Happy Birthday, Judah!!!!

So, our little boy is officially two!  Wow, that seemed to go by really fast.  I remember his first days and weeks home from the hospital feeling as if everything was going in slow motion.  I remember feeling as if those sleepless nights would never end.  I also remember thinking that I would probably look back on those early weeks and think that I was silly for thinking that they dragged on!  Well, it's true.  My sweet little guy is two and those days seems like a distant memory.  I always have mixed emotions about birthdays because they are such a celebration of life and another year of God's blessing, but they are also symbolic of the fact that time moves on.  Things change.  My son is one year closer to going to school, or becoming more independent, or....graduating from college.  Okay, okay, I'm getting a little ahead of myself here, but I guess my point is that every year Judah turns a year older is a reminder that, although he is our son, he is not ours forever.  He will grow up and become a man, independent of us.  He is ours for a season, and it is a gift from God to cherish these moments that we have with him as a young boy under our care.  So, birthdays are a sobering reminder to me of this reality.  They are also a reminder of God's wonderful goodness to us.  We are so undeserving of the gift that Judah is to us, but God has given him to us anyway.  Through challenging parenting and toddler moments, I am often reminded of the extreme privilege that parenting is.  How could God entrust me with this?  Yet He, in His goodness, has.  Thank you, God, for entrusting me with such a gift.  Help me to never think that I can do this without You.   

On a lighter note, here are some birthday photos of the birthday boy.  I really do love to celebrate birthdays.  This year was more low key since I am due with Judah's little sister, but we still had fun.  We celebrated his birthday early with my family since we weren't sure when little sister would arrive.  Here he is having fun at Grandad and Grammie's house.

Perhaps we could have gotten away with just getting him a baloon for his birthday.  He loved this thing.

 Let's party!

 My dad partaking in the birthday fun.

 For me?

 Trying to blow out the candles.  We still need a little work on this.

 Yummy!

 Opening presents with daddy.

 Even Uncle Abe was able to come and celebrate!

   
For his actual birthday, my mom and I took him to a pet store to "play" with some of the animals, since he really seems to like animals at this stage.  Then, we went out for a birthday lunch.  And, of course, we had cake and ice cream after dinner to celebrate! 

Judah's birthday door.

 His reaction to me barging into his room in the morning singing Happy Birthday.

 The birthday boy!

 Yay, I'm two!

 Enjoying a birthday lunch...

 and a birthday cookie.

 Excited about the Easter book he received from Grandma Rowe!

 Opening up his birthday present from mommy and daddy

 Just what he wanted.

 Testing the merchandise...he's a natural.

 Judah's friend, Cora, even joined him for a little birthday ice cream and cake!