Reminiscing........

Today was a day filled with fun, lots of sugar, more fun and then a little more sugar.  We went to our friend Christian's 2 year old birthday party this morning at the Build a Bear Workshop! You can't get any more fun than that.  Christian's mommy gave us all chocolate icing filled cookie cake and cookies-and-cream milkshakes from Chik-fil-A to start us off just in case our coffee buzz had not kicked in yet.  Oh the yummy calories!!  It was so fun watching all these little toddlers run around and stuff their bears full of fluffy stuffing, making fun wishes on their bears' little hearts, and basically running off all their energy all over the store while harried parents fell into a quick step behind them.  It was most fun to see these 2 precious children celebrating life and love and family that came into our lives through adoption.  My friend Lianne and I met (Christian's mommy) about 3 years ago basically on the basis of knowing we both desperately wanted children and had been unsuccessful on that journey thus far.  We talked of hopes, dreams, wishes and all that we wanted for our future children.  We both stayed busy with our lives and tried to fill the time until we would one day see our babies sweet faces looking back at us.  We both volunteered at our church coffee house and made espresso concoctions that would knock any conisseur's socks off!!  I still remember a picture we took of us in front of the coffee machines and I titled it "what we did while waiting for our babies". First, David and I applied to a local adoption agency and prayed for our miracle to arrive, then Lianne and her hubby got the adoption bug and applied not too far behind us.  I came to the coffee house one Sunday and tried to contain my news since I didn't want to leak out any information until it was more "for sure" to avoid any heart-ache that a "changed mind" of a birth mother could cause, but Lianne just couldn't stop quizzing me that day about my weekend, and.............then I slipped.  I said something about MY birth mother when she was trying to ask a generic question about the adoption process and how it was going.  She took one look at me and just started screaming!  When I say "Screaming", I mean the people at the church had one hand on the 9 to start their 911 call!  She then found out we were having a girl and the screams only got more intense.  :-)  I'm smiling right now remembering her unbridled joy at the anticipation of Little Girl's arrival.  Not 6 months later, their beautiful son arrived into their lives and they began the road of parenthood right along with us.  Both of our children are miracles of God and gifts from him that are "far more than we could ask or imagine". Christian and Little Girl - thanks for making our lives richer, fuller and greater because you are in them!  Happy 2nd Birthday Christian!