I've been sad/happy lately...

Now that Erin is just days away from turning 2, I have been more emotional that usual lately. Her comprehension is amazing, her vocabulary is vast, her sentences are forming. She is engaging in imaginative play and seems just SO grown up to me these days! It must be that I have been home with her for a full week, watching her in amazement at all the things that didn't occur to me that she can do.

As we sit on the floor in the her bedroom, the bedroom where she first crawled and took her first steps, I sit and just watch her grow up before my eyes. Greg will laugh at me as my eyes well up with tears as she learns, says, or does something new. I don't think I was this happy/sad when she was an infant discovering the world for the first time. It's hard to describe.

"Oh, Erin! My cup runneth over", I said to her the other day while riding in the car. She says and does the funniest things and then when we react to her silliness she will say, "I funny?!" Yes, Erin. You are funny!

I can't believe that in a few weeks, my baby, the baby who pushed on every rib, nerve and organ inside of me. The baby who forced me to only eat Cheerio's for 3 months while I fought horrible heartburn. The baby who blessed me with siatic nerve pain, leg cramps and nights of sleeplessness on the couch is turning 2 years old!

I hold on to those memories of my pregnancy and post partum dearly. Those grim days of her unexpected illness and the weeks in the hospital that followed. Those days where I saw unconditional generosity first hand from strangers, family, and friends. Erin's life has been a blessing to me. She has made me a grateful, thankful, hopeful, peaceful person. I never expected that dear gift from my sweet baby girl. I want to give her the world because she has given it to me!

I love you, Erin!
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Here are some pictures of a special moment we shared just eating cookies and cuddling on the couch together today!