My Baby is a Big Girl

Marissa just celebrated her first birthday earlier in the month, which, honestly, makes me feel a little sad. Because I'm selfish like that. She blew in the general direction of her first birthday candle, ate her first birthday (cup)cake, and opened her first birthday presents (okay, Mason did most of that, but she was there). And during each of these little milestones, I got a little weepy. She's not a little baby any more. She's a big girl.

 

More recently, she's decided that she is ready to walk. It isn't a constant thing yet, but she's doing it more and more every day with fewer wobbles and fewer unplanned falls. She claps for herself and I cheer, then Mason declares that he can walk too (then does so all wobbly, like his baby sister... he needs praise too, okay?). And then I get a little weepy. She's not a little baby any more. She's a big girl.
Marissa is my baby, and we're 99.9% sure that she always will be (thanks to a little procedure Landon underwent on my birthday weekend last year). And while I'm happy with the size of my family, I still feel sad that this is the last time we'll be doing all this... the first birthdays... the first steps... the first everything. It's so precious and so amazing and such a blessing to get to share in these moments with your children. And so, I feel a little sadness with each milestone checked off the milestone chart.
So today, I choose to feel grateful that I am blessed with the opportunity to celebrate these milestones with not only one, but two, of my own, beautiful, amazing kids. There are many couples out there who long for just the chance to participate in these life events, and who probably cherish them with much greater happiness than I if/when given the opportunity. There are still a lifetime of first yet to happen with both of my kids, and rather than feeling sad for those that are in the past, I choose to feel grateful for the memories with which I have been blessed as well as for the opportunities for new challenges, changes, and growth that lay ahead.