Before kids, I thought of birthdays as a special time to celebrate a person and look to the future and what they will become. Since Kieran joined our family, his birthday has been a time to look back and ponder what was even as we celebrate who he is and will become. In the two and a half years that we have known him, he has grown so much! As he grows, some things about him have not changed. He's still exuberant, a social boy who loves people and likes to include everyone; he's almost always energetic and enthusiastic. He is curious, learns quickly, remembers just about everything, and makes us laugh often. We love him deeply. What an amazing miracle God has grafted into our family tree!
Here are some pictures of Kieran's birthdays including the three that we have been honored to celebrate with him:
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| October 2007: Kieran is born. We had started the process to adopt from China, but were contemplating concurrent adoption. In November we found out that our adoption agency was opening a program in Rwanda. In my heart I knew that's where our son was. We began the paperwork to adopt him in May 2008. |
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| 2008: Kieran's first birthday. We had just sent our dossier to Rwanda and were painting & updating his dresser as we waited for a referral. We had no idea who our child would be, but as he turned one we were preparing a place for him and aching to hold him. |
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| 2009: Home with us for almost five months, he turned 2 and had stolen our hearts. Below:Picture on left shows Kieran at age 2. On the right, age 4...wow he's grown! |
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| 2010: Then he turned three! He went from barely talking to non-stop talking. |
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| On his third birthday, we went to the pumpkin patch as a family of 3, but we had a referral for his baby sister from China. He'd soon be meeting his sister for the first time! |
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| 2011: Now he's four and we are a family of four! Our joy has multiplied. Big brother and little sis are enjoying some birthday cake and ice cream. |
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| Our wonderful boy! We'd go to the ends of the earth for him again if we had to. |
