Gotcha Day, a year later

It's been a year since I walked out of the orphanage with my newest son in my arms! It was nothing less than miraculous! Elijah was a hidden angel, no one had met him, he wasn't on any photolisting, and he was all alone. But God knew he was there.....and He had a plan for Elijah much bigger than the four walls that Elijah saw everyday through the bars on his crib. Most of you know my story. Elijah was a blind referral that I received only 3 days before I was to travel to meet him. Nervous? A little. Exciting? Yes! I almost cried when I saw his precious photo for the first time! Less than a week later, I was holding my little angel in my arms for the first time.

This is Elijah's referral photo. It's also the first picture I ever saw of my peanut.


This is the first time I saw my little guy. His caregiver handed him to me right after I took this picture. I was already in love!



Special Firsts after coming home!Elijah's walking now!


Elijah on his 1st vacation with our family!:)


Elijah's 3rd birthday and first birthday with his family.


Elijah's 1st day of school!


Elijah a year later!


I love this little boy so much! He has stolen my heart with those beautiful eyes of his and his sweet smile, his cute little giggle, the way he puts his arms around my neck for a hug, the way he backs up and sits on my lap, the way he gets excited when I give him a cookie, the way he runs to get his shoes when he knows we are going somewhere, the way he lays his little head on my shoulder when he's tired and just wants to be held, the way he says "no!", the way he dances when the music comes on, the way he giggles and lights up when we play Elmo songs in the truck, the way he races up to Caleb's bed to wake him up, the way he jumps up and steals Ben's spot on the couch when Ben gets up and can hardly stop laughing as Ben tickles him for taking his spot, and the way he says "Mama" just melts my heart! I could watch him as he is sleeping all night and I can't wait to kiss his sweet little face in the morning! Thank you God for the gift of Elijah! It is an honor to be his Mama!!

Happy Birthday Ben

Today is Ben's 19th birthday. Wow! Where has the time gone? He's all grown up! Back when Ben was little and learning to read, I would send him to Jimmy (who is 4 years older) when he had trouble with a word. I helped too, but I thought it would be a neat thing for Jimmy to be able to help Ben. Soon though, Ben passed Jimmy both academically and cognitively. In a way, he became the "older" brother. Ben has stayed sensitive to Jimmy's feelings with this and has made sure that he doesn't "boss" Jimmy, but behaves more like they are of equal age. Ben is a caring brother to Jimmy, Caleb, and Elijah. He has really bonded with Elijah and Elijah just thinks Ben is the greatest! Caleb stills call Ben "Bun" which I think is so darn cute! So Happy Birthday Ben, we love you!!
Ben and his friends putting together Caleb and Elijah's Christmas present!

Happy Spring!

Yesterday was pretty mild and sunny so we spent some time outside. Caleb just LOVES to be outside so he was excited! Elijah loved blowing the bubbles all by himself.:) We had some exceptionally warm weather last week (close to 70 degrees) and Caleb was able to spray his water bottle outside. He loves to do that! So this weekend when the temps dropped again, he couldn't understand that now it was too cold to play with the water outside. Crazy Michigan weather!:)

March 21 World Down Syndrome Day

Caleb and Elijah

Here's a short clip of Caleb sharing a little about himself, and Elijah saying "Mama":)

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

How it all began

As I watched Jimmy with Elijah the other night, I thought of how it ALL began with Jimmy. Our family that is. I didn't know that Jimmy was going to have Down syndrome when he was born. When Jimmy was born with Ds, everyone was surprised! But oh, how that beautiful little blue-eyed boy lit up my life and still does today!! To me, he wasn't really any different than any other little boy. He could do all the same things, it just took him a little longer to learn. Fast forward 17 years to 2004, the year Jimmy would be turning 18. I had two teenage sons and feeling a little sad that they had grown up so quickly. My boys were so rewarding to raise and I really missed having little ones in our home. Then adoption crossed my mind again. It had been in my heart for years but I really never seriously considered it until that year. I did some research and found so many beautiful, children from countries all over the world needing families. The more I researched international adoption, the more I learned the fate of the disabled children in orphanages once they reached the age of four (institution, with an 80% chance of not surviving their first year there). I knew then that I needed to bring one of these precious children home into our family. A child with Down syndrome. I began to get excited as I started imagining another little set of feet running through my house again. And before I knew it, I was looking into agencies and deciding on a country. Jimmy turned 18 in November 2004 and I began my homestudy in December. By June of 2005, we had Caleb home (at 2 years, 8 months old)and our lives were changed forever! What a little spitfire he is! And such a cuddle bug! He does run through the house but instead of hearing the sound of little feet, it sounds like a herd of elephants!:) He is so full of energy, smart and funny! And boy, does that kid keep me on my toes! It's never boring around this house....Caleb is busy, busy, busy!
Feeling like our family was not yet complete....a few years later I began thinking about adopting again (more like longing to adopt again). And this started the process in 2008 of bringing home another son with Ds. Our little Elijah came home in 2009. Elijah came home at the age of 2 years, 9 months (funny how close in age Caleb and Elijah were when they each came home) and what an answered prayer our little peanut is! Elijah and Caleb have become inseparable and also little partners in crime. And I wouldn't have it any other way! But I have learned, that when I hear a little giggle coming from Elijah that I better check to see what Caleb is up to! LOL!
So as I watched Jimmy with Elijah the other night, I look back and see how God's plan for Caleb and Elijah all started with Jimmy many years ago.




Thank God for this gift, His gift.
No language can praise it enough!
2 Corinthians 9:15 MSG

Say Cheese!

Okay, this is what I get for trying to take a picture of Caleb tonight! He's such a funny boy!

I love this silly face!:)