Madison - Year 8 Begins

Today is my baby's birthday.  I can hardly believe she is 8 years old today!  I wasn't there when she was born, as you know.  It took 13 days to bring the miracle to our home and only 30 seconds to have my heart stolen by the tiniest baby I had ever seen.  Kim and I celebrated Thanksgiving that year with my parents in Savannah.  We were traveling on the day the greatest love we have ever known was born, totally clueless as to what was coming our way.  At the time, we were mothers to a foster baby, Bria, and were preparing our hearts for her departure in January.  So when Kim called me at work to say a newborn was on her way to the house, I was excited to have someone new to love.

I remember walking in the door and seeing the tiniest baby ever (only 3 1/2 lbs!!!) wrapped in a blanket and sitting in the car seat.  The dilemma was how to feed her since her mouth was too small to hold a bottle.  It was a frantic search for a premmie bottle, which looks just like a shot glass with a nipple, and finally found a few generous nurses in the NICU at St. David's Hospital who gave us everything we needed to care for our little one.  Maddie suffered from terrible colic as an infant and her first 3 months of life were extremely stressful.  The first 24 hours at home were stressful!  I remember laying on my bed with Maddie in the first few days of our life together, wondering if I was up to this challenge.  I was exhausted and emotional and afraid of how fragile this life was.  I laid beside Maddie, watching her sleep with her hands clasped as if in prayer.  She always slept this way in the beginning - so sweet!  Anyway, so I am watching her sleep when she suddenly opens her eyes and rolls her tiny head toward me.  She looks me straight in the face and then closes her eyes to resume sleep.  It was like she was checking to make sure I was still there.  I was.  And I knew in my heart at that exact moment that I would never leave her side.  She was mine.  Forever.

So today we celebrated her birthday with friends and the Village at the skating rink.  The day started early with a giant do-nut from Round Rock Donuts and presents from the family.

After a bath and an hour of fabulous hair styling, we went to the skating rink where Madison amazed all of us with her skills.  She did so well!  This was McKenzie's first time on skates and had some trouble staying upright.  And then Morgan insisted on having her own skates!  Low and behold she did an awesome job skating!  I am completely shocked.

We had a fun bunch of friends there to celebrate the day.  Maddie's good friends from school and one of our favorite former neighbors rounded out the party goers.  We even had a surprise visit from Mrs. Leitch, the counselor at Maddie's school and her favorite grown up at the school.