I have lots of orders to post, but for today it is all about my baby boy. Sol turned 1 this week and we had his big birthday bash today. With his birthday falling so close to Super Bowl and since he loves balls, we decided to do a football themed party. It was a really fun day and all the kids seemed to have a blast. As always we had to continue with our birthday family traditions:
Decorated door for birthday morning
Cake for breakfast on his birthday
and chalk drawing on party day.
Sol was so cute with his cake. He has not had any major sweet things yet and I was waiting for his birthday cake to really introduce him to this yummy taste. I went with Funfetti cake for his. Throughout our adoption process we celebrated small victories on our way to Sol with Funfetti cake–home study and dossier complete =ed Funfetti cake–On waiting list =ed Funfetti cake–Referral and seeing Sol’s sweet face =ed Funfetti cake and when we brought him home really =ed Funfetti cake. He was a fan! He dove right in with his hands and just nibbled away.
Everyone else enjoyed Funfetti and chocolate cupcakes. These were really fun to make and the kiddos really like the little flags.
For treat bags, of course we went all football: mini Gatorade, eye black, mini football, Little Debbie zebra cake (referees), penalty flag (bouncy ball wrapped in the middle of a yellow napkin…totally Josh’s idea), sweat band and a football shirt. Since tomorrow is the Super Bowl, I decided to make the boys and the girls football tees. I just made the girl’s shirts a little more girly.
It was a really great party and fun to celebrate Sol’s life.
On the same subject, but different note, I try not to go too personal on this blog and we have purposely kept Sol’s back story pretty private (only family and close friends) because it’s just that, it’s Sol’s story–not mine, not Josh’s, not anyone’s, but Sol’s and we want it to be his and for him to share. In all honesty, his birthday was very bitter-sweet. On his actual birthday we went to eat with family and the whole day I had been fighting lots of sad thoughts. As we ate the sad thoughts continued and I found myself hating all the conversations that were going on around me. It made me mad that there was no talk of the proceedings leading up to his birth or how long people waited in the waiting room for him. I just hate that we don’t know what all took place on his birth date and honestly it just makes me sad. I know that this is just the way it is, but more than anything, I really, really hate that one day he might be sad about the same things and I won’t have an answer for him. That pains me and all I can do is pray that God will ease his heart and be the answer he needs. Comments I get that address Sol being lucky or blessed or any along those lines, make me very uncomfortable. Adoption is viewed as a great, noble thing and a lot of times adoptive parents are on a slippery slope at making the adoption about themselves and becoming very prideful about it…because yes, it does feel good to hear people say what a great thing they think you have done, but it’s not about the adoptive parents and it never should be. It is about that child and the plan God orchestrated for their life. And yes we are apart of Sol’s life, but we are just a piece of this huge life Sol is going to have. And simply put, Josh and I are the blessed ones and the lucky ones to have Sol…never Sol to have us. We feel honored that God would choose us to be Sol’s mom and dad and I never, ever want him to think it any other way. So all that to say, Solomon, we are truly, truly, insanely blessed to be your mom and dad and we CANNOT wait to see what God has in store for your life. You are amazing and we know you are going to do great things. Happy Birthday baby boy, we love you tons.
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I was SO hoping you would have party pics up tonight! Great ideas, as always and I love the eye black pic of the boys.
Thanks for sharing your heart here. You’re right-it’s all part of God’s story. He has used Sol to make an already special family even more special!
Aw Laura, yes, thank you for sharing your heart. I sat and read tonight with tears. I’ve had those thoughts so many times and it’s so hard to try to bring those hurts for them (mine isn’t even here yet of course!) into alignment – for them to settle out just seems impossible. We have on our wall all three of our kids’ baby pictures – their three months. I told Jason the other day we’ll just have to take those down because I don’t want it to be in her face every day that she wasn’t here to have one of those pictures. We’ll put something else up for sure, but it’s just still hard. So, I hurt for you and empathize with my imagination. I’m guessing there will always be a little bit of that hurt on their birthday – although hopefully it will get easier with every year. Of course some years may be harder than others. Anyway, thanks for sharing. I’m so grateful to read yours and Tracy’s thoughts as being a step ahead of us!
And I was just all sad and sappy, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOL!!! 🙂
You are an inspiring and sweet momma! Thanks for sharing. Sol is precious and you guys are just blessed to have each OTHER. That is what family is all about. He is precious, and your birthday ideas make me excited about our upcoming parties (they’re only 6 months away. too soon to start planning?!) ha! But this year I’ll have TWO at once, so I’m gonna need all the ideas I can get!
An AWESOME post, very well said. We are all so blessed to have Sol in our lives! I love you all so very much!
I hate comments like that, too. I didn’t adopt my girls to save them. It always makes me feel uncomfortable, too, because I don’t want my girls to feel like they owe me something. They don’t. They’re my daughters just as any bio child is to a mother. And, it’s hard to get people to understand that “praising” me for “saving” MY children is not what an adoptive mother wants to hear.
Bring it Laura! You know that we share the same thoughts on this and it’s something that I take to the Lord almost every day. In a perfect world, my adopted children would be at home with their birth parents right now. It does make me sad to think about the reality our kids will face one day, but I also know God is bigger than all that pain. Happy Birthday to Sol! Hard to believe he is already a year old huh?
C’mon Laura, what kid or adult for that matter doesn’t like funfetti cake!!!! Oh and was there any left over?? Just curious. You know where to find me!!!
Laura, anyone who has seen you and Josh with your children
have to know you are the blessed ones, you both glow. But in my humble opinion, Sol is blessed too, to have such sweet loving parents, who get the big picture. God bless you all, we love you and those precious children.
Your comments are so true.
It is part of the reason we celebrate Gotcha day too, or whatever you want to call it. We celebrate it as we would a birthday, because there is less bittersweetness to that day. C asked me the other day about being born. I said I did not know much about that day, but yes he was born to another woman. I reminded him even f he does not remember, if I don’t know, God was there, He saw and he was taking care of him. I said C God is with you always even when Mom is not.