All Aboard the Birthday Train!

Silas turned three years old last week, and I am still processing it.  It seems like yesterday that we were walking through the gates of Hannah’s Hope to lay eyes on our sweet boy for the 1st time.  We had his three year well baby visit last week, and he has grown 4 inches during this past year. He’s also had a language explosion, and he is definitely testing his limits these days.  Nevertheless, we are certainly blessed by this boy of ours, and we had so much fun celebrating his 3rd birthday with him. 

His actual birthday was a weeknight so we gave him a few restaurant options or else his favorite meal at home, and he chose to go to Red Robin.  I think it was more for the fries than the burgers, and he definitely enjoyed it as you can see from the picture above.

 

Our waiter was so kind to do a little birthday surprise for Silas complete with an ice cream sundae.  You should have seen how quickly he finished his meal when they brought the sundae out!  He initially decided to bypass the spoon and dive head first into it:)

Daddy with his birthday boy!

Troy and I both have water bottles that Silas is constantly asking to drink out of so we thought it was fitting to get him his own for his birthday.  He loves it..especially because it has a little button to push to pop the spout up. 

Testing it out.  I think it’s a winner!

My mom (Silas’ Mamaw) is a school teacher, and she had her fall break this past weekend so she was able to come down to help celebrate too! She knew that Silas loves monkeys so she got another one to add to his collection.  This one laughs loudly and Silas loved it!

Mamaw also does embroidery so she gave Silas a new shirt as an early Halloween present.  She also made him a shirt to wear for his birthday party. 

This past Saturday we had a small party for him.  He requested a train birthday party so that is the theme we went with.  Above you can see a picture of the food table.

Here is a picture of his  requested chocolate birthday cake, and I added a few cupcakes for the kids!

Our birthday boy!  He was so excited to have his friends coming over.

This little guy enjoyed the ride on toys.

Sweet E. was looking adorable in her new glasses

M. enjoyed the roller coaster

This precious girl’s mom babysits Silas for us on the days I work.  We are truly blessed by their family.

My Aunt Darlene(on the left) traveled over for the weekend.  She and my mom(on the right) are sisters and enjoy getting together whenever they can!

Pinata time! Silas took the 1st swing.

This girl put some great effort into it, but it just wouldn’t break.

We resorted to having a few of the dads take a crack at it!

He managed to knock it down and then we just ended up tearing it open.  The kids just wanted their candy!

Finally!

Love this picture of M. hiding behind the pretend ice cream

All smiles!  Also, note the donations of baby wipes and formula in the background.  In lieu of birthday gifts, we requested donations for Hannah’s Hope and our friends were so generous to help us out with this.  I can’t wait to pack them up for our 1st trip to see our daughter!

Later that evening, Silas talked Mamaw into hiding under all the couch cushions, and she was happy to oblige his request.  I just had to get a picture of it:)

Silas, I can’t believe you are three years old.  Mama and Daddy love you more than words can ever express, and we are forever grateful to God that he chose you to be part of our family.  We have enjoyed spending your first years of life with you, and we look forward to many more.  Our prayer is that God will continue to impart his wisdom and favor on you all the days of your life, and that your life will be used for His glory alone. Happy 3rd Birthday!!

Grandpa & Grandma Come to Town

Troy’s parents called a few weeks ago and said they were thinking about making a trip to our area in the near future.   We knew that Silas would love this since they live seven hours away and we don’t get to see them often.  We were happy to rearrange our schedules a bit, and this past weekend we enjoyed a great time visiting them.  Silas got spoiled just a tad, but I guess that is what grandparents are for:)

We started off the weekend by seeing an amazing train display at Cheekwood Botanical Gardens.  A co-worker of mine recommended that we take Silas since she knew his love for trains, and I am so glad we went. 

 

The pictures we took don’t really do justice for the exhibit. We were told it took twenty men six months to build it.  

 

One of the many bridges that were part of the display. 

 

My dad used to be an engineer for Norfolk Southern railway so I took this one for him:)

 

Silas and daddy.  I think we enjoyed this exhibit for about 45 minutes which is a long time for a 2 year old!

 

A snapshot with Grandma and Grandpa

 

It was a bit of a struggle to keep this boy out of the water! 

 

Family picture(can’t wait until we have a beautiful baby girl in these pictures!)

 

After Cheekwood, we went home for naps before we ventured out again.  We definitely kept Grandpa and Grandma running.  We went to a local home and gardens store to get pumpkins, to the park to play, and then Silas had his first visit to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate his upcoming 3rd birthday.  As you can see above, he was getting into the games and rides. 

