Happy Birthday

Three years ago today, I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of my first born daughter. The room was set, clothes washed, toys and books waiting on shelves, and I could hardly wait to meet her. To see, hear, smell and feel her. In some ways it feels like forever ago. Life is different enough before kids, but before kids with special needs and potentially life threatening illnesses, your life before seems like you were living on another planet.

Tomorrow, our sweet and amazing girl will be three years old. I want to take this time out to celebrate her, for all that she is, and for the absolute and infinite love and joy she brings to our hearts.

Avery loves to hold hands. Several dozen times a day, she grabs our hand to take us to what she wants, or to take us to her toys to play. She also loves to snuggle... sometimes not at our favorite times (mid-night) but when you hold and rock her, she inches in close, smile on her face, hand in hand as we glide her gently off to rest. She LOVES birds. When she sees one, she lights up, and now the only stickers she likes are those with a bird or favorite TV character on them. Funny since she shows excitement by smiling and flapping. Maybe in her own way she can relate. Avery loves when Daddy gets home. When I tell her he is here, she moves as fast as she can to greet him, and grins ear to ear as he picks her up for a big squeeze. Avery also loves the carousel, the park, slides of any kind, swinging high, and climbing. She doesn't make a lot of noise, but she laughs every day... and the sound is like music to our souls. Even without words, she is easy to read, and communicates in her own way. In every way, she is special and worthy.

Life before Avery was so easy. Our worries were so superficial, our heartaches so mild... but our joys were not near as meaningful, and our celebrations nowhere near as graciously met. With every moment, she shows us how to love. How to be better... how to look past disability, and how to see perfection in imperfection, how to greet life with a new attitude, and how to throw judgement and expectation out the window. I gave my parents a frame last Christmas with a quote on it that stated " Though we teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about." How true that is. She redefines my vision of a perfect family, because though our family is far from perfect, I wouldn't trade my life with anyones. So happy birthday, my precious daughter. I love you to pieces, and to the moon and back again.