Happy Birthday to Wu

Saturday, the first day of Labor Day weekend. And it's September! That might imply some upcoming cooler weather, but it's supposed to be 90 all weekend. Our house projects are continuing to keep us busy, and we seem to be taking on more than we are finishing. So, this will really be a laboring weekend because we have so much work to do. In fact, while I'm still sitting here typing this in my pajamas, Russ is outside moving concrete from our front step.
Thursday was our little guy's birthday. He's one! In celebration, we went out for Chinese food and had birthday cake and ice cream. I think I actually felt a little sad, because he's not here with us. Most kids have a first birthday party with their parents and it is, many times, a big deal. So it seemed a little abnormal to being having the party without the kid. Ok, but what part of all of this has been normal?

Last Thursday, some of my co-workers threw me a "toddler" shower. It was so sweet! I really was overwhelmed by their generosity toward us, and, like us, acting on faith that this little boy will someday come and be part of our family. So now, we have a lot of toys, clothes, and books waiting for him. I had to take a picture of some of my favorite things that we received. Russ and I also bought him something for his birthday, although we are not allowed to send it until after our dossier has been sent to China. We bought him a little stuffed beagle, which we can hopefully send soon. I hope he likes it--and then when he comes home he can meet the real thing!
We have also decided on a name! We've actually been asked about this numerous times. It is only second to "so, have you found out when you are getting him?" Well, at least I can have an answer to the first question. His name is going to be Caleb Wu Lee Brannagan. Caleb means "bold" and he is named after the Caleb of the Bible, who remained faithful to God. And while we had always been planning to use a Chinese middle name, it wasn't always going to be Wu. But we kept it because, hey, that's all we've been calling him these past weeks. We couldn't let it go. "Lee" is the middle name of Russ, his dad, and my dad, and we like it, so we had to use it. So that's the official name, and now I just have to get used to calling him something else while we wait.
So, Caleb, happy birthday, buddy.