Happy Birthday, RJ!

Today is RJ's Birthday! We had a party for him this weekend (we limited the guest list to mostly family, so please no offense if you weren't invited). His grandma made him a bear shaped birthday cake and he just loved it - as witnessed by the picture.

Although I had many profound thoughts throughout the day, the one that struck me the most was just how lucky Beth and I are that RJ came into our lives.

We endured a lot of heartache and struggle to get to February 1, 2009. Now one year later, it's easy to say that it's all been worth it. It was easy to say that since the adoption was finalized, but it doesn't hurt to say it again. RJ is a blessing beyond blessings. In fact, Beth and I feel so blessed that we'll be re-entering the adoptive parent pool later this month.

This is one of the reasons that Beth and RJ aren't joining me full-time Dublin. We need to maintain residency in Illinois to be eligible to be in the adoption pool. So if we're doubly blessed, RJ will have a little brother or little sister sometime in the (hopefully near) future.

RJ says, "Thank you for all the presents," but it sounds more like "buh buh bah mah nuh dah"