As I sit down to write this post, it's been nearly five months since our baby boy Belly passed away in our arms. But the day I plan on posting it – November 8th – will be the anniversary of many, many happy things in our life.

On November 8th in 2002, Tim and I met for the first time near Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia. And around the same time that same year, Belly was born halfway across the world in a little village in the jungles of northern Thailand. We wouldn't meet the fuzzy little guy for a few more years, not until April 2006, but Tim and I love knowing that the moment we met in November 2002 and began falling in love was nearly (if not exactly) the same moment our little guy came into this world.

(The video above was actually taken by another visitor to Elephant Nature Park – we're not sure who, we just happened to find it on YouTube one day! It joyfully captures Belly in his element at the Park "playing tag" with one of the baby elephants, back before we adopted him.)

Completely by coincidence, four years after we first met and four years after Belly was born, November 8th in 2006 was also the day Belly arrived in America. It was the day our entire family was home, together.

I won't pretend these last five months without Belly have been easy. There's no point in putting on a stiff upper lip and pretending like we haven't been absolutely devastated by his passing. You guys know us too well for that, not to mention it's just not who we are. We wear our hearts on our sleeves. And anyone who had been lucky enough to have known Belly would know he did too.

I won't even pretend our grief over his loss has gotten easier as time has passed. It hasn't. Our grief has changed over time, but it hasn't gone away. I don't expect that it will ever, really, or that it needs to either. It will just continue to change and become more a part of our selves. Some days will be easier and some days will be harder. But every day we will continue to love our baby boy. And every day we are thankful for having him in our life for as long as we did, for that moment in the jungle in April 2006 when he chose us to be his mommy and daddy.

He was – and continues to be – such a wonder pup to us. And his star, and his story, still shine brightly. We've been overwhelmed by the number of times people have contacted us to share how moved they are by his adoption story. And we're hopeful it's inspired more people to adopt their own doggy, a scruffy little guy or gal who will show them how much love there is in the world and exactly how deeply it is that they can love.

So in honor of our little guy's birthday, and in honor of his immigration to the United States, we wanted to share a few more photos of Belly. And tonight, on November 8th, while under the stars in South Africa, we'll be making wishes for him and telling him how much we love him just as we always have and always will.

We love you, Belly. You're such a good boy. Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary, little one. We'll see you in our dreams tonight.