Happy Birthday Daniel!
I can’t believe he is 6 already. We
are so proud of the little man he is becoming.
He has such an infectious spirit about him that everyone falls in love
with him the minute you meet him (that will be a problem in a few short years
haha). He is so fun to be around and
cares so much about everyone.
Over the weekend we had his big birthday celebration. And as usual we had my favorite part, the
cake making! This year he decided to go
with a Monsters University theme. This
was so fun to turn the house into a dorm room.
Instead of a big party at Chuck E. Cheese this year all he wanted was to
celebrate with his family.
Here are a
few pictures of the big 6 year old and his celebration.
Every year on Daniels birthday I can’t help but think of his
birth mother. I pray that one day we
will meet her in heaven and she will see what an amazing young man Daniel has
become. I thank God for her decision but
my heart also aches that she can not see this amazing, caring, loving, funny
boy that is now my son.
Well I am not quite sure where the time has gone but Daniel
is officially 4! When this happened I am
not sure. He is getting so big so fast
and way to old. It is kind of funny how
when he does something he has not done before he will say “I can do that right
mom because I am 4”. Yep, that is
correct. He is so smart, probably to
smart for his own good, and you can tell he is soaking everything in around
him. He never forgets anything. I am praying that skill stays with him for a
very long time.
Some of his favorite things to do right now:
As always, play with cars and anything with wheels
He loves legos and to build things
Helping set the dinner table and clean up his toys
Play games
Play any kid of musical instrument (I love when he puts on concerts)
And anything outside, he is such a boy
Even though he has turned 4 he still loves to cuddle before
bed and watch a “movie” which is anything that is animated. Some of his favorite foods bananas, grapes,
ravioli and dippy eggs. For his birthday breakfast we took him to Cracker
Barrel for dippy eggs and waffles. When
he was finished the ladies brought him out an ice cream Sundae. Who doesn’t get to eat ice cream for
breakfast on their birthday!
One of my favorite things about the personality Daniel is
building is his knowledge and love for God.
He doesn’t miss a beat and loves to go to Sunday school. He has his memory verses memorized and will
randomly pull them out at the appropriate times. He can recite the stories he hears and then
tell you all about them. Here is one of
my favorites of him telling the story of Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego:
For his birthday he wanted a Goofy theme. Surprisingly it is very hard to find anything
with just Goofy, but of course my child would be obsessed with Goofy! So my dear friends came to the rescue again
and helped to make the cake and cupcakes.
I think this is one of my most favorite parts of Daniels birthday,
getting into the kitchen for the entire night before with these girls and just
baking, laughing and catching up. Here
are some cake pictures:
Daniels day was filled with family and friends all loving on him. His best friend from his old babysitters was even able to come and spend a few hours before the party with him. Below is a picture of Daniel and his cousins:
This little boy is going to do some amazing things as he
grows. I can’t wait to see what God has
in store as he has already touched and blessed so many just with his cute smile
and personality. Anyone that meets or
talks with Daniel can attest to that!
Trust in The Lord with
all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways
acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths. -Proverbs 3:5-6
I pray this scripture for Daniel, that as he grows he keeps his child like faith and Trusts in God as much, if not more than he does today! He is going to do great things, that is one thing I am certain!
It is always on this day that I wonder and think about the woman who gave birth to Daniel. The woman that I am so eternally grateful for, who gave us the best gift we could ever receive. I can't imagine how hard it would be to look into this face and have to turn around and leave. My heart breaks for her and I pray that someday we will meet so I can tell her how truly grateful I am, how her sacrafice blessed our family in ways we could not even have dreamed possible, how I could not imagine my life if I didn't have this face to wake up to and hear the words "Good morning mommy". There is a special place in heaven for this woman, of that I am sure, and I can't wait to put my arms around her and say Thank you.
Happy birthday Daniel! You are a blessing and loved more than you could ever imagine.
So I am a few weeks behind on events. No surprise with my now 3 year old running
around. Did you catch that, yes I said
3! I know it is so hard to believe
Daniel is 3 years old now. He is getting
so big so fast. Everyday it seems I am
putting more clothes away that are to tight, to short or all around to
small. He is so smart and funny and is
turning into an amazing young boy (notice I did not say man, we are not rushing
that one). He is no longer mommy’s baby,
but insists he is a big boy. He is very
opionated and knows what he wants and is not afraid to make it known
either. I am so proud at the big boy he
is becoming. Some of his personality
traits that have become very apparent this past year: He is a charmer, a flirt
and loves to make people laugh. He will
put a show on for you like nothing you have ever seen. He still gets shy and holds on to our legs
when he doesn’t know someone. He is so
smart and picks up on things very fast (sometimes way to fast for my
liking). He is such a joy and brings
smiles and warmth to everyone he comes in contact with.
For his birthday (March 9th was his birthday,
told you I am way behind) he got to have an Alvin and the Chipmunks party. The cake was amazing (thank you Audra and
Mikaela once again) with a stage, all the chipmunks and instruments. You wouldn’t think it would be hard to find
Chipmunk’s themed party supplies but it definitly was. There is nothing out there. Daniel’s favorite part I think was playing
with all his little friends. While we
were singing him Happy Birthday he sat there and rolled his eyes, he is so
dramatic! You can see video of it below (thank you Ryan for all the pictures
and video).
It was such a sweet
day.
On Daniel’s actual birthday he got to pick what we had for
dinner and if we stayed home or went out to eat. He wanted to stay home (he is really turning
into quite a homebody) and wanted us to bring dinner home. So we asked him what he wanted to eat, for
those of you that know Daniel you might have been able to guess his answer –
Chicken wings, the kid loves ranch chicken wings. So I picked up Quaker Steak and Lube on my
way home. Before dinner Mark asked him if he wanted to pray, here was
Daniels prayer “Dear God, thank you for my birthday and thank you for my family.
Amen” Melt my heart! He is such a sweet boy. That brought tears to my eyes and made this
mommy heart full!
I thank God everyday for this gift of this sweet boy. For those big brown eyes and little chocolate
fingers. For the gift of getting to be Daniels parents. Everyone says how lucky Daniel is to have
found his forever family. I say how
blessed and lucky I am that I get to be his mom. It truly is a gift that keeps on giving. On his birthday I take a moment to stop and
remember the woman who had to make the decision to give her son up for
adoption. A decision that had to be in my mind the hardest decision of her
life. A decision that not only changed her world forever but changed ours. Because of this decision we get the joy of
waking up to this sweet face, the sweet giggles, the sweet hugs and kisses and
the sweet dance moves (oh the dancing makes me laugh just thinking about it)
every day. A decision that I will be
forever grateful for, as she gave us the best gift of all. The gift to get to be
Daniel’s parents. The gift to hear him
say the words “I love you with all my heart”, the gift to hear him call us
mommy and daddy. God sets the lonely in
families and when you answer that call he gives you the best gift of all. He knew Daniel would be our son and he knew
he was the perfect one for us to all our own.
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