Happy Birthday Cooperman!

Well, tonight around 10:30 pm, our Cooper will be 2! It's incredible that he is already two, but also incredible that he's only 2 as we feel like he's been ours for 5 years at least.

For those of you that haven't met Cooper, he's more than I could ever describe. He's incredibly sensitive, but also very independent and aggressive. He loves to make people laugh and he truly does believe he's a star football player named DeMarco Murray. He loves to sing the OU fight song and often makes Blake and I chant it as he runs laps around the house. He also enjoys us shouting, "Coop-er...Coop-er" and he tells us he runs as fast as Lighting McQueen. He reminds me so much of his birthmother and I enjoy getting to see her in him. Although, if you've ever met Mandy, you might have a hard time knowing what he got from her or from me...we are very much alike. He loves to play in the bath, sing songs and do anything Thomas the Train! He thinks he is 3 and often tells us so. He is fearless but also hates to be alone. He loves to climb and jump and could swing for hours! He is a great help around the house and with his sister. He will do ANYTHING for candy!

It's days like today that I want to spend the whole day with Mandy. I did that day 2 years ago. I got to hold her while she got her epidural (and yes, I almost passed out!) She asked us to be in the delivery room. Blake stood on one side and held one hand while I was on the other. She was in labor all day, she asked both of our parents to be there. How incredible is this woman? So this is Blake and I, Mandy, and my parents.

She asked Blake to cut the cord, so I love this picture of his hands.

Love at first sight! It's incredible how quickly you bond with your children even if you didn't birth them. It's immediate and it's intense.

Thank you Mandy for making me a mommy. Thank you for trusting us to raise Cooper and for not questioning our parenting. Thank you for continuing to have a relationship with Cooper even though I know that may cause you pain. Thank you for giving him a daddy. Thank you for asking us to walk alongside you in this life. We love you more than you will ever know. You make me a better mom.

Happy Birthday Cooper Edison! You make your daddy and I so proud. You have a contagious personality and we are blessed to be your parents! We cannot wait to see what God has planned for your life!

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It's days like today that I wish the church would open up to adoption to experience God's miracles. I cannot say that I came into adoption because of my pro-life beliefs. Blake and I just fell into adoption because pregnancy would be complicated for me and for the baby. Being a nurse and a doctor, we knew too much to have wanted to enter that world. Both of us didn't really feel a need to have biological children. I dreamed of adopting from a young age and even dreamed of having brown children. I would like to say that I came to this because of much prayer and calling to care for the orphans...but that's not true (not that we didn't pray about it, but you know what I mean!). I am just like the rest of the church and need to find a place where God needs me to work. It just happens that I know where to start and have an agency that I trust, love and respect deeply.

I hope my previous post came across how I intended. It is so easy to say one thing and feel like we voted and made our stance. But if it's really what we believe, then we have to act on it and quit saying, "we'd like to, but..." All God needs is a willing heart, not an able life...He makes miracles happen, He makes us able, we just have to be willing! We have to pray that God would speak to us and lead us to where we can be used. That is all I was saying...this is what I am struggling with in my own head and heart.

Okay, I am going to quit having conversations with myself and go work on Cooper's party! Love you all!