7 years and 2 months ago...

Seven years and 2 months ago today, my sweet Andrew entered this world. My life has never been the same. It's been full of chasing after him, teaching him, and guiding him to be the young man God created him to be. My Andrew is wonderful, and today we got to celebrate his life.

Andrew wanted to have a birthday party back in December, but I knew no one would come. He made me promise that we would have a party in January, but I didn't plan one. I honestly thought that no one would come. I had this horrible feeling in the pit of my gut b/c I really thought that I would plan this big shindig, Andrew would get really excited, and no one would show up.

Finally, Andrew and I pegged down a date for the party. He wanted a Lego party, but after seeing how expensive the Lego stuff was and knowing how long it would take me to make invitations and creative Lego crafty party stuff from scratch, we decided to go with a sports theme. I barely got the invitations out, and then we waited and planned a great party at a huge playground nearby.

Now here I sit after the party with a heart overflowing with gratitude. You can't even imagine how many precious friends and families came to celebrate my little boy. I made 22 goodie bags, and still that wasn't enough for all of our wonderful friends. I can't even tell you how many people were there. I know we made 64 hot dogs and there were only 15 left. We had so much fun sharing this gorgeous Florida day with lots of fantastic friends. Mat even had a buddy helping him with all the grilling, and I had so many wonderful mom's helping me set up, serve and clean up. I had so many helpers that it was really quite fun and easy. Thank you to all the wonderful helpers!

I left the party in tears. Our stay in Florida hasn't been easy, and it has taken us so long to find friends. It's not about the gifts or goodie bags. It's about the relationships. I shared with some people today that our stay in Florida has taken us down the worst and best roads. It's been a place of extremes...a place where God has molded us into the people that HE wants us to be. It's been a tough road - a road I NEVER would have chosen. BUT the reward of being where HE wanted us to be has been so sweet.

Right now, Mat is heading to a meeting...a meeting that could potentially change our lives forever. It makes me sad, but I know that MY BEST might not align with God's BEST for me.

No matter what changes are in store for our family, I know that my family and I have been blessed beyond measure by some of the relationships we have started here. And like many of our friendships, I believe there are many here that will last a lifetime!

There is one (ok maybe 2 or 3) especially sweet memories of the day:

1. We had some boy scouts and sweet friends help us get ready for the party - for which I am so thankful...thank you Chris & Alex. I thought they would be all excited about helping with the helium tank, but their favorite thing to help with was...decorating the cakes with frosting to make the cakes look like a soccer ball and a basketball! They looked fantastic, and I was totally impressed. Who knew Chris really has a heart for that kind of thing - love it!

2. Andrew's friends all gathered around him some sitting beside him some hovering over him and some even sitting on and standing on the picnic table where he opened gifts to get a closer look. You couldn't find a sweeter group of children cheering Andrew on for all the wonderful things he got. They were all so kind and caring. Many of them even made special cards from scratch with such beautiful details. It made Andrew feel so special! I have a video that I'll have to post showing how caring and kind the children were. Andrew tried to relay how much he loved each gift, but I can tell you that he loved every single item he received.

3. We got home from the party, and before Andrew even got a single gift out of the car, he ran up to me and gave me this huge bear-hug thanking me for planning his party. I cried...that boy is so kind hearted. I told him I was thankful that he was born and in my life so that I could plan a party like that for him! In truth, only God could have made a party that wonderful.

So here we sit with our hearts filled with gratitude. We are watching a movie Andrew got while we gorge on left over hot dogs. Lizzy sneaked 3 pieces of Andrew's new bubble gum (and swallowed most of it) while Andrew was busy watching the movie and putting 3 Lego sets together - that he got today, of course. Life is good!