11 Years Ago Today She Arrived...

 

And nothing has been the same since!  I can so vividly remember wrapping her up in a pooh bear snow suite that was WAY bigger than she was, even though it was a newborn size.  She was six tiny pounds and mine to care for and to love.  The weight of that responsibility was so heavy the day we came home from the hospital.  I rocked her when we first got home, while my husband unloaded the car.  Savage Garden was playing on the stereo in the background, "I Knew I Loved You" was the song.  I was overwhelmed staring at the precious little face that belonged to my new daughter.  How was I supposed to know how to be a good Mom?  How could anyone think that I would know what to do with this tiny, precious child that now held my heart squarely within her tiny little fist?  Tears streamed down my face and I prayed that I would be worthy of such a huge responsibility.

11 years later I am still praying.  As much as I tell her I really need her to just take a break from growing so fast, she refuses.  It won't be long and she will be taller than me, and I am sure it won't be much longer before she thinks she is smarter than me too...

She has a beautiful heart, a gentle spirit and a great sense of humor.  I have loved every moment of being her mother and am eternally grateful for the tremendous blessing I have in her.  I love you sweet girl!  Happy Birthday!!

You just gotta love pure 7 year old delight!

It's five minutes long, but how sweet Rylee was with her excitement about her Birthday gift!



Pictures and details to follow :)

Update 6/3/2010

When I picked Rylee up from day camp yesterday she hops in the car and I hear her repeating this over and over:

"Seven not six, seven not six, seven not six, seven not six..."

After several minutes of this I ask her what she is doing. She says "Well, I just don't feel like I am seven yet, so I am making myself know that I am seven not six!"

As of this morning, she still had not convinced herself!

Belated Birthday Post

It's hard to believe that Rylee has turned *6* already! I feel like she has grown at double speed this past year, and in reality she probably has.

When we brought Ry home a year and a half ago, she was really more like 3 than 4.5. While the kids in her class still seem to be a little bit older than her, she really has come a long way in catching up!

In many way it seems like she has been part of us forever. It's hard to remember a time when she wasn't with us and wasn't a part of us. It seems so natural and right that she is my daughter and as strange as it might sound, I forget why people stare at us when we are out in public. When I look at her I see her beautiful spirit, her love for life and her joy in experiencing the world around her. I see her charisma and exuberant personality. When people stare at us, I assume they are seeing the same thing.

But occasionally I am reminded. Like field day at school and she came home about 8 shades darker than when she left. Or like the day when my husband and I both put the girls on the bus for school and Rylee peeked out the window at us, just able to barely come eye level in the window. My husband said "Oh my gosh, she's Chinese!". It made me chuckle a little bit but I knew just what he was saying. When you know someone really well, you see who they really are and not just what they look like. She may look different than us, but she doesn't feel different than us!

I don't even know if I can tell you how much I love this child, and I have no doubt that she feels the same way about me! I can't help but think about another mother somewhere who may be thinking about her too. I wish she could know this joy of a child and know how very much Rylee is loved!

Oh how badly Rylee has wanted to turn 6! She has been talking about since about

a week or two after she turned 5. Because at 6, she could have her ears pierced. I thought 6 would be a long way away, but it came all too soon. She has seriously been asking for months, so we finally did it. We told her how much it was going to hurt, so she brought her favorite stuffed animal and said "I know, I know - dis be okay Mama, you jus gotta squeeze da animal, I know how to do dis Mama!" Well, that's all fine and good until you see your daughters face crumple from the pain! However, she didn't kick the girls that did it and she didn't scream to bring down the building. Once I showed her how pretty they were in the mirror, she stopped crying. Now she goes around asking everyone "My ears pierce still sparkle?" So cute!

Now I just want to share a few birthday pictures. Naturally we had a princess party!!

Waiting for the guests to arrive (only about 3 hours to go)!

Still waiting, but outside now!

Silly girl blew out the candles as soon as we put the cake in front of her. Everyone yelled "NO you have to wait!" She said "Oh, well I don't know this! How I know this?" Right! - she has only been here for one birthday - she probably didn't remember that you have to wait!!! I hope she is not too upset with me once she finds out that she was supposed to be making a wish before blowing those candles out!


I know there is a glare, but can you see how perfect this poster turned out? Rylee loves it and it really looks like she was right there in the castle! Super, super cute!!! You can win one here for your child!