And here is the fruit of all of the labor:
While Jamie was doing home improvement projects, I was hard at work baking monkey cakes ;)
And these were the end products:
So the theme was Curious George, obviously. Since Jadon is our little monkey, we thought it was fitting :) By the time he got home on Sunday afternoon, the living room looked like this: 
A few weeks ago, Jamie and I decided that we were going to get Jadon a sand and water table for his birthday, but THEN I got a monthly newsletter from World Vision last week. Once I saw the picture of the displaced children in Darfur who are literally starving and in desperate need of medical care, my heart broke. I cried that my son has everything any baby in the world needs (clothes he outgrows too quickly, enough toys to fill the living room floor, educational CDs and DVDs, a beautifully decorated nursery---and home for that matter, parents and extended family who absolutely adore him, better quality food than anyone else I know (including his mommy and daddy), I didn't want us to buy him presents, just for the sake of buying him presents. I mean, he's only a year old! THEN I saw that the same $90 that sand and water table costs could mean $450.00 for these children (because of the currency exchange rate).
You know, I saw my own son in the faces of those kids in Darfur. "It's not fair," I said to myself. What if my son needed help so much that his face was posted in a newletter? What if my son was starving, sleeping on the ground, orphaned, etc.? So I asked Jamie if we could send the money for Jadon's present to the kids in Darfur, and without hesitation, he said yes, and the $100 check was in the mail the next day.
Listen Jadon, life is not about things...it's about a relationship with the Lord and others. We may not know the children in Darfur by name, but God does, and we are to be vessels for His good works. Do you know the same day we sent out the check, Jadon got a HUGE box delivered to our door step? An unexpected birthday gift from Uncle Allen and Aunt Lily---a Little People garage(!!!) which he opened at his party on Sunday :) (See pics below). And he also got another unexpected card with money from Wally's mom. You see? Hopefully you do. It's not what we expected from our obedience to the Holy Spirit's calling to financially care for those children in Darfur, but I absolutely know where the kindness of those who sent Jadon gifts comes from...God IS love :)
With that long story said, we did end up getting Jadon a sand and water table...just a cheaper version...only $34 at Target! He also received the following presents: Baby Einstein DVDs and CD, Max Lucado and Baby Faith DVDs, sidewalk chalk, toddler crayons and construction paper, TONS of finger paints, three new outfits, Eric Carle ABC flash cards, a really cool airplane, etc. etc.
When he first arrived home on Sunday, he was a little unsure of the streamers, ballons, and party hats we were wearing. He didn't want to get down on the floor and explore his presents at all. Instead, he kept burying his head into Grandpa's chest.
But then, he got used to it, and then he got really into it, and now, he's pretty much obsessed with his new toys :) Here are the rest of our favorite shots of the day:
Thank you, Uncle Allen & Aunt Lily!
Thank you to Gramma and Grandpa for taking care of Jadon on Saturday night...and for these awesome pics of him at your house:
Happy 1st Birthday, Baby Boy! We love you so much, Jadon!!!
***Please come back later to read Part 2 of Jadon's birthday journal. We have tons of adorable pics to share that we took last week...his official 1st b-day photo shoot, plus we'll hopefully have pics of Jadon going for his first swim in an outdoor pool and riding a carousel!!! Later today...PROMISE!
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