Mommy

I don't remember the day I first heard Madison call my name, but I do remember how I felt when I heard her say Mommy. A warmth spread through my whole body, starting in my heart. This little tiny person had claimed me as her own. I was Mommy from that day forward. I was no longer just Buck and Nora's daughter, Carl's sister, Kim's partner, or some one's employee. I am Mommy, righter of wrongs; chief cheerleader; all time advocate; fanatic fan; and lover of everything you do.

Things came easily for Madison. She walked on her first birthday. She delivered monologues standing on the coffee table at two. Madison was coordinating play dates at three and organizing class trips at four.

Morgan, on the other hand, has not been so lucky. This sweet baby has been through many ordeals, of the medical kind, that I would have given my right arm to take her place. When Morgan was born, we thought she was deaf. She didn't pass the hearing test in the hospital nursery or at the pediatrician's office. She slept all the time and never startled. Finally, she passed the test and now we feel silly for ever worrying!

Morgan was slow to crawl and slower to walk. Physical and occupational therapy has been essential in her development and while we marval at her ability to communicate through sign language, we anxiously await her speech to develop. Morgan's first word was Jack, the dog. Eventually she said Mama for Kim. Her vocabulary is limited to just a handful of words, but the list grew longer today with the addition of my name - Mommy.

My almost 20 month old daughter with the giant smile and spirit as bright as the sun spoke my name for the first time today. I was pulling laundry out of the dryer tonight with Morgan "helping" me. And out of nowhere, she said Mommy. I knelt down beside her to make sure I heard correctly and she said it again. Mommy. I think it is the greatest word ever spoken by anyone anywhere. My heart is so full.

Morgan is going to be fine. She is going to talk when she is good and ready. Who knows, she may be fully capable of speech now but has the two most talkative older sisters. When in the world would she have a chance to say anything??

I am truly blessed to be the mother of these amazing little girls. I have no idea what I did to deserve such richness in my life and I have stopped wondering because grace has made it possible for a family to exist where there once was not. My babies have changed my life in ways I never dreamed possible and today, one more claimed me as her own.