OH How the Years Go By

How is it possible?!  Where did this year go?!

October 13, 2014 our precious baby boy entered this world.  In a whirlwind that hasn't slowed down since!  Everything about his arrival was immeasurably more than we had ever imagined.  A complete surprise and JOY!  From the day I got the call and had to sit down to finish the conversation to the day we finally were able to bring him home to Missouri, where we lived at the time...it was all so crazy and joyful and challenging and PERFECT.  Perfectly planned by God.

He created this precious life, and He entrusted Smith to his birthparents first...and then to us.  The magnitude of that never escapes me.

And OH, how the years go by!  

Oh how the love brings tears to my eyes.  

All through the changes, the soul never dies.  

We fight, we laugh, we cry 

As the years go by.

My sister made Smith a DVD, as she has always done for Millie Janalee, full of pictures from this year put to perfectly selected music.  Russ and I watched it today with tears in our eyes.  Memories flooding our minds.  Many of those tears were wishing for moments back...moments we could hold a little longer, love a little better, laugh instead of stress.  A haunting memory of how quickly the years go by.  A fresh breeze through our hearts reminding us to cherish these days.  The busy days, the hard days, the lazy days, the little things and big.  Because very soon, we will look back on these days and realize just how quickly they escaped our grasp.

Our beautiful Smith has grown into such a happy, fun, and mobile toddler.  He's walking all over the place!  He loves loves loves to play with balls!  He carries them, throws them, kicks them and holds them.  Any shape or size - footballs, baseballs, soccer balls.  It doesn't matter.  He is all boy!  With quite an arm.  He still adores Millie Janalee and prefers to play with her above any toy in the room.  I hope they always love well.

Smith is wearing 12/18 months in clothes and a size 4 shoe.  He is taking 3 bottles a day - morning, afternoon, and night.  He is eating some big boy food too, in addition to his baby food.  He really is growing up so fast!

So fast that I don't even get a chance to blog all his monthly photos.  But I promise I take the picture! Hopefully, one day he will have two young children and understand how the second child may get the shaft on lots of things.  The positive side is when it comes to discipline and anything of major importance...we had to practice on Millie Janalee before we learned lessons and did it better with Smith.  Every family position has it's perks.  Smith will have his!  Ha!

Yesterday, our little family had the delight and joy of spending some time with his birthmother.  Precious time spent with the angel who placed Smith in our arms one year ago.  Adoption is such a beautiful picture of love.  I pray Smith always understands how deep, how wide, how high is the Father's love for him.  And may he always feel the immeasurable love that surrounds him on this earth.  From his beginnings in his mother's womb.  Though it wasn't my womb...he was loved by us all.  Prayed for.  Named.  Planned.

He gets his dimples from her

God's plans for Smith's life are just as our entire journey has been - immeasurably more than we could ever dream of.  I pray that Smith follow His will for his little life.  Loving his Father and following after Him.

Happy birthday to my youngest love and favorite little boy!!  We love you way more than you could ever know!