I want to remember.
I know this banner will be taken down eventually, but I want to remember the sweetness and tenderness that Julia, Nate, Riley, and Mom poured into welcoming us home.
The quote by Mother Teresa: “How can there be too many children? That is like saying there are too many flowers!” has become so dear to my heart.
When I rock Mary Alice to sleep at night, I whisper to her: “Do you know how loved you are?” And then I tell her. She is a gift, not just to me, but to the entire family. She is not just a part of my life story – but of theirs, too. That was hard for me to remember at first. I felt that I needed to take all of the caring on all by myself. A dear friend, Linda, reminded me that God didn’t just give her to me. He gave her to our family – to learn, stretch, grow, love, and change together.
When she said that, it was as if a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders. I hadn’t thought of it that way before.
We each have a very special role to play in her life, and she has a special role to play in ours. To try and monopolize her time – out of obligation or pure enjoyment – would be to rob the rest of the family of little pieces of her story. Whew. It’s good to be told that you are not in this alone. It’s good to be reminded that family is a team.
Mom of four. It sounds amazing to my ears.
The kids worked on this all day as Katie labored. If you look you see the handiwork of each, and the excitement of the journey that day. Late that night, when Brian called to see if I wanted to go up to the hospital, I knew I would not sleep until I had touched both my princesses.I needed to See that Katie was fine. It was wonderful. And Brian needed to see his babies and know they were fine too. We are so blessed.