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Happy Birthday Jessica Jean
Last year I did a poor job chronicling our lives. My blog is my journal for our children. I want them to have their memories written down for the future. I vowed that this would be the year that I stayed on top of everything and then we got strep and I was already behind.
Now its time to catch up…
When we first received JJ’s file, I looked at her birthdate and it took my breathe away. One day after my mama’s. Ever since my mom passed away January 5th has been a sad day. My mom, my mother-in-law, and I always did craft sales together at Christmas time. We mainly did Christmas items so on my mom’s birthday we would load up the car and head out to find all the after Christmas items on sale for our craft sales the next year. We would eat at her favorite restaurant, Red Lobster, and we would have the best girls day out. It was one of my favorite days of the year. It was just fun to celebrate mom and hang with my friends who just happened to be my mom and my mother-in-law.
I miss my mom. I miss those days. I miss staying up late and crafting. I miss setting up our display at the sale and hanging out and eating warm chocolate chip cookies while we caught up with our friends at the sale. I miss all of it and my mom’s birthday is a constant reminder that it isn’t going to happen again. So when I saw JJ’s birthday, it made me sad because I know how sad I am on January 5th and I wondered how I could be happy on the 6th, BUT God in all His infinite wisdom knew better. He gave me a little bundle of joy that eased the pain of January 5th by allowing me to celebrate January 6th.
Psalm 30:5 Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
And what joy JJ has brought to my mornings.
Jessica Jean is the name she was given but she is JJ or Little J. She is a bundle of joy and her smile lights up our house.
But we didn’t start that way…
Her first month home included a hospital stay where she learned we would never leave her side.
It took her a while to warm up to the idea of family and what that meant. I think we overwhelmed her. She had spent a lot of time alone in the orphanage.
She felt safe with Gracie and Elyse and learned what the love of a big sister meant.
She slowly learned to trust her mama…
and her daddy.
He taught her how to dance
and the wonders of a treasure chest full of her favorite chocolate treats.
Slowly as the year went by we saw her start to loosen up,
and oh the joy she brought to our days.
She got her first pair of sparkly pink shoes, a brand new wheelchair,
and a very big pink bed.
She had her first picnic.
She met some new friends.
and learned how to play princess.
She went to her first state fair concert.
Which got rained out and she learned what a summer storm was as we hid out under the grandstand where she learned mama would always keep her safe.
She had her first time dressing up as a cow for Chick-fil-A’s Cow Appreciation Day
and as a pirate for Krispy Kreme’s Pirate Day!
She went to her first movie and ate her weight in popcorn.
She celebrated America
and watched her very first fireworks display.
She dressed up for her very first Halloween.
and had her first carousel ride.
Mommy and daddy learned how to make chicken feet just the way she likes them.
She learned about Thanksgiving and Christmas and loved decorating the tree.
She played a wise man in our church’s Christmas pageant.
She enjoyed playing in her first snow.
She enjoyed her very first birthday party ever. This was the first time that someone had celebrated the day she was born and she was overcome with emotion but by the time it came to blow out the candles on the cake, she was getting into the celebration.
And she loved her doll house that was bigger than she is.
JJ has learned that big sisters are a pretty big deal.
and she’s got a bunch of them that spoil her silly.
What an amazing, incredible, wonderful, blessed year this has been.
This sign says it all.
Happy birthday Jessica Jean. Mommy and daddy adore you and your feisty, spunky, quiet, brave, spirit that brings such joy to our lives.