Happy Birthday, Noah and Samuel??

Noah and Samuel on their third birthday.

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Yesterday was an eventful day. We had two birthday parties to attend, one in the morning and one in the late afternoon. The boys have become very interested in birthdays over the last few months and after watching Tristan celebrate his 1st birthday, they really want it to be their birthday, too.

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Last year when they turned three they had only been home for nine weeks and didn't understand what was going on on their birthday. We chose not to have a party because it would have been way to overwhelming for them. We had a quiet celebration at home, instead.

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In addition to the normal birthday excitement, Grandma has promised the boys bikes for their birthdays... but there is a condition. They need to put ALL their peepee and poopoo in the toilet. They are at about 98% with that. I'm certain they will get the bikes!

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Lately, out of the blue, the boys will say any of the following: "I need cake." Cake to them means birthday. Noah especially says this and he says it totally out of the blue. Whenever they see a lit candle at someone's house (I don't burn candles at home... way too scared one of the boys will get burned...) they begin to sing "Happy Birthday." They equate any type of lit candle with birthdays. I think that is hilarious! "Happy Birthday, Noah and Samuel??" They ask this question a lot. They are checking in to see if it is their turn yet. Somedays they just wake up thinking about their birthday. And they ask about it at bedtime, too. It didn't help that the other day Sesame Street had a birthday themed show!

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I find it all very endearing. Yes, they want cake and presents and to be the center of attention... but they spent their first two birthdays in an orphanage (I did get to be with them on their first birthday, though) and came home with no comprehension of what a birthday was. Last year was just sad because they were so uninterested in the cake, balloons, etc. This year they are WAY excited and that makes me happy. They are being "regular little boys," and that does this mommy's heart well.

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Yesterday at the a.m. birthday, their friend Brodie turned three. Most of his gifts were "Cars" related. The boys LOVE Cars. Samuel played while Brodie was opening presents, but Noah sat with me for a good portion of it and watched. And every few minutes he would turn to me and say, "I want Noah and Samuel birthday, too!" He wasn't bratty or whiny... just really wanting it to be his turn. We talked about how it was Brodie's turn and how one day soon it would be Noah and Samuel's turn.

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The late afternoon birthday was for their friend down the street, Jaime. He also turned three. His party theme was Spiderman (who the boys love and called Ty-man when they first came home), but many of his gifts were Cars related. After he opened presents he invited all his friends to play with his new toys and Noah and Samuel were way excited to do that. Again, both boys expressed their desire for it to be "Noah and Samuel's birthday, too."

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Tonight Chuck and I talked about what we will do for their birthday. We are going to be in MI toward the end of October, which is not too far from their birthday (11/09). We will probably do some kind of celebration with our family there. We were thinking of not doing a party here, but after watching them really enjoy being at other birthday parties, I want to give them the opportunity to be celebrated among their peers. So, now the big thought in my mind is what to do for their birthday. I'm totally hoping that our house is sold before their birthday, but then I also would love to have one last party here. Ah, what to do, what to do?? That's what I'll be thinking about for the next few days.

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And I'm sure I won't forget to think about it since I'm sure they will be asking about their birthday! :)

Gotcha Day Pictures

The boys had fun using chopsticks.

After seeing fire, for the rest of the

night Noah wanted to make the fire happen.

Amazingly, they loved the soup.

Samuel figured it out after we told him to drink it.

Samuel got a turtle visor and Noah got a fish visor.
Of course they were Crush and Nemo from Finding Nemo.


The boys were afraid at first, but LOVED the fountains.

Noah loved putting his head in the water.

Noah on the train.

Samuel was SO excited to be on the train.

Chillin' in the van.

For Gotcha Day, we took just Noah and Samuel out. Wow, two kids are easier than one! Tristan spent the day with some great friends and we are so thankful for their help.

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We started our day at the zoo. We ate lunch there and then wandered around. The boys were interested in the animals, but were crazy excited about the train and water fountains.

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After the zoo, we needed to burn some time before heading to dinner, so we went to the mall play area. Chuck and I enjoyed some Starbucks while the boys burned some energy.

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For dinner, we took the boys to a Japanese steakhouse. We thought they would enjoy it and we were right. They were in awe and loved the food. They especially loved when food was tossed at them to catch in their mouths (and by the way, I was the only one at our table who succeeded in catching it!). And unfortunately, Chuck now tosses their vitamins like that. Such boys. All of them!

