My Precious Lynnaea

On this Thanksgiving, this day set aside to be grateful for all we have (though, truthfully, we should be thankful every day); I decided to write about the greatest blessing I received this year.

And she is my daughter Lynnaea.

This time last year, she was a secret no one knew, except her dad and me.  This time last year, I was waiting for my first doctor appointment to hear her little heart beating.  

It is so hard for me to believe she is now 6 months old.  That at the beginning of this year, I was just barely starting to feel her wiggle around inside of me.  That I wasn't sure if she was a she or not (and we didn't find out until she was born!).  That every month or so, I waited anxiously to hear her little heartbeat.  It is hard for me to believe, even though I know it's true, that I have actually gone through labor and delivery and survived the sleepless nights.  It's so unbelievable to me at times that she is mine.  That the wonderful little baby girl with the roly-poly arms and legs sitting up on the floor playing with her toys as I write this is my sweet girl.  That I am her mommy.  But it's true.

She has changed my world.  She has changed my life.  She has changed me.  She has brightened my world.  She has improved (and sometimes complicated) my life.  She has made me a better person.  She has taught me how to be more patient, more loving, more compassionate.  She has given me reasons to work on being more kind, less judgmental.  More positive, and less pessimistic.  To really examine myself so that I can work on being the best example for her I can be.

She puts a smile on my face faster and easier than anyone or anything else in the whole world...  And she does it just by being herself.

It's hard to explain, really, but since having her, I think I feel more deeply.

I am grateful every single day for this precious life that has been entrusted to my care.  I feel inadequate more often than not.  But I feel blessed.  And thankful.  Though I can clearly remember what life was like before she was here, I can't imagine life without her from here on out.   Nor do I want to.   I hoped for so long to have a baby -- and feared for so long it would never be.  She helps make my dreams come true.

I have much to be thankful for.  Much that makes my life blessed.  And my sweet Lynnaea is at the top of that list, every day.  And so, this Thanksgiving, I give thanks for all my blessings.  But especially for her.

What are you grateful for today?