I am...

... a wife. A mother. A daughter. A sister. A friend.

... thankful for the good health of my family and friends. I am most thankful for the health of my little girl. I can't imagine a more difficult thing to go through, than having your child terribly sick. I think back to my volunteering days at MD Anderson and all of the sick children I used to play with in the playroom and silently thank God for Blair's good health. Never take your health for granted.

... proud and blessed to be married to my best friend that works hard to always put our family first and is the best husband and father to me and Blair. You can get through anything with a strong foundation and rock by your side.

... rested!!! Blair slept for 10 straight hours last night and didn't wake up until I woke her up to eat. Yes, I broke my cardinal rule of not waking a sleeping baby, but I missed her and figured she might be hungry (she was). She is sleeping SO much better after our revelation to swaddle her. We stopped swaddling her after she was about 3 weeks old. At that point, she was still sleeping in the infant sleeper in the pack & play and we didn't think she needed it. Then, when we started dealing with the crib, we realized that in order for her to get good, quality sleep without startling herself awake, she needed the "baby straight jacket." Sounds creepy, but it is a Godsend. Sometimes B manages to slip one or both of her arms out, so we have nicknamed her "Houdini."

... excited for our family trip to New Orleans in August. We are going with my family to celebrate Conner's 21st birthday. I still cannot believe how old he is! I still remember him as this sweet little toddler with these big eyes and duck lips, now he is all grown up. Hard to believe! We are looking forward to a long weekend celebrating and doing fun things with Blair. It will be our first vacation with B and we are so excited! Bring on the Pat O hurricanes, shopping, biegnets, fabulous food and family time.

... still hormonal. Not that bad kind, the weepy kind! I still tear up when I look at Blair and think about how much I love her. She probably thinks her Mommy is a basketcase, but I cannot help myself. I have never once felt overwhelmed with having her, or felt out of control or sad, everything has completely fallen into place and we are just so thrilled to have her. Queue the happy tears.

... surprised by something I never saw coming. I've had people ask me, "what's something that has happened that you were surprised about or didn't expect (having a baby)?" I would say I was pretty prepared for the changes and feelings a baby would bring, however I never realized how much I would love the ability to simply comfort my baby with just my voice, touch and love. It is an extremely powerful, special thing.

... inspired. I am inspired by the kindness and compassion of nurses. After spending some time in the hospital recently, you come to rely on the assistance of the nursing staff to comfort and help you. A little compassion goes a long way when you are in a new / different / scary place, and the nurses that I have had the good fortune to come across, have been so sweet and wonderful. I feel like their job is a very difficult one that can be thankless. Never take them for granted! I am blessed to have many friends that are nurses, so a BIG THANK YOU to all of the nurses out there for all of their hard work and compassion.

... living in the moment. As each new day seems to bring some new milestone for Blair, I try to relish in the moment and never look ahead. That is difficult to do with Zoey being 2 months ahead of Blair and doing new, "big girl" things, but I cannot bear to wish Blair were older or doing anything different than what she is doing. I try not to ever let myself say, "I can't wait until Blair can do that!" We just try to live in the moment with each precious second and breath she takes. She'll grow up whether I like it or not, so I am not rushing anything. :)

... a work in progress. I am far from perfect, but I want to be the very best wife to Travis and mother to Blair that I can be. As I make mistakes along the way, I only hope that I continue to learn from them and evolve as a person. I want to be a good role model to Blair (and our future children) and inspire her to be a happy, strong, and kind woman. I want her to have a taste for life and adventure, be a woman of faith and her have her heart filled with love. I want her to understand the importance of service and philanthropy, to love and respect her family and friends, and to appreciate the small things in life. These are just some things (on a very long list) that I hope for my daughter.

Thanks be to God for providing me with a life I have always dreamed of. I am rich beyond measure and humbly grateful.