and the princess turns 2

It's hard for us to believe. Two years already? Really?

Really. A couple of weeks ago, we got to celebrate Cayla Joy's second birthday with a bunch of our family, some of whom drove over two hours to be with us. Thanks, Lisa! It was a great time to get together around this amazing girl. To be truthful, Cayla didn't really understand what all the fuss was about. But she had a great time anyway, and loved seeing some of her relatives she doesn't get to see very often.

Leah made an awesome cake in the shape of a butterfly. Cayla hasn't quite figured out how to blow out a candle yet, but there were enough people willing to help. We're hoping next year she can handle that all by herself. Here's a picture of Cayla checking out her cake. Notice me holding back her hands. I was a little bit late thinking of that.

When we think about the past two years, many things come to mind:

*hugging through tears in the kitchen after we got the call that confirmed what we already thought: she was born with Down Syndrome.

*trying so hard to get her to smile. And then: pure gold!

*the way so many strangers have smiled when seeing her.

*all of her many "firsts"; after so much work and many obstacles, to see her accomplish things makes all the struggles worth it.

*her belly-laughs, the ones that come from deep inside her.

*the real conversations and encouragement from the Van Gorps about life with a child with Downs.

*the support we've received from our family and friends, whether it's watching Cayla, being a sounding board, or praying for us.

*the struggles of parenting Cayla that have brought Leah and I closer.

*the ways God has shifted our hearts to embrace our role as parents of a child with special needs.

Back to the party. Leah bought a pinata for the kids and filled it full of candy. Cayla's cousins each took turns with a few whacks at the thing until it finally started to break. It seemed like all it took was seconds before the candy was off the floor and into their bags.

Sorry for the blurriness of this last picture, but we love it so we thought we'd throw it in.

We look forward to many more years with Cayla, although I don't really want her to grow. She is the perfect cuddling weight and still pretty easy to give a piggy-back ride to. We have some great pictures to post in the next few weeks, so keep posted.