Happy Birthday, Reni!

Dearest Reni,
It's hard to believe it's been a year since we were celebrating your first birthday with you in Elbasan.  Oh, what a day that was!  Not quite like we imagined it, but the fact that we were with you overshadowed any thing else, even Daddy's relapse of malaria. Jesus answered our prayers that we could be with you on that day! I'll never forget how dapper you looked in that special outfit from Duzi.  She even had your hair slicked over!

Today was a bit quieter, but special nonetheless.  We are on our long-awaited family vacation -- our first as a family of four!  We woke up in a Best Western in Cumberland, Maryland and after a quick breakfast (made quicker by your glimpse of the pool through the window) we spent some time in the pool (to hopefully tire you and Ellie out before another several hours in the car)!  Today you learned how to jump off the edge into our arms!  You would count, "3, 4, 9 JUMP!" and fall with complete faith that we were there to catch you.  I think by the end of the week, you will be able to count all the way to ten correctly and with ease.

Reni, I don't even know where to begin with all that God has taught me through you.  I must confess that having a son was both exciting and scary for me!  I never had any brothers, and for at least three generations above me, none of my mothers or grandmothers had brothers either!  You could say femininity was something I was quite comfortable with.  Boy, has it been fun to have a son.  Trucks, tractors, cars, dinosaurs, lions, fearlessness, rambunctiousness -- it's everything I imagined a little boy to be.  But you have also been more loving, more tender, more sweet than I knew a son could be.

You won my heart long before I won yours.  Ours was a relationship a bit slow in coming.  I could tell before we even met that the ladies in Elbasan were your favorite people and it would be a while before another woman could take their place.  Add to the fact the 10+ days of alone time between you and Daddy before coming home and our bonding was even more delayed.  But slowly, slowly, like the snow melting in early spring, your heart warmed to your mommy and after Daddy's 10 days of spring break in Haiti, you and I were best friends.

This past year has been one of the best I can remember because of you.  You have opened so many doors, brought us joy immeasurable, and taught me that God's best for us is nothing to be afraid of.  I can't imagine what went through your mind when everything you knew was stripped away and you came to live in a new place, with people whose language you didn't know, and never again saw the ones you first loved.  (Someday, before too long, we hope to take you back to see them again).  In spite of all of that, you never failed to exude a joy and love for others that I hope you never lose. One of my favorite things has become watching the reaction of others who meet you.  A friendly grin and "hello" from you and their faces light up.  I think your daddy's cousin Dan described it best when he said yesterday that you live with your heart cracked open for the whole world to see.  [editor's note: if you are a blog reader who has never met our son -- he is as happy, content, and sweet as his pictures imply].

Reni, I never cease to be amazed at the way God wove all the threads of our lives to intersect.  Know that you are dearly loved and we can't wait to see what the next years bring!
All my love,
Mommy