Happy 11th Birthday Liam Josiah

Liam turned 11 on the the 13th. :) My tiny little man is growing up quickly. I mean, he's only been home four years, so it seems impossible for him to be eleven already. He still won't eat cake but he does like his ice cream!

 

Supposed to be monkeys. I think the ears are too high, they look like teddy bears. LOL 

They tasted good though.

He's starting to get this opening present, thing. He would be happy with just one present though, I think. He opens it and then goes off to play with it. He gets annoyed if we try and get him to open another one. LOL

 

 

 

Checking it out. Maybe, deciding if he should chuck it or not. :) 

My beautiful boy with his dark chocolate eyes.

I love you my sweet Liam Josiah. I look forward to spending many more birthdays with you.

 

Christmas 2015 .......................a little late!

I can't believe I forgot to post Christmas pictures! LOL
I didn't even realize it until I was looking through the 2015 Blog book that I made. It came in the mail today. I got to the end, and it was missing a Christmas post. I checked the blog and sure enough, there wasn't one!  So, here it is.

Christmas Eve, right after Santa stopped by.

Elijah going through his stocking goodies, while waiting for everyone else to get up. Liam was already up, but he grabbed his gift from Santa (singing Snoopy) and was off!

 

Chocolate for breakfast. :)

 

Caleb's favorite (Reese tree)

 

Caleb got a Peppa Pig van from Santa. Elijah asked for a Dora. Santa always comes through.

Liam hanging out with Snoopy, hoping no one will drag him over to open presents.

A gift from Elijah. Even though he has one, I think Elijah thought he needed two. They both love this game, so it's a win-win!

                                                                                  

Trigger looking all cute, while sneaking a tag to chew on.

Our first Christmas with Oliver.

Jimmy still loves Mario.

 

 

An Adele poster with lyrics. Exactly what he asked for.

Jimmy loves the Statue of Liberty and also bobble heads. What a combo!

Another awesome gift from Grandma. Can't wait to play it. HeHe.

Gift card from Uncle Sean. The boys get so excited to use these!

 

Here's the singing puppy from Grandma and Papa.

It was the only thing, that made him put down the Snoopy.

 

And finally, Caleb got his new Adele CD.

 

 

Beautiful gift for me, from Caleb.

 

Paw Patrol pajamas from Grandma and Papa. 

He was thrilled to put these on! 

Another score for the grandparents. :)

 

Poor kid, too bad he hates chocolate. ;)

Gifts from his running buddy, Kelly!

Jimmy being silly, for the camera.

Drawing with his water doodle.  

Our sweet new angel, that we got on clearance after Christmas. Couldn't wait to out her on the tree, 

if only for a few days this year. 

I think we'll call her Betsy. :)

 

And as Jimmy would say......

It was the best Christmas ever......

and Happy Birthday Jesus!

 

Liam's 4th Gotcha Day

Gotcha Days are just as important as birthdays in our family. It is the day that I was able to take each of my adopted children out of their orphanage/institution, for good. In a way, it's a day that represents their birth into our family. On their birthday, they were born into a family. For reasons not fully known in most cases, the children lost their families, and were put into an orphanage or abandon at the hospital after their birth. For my children, they were given up, by their birth mother because they were born with Down syndrome. Countries in Eastern Europe and many other places of the world, do not accept disabled people. They hide them away in orphanages and institutions where they lack medical care, good nutrition, much needed therapies, love and attention, and most will likely die, before they reach adulthood. My boys were the lucky ones. They were adopted.  Most often though , if you are an orphan and you are disabled, there really is no hope for you to be adopted. There are over 150 million orphans in the world. That number overwhelms me. :(
So yesterday, was Liam's 4th anniversary of his Gotcha Day. I remember that day so well. The staff at the institution were in awe or shock, that someone had actually traveled so far, spent thousands of dollars....to adopt a child, that would never be able to live on his own. And I say that, because Liam is very delayed. But, I knew when I saw him for the first time, that I could not leave him there. Just by the reaction of the staff at the institution, I know he meant little to them. To them, he was a throwaway child. He was malnourished, and his teeth and gums were in a horrible condition, because they didn't bother to even brush them. He was so hungry for love too. He crawled right up on my lap and didn't want to do anything but sit there and lean against me. He needed me. I needed him. (More than I even thought.) It is a magical feeling, almost miraculous feeling, that I receive from taking care of him and loving him. It is the most rewarding thing I have ever done in my life. Adopting a child, that most considered not worthy. But God, knows what they are worth. And I am so thankful, that He thinks, I am worthy enough to be their Mama. It's an honor and a blessing that I don't take lightly. Liam, you are loved more than you will ever know. Thank you my little guy, for making me a very happy Mama.

A Boy and his Dog

Okay, for anyone who knows Elijah, knows that he has always been kinda shy and quiet. It's his personality and I adore him, because you have to really observe him and watch all the magic happen. This kid won't be jumping in your face, to get your attention.
He has always been a  little shy with animals too, but that has changed over the last couple years. Still even with our dogs, he hasn't paid much attention, until Oliver. And well, Oliver WILL get in your face to get attention, and he does it mostly with kisses! To top it off,  Oliver has taken a liking to Elijah. So really, Elijah had no choice. :) And, these two, have developed a special relationship, that is just,............magical.

PIE FACE!

This game is crazy fun!

Christmas Eve 2015

Ben and Shelby were here for Christmas Eve. We had a blast frosting cookies, drinking wine, and opening presents. We later went to church, and came home for lots of good things to eat!

Ben and Shelby bought me a new camera for Christmas, and we had a lot of fun figuring it out. I love it!

OMG! He was so excited!

Ben was laughing at Caleb's toes. He does have the most unique toes I have ever seen. But, I love them, and there will never come a day, that  this Mama won't kiss them.

I love this one!