Growing a lady...

It is just so funny looking back eight years ago to the time this beautiful girl was born.  Adam and I were clueless.  Totally clueless.  I think I shared the story before about how when we walked into our apartment after leaving the hospital with our new baby girl, Adam and I tightly swaddled her up, walked right back to the bedroom and laid her into her crib.  She was this tiny little peanut in a giant crib.  We just stood there in a brief moment of panic -- we had no clue what to do next.

Obviously we learned what to do next.  Feed, diaper and put to sleep -- all wrapped in a ton of love.  When I was a new mom I read all the books.  Now that eight years has passed, it's no wonder the what to expect when your little girl is eight years old and growing up faster that you ever imagined book doesn't exist.  There is a reason there is no guide -- does anyone really know exactly what to expect?  

These past years have been amazing.  This kid continues to both challenge and bless us in so many ways. She is totally becoming a lady -- we are growing a lady.  To think what this kid has gone through.  For those new to our story -- Madison spent the majority of her preschool years living in the hospital right along side her little brother Gavin.  She watched him suffer and she watched him die.  This little girl remembers every detail of her early years.  Every single detail.  But yet despite the odds against she has grown into this beautiful young lady you see in these photos.

There is just something different about her.  Her confidence blows me away -- oh, to have only an ounce of her self esteem.  If I ask her to show me her moves -- this kid will break it down -- doesn't matter who is watching or where we are.  She loves people no matter how popular or how different they are.  I just can't even fathom the women she will one day become.

I want her to dream big.  The sky is her limit.  In her mind right now she wants to pursue a career in the circus doing acrobatics -- I'm not totally cool with that, but what ever she becomes, one thing I know is this -- this kid is going to do big things.

Really big things.

Dream big baby girl.  Mommie and Daddy will always be right behind you to keep pushing you forward and to catch you when you fall.