Birthdays!!!!

Wow!! January and February have been long but exciting months in our house! We celebrated Emmie's second birthday with a party fit for a princess! (because of course, she is OUR princess) She had a pink and brown tutu with matching shirt & hair bows, a beautiful pink & brown cake, and lots of toys! It was a great night to celebrate! We were also celebrating the fact that she is officially one year out form heart surgery number 1, which took place on 2/4/2010 (if you haven't noticed that is also Elise's B-day!!)

Another big event in our house is the fact that Tom is now working form home!! YIPPEE!! He's been working in Orlando for almost a year, while it was very hard on the family, I'm very proud of him for taking on that responsibility in order to provide for his family! We are extremely grateful to God for providing Tom with that job. We are also very blessed to have such a wonderful extended family & church family who helped us out during the last year!

The final big event for our family is that Elise also celebrated a birthday. She turned 1 on February 4th. While our hearts are breaking that she isn't here to celebrate, we are thankful that we were able to send her a birthday package! She should have recieved a birthday cake from a local bakery & 6 pictures of her new family in a soft photo album for her to play with. (we've already sent her toys & a blankie a few months ago) Also included in the packet was a letter to the orphanage and a disposable camera. We are hoping that the preson who delivered the package will also be able to retrieve the camera and send us pictures of her with her cake! I will post as soon as I get them!!

I keep thinking about Elise and how different her life will be next year on her birthday! She will have a party full of presents, bows, cakes and tutu's! A party fit for a princess, becuase she too will be OUR littlest princess!
....I'm also thinking of the great sacrifice her birth mother made in order for her (and me) to recieve this wonderful blessing. Having 3 biological children myself, I can't imagine giving one of them up. The pain she must have endured is overwhelming to me at times. I would love to thank her for that sacrifice, although I'm sure I will never get that opportunity. I'm sure she thinks of her baby that she left at the orphanage gate. I wonder if she walks by the orphange in hopes of catching a glimpse of her baby. I wonder if she still cries herself to sleep thinking about that beautiful baby girl whom she could not keep....... A mother's love doesn't end at that orphanage gate, in fact I'd say its just the beginning of the love she had for Elise. My heart breaks for her and for my sweet baby who has also suffered a loss..... the loss of the mother she will never know!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELISE!!! I'm dreaming of the day I get to hold you in my arms and you get to feel the love of a mother again!