The BEST DAY of the year...

Every family has special celebration days. Birthdays are a given. Around here, we have 5. Then there's Christmas, Thanksgiving, anniversary, and all the other random holidays. Today is our favorite. It's the most special of them all. It's one that not many families have - we are so lucky! Today is family day.

4 years ago today - everything became official. God's plan from way before we were even created came to complete fruition. We all *legally* became what we had always been - a family.

November 17th, 2004 - adoption day.

A girl who had once only had empty dreams was suddenly all she ever wanted to be...a mom.
A boy who always wanted boys to play ball with a son of his own suddenly had an entire infield...ready made. :)
2 boys who were lost and hurt were suddenly found...and healed. AND used to heal broken hearts and dreams.
AND a little 8 month old baby who was a miraculous, unexpected first-born became the youngest brother.

We couldn't have written it any better. We NEVER IMAGINED the depths of God's plan for our lives. We wanted 1...we got 3. We wanted *now.* We we told *wait.* We waited...for 3 years. Every single minute was worth it. Every penny spent on infertility treatments. Every month on Clomid. Every Lupron shot. Every follistem shot. Every disappointing meeting with the doctor. Every failed IUI. Every tear. Every prayer. Every bit...worth it.

Each November 17th, we celebrate. We have a special breakfast (Daddy cooked biscuits, sausage, eggs, bacon, etc - not our usual cereal). We have a special dinner (the boys chose - Sonic. AGAIN). We talk about what it means to be adopted, and how that means that you are chosen. We talk about God being perfect in His planning and timing. We talk about loving a child and having them grow in your heart while they grow in somebody else's tummy. We talk about being a family FOREVER, and never having to go live with another foster family again.

I knew that Shawn was going to cook breakfast, I didn't know he even bought accessories. When we came into the kitchen, he had balloon plates for everyone with those #4 candles that usually are on a 4-year-old's bday cake. I LOVE that he chose all of it himself and that it was special. Each boy had a 4 in his biscuit...4 years together. Keith couldn't wait to get to school to tell Miss Tisdale and Mrs. Tidwell and Mrs. Vicki that today is family day. "Mama, everybody doesn't have a family day, you know?" "Yeah Keith...I know. We're just lucky..."

Sometimes I wonder where she is...what she's doing...if she remembers them. Does she miss them? Does she wake up at night and wonder how they look, if they're good boys, what their laugh sounds like? Does she miss them? Does she cry for them? Does she ever call out their names? Does she realize the incredible gift she gave us? She gave us what we couldn't give ourselves...the gift of life. We gave them what they needed most...love. Safety. Shelter. Future. They gave us more than they will ever realize.

It's only been 4 years, but I can't remember life before them. 4 years ago...we were 2. 4 years later...we are 5. 1 birth... 3 children. 3 children... 2 mothers. 3 children... 3 fathers. Mathematically it doesn't add up. I've never been a fan of math anyway.

We are so blessed, all of our children have an amazing story. Griffin is our miracle boy. We were told that we'd never conceive without medical intervention. 6 months of clomid. 7 IUI's. (Jon and Kate only needed 1...YIKES!) Countless shots. All equaled nothing. Doing nothing except praying for God's intervention on behalf of Keith and Zack equaled Keith, Zack, AND Griffin. Miraculous.

We tell K and Z how special their lives are...how they are chosen by God and have a special honor. Moses was adopted. Esther was adopted. Samuel was technically adopted. Pretty special people. And God compares us as adopted children, brothers and sisters of Christ.

K and Z have new birth certificates. They read that on their birthdays, in the hospitals where they were born, Amy Garrett Martin gave birth to them. Shawn Webster Martin is listed as the father. NOWHERE is there an asterisk...nowhere does it say "these aren't the real parents, these children are adopted." They are as much "mine" as Griffin Christopher is. (actually, if you've seen Griffin's behavior, you will know that he is WAAAAAYYYYY mine, especially if you happened to see him getting his little tail blistered in the car rider line this morning). I don't remember where exactly I was on July 15, 1999 or August 31, 2000. But I know where I was on November 17, 2004. Becoming in the eyes of the law what I had always been...Keith and Zack's mom.

Soon we'll be saying "Happy Thanksgiving." After that it will be "Merry Christmas." Then soon after that we'll have to sing "Happy Birthday" to both Shawn and Griffin. Then will come "Happy Easter," then "Happy Mother's Day," then "Happy Anniversary," then 3 rounds of "Happy Birthday." All are wonderful days; all are great things to say. But...nothing will be better than what I heard this morning. 3 sweet boys with messed up hair and sleepy eyes sitting around a kitchen table with birthday candles in biscuits singing, "Happy Family Day to you...happy family day to you...happy family day 5 Martins...happy family day to you."

ps
I have pictures of the morning that I want to share. But our Daddy is at a Men's Dinner at church, and my camera cord is in the car outside. It's cold and dark...I'm not going out tonight. I'll post the photographic evidence tomorrow.