Four Years

Four years ago today, I arrived at the hospital in a hurried panic expecting to be admitted and monitored for at least a day. I did not expect to be wheeled into an emergency c-section within the hour. But, that in fact, was the way the day turned out. At the end of it, I had a beautiful, tiny baby girl.

Sofia Isabella arrived four years ago today, four and half weeks early. And our lives have never been the same.

We had been married for nine years and pretty much come to the conclusion that we wouldn't have kids. Enough years and enough medical intervention had laid that path before us. But, one June day, while preparing myself for another surgery, things changed. Everything changed. We found out we were pregnant.

It was a long 8 months. There were too many scares to count and weeks on bedrest. But at 7:33 in the morning, Sofia arrived into our world, healthy, small and independent from the first moment. She has kept us on our toes ever since.

It seems like just yesterday I sat in the stillness on the night with her in my arms and tried imagine her as little girl and not this tiny whisper of a baby. And now here she is. In the blink of eye she went from that little bundle to our big girl who amazes us every day with all she knows and does. She has so many opinions, can operate her remote control for her tv better than I can, knows exactly where the oreos are kept and can bargain and negotiate better than any car salesman I have ever come in contact with. She knows what she wants to watch on tv, what she wants to eat, what she wants to play, what she wants to be for Halloween and what kind of birthday party she wants. My days of getting to pick things out for her are over (to a certain degree, anyway). She has an incredible memory and things I had said have already come back to haunt me and her daddy. She has strong opinions about how she wears her hair and what shoes she wears. She can work an iphone as well as any teenager you put her up against. She is the smartest, funniest, sweetest, most stubborn and independent child I have ever known. We feel very blessed that she picked us to be her parents.

So Happy Birthday my beautiful Fiabird. Mommy and Daddy love you more than our luggage.