14 years ago today

It was a cold day in western Washington...but it was a beautiful day for a baby girl to be born.  After a fairly eventful pregnancy full of scares and meds to stop this little one from coming too soon, a cute little red head entered the world, sweet, tiny, and full of life.  Little A was born after 12 hours of labor and weighed in at a whopping 5lbs 5 oz and 18 1/2 inches.  She came exactly one week after I stopped medication to keep her from coming and one week after my birthday.  I am having a hard time believing that she is 14, and the years have gone so quickly.  I can still remember bringing her home from the hospital like it was yesterday.  I still remember all the times her Daddy would sleep walk after she was born and scare me spitless that he would wander out of the house on a cold morning with her.  He does these things when he gets excited, although not as often now that he is older.  :)  I remember the sounds she made while she was eating, she still makes some of those while eating breakfast...thank you Grandma for teaching her to really enjoy her food.  =)  I remember how tiny she was that she fit right inside the palm of J's hand and only stretched to his elbow...how little she looked in her car seat, and how she was always full of smiles and wide awake in the middle of the night so she wouldn't miss anything.

The years fly by.  They go so fast it seems that it couldn't possibly have really happened.  Looking at her now, I still see that sweet little girl and I catch even more glimpses of her when she is laughing, but beyond all of that, now I see a beautiful young lady, full of life and ready for whatever comes her way.  She is confident, stubborn, funny and loves to be with family and friends.  She will always be my little girl, but lately I see that she hasn't been one for awhile.  I can't help but be a little sad and scared, because with this come letting go, little by little, and letting her become the young woman her Daddy and I have raised her to be.  I pray we have done our best because all we can do now is guide.  There comes a point when they don't want to listen, and think they know what they need to know, and it always happens sooner than we as parents would like.   So I say this....

God give us the strength to let her become the wonderful young lady that has been growing so fast and furiously, help keep us sane in the moments of insanity, help her to know she is more loved than she could imagine, help us to know when it's time to step back and not push...and most of all thank you for this wonderful gift.