Learning to Fly

Today is my oldest daughter's 15th birthday.

(Actually, she's technically not the oldest.  Her older sister was stillborn 2 1/2 years before she was born, but that's a post for another time.)

In her blessing dress....which is the same one I was blessed it.  Doesn't she look thrilled to be wearing a hand-me-down?

I can remember so many details still about the pregnancy and delivery.  I was so joyful after discovering I was finally pregnant again.....I enjoyed every moment of it.

Except the morning sickness.  Which lasted all day, every day for about four months.  THEN I enjoyed every minute.

In the last trimester, I craved Taco Bell 7-layer burritos.  At three a.m.  Sweetie dutifully went on Taco Bell runs for me.

I was induced and I remember having some pretty intense contractions, but the God of Pain Relief (anesthesiologist) came to my rescue, and her delivery went pretty smoothly.  There were some concerns about her lungs and we stayed an extra day in the hospital, but it was no big deal.  We were sent home to be Parents.

That first night was quite the adventure.  We came home, and she fell asleep.  I put her in her crib (which was in our room), we crawled into bed ourselves.  About 13 minutes later, she woke up.  And never fell back to sleep for the rest of the night.  Or so it seemed.  At around two a.m., Sweetie came out into the living room and told me to go to bed, and that he would take care of her.  That was one night that he won my heart forever.  Again.  I'm convinced that because of that first night the two of them spent together, they've been bonded in a way that I can't explain, replace, or duplicate.  But he was my hero that night and when I woke up at 6 a.m., I went out into the living room and found them both asleep.  She in her carseat, and he on the couch.  That, my friends, is true love.

Fast forward 15 years.  She regularly goes to bed at 7:30 p.m. (unless homework prevents it), and gets herself up at 4:45 every morning to get ready for the day.  She and Sweetie still bond every morning as he drives her 25 minutes to seminary.  She is growing up so fast and the years go by faster and faster.  It seems as though it was just yesterday that I was picking her up from her first day of kindergarten.  She'll be a sophmore next year and we are talking about what she will major in, where she'll go to school, and a possible mission for her.  It's just breathtaking at times.

She's always been a mature soul, having a vocabulary beyond her years.  She comprehends things I couldn't even fathom at her age.  She's a special one, a strong one.  I'm trying to get her to see it, but she looks at me as though I'm crazy.  Which I am.  Just a little.  Why I've been blessed to be her mom, I'll never know, but I hope that I'm doing her justice.

Just a few more years and our little chickadee will be a beautiful and graceful eagle, ready to stand on her own in the world.  It's hard to encourage her to begin taking those first steps toward the edge of the nest, because I just want to hold onto her forever, to protect her, and keep her safe.  But Heavenly Father has plans for her and keeping her here isn't in His plan.  So while I've got her, I need to help her learn to fly.  Because when she finally does leap, I know she will soar.

That's my girl....