Wow! Our "little boy" is 5 today! I'm not going to say these five years have flown by so quickly, because to be honest, they haven't. They actually have been the five hardest years of my life. Little did we know that five years ago, we would face cancer, moving 3 times, 2 job changes, Autism, and the addition of 3 more children. That is a lot to take on, and while I wouldn't have necessarily chosen our circumstances, we have seen God's grace, mercy, and blessing so clearly through it all--especially through Joel.
Three years ago his diagnosis of Autism was devastating. Today he is a thriving 5 year old who truly loves life! Yes, his challenges result in extra diligence, patience, effort, research, prayers, tears, and attention, but we have seen a miracle in his life and he always challenges us better parents. Nothing like paving the way for your siblings, buddy!
So, for the one who has been counting down the days until his birthday since the day after it occurred last year, Joel has been eagerly awaiting this moment. We actually celebrated on Friday and Saturday evenings so he got two "parties"! Somehow Brody injured his ankle Friday afternoon and we were sent to the hospital for x-rays to see if it was broken--thankfully it wasn't, but he did have to wear a sad looking splint all night. Side note, when I was on the phone with the on-call doctor that night, she asked me what happened to him. I honestly had to say that I wasn't sure--we were in the same room with him when it occurred, but we didn't actually see it. Meanwhile, in the background, Zac is wrestling with Joel and Jesse and during a pause in my conversation, Joel shouts out "Daddy, give me another body slam!!" I'm sure at that moment the doctor had doubts about our parenting skills :).
This cut into our plans for Joel that evening so we just had a nice family dinner with cake and presents. He was very gracious about the change in plans when we explained we'd do the second half (going to a nearby museum that has a Christmas celebration and trail of lights) the next night. Because after all, the only thing better than one birthday celebration is two!
So now he's saying cute things to me like, "Mommy, don't you like having a 5 year old boy now?" He also enjoys reminding me of the upcoming birth of his sister by saying, "Mommy, soon you are going to have two babies in the house. Aren't you excited??!!" To which I reply, "Yes, I'm very excited but since you are 5 now, I'll definitely need your help". Little does he know that responsibility also comes with age :).
Many blessings to you on this day, our sweet son, we can't imagine life without you!
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