Monday was President's Day, and Lucy had the day off from school. DH was able to switch his day off, so we had a fun family day at the zoo. The weather was absolutely GORGEOUS on Monday! We seriously could not have asked for better zoo weather! (Being close to 8 months pregnant and walking all around the zoo wasn't exactly the most amazing feeling though, so I was glad to at least have the weather on my side;-)
We got to see the monkeys first, and they were being so playful! Gabriel's face lit up at the sight of them, and Lucy and I enjoyed pointing out the cute little baby monkey. My brother, who we refer to as "Unkey Monkey" used to bring Lucy a new stuffed monkey every time he saw her, so monkeys have always been a thing for Lucy. My favorites were the arangatangs though. The male kept trying to kiss the female, and it crakced me up! (DH said it was because she had food in her mouth, but I think he just wanted kisses;-) I joked that if DH and I were arangatangs, those were the ones we would be, since I'm always asking him to "give me kisses":) 
We also got to see the new baby elephant that the zoo recently welcomed, and I was especailly excited for that one. If you've been around me much with Gabriel, you may have heard me refer to him as my "baby elephant." This is because he likes to grab tightly onto my pointer finger and walk behind me, and it always makes me think of a baby elephant walking behind his momma. So I went online and looked at why a baby elephant does this, and I learned a few facts (which I'm sure are completely accurate because they were on google;-) One of the things I read that stuck out to me was this:
"Another beautiful image of free African elephants is the baby's first use of his own trunk, to reach up and hold the tail of his mother so he can follow in her footsteps..." 
Every time Gabriel asks to take hold of my hand, I feel this sese of pride and responsibility as his mother. I am so proud that he wants me to guide his steps, and I feel such a strong responsibility to lead him in a way that is worthy of the calling his birthmother placed on me to be his mother, and most importantly that is worthy of the calling The Lord has placed on my life to be his mother. What an incredible blessing and honor to have been chosen to guide his precious little footsteps! Even though now that mostly consists of simple acts, I know that he is also ever looking to me to see where my steps lead, and I so pray that my steps are leading him towards a desire to follow The Lord... 
As a little girl who loved to play with baby dolls, I always dreamed of having children, but I never could have possibly dreamed how much my children would fill my heart in a way only they are capable of doing. The special conversations I have with my daughter just touch my heart, and the way Gabriel smiles at me and reaches for me just melts my heart. As much as they fill a place in my heart only reserved for them, they make me feel like I, too, fill a void in their hearts that only I am capable of filling. What joy they bring me-my sweet little bug-a-boo and my precious baby elephant:)
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