My Amelia

Two years ago today Amelia was born.

She was tiny with a full head of black hair. Everything about her was miniature, her hands, her toes, and her tiny little nose. We were not expecting her so early so nothing was ready.

I had driven myself to the hospital the day before telling Aaron it was nothing, maybe a bladder infection and that I would be home in an hour. Upon arriving at the hospital I learned that I was 4 cm dilated and ready to have the baby. You would think that after going through labor 2 previous times I would be able to tell the difference between a bladder infection and contractions!

I can remember being so angry at first thinking about how I had done everything right. I had eaten right, taken my vitamins, gone to every one of my 8 million doctor appointments, so why was I in early labor?? I got over that quickly and embraced the idea that I was finally going to meet my daughter. Aaron and I named her only a few short hours before her birth. He was firm on Sarah and I was firm on Amelia. Neither of us were budging. We both agreed that Sarah Amelia had a better ring then Amelia Sarah but that we would call her Amelia until she decided otherwise.

Now Amelia is two with a full head of white blonde hair. She loves shoes and is partial to the color yellow. She loves books, her little red tricycle, and her brothers most of all. I can't imagine life without her.

I remember the day I found out I was pregnant. I called Aaron first and then Nicole. We were all shocked. I couldn't imagine taking care of three kids and starting all over with another baby. I was overwhelmed.

I learned to love being pregnant with Amelia. After the morning sickness wore off I started to enjoy my big round belly and the trendy maternity styles (you should've seen the clothes they made back in 99 when I was pregnant with Andrew!). I loved being pregnant with Nicole. It's pretty amazing to share pregnancy with a girlfriend especially when miraculously even though our due dates were 7 weeks apart we managed to deliver within two days of each other (she was 2 weeks late and I was 5 weeks early).

During our pregnancy, I remember sitting outside our houses under Molly's palm tree almost daily in beach chairs watching the kids play. Nicole would always have a plate of cheese and crackers or huge chunks of watermelon and I would have a whole cucumber sliced with a bowl of ranch. I would always manage to get food on my big round belly. Molly would sit with us and tell stories about the early days with her three kids. I was nervous about the whole three kid thing but somehow I managed. I learned that going from two kids to three wasn't so bad. Everything came easier the third time around.

My favorite thing about Amelia is the way she laughs. she tilts her head back and lets out these infectious little giggles. She's tough too. She's the kind of girl I expected having. She's girly but not wimpy. She likes to play in dirt but at the same time wants to look cute while getting messy. At the park she finds the most daring, scary, thing for a two year old to do and goes for it. She's my kind of girl!

Happy Birthday to the one and only Sarah Amelia!