Delight in the simple things

Hey you.

Yes you, the one with those twinkly little green eyes and a smattering of freckles across your silly little nose. Oh that nose, I sure love how it scrunches up every time you laugh. Anyway, thanks for barging into my life a good 5 years ago and changing it completely. Do you remember our first few moments together? I sure do. They were some of the most special moments of my life. I'll never forget holding you in my arms with your daddy sitting right next to me in that quiet hospital room. We just held you and studied you and loved you as we got to know your sweet little spirit. You were awake and calm and content. Oh, how I fell in love with you right from the start.

Do you remember our first night home from the hospital together? What a rough night. We didn't have the feeding thing down quite yet. You cried and cried...for hours. I cried and cried...for hours. I remember being terrified. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what was wrong. And it hit me, what do I know about raising a child? Not much. Yup, a very rough night. But, we made it through. And over the past 5 years you have taught me so much about being a mother. You have taught me about unconditional love and patience. Not just through the experience of mothering but through your example. Daddy made a comment the other night that you think in a different way. I have to agree. I often think that YOU should be the mother because you could do a heck of a lot better job of it than I can.


Do you remember the other day when we were driving in the car and Ali unbuckled her seatbelt? I was so annoyed and so ornery. I pulled the car over, lectured Ali on how that was NOT OK and about how we were in a hurry and about how I was angry...yada, yada...yada, yada. As we started driving again the car was dead silent. I looked in the rear-view mirror to see Ali with her bottom lip jutted out and arms folded tightly across her chest as she stared sullenly out the window. I also saw you studying me intently before you calmly and quietly said, "Mother, I don't think you handled that situation very well." You knew, long before I did, that Ali wasn't trying to be naughty, she was just working on a new skill...a skill she FINALLY accomplished after watching sissy do it a million times. She just had bad timing. You have such a tender and nurturing little spirit and are in-tune to things that I often just rush past. You amaze me each and every day.

I love you. So much so, that just typing those three silly words made me start crying. I'm not even going to try blaming it on crazy pregnancy hormones this time. Nope, just love. Now, I must be off...I have a cake to finish, balloons to blow up and presents to wrap in preparation for your big day tomorrow, the day we celebrate...you.