March 8

Today we are celebrating!  We had Devil's Food Cupcakes with strawberry icing for breakfast per birthday boy's request.  That is right.  Simon is eight.  Eight just seems so very grown up.

I'm thankful today for Simon.  I'm thankful for his tender heart.  I'm thankful for his crooked grin that will one day cost us a bit, but for now it is so beautiful and unique.  I'm grateful that Simon continues to love me though I fail him often.  I love that he can put together his Lego birthday present in less than two hours.  I love that he goes outside to play almost every day.  He wears a snowsuit that is too short for him, but he likes it better than snow pants.  That makes me happy.  Simon is his own person.  He thinks about questions that he is asked.  He doesn't request what everyone else does.  When I asked what birthday treat he wanted to bring to school, he took two days to think and then said "cake pops".  I made a disastrous (to my thinking) cake pop recipe for Christmas of 2012.  Simon loved them and remembered.  He doesn't run to greet me at school like his siblings do, but rather he waits until the dust settles and then he'll come over, turn around, and back into me.  He can be sneaky like that.  One minute you are sitting and the next, there is a Simon on your lap.  He'll change his mind about something in order to bring joy to someone else rather than himself.  He is a stubborn kid though and does not enjoy admitting that he is wrong about anything.  He is well liked and likes others, choosing not to have a few friends but many.  His hair is way too long for my liking, but he loves it and chooses to keep it.  I respect that.  He'll try new foods any chance he can--including cow tongue tacos three week-ends ago.  He loved them.  I now have a cow tongue in my freezer awaiting my cooking skills.  When he eats something he really likes, Simon will give a big "mmmmmm" at first bite.  It makes this mama smile.

I love him a lot.  I like him too.

Today I'm also grateful for a mom and dad across the world who may be remembering the events of early spring in 2006.  I wish I could thank them for loving Simon for several months before bringing him to the orphanage for the care that they couldn't give him.  I wish I could hug them and assure them that their son is well loved and thriving.  For today though I will smile and marvel and hug my son (too many times for him!) and thank God that adoption is possible.  I'll also pray for these birth parents and for the millions of others around the world who made a very difficult decision. . . and I'll bless God that these two chose life.