Happy Birthday Buddy!

3 years ago a beautiful soul entered this world and his life forever changed mine.  The anniversary of his birth brings such a mixed bag of emotions.  It is with sincere gratitude that I look back on these past 3 years and thank the Lord for Stephen's life.  While so many heart heros fail to see their first birthday, Stephen has seen 3 and I know how blessed we are.

Each year I go back and read through the blog posts from the beginning.  They tell a beautiful story of the bravest little guy I know and capture so many of our raw emotions.  They show our cries to God as well as our praises.  They bring me to tears and yet bring joy to my heart.  It has been a hard journey but also a beautiful one.

This picture below shows the 10 seconds I got to hold my baby on the day of his birth.  He had been in this world for a good 20 minutes before I even saw a glimpse of his face and it would be days before he would be in my arms again.

There was a team of 11 doctors, nurses, specialists, respiratory therapists, and a transport team that crowded the delivery room.  They immediately placed IV's and wires on his tiny little body.  While most moms wait to hear their babies weight and height, I waited to hear he was stable and able to be moved.  The first glimpse I had of his face came from a photo Joe was able to sneak on his phone.   I then found myself for the next few hours stuck in one hospital while my baby and husband were in another...a heartbreaking place to be.  I was relieved when they finally let Joe wheel me down to Radys to be with him.  I sat for hours in a wheel chair next to his bed.  There was nothing I could do for him but sit and pray.  At this point he was slightly struggling and even little noises would agitate him and cause his oxygen saturations to drop.  So I sat and prayed...and snuck in his first picture with his daddy =)

While this day was in so many ways a struggle, it is such a blessing to be sitting here 3 years later with so much to be thankful for and so much to celebrate!  God has walked this road with us every step of the way.  He has been our rock and our refuge and we would not be who we are today without Him.  I am so thankful for the life and provision he has granted Stephen and I pray that he would continue to strengthen his heart and use Stephen's journey for His glory.

There is also so much to celebrate today!  We celebrate his life and all of the joy he has brought to our lives!  We celebrate the obstacles he has overcome and the strength he has shown.  We celebrate the impact his life has made and how God has done "immeasurably more" than we could have dreamed.  We celebrate Stephen!  In all his wonderful silliness we celebrate Stephen today!

As per Stephen's request we will be spending the day at Legoland!  He has been counting down all week (with help from his siblings) for today.  He is sooooo excited for his birthday and that just makes it extra special for me =)

He has grown so much these past few months!  He still LOVES school work and asks to do it EVERY day.  He knows almost all of his letters and numbers and loves to count.  He is completely done with diapers, sleeps in the bottom bunk, can peddle his tricycle by himself and hits a baseball pitched at him.  To a mom who was told he would most likely be delayed...these are all little miracles!

So today I wish my little buddy a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

My God continue to bless his life and grant many more Birthdays to come!