Amon is officially one! How can that be? Where did the time go? I still remember that day last May when Josh and I sat on the floor in his parent’s bonus room and opened those incredibly longed for pictures and stared at this adorably small, dark headed, big eyed 6 week old baby boy. There he finally was.
I’ll be honest in saying I’ve always struggled a bit with Sol’s birthday…and now Amon’s. Today was a very hard, celebrated, tear filled day. With adoption there is so much joy and beauty and love, but also sadness and grief and questions. I ache for my kids in many different ways and I grieve for Solomon and Amon and all the questions and possible sadness that they will face…especially on their birthdays. I so wish I had all the answers. I so wish I knew exactly what to say. But I don’t and Josh doesn’t either and this is the part of adoption that is really hard.
But, I am thankful for the amazing, incredible parts of adoption…the ones that fill my heart to the tip top and make me absolutely weep with gratefulness to God. These moments out weigh all the hard ones. Today I cried so much…tears of sadness for Amon and tears of absolute thankfulness for this child. He is just amazing. He blows us totally away. I wish I could accurately describe how honored and grateful and blessed and just in awe of God for allowing us to be his mom and dad we feel. There are really no words to even begin to capture our gratefulness.
We choose specific verses for our kiddos before they come along. I remember sitting in church scanning over 1 Thessalonians when I read Amon’s verse. I knew the moment I read it it was suppose to be our next little boy’s verse even though we had no idea who he was yet. And I held tight to that verse…hard.
“How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the JOY we have in the presence of our God because of you?” 1 Thessalonians 3:9
Every time I think of Amon’s verse now, I am thrilled with God’s loveliness. I adore how He moves and works and enjoys even the smallest of details like a scripture that absolutely nails our son…long before we knew his joyous personality. Amon really is joy. I opened a card from my Aunt Linda today to Amon for his birthday and absolutely sobbed. She nailed it. My Aunt Linda understands what this child means to our family. What hope we have found in God through this crazy, beautiful boy and his beautiful heart.
So today was Amon’s day. We ate muffins for breakfast and had doctor’s appointments, and shared cupcakes with medical staff who take mad care of our family and we enjoyed cake ourselves and we enjoyed each other and we loved on Amon hard.
And like everyday, he brought smiles into our family. And he brought his typical joy.
Amon Kelley you have rocked our world in the best way ever. God has used you my joyous baby boy and will continue to do so. You have touched hearts with your perfect one. I am honored to be your mom and CANNOT wait to see what God has in store for your little life. I know it’s going to be grand. I know you are going to change the world. I love you madly! Happy 1st Birthday to our Ace of Hearts!
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Happy 1st birthday sweet Amon!!
Happy Birthday, Sweet Amon…. One day before my birthday!!
Such a sweet, sweet post! Happy birthday to your adorable little Amon! What a wonderful day!
Happy Birthday Amon!
Happy Birthday, Amon! Way to rock it with the cake, little man! By the way, Laura… the swirled frosting on those cupcakes looks so delightfully perfect!
Happy Birthday, Amon! I follow your mommy’s blog so I feel like I know you. Laura, as a fellow adoptive mom, I understand your mixed emotions and your uncertainty with responding to future questions. Our son is now five and we’ve always been honest with him but only gave him information to the point he can understand. We found that somehow God gives you the right things to say. Don’t be surprised if they want to gear their adoption story over and ovet. It helps solidify it for them and gives them security.
Happy 1st bday to dear Amon! Tears in my eyes to see how grateful and happy all of you are with him in your lives..so very special. I love that you don’t take a single thing for granted!
Happy Bday : ) Mira
Happy birthday, Amon! So many people have prayed for you and continue to do so! He is just so precious! 🙂
Happy Birthday to Amon! A day before my own! You are so precious and have brought so much happiness to your family and friends!
Happy birthday to that cute boy. And Laura, one of the answers to their questions can be, “I don’t know. I don’t know exactly why things happened the way they have, but I trust the One who knows. And He is working all of these things for good and His glory.” Praise Him for Sol, Amon, and of course Huddy and sweet Harper!
Happy Birthday, Sweet Amon! gift from God…I know all about that with my 3 grown children, all adopted and all gifts to us. Like Ashley, we talked about adoption a lot; told them their story many times over. When they were school-age we would play a game of guessing what their birthgiver was maybe doing right now, making it good and normal to wonder and ask questions. We lavished love on those sweet women so that our children would also feel loved for who they are. Laura, you are doing a wonderful job with all your precious children!
Laura,
As someone who is adopted, let me help ease your mind. I felt so cherished and loved by my parents, that there was never any room for sadness. In fact, I can’t imagine being upset by the wondrous and self-less gift someone gave me by allowing me to be chosen by another as their child. I always knew I was adopted and grew up understanding and valuing what that meant. Never have I felt less than or a sense of loss. In fact, I believe it has empowered me to be a more compassionate, empathetic, and loving person. My parents told me time and again that April 27, 1963 { my birthdate} , was the greatest day of their life. The three of us truly did receive a wondrous gift from God that day and I thank Him at all times for it. I could not have had more wonderful parents.
Happy First Birthday, Sweet Amon! You have been chosen to be a very unique kind of special. Cherish it always.
I might as well add one more voice to the chorus even if it is the day after now — Happy Birthday Amon! 🙂 Never stop sharing that beautiful smile with the world.