Beauty of Being Human: Caleb is ONE!

It is hard to believe that a year ago we were in the NICU at the hospital, receiving news that our baby boy's blood had been sent for testing to confirm whether or not he had Down's Syndrome. Although surprising news to get of my freshly born babe, all I wanted was to get him strong to take him home and love on all day, rather than an hour here or there while he was in the NICU. I still am so grateful that God blessed me with the ability to see Caleb as Caleb. Not flawed. Not disabled. But as Caleb. My perfect, newborn baby who happened to have an extra chromosome. I have discovered in the past year that I'm a very rare case in not having grieved his diagnosis. Honestly, I didn't see a reason to grieve. I grieved that he was in the NICU. That our family was separated for so long. But not because he had Down's Syndrome. I didn't feel like my plans for my child had changed or had been ripped away from me. If anything, I felt excited to be a part of this special spirit's journey here on earth. I felt humbled that God would trust me to be his mother. I felt grateful that our family would get to have such a kindred spirit teaching us daily what true love is. I had a little fear of the medical complications that could arise, but I prayed and was immediately given assurance that we would be guided through it all.

A year ago, we were blessed with Caleb who has proven to be such a great example of light, love and joy in our lives. Today, we celebrated every single bit of him.