Heart Cries

We had the best weekend we've had yet, as a family of four, this past weekend.

We took the boys camping with a group of our closest friends and celebrated the boys' birthdays. LJ doesn't turn three until August, but we decided on one joint party and then separate family celebrations on each of the boys' actual birthdays.

It was a blast.

We are the tent-camping type which sometimes seems like more hassle than it's worth...but watching the boys drink in every moment confirms the importance of the memories we're creating.

With all the wide open space available for jumping and running, endless activities, and a more relaxed schedule, we hardly had any behavior issues all weekend.

My favorite memory is from our first morning. Ty had already come to snuggle in bed with Ben and me (he is an extremely early riser when sleeping outdoors!), when I heard LJ stir, I whispered his name. He was buried in his sleeping bag, up on his cot, and it took him a few seconds to escape it. When he finally did, he flipped over the covers and giggled with an ear-to-ear grin, saying, "Hi mom!"

He got a huge kick out of sleeping outside and having us so close.

I love to watch him interact with our friends and their kids. His life is dramatically different from what it was three months ago and I continuously stand in awe of what God is doing in him - and me. My heart overflows at LJ's transformation. He is starting to eat like us and talk like us and love like us...

In the last few weeks a light switch flipped and my very unaware-of-the-surrounding-world child started to ask, "why?"

I praise God for LJ's inquisition as it marks a good level of progress and gives me hope for his future.

This boy wins over bigger pieces of my heart each day and I am so, eternally, grateful for the privilege to mother him.