Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Happy 2nd Birthday Hezekiah

 We went to Hezekiah's resting place on his 2nd birthday.  There were more emotions than usual and a sadness hung onto us all day. 
 We made a small cake and lit the candles.  We started to sing Happy Birthday but ended up crying instead.
 We each sent up a balloon.  One of the balloons got loose and went up right when we got out of the van that is why there are only 8 that you can see.
 We used Hezekiah's birthday money to purchase outfits for NILMDTS (Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep). It is an organization of photographer's who donate their time and resources to families who have a child go to Heaven. For many these are the only photograph's they have of their child and many are not prepared with clothing. We were blessed to have a NILMDTS photographer named Marci.  She will always hold a very dear place in our hearts.
A very dear family brought us the water globe with Hezekiah's name engraved on it.  It is a precious gift that we were so thankful for.  The children decided to place it on the piano beside the photo of Hezekiah we have there. Of course we wish Hezekiah was here to celebrate with us. I often imagine this little blonde haired toddler running around and captivating each of us with his sweetness. Oh how we love our son and brother! Happy Birthday buddy.

January 9th Hezekiah Day

 We celebrate Hezekiah's life every day but we have designated January 9th as Hezekiah Day.  January 9th is the day we got to bring Hezekiah home from the hospital.  It was an answered prayer and words cannot express the joy we all felt bringing our son and brother home. We cherish the memories of that day two years ago.  We decided to go to the Baltimore aquarium this year.  We really enjoyed our day.
 This is an inside picture although it appears as if the children are standing by an open bridge. There are glass walls up.
 The favorite part was the dolphins. We sat for a long time watching them swim back and forth. It worked out great because Job needed to eat and have a diaper change.  He was in the Moby wrap almost the entire day.

 Daddy and one of his girls.  Hannah and Ken are so much alike and have a great relationship. I love how they love one another.
 Esther loves dolphins so she was thrilled with the dolphin show.  She even went up by herself to ask the lady if she could pet a dolphin.  They did not allow her because of her age but we were impressed that she even asked.  We got her a stuffed dolphin for her birthday and she was thrilled.
Here we are waiting for the dolphin show to start. Can you see the anticipation in Esther's face. She was super excited.
 On the way home we stopped at Chick Fil A for the first time.  It was really good food and the service was amazing.  The only thing that could have made this better was to have our precious 2 year old Hezekiah with us. We know God's will is best and that Hezekiah is being well taken care of until we see him again. We are thankful for that hope and peace.