Harrison is FIVE!!!!

Updated to add: It feels very strange to be celebrating my biggest boy turning five when I was just at the hospital last night with one of my best friends whose four year old little boy passed away tragically yesterday. What a painful reminder that we live in a fallen world, and that not only is death unnatural, but how wrong it is for a parent to have to bury their child. All I could think of was: “My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word!” Psalm 119: 28 but also the promise that “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34: 18.

Five years ago today, Harrison was born at 11:46 PM 5 weeks early weighing 4 lb 7 oz and with a length of 17″. The crazy thing is that neither Dustin nor I knew about him. I’ve tried thinking back to that day wondering what I was doing, and I’m sure I was working to cope since we had just found out our first adoption match had fallen through a mere days before the baby was due.

You can go read the story here, but it wasn’t until the next day, when Harrison was 12 hours old, that Dustin and I got a text from our adoption agency of Harrison. We got news that evening that his birth parents had chosen us to be his parents, and 12 hours later, we were at the airport waiting to fly to Texas and meet our new baby boy.

Easily one of the best moments of my life–meeting Harrison knowing that we were officially his parents.

Harrison became a big brother in January 2023 and got to meet his little brother after we got home early February.

Banks loves him so much 🙂

Happy Birthday, Harrison! Your Daddy and I love you more than words can express! You are so smart and articulate and you continue to amaze us each day with just how smart you are. You love building and creating–with wooden blocks, legos, magnatiles–anything that will allow your imagination to soar. You still love eating meat (not much for fruits and veggies even though we’re always working on that). You love running and being outside and going with Daddy to the hunting club. You’re also the most patient big brother with Banks and you pray for Merritt each day in your prayers. You were the first baby to call me Momma, and I love you very much!