She is a wonderful helper with her brother and sister, a great role model friend. When she smiles, you can see the purity of her soul. When you look in her sparkling eyes, you know that you're looking into the soul of a little angel. She is genuine and real. She wears her heart on her sleeve and is always willing to share her love.
Emmy is an articulate little thing. She always has an idea and almost always talks everyone into her plan. She's outgoing, happy and social. She loves to take care of younger kids and entertain them. She is so patient with younger friends and her brother and sister. She is a wonderful big sister and a perfect daughter. I couldn't be more proud.
She'll have her birthday party at Jump Zone this year with family and friends. She has some odd requests this year. She wants "bump its," a light up glow doodle thing, a "Grecian history book," eggplant seeds, and a locket. She wants a Hannah Montana Birthday (though she's never watched the show) and wants to give out mini Barbies as favors (how am I gonna pull that one off?).
I've become sentimental since being a mamma. With that, I must do my annual indulgent retrospection.... I look back and can still feel my babies as infants. I try to explain that feeling to them and they love hearing me tell them about when they were sooo little.
7 years ago, my Emmy was born and in one instant, my world changed. I remember I first saw Emmy when the doctor laid her on my chest. I couldn't believe that something so perfect came from my body just like that. Unbelievable. She cried on my chest and stopped when she looked up at her daddy who was leaning over her. From the moment she was born, I've felt like I've known her like the back of my hand. I certainly didn't know how to be a mommy, but I knew my daughter. She was happy, determined, intelligent, thoughtful, and stubborn. 7 years later, she is still all of those things and more.
I remember the first few nights in the hospital. I had NO CLUE. I remember the nurse teaching me how to soothe a crying baby and telling me how, and how often to feed her, how to swaddle her, how to hold her. I had never changed a diaper before. I knew nothing. And yet, we've made it this far.
I remember when she was 9 days old, my mom took a picture of her and I, and, crying, I left her with my momma to go back to law school (lest be dropped). Everyone thought I'd drop out of law school when I was pregnant with her, but I wouldn't do that to my baby girl. I was determined to finish, so while it was indescribably tough emotionally, we kept on. She laid by me as I read case after case in my law books aloud to her. I held her while I briefed cases and we finished law school together. At 17 months old, I took my cranky baby with me to take the bar exam. My girls and I passed the bar exam together (I was 6 mos pregnant with Callie at the time). We did together.
And I remember her first day of school. She was 3 years old and though I believed wholeheartedly in her new school, I was nervous as heck when I dropped her off on the first day. When I went back to the school after an hour, there she was bawling, and her teacher was walking around the class holding my sobbing baby. The first few days were tough and then, before long, she started to love school and the friends she'd made there.
I look back on the 7 years since she's been in our lives and what do I remember? I remember her birth, leaving her to go back to school, her first steps, her first day of school, her falling cutting her head open at the Grand 2 days before she turned 4. I remember all these big events in our lives, but mainly when I think about these past 7 years, I just see Emmy. I see my baby girl's contagious smile and her beautiful, happy eyes. And I'm just so lucky. These have been, by far, the best 7 years of my life.
These past 7 years I have learned so much and I've questioned every decision I've made twice or three times over. I've learned the depth and purity of love. I knew nothing at all about life or love until I had Emmy. She has been a light in our lives since she was born. I couldn't be more proud of her. She has brought us nothing but joy and I thank the Lord for her. I am so blessed.
Happy Birthday to my big girl, Emmy Lou, who will always be my baby.
These pics are from our recent trip. We haven't had any parties for Emmy yet and she's still asleep this morning, so I've got no "actual" bday pics. Those are to come.
Self portrait:
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