In the Blink of an Eye...

Our sweet Brie turned 11 last week. I know a lot of people say things like, "It seems like just yesterday...." and I used to roll my eyes when I heard that. But really, it does feel like just yesterday that this beautiful, adorable, charming, sweet, loving, smart, fabulous little girl joined our family. We prayed and waited and prayed and waited and prayed and waited a long time for her.

Her arrival in the world was a totally different experience from Alyssa's arrival...with Alyssa, there was trauma and risk and danger and all of those lovely (not) things, culminating in her being rushed off to the NICU before I could hold her. It was hours before I was able to see her...and then hold her a few hours later. The wait was terrible, and holding her for the first time was incredible, even with all of the wires, tubes and machines that she was hooked up to.

After all of that, I wasn't quite sure what to expect when Brie finally arrived. In fact, the L&D nurse looked at me like I was crazy when I asked her what was going to happen after the baby was born...but I really didn't know what to expect with a full-term (well, close enough to full-term) baby.

I will never forget the moment she arrived and they quickly handed her to me. Wow. I remember making almost instant eye contact with her, laying my hand on the side of her face and just looking at her, with her looking back at me. It was an incredible moment...one that I have not been blessed to have again. But it was wonderful. And she seemed so peaceful at first...LOL...I guess she was lulling into a sense of false security, thinking that she was a peaceful baby. Oh no -- she was mischievous from the start...and has brought us smiles and joy ever since.

I remember going to church with her on Mother's Day that year -- she was less than a week old and I didn't want to go but my Mom insisted. We left in her in carseat and put it where no one could touch her...I was so nervous about her getting sick. But what a wonderful Mother's Day that was...I remember sitting on the couch just cuddling my new baby for most of the day.

It really does seem like yesterday. The days of infancy and toddlerhood passed so quickly...and now we're approaching the tail end, I suppose, of childhood. Just two more years until she's a teenager. We're approaching the end of elementary school in a few short days...the end of Primary in another year...the beginning of middle school and new adventures.

These 11 years have passed so quickly...literally in the blink of an eye. It's sad...but exciting at the same time.