to my eyes.  God definitely is in this adoption relationship.   There is no doubt about it!

Thank you so much for the wonderful birthday party. Birth grandmother and I had so much fun. Oh my gosh J is growing so fast and learning so much and speaking so well that we were just so happy and tried to soak it all in. He is really something special and such a kind young boy, very impressive. It is not hard to see that he is an extension of the love he is receiving. Birth grandmother was so happy he would sit and spend time with her and drink his milk that I could see the glow on her face all the way home. Again we cannot say thank you enough for such a wonderful day.

Happy birthday sweet boy.

Two years since our world changed

Tomorrow, March 20th is a day I will never forget until the day I no longer walk this earth.  Two years ago, on March 20th, we got the phone call that you were here.  I will never forget the way it felt to hear those words "there is a little boy, who is 2 weeks old, and he may be yours."  It still gives me goosebumps.   We had only a few short hours to decide if we wanted to proceed further.  I remember sitting in my car at work talking to our adoption worker and shaking.  I had prepared myself (at least I thought I had) for that moment, but when it arrived I was a wreck.  I sobbed in my boss's office after talking to your daddy. We both were shocked, excited and nervous about the unknown.   I remember calling my sister and mom.  I talked to my sister and she helped me work through some of my concerns.  We made a pros/cons list.  The cons list was pretty much nonexistent.  My mom had so many missed calls that she immediately snuck into the bathroom at work to call me back. I was so scared and so happy. When our worker told us your name and said that your first mommy wanted us to know your name meant "gift from God," I gasped.  My son, you are the BEST gift from God.
Looking back, I'm so happy that we set our fears aside and trusted God to lead the way. I cannot believe for one millisecond that I even questioned proceeding further.  Of course that was short lived.  I couldn't imagine my life without you in it.  You continue to amaze me every day.  I know there will be times when we don't always see eye to eye, but please remember, that no matter what you do in this life, I'm always there for you.  I consider myself the luckiest mama on this earth that I was chosen to be your mama.  God's plan was perfect.   He worked out all the details before we were told about you.  He named you and gave you the best first mommy and daddy to love you, then they graciously placed you in our arms forever.   What a wonderful gift.  You are our gift from God and we are happy to experience this life with you.

TWO

TWO!  How in the world did that just happen?  I feel like I blinked and you went from a tiny little 7lb sweetie to a 30lb busy and talkative sweetie. Two years ago we were praying for an adoption match and sharing our profile with friends and family.  What we did not know was that you were already 3 days old.  You had a beautiful biblical name that means gift from God.  Your sweet birthmom and dad had already searched our agency website and had stumbled upon our book. They were making decisions about your beautiful life and we were completely unaware of the joy we were about to experience.  We are so very blessed that we were chosen to be your parents.   Being your parents has been the most rewarding, joyful, exhausting and exciting job we've ever had. 
We are preparing for your dump truck themed birthday party in the next few weeks.  There will be people there who mean the most to you, your grandparents and birth family. What a gift it is to have a relationship with them so that they can celebrate these milestones with you.  Adoption is the best! We cannot wait to see what the future holds for you our sweet boy.    Remember we love you so much, but please don't cause too much chaos in those terrible two's. This mama just got through teething.