Happy Birthday Dear Leah

Today is our older daughter Leah's seventh birthday. And this year, Matt and I were not out of the country on her birthday, and did not miss her birthday party!

celebrating seven years with her friends

What kind of parent, you might ask, misses their own daughter's birthday party? Well, Leah's parents, apparently! When you're in the middle of an international adoption, and you get your travel dates for your first opportunity to meet your new child in person, you don't say, "No thank you!" You go. And because our plans for her party that year had already been set, and involved family from out of town (my parents, and since my mom was the one who stayed with Owen, Leah, Reuben, and Rinnah while Matt and I traveled to meet Krassimir for the first time, the combination of events worked out quite well from that end.)

There are so many things I admire about Leah. She is wise and caring beyond her years, and as a five-year-old-going-on-six a year ago, was more than happy to have us spend her birthday (and miss her birthday party) to make that next step to bring her new brother home. God has created this girl with a natural bent toward putting the needs of others above her own (not to say that she's perfect at that! But she demonstrates an ability for it that is not typical.) She is such a willing helper for me, often anticipating needs before I even ask for help. And, I must say, I don't know many other children who at six year old can handle tonic-clonic seizures with such composure as Leah has demonstrated.

When I think about the ramifications of adoption in our family, I am well aware that it is a decision that has an impact beyond just me and Matt as the adoptive parents. The choices we make have a great impact on our children's lives as well (all of them!) Matt and I are both glad that our children are growing up with siblings with special needs because it puts them in situations where every day they have an extraordinary opportunity to learn and practice compassion. And this is not something limited to our "normal" children - I even see this in the way that Reuben and Krassi interact with each other. Reuben has demonstrated an increasing gentleness toward Krassi in the last few weeks that is delightful to see. Even one of the early weeks of Krassi's life at our house, I remember a day when they were both on the couch, and Reuben looked over at Krassi, looked at me, and asked, "Baby?" With his very limited expressive vocabulary, Reuben was able to communicate to me, and get affirmation, that Krassi, although he looks so comparable to Reuben in size, interacts very differently with the world, and as such, requires different treatment than is appropriate for Reuben's peers.

And I don't think I'm going too far to say that even Krassimir seems to understand at some level that Reuben functions differently than the rest of the children. We see this at a most basic level by the way Krassi braces himself for impact when Reuben is near in a way that he doesn't for the other kids because he's learned that Reuben's much more likely to trip, or walk without looking where he's going, etc, but I've also noticed him reaching out in a seemingly friendly way during mealtimes with Reuben when they're both sitting at eye level with each other. I've never seen him do this with the other kids, but he seems to have some desire to connect with Reuben.

But this post is supposed to be about my little Leah. ;) With our sixth child's birth quickly approaching, I've been reflecting on Leah's birth in a much more focused way. Last night, nine days away from this baby's due date, I was reflecting (accompanied by Braxton-Hick's contractions!) about that day seven years ago when I was nine days on the other side of a due date - Leah was due on March 22nd, but when people asked I would always say baby was coming "at the end of March." I joke with her that she was such a good listener - good girl did not come until the very end of March!

Tiny baby girl (well, 9 pounds, but still itty bitty!) less than an hour after her birth.

Two days old

Two weeks old

My baby girl has grown up in so many ways. I haven't looked at these old pictures in quite a while, and it's crazy how different that life was from where we are now. Back then we had what looked like the "perfect" family - a healthy boy and a healthy girl - what more could we want? But, oh, God had so much more than we could have possibly imagined waiting up ahead of us. I would not trade that life for this one. That life may look easier, but this life is richer and deeper than I would have ever thought possible. And not only for me and Matt, as I referenced earlier, but I *know* that God is also using the challenges that are part of the life he has set before us to not only shape us, but to shape our children, and there, too, I do not wish for an easy life for my dear little Leah, but rather a life that shapes her into a girl, and a woman who knows what it means to rely on God for strength, and knows how to give of herself to others. And I think she's learning that.