8 Months

Every month I say this, yet still I cannot believe how quickly you are growing up, my sweet angel. We love you more than words could ever say. There are no words to describe how enamored we are with you. All of us. I was thinking back, the other day, remembering back to this time last year when I failed my 1 hour glucose screening and had to go do the 3 hour test, with 4 different blood draws right before Christmas, and then thinking about the 20 weeks I spent throwing up constantly,also thinking about how, at the end, when I would get up in the morning, I could really not even move my legs without pushing in on my hips like the chiropractor showed me. I also thought about the months of contractions and the several bouts of pre-term labor, shots, hospital visits, etc, that I endured. Then I thought back specifically to the day when we thought you were going to join our world. I remember it clearly- February 13, 2008. After a night of absolutely NO sleep due to contractions, being monitored, daddy having to call into work, me getting hooked up to the IV in order to prep for surgery and being told that I would more than likely have my c-section over the lunch hour, and then ending with a "helpful" nurse explaining the "true definition of labor" to me as she pulled out my IV and sent me home, telling me to come back when it hurt so bad I couldn't talk. Great. I remember what I said to your daddy on the way home, like it were today. I looked at him and said, "This had BETTER be one SWEET baby!"

I can say with all of my heart that you were worth every single second and more of everything that I had to endure to get you here. You are the SWEETEST, HAPPIEST little baby and just when we think we couldn't possibly love you any more, we awake the next day to find that we do!

We love you so much, Elise Lauren. God has blessed us more than we could ever imagined by bringing you into our lives.