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I can't believe Noah and Samuel have been home for over a year now. I have a lot of thoughts to share about Gotcha Day, but that will be another day.

A Prayer

As we prepare to move to MI, and with how not well things are going with that, I often wonder if we are on the right path. Did we hear God correctly? Are we doing the right thing? If so, why hasn't our house sold? Why hasn't funding for the church plant been solidified? Why has our biggest supporter so far backed out? Why, why, why?

But really, it's not my place to ask why. In fact, when I tell my kids to do something and they ask, "Why" I am disturbed that they didn't just obey. I wonder if that's how God is feeling with me right now.

So, we continue to move forward, doing what we can, to start the church in Michigan.

And God seems to know exactly when I'm in need of encouragement. Tonight I ran across this prayer that I wrote on October 30th of last year:

Chuck keeps talking about starting a church in MI. Actually, he keeps talking about how broken his heart is for Southeast MI and last night he talked about planting a church there. So, right now I submit this to You, Lord. I really DO NOT want to go back to MI, but if that's Your plan I submit to it and ask You to make it very clear. Amen.

Tonight as I read that prayer and thought about whether God has made it clear, I could honestly say that He has. It hasn't been happy-clear. If I was making it clear I'd make it all happy and exciting type clarity. That's not what our clarity has looked like. For us, making it clear means that we have had many painful experiences over the last year that tell us our time here is coming to a close. We've experienced some hard stuff, but God has been faithful in my request to make it clear and for that I am grateful. And I'm so grateful that I wrote that prayer down because it encouraged me today.

Gotcha Day

Well, the boys are in bed now and I'm wore out, but we had a magnificent first Gotcha Day!

Tristan spent the day with friends and we took the boys to the Zoo and to a Japanese steakhouse for dinner. We had a great time and took a bunch of pictures... but I'm way too tired tonight to download and post them. Sorry! I will definitely blog some thoughts and pictures sometime soon. In the meantime, just know that we had a great day, continue to be amazed by these two crazy little guys, and look forward to celebrating many more Gotcha Days!

Speaking of Terri...

I've mentioned Terri in the last few posts and I've forgotten to mention something very important about her.

Her and her husband, Mike are in Ethiopia PICKING UP THEIR DAUGHTERS!!

Please say a prayer for them. They have their daughters and are just waiting to complete their Embassy Appointment before returning home this weekend.

We couldn't be more happy for this wonderful family. And we can't wait to meet the girls!

They will return home this Sunday, 9/6. That is exactly one year since we arrived home in Virginia with Noah and Samuel. I think that is neat!

And on this day last year...

... we woke up very early to learn that our flight into Haiti was cancelled due to weather.

I tend to be pessimistic, but that morning when I saw the cancelled flight information on our hotel room TV, I really had hope that perhaps the status would change. We were watching the weather channel and the hurricane seemed to be north of Haiti. Of course, things didn't change and that hurricane did a loopty-loo right above Haiti. It was unbelievable to watch what happened with that storm on the very day we were to go pick up our boys.

My post from 9/2 last year can be read here.

On top of the cancelled flight, we had to deal with waiting three more days to depart. Terri was with us, and she had lots of work back home calling her name. She decided to fly back that night as planned and then fly back to Miami Thursday night so she could stay with Tristan on Friday. We are forever grateful to her! That morning she booked a rental car for us so we could travel to central Florida to stay with my Dad for a few days. She just, in general, took care of us and was a great source of encouragement during a really rough time.

By lunchtime we were on the road. We made a stop to visit the Rockstar's and then continued on to my Dad's house. We got there very late that night and introduced him to Tristan. While it was not our plan, it was so wonderful for Tristan to meet his Grandpa so early on. He was only 18 days old.

On this day one year ago...

... me, Chuck, Tristan and Terri were on our way to Miami.

The plan was to fly to Miami on the 1st, stay the night, and then very early on 9/2 Chuck and I were to fly into Haiti to pick up the boys and return on the next flight while Terri stayed with Tristan in Miami.

If you've been reading for the last year, you know our plan didn't go well thanks to Hurricane Hanna, the only hurricane I've ever seen heading west actually turn and head east... while it was right on top of Haiti.

A lot has changed since this day last year! Our September 1, 2008 post can be read here.