Celebrating Cohen's Birthday on his Birthday

Cohen's birthday(March 5th) fell on a Friday this year, which was perfect for us to have a fun family day(Chris is off on Fridays).
We started out with our usual...decorated door and The Beatles blasting down the hallway. Cort really enjoyed being a part of decorating the door. He drew several pictures for us to put on it. Cohen loved seeing the door in the morning - especially the dogs and the balloons- and loved dancing around the living room too!!




We gave him a little push car for his birthday because he has really been interested in other kids bikes, trikes, etc. and isn't physically ready for that so we thought it might be a good option for him. He loves it!!



We headed to Krispy Kreme and all enjoyed some yummy donuts and then went to the zoo.




My parents came in just before dinner and we celebrated afterwards with ice cream ( one of cohen's favorites!!). We even stuck a candle in it!!



And so we had it... a simple, normal birthday celebration for Cohen. Just a normal family day, celebrating one of our sons....it was so surreal to me, something I was so afraid to hope for when we were pregnant with him. I was asked of his birthday this year, If I really thought much about it or if everything that happen with Cohen just seems far away and life just seems normal, and the simple answer, is I always think about it, I never forget, and I am very aware, sometimes painfully aware, of how undeserving we are and how blessed each and every day is. Even though there are frequent hard things, hard days, I am never ungrateful. I think about it every day...the blessing of Cohen's life. And almost as often, I think of how it could have been, and of others for whom it was, and am overcome with so many emotions. And even though on paper...in pictures..we had a "normal" birthday celebration for a two year old...there is really nothing "normal" about it. Our God is big, no matter life's outcome, and Cort and Cohen are both daily reminders of that to me.