A Monumental Occasion - Day 1

There is about to be an occasion so big, so monumental in this family that I have decided to re-enter the blogosphere to commemorate it. This family is about to have...(drum roll) a teenager!! Oh where has the time gone?!? Hannah will be 13 on February 10, which is 13 days away. So over the next 13 days, I am going to post about her, highlights from each year, special things about her. Today I will start with her birth.

The week before she was born will always be magical in my memory. It snowed - twice - and there was ice. I love snow, and I'd never seen it snow as much or hang around as long as it did that week. We had a week off from school! We had neighborhood snowball fights and friends over for dinner. I had time to get lesson plans done and everything ready for Hannah. It was perfect!

 Hannah was due January 29. Do you notice a big gap between her due date and her birth date? Yep, she was nice and comfy and determined (to the very end) to stay put. We chose Feb.9, Donnie's sister's birthday as our induction date. How cool it would be for them to share a birthday, or so we thought. Coincidentally Donnie's sister-in-law's birthday is Feb.10, so as the day wore on, I think they were taking bets as to whose birthday she would come on. Hannah was born at 4:06 am, after 21 hours of labor. She was the most beautiful baby we'd ever seen. There were so many things I'd never thought of until she was born, like how cute it was when she stretched or smiled in her sleep, what it felt like to love so differently, what I would do the first time Hannah got her feelings hurt (the role of mama bear came easily), how I wanted her world to be just right...I could go on and on. It's hard to believe that was 13 years ago. Time flies when you're having fun!