 

Chatting with Chuck E.

 

He couldn’t bypass the opportunity to ride on a bulldozer!

 

On Sunday, we went to church and then a tailgate party hosted by our church.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get any pictures at that event, but Silas had a blast on the inflatables.  Later that evening, we decided to carve one of the pumpkins Grandpa and Grandma bought us!

 

Hard at work while Grandpa and Grandma take it all in

 

Our finished product.  We asked Silas if he wanted a face or a cross(we had to keep it simple as we know the limits of our abilities:))  He chose cross…it didn’t come out too bad.

 

All three of our pumpkins on our front porch…..as Troy reminded me tonight, I should have gotten one for our daughter.  I may just have to go back and do that!

 

Just had to include this picture.  Troy found these glasses with no lenses while mowing one day. They have become one of Silas’ new favorite toys.  We have no idea who they belong to but the kid loves them! 

 

One of many hugs for the many quarters that Silas got from Grandpa over the weekend. 

 

Grandma wouldn’t let him get away with just giving Grandpa a hug

 

After supper, Silas got to open his birthday gift from Grandma and Grandpa. 

 

I’ll end with this great picture.  Thanks for a fun weekend filled with lots of good memories Grandpa and Grandma!  Even though we are separated by distance, you are never far from our hearts!

Surely, two of the most satisfying experiences in life must be those of being a grandchild or a grandparent. ~Donald A. Norberg

Football & Fellowship

Troy and I are blessed to be part of a local orphan care ministry, The 1:27 Call, which hosts Forever Families Fellowships about four times a year for anyone interested in or that has foster parented or adopted   This past Saturday, The 1:27 Call hosted a tailgate tent prior to the Homecoming football game of our local University, and then the majority of us in attendance went to the game.  It was so fun to see all the beautiful children adopted from various countries running around.  I always feel like I get a small glimpse of what heaven will be like when we attend these events.  I also love that Silas has a unique bond with the children that I hope he’ll grow to appreciate as he gets older.  Below, you can enjoy some of the cuteness I got to witness at the Fellowship:)

Mary Leigh with her cutie boys, Bates and Brodie

 

Sweet Jordyn and Layla

One of many attempts to get a picture of all the children of the core group of members of The 1:27 Call

Benjamin recently came home from Rwanda and he is adjusting amazingly well. I love to witness the transformation of children who were once orphans to thriving once they are placed in a family.

Silas’ good buddy, Elijah.  He was not letting go of his football!

Silas and Haven(who was also adopted from Ethiopia)

Davis was so kind to give me a good smile

I really think Silas is going through a growth spurt(Troy gets tired of hearing me say it), but he is constantly saying “I am still hungry”.  He was enjoying his 2nd hot dog of the night followed by some popcorn that he talked daddy into buying him

This sweet girl had her parents camera and took lots of pictures of us throughout the course of the night(and sadly, they were better than half the pictures I take!)

Love these two boys!!

I’ll end with a picture of me with my precious son.  We had a great day and I definitely think the event was a success.  AND..to top if off, our team won a very close game!  I am so glad God opened our hearts to adoption and orphan care in the summer of 2008 because our lives have been completely changed for the better because of it!

Empowered To Connect

Troy and I had the opportunity to attend the Empowered to Connect Conference that was held in our area yesterday and today.  I am always excited to learn more in regards to adoption and parenting, and I was blown away by the information that was presented at this conference.  Dr. Karyn Purvis, the director of the TCU Institute of Child Development, was the primary speaker, and I can’t put into words the amazing impact she has had on hundreds of children’s lives.   Her love for children and the Lord radiates out of her, and she is one of those women people are just naturally drawn to.

Troy and I had our eyes opened in regards to our parenting style, and we learned some practical strategies that we can start implementing right away.  My undergraduate degree is in Biology so I was also intrigued by the fact that everything that was presented is supported by scientific research:) Dr. Purvis has authored a book, The Connected Child, which has helped numerous families that have brought home children from hard places.  I haven’t read it yet, but it has been added to my growing list of books to read. If you are considering or have foster parented or adopted, the recommended resources from the conference website may be helpful to you.  They are available at this link:  http://empoweredtoconnect.org/resources/   I am hoping they will bless you as much as we have been blessed these past two days!

Silas breaking it down

On our vacation, we visited Charleston and stopped into a frozen yogurt shop.  After a few bites of candy toppings and yogurt, Silas got the itch to start with the moves.  Thank God he doesn’t take after his dad.  Funnier is that we were right by the window on the street and as people walked by, they were looking and smiling at Silas.  I recorded it on my phone so it’s not great quality … enjoy!