Abby on the first day of Kindergarten, 7/24/08Happy, Happy Birthday to my beautiful Abby. She turned 6 yesterday. I can't believe it, my baby is 6! (This post is a day late because we had visitors arrive from the Mainland and after settling them in and having birthday cake, it was bedtime...)
Just yesterday she was a smiling baby, a precocious toddler, an amazingly smart pre-schooler, and now she's preparing to enter the first grade. Where do the years go?
Abby is a child that we never expected to have (although I thank God everyday for bringing her to us). They say that military families who spend time in Germany come home with either (1) a cuckoo clock, (2) a schrank - a big wall unit like an entertainment center, or (3) a baby. In 2001, we came home from Germany with #1, so we assumed we were done expanding the family.
Then September 11 happened. We lived in Ohio, not near a military community, but Jon's job with the Army Reserves got busier and busier. As he assisted units to prepare for deployment to Iraq and Afganistan, he was taken away from home more and more, for longer and longer stretches of time.
In September 2002, he came home for literally one night between units. And that night we were blessed with Abby.
Abby is a remarkable child. Like our other 2, she is kind, compassionate, funny, smart, and beautiful.
She is also the "baby". The last child to enter the family.
We still cuddle every day, and I am thankful for the moments that she climbs onto my lap and hugs me tight. Because, I've seen with her sisters that children grow up. And, though they still love you fiercely, the days of snuggling change to hugs, smiles, and text messages. I am grateful that she is still small enough to be carried to bed, and put up on my shoulders as we navigate the mall or climb DiamondHead crater.
Someday she too will be a teenager, with her own agenda and no time for snuggling.
For now she is my cuddle partner. Lucky for me, she will always be my baby, my Abby.
I love you, Abby. You have completed the family, and I am so blessed to be your mom.
Just yesterday she was a smiling baby, a precocious toddler, an amazingly smart pre-schooler, and now she's preparing to enter the first grade. Where do the years go?
Abby is a child that we never expected to have (although I thank God everyday for bringing her to us). They say that military families who spend time in Germany come home with either (1) a cuckoo clock, (2) a schrank - a big wall unit like an entertainment center, or (3) a baby. In 2001, we came home from Germany with #1, so we assumed we were done expanding the family.
Then September 11 happened. We lived in Ohio, not near a military community, but Jon's job with the Army Reserves got busier and busier. As he assisted units to prepare for deployment to Iraq and Afganistan, he was taken away from home more and more, for longer and longer stretches of time.
In September 2002, he came home for literally one night between units. And that night we were blessed with Abby.
Abby is a remarkable child. Like our other 2, she is kind, compassionate, funny, smart, and beautiful.
She is also the "baby". The last child to enter the family.
We still cuddle every day, and I am thankful for the moments that she climbs onto my lap and hugs me tight. Because, I've seen with her sisters that children grow up. And, though they still love you fiercely, the days of snuggling change to hugs, smiles, and text messages. I am grateful that she is still small enough to be carried to bed, and put up on my shoulders as we navigate the mall or climb DiamondHead crater.
Someday she too will be a teenager, with her own agenda and no time for snuggling.
For now she is my cuddle partner. Lucky for me, she will always be my baby, my Abby.
I love you, Abby. You have completed the family, and I am so blessed to be your mom.
1 comment:
that was so lovely to read - and sad - I always want my kids to be snugglers!!
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