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Look at those eyes. There isn't a person around who wouldn't be affected by them. 

It's been awhile since I have written on here purely out of inspiration or a rush of emotions. I've turned my writings into a monologue of events, things just going on around me instead of things going on within me.

This is my little brother Caelum. I know I am biased, but he is the most beautiful little boy. Anyone looking at this picture would be ridiculous not to agree. 

My parents adopted Caelum when I was 16 years old. Old enough to understand, but not mature enough to fully let the situation soak in. The minuet I looked into those big blue eyes, I knew he was special. I knew the entire situation was special. 

I remember when my mom got the call about this sweet little boy. I remember her picking me up from school, us driving as if it was any other day, and then that phone rang with the news. My mom had to pull over, she was crying so hard. I remember crying too. I don't think I knew exactly how blessed our family would be, or even how special the circumstances were, I just knew that that feeling in the car at that moment was what pure love felt like. That excitement and joy my mother felt, that overwhelming gratitude, that was a feeling I could understand. It was so strong in that car.

Caelum's birth mom was in Utah, meaning that my mom had every flight memorized just so that she would be prepared when that next special call came. The day Caelum was born was the exact day we happened to be moving. I remember the noise and everyone rushing around. I remember reassuring my parents that everything would be taken care of, and it was. The movers, the hustle and bustle, it all seemed to work out perfectly. Maybe not to my mothers standards, but it did work. 

They brought him home, the quietest baby with huge blue eyes that just stared at you. He took the world in, just looking and absorbing everything around him. Right when we locked eyes, I could just feel that same feeling felt in the car when that first call came. I think it is safe to say that everything changed when that first call came. 

He has grown. He has grown to be so big and funny and energetic, coming from something so shy and observant. He is a beautiful little boy, full of happiness and excitement. 

I don't really know why this is all coming back to me right now, this overwhelming feeling of gratitude. I guess it could be the "Teen Mom" show that the Dials have gotten me into. One of the couples on the show gave their baby up for adoption. Just hearing their side, a side I have never really contemplated, gives me more gratitude for this smiling little boy. 

Look at how loved he is. Look at the father he has been given and the opportunities that come with that. Not only for his spiritual and emotional growth, but just little things like basketball and how to throw the best punch. Look at the strength he has in his home and the joy that will come to his face when he thinks of his childhood with this man. 

Look at how much this woman loves him. I wish I had a picture of the day he first came home, or the day this little boy went to Kindergarden. My mother would be lost without this child. My mother has had the most beautiful experiences because of this child. You should see the way he looks at her. The honor and love and adoration that comes to his face.

Look at how much love he has within this family. Look at the boys and the girls and the many experiences yet to come. The many basketball games, the baby scouts, the real scouts, the trampoline, his obsession with anything remote controlled, and most of all.. His love for these people. 

If you were to ask Caelum if he would change his surroundings, or take any of it back, I guarantee he would say no. 

How could he be without her?

How could he be without him?

How could he be without them?

Watching this show, seeing the different perspectives, made me look at the situation in an entirely new light. 

What his birth mom did was nobel. What she did was strength and courage, and I know there must have been struggles emotionally. But what that birth mom did was give Caelum a mother and a father and siblings who love him with everything they have. What she did was give him a family who can provide for him in every possible way. She gave him a mother who would give her right arm to make him happy and healthy and successful. She gave him a father who will support him, love him, encourage him, and just be there for him. She gave him a completed family. A family with strange habits, the tendency to be loud, but with hearts to love the world. She gave him a family that loves to their fullest capacity, that gives until there is nothing left, and that holds tightly to each other when things get scary. She gave him the world. 

I cant imagine what that must have been like, or what that moment would have been like for her, but I thank her. I thank her from the bottom of my heart for even having the courage to know what was best for him. I thank her for putting her own needs aside and making a decision based off of his needs alone. I thank her for praying and for choosing our family. I thank her for what she did because I have seen that decision blossom into something beautiful. 

I thank her for giving us the final piece to our family puzzle.

If I could tell her one thing, it would be the reassurance that he is in the right place and that we love her for that. 

I would tell her that he is loved. 

I would tell her that he is happy. 

Most of all, I would tell her that he is home. 

It was a round about way to get there, but Caelum is home.