My Allie

Today was my girl's 11th birthday. Eleventh! On this day 11 years ago I remember waking up at 2am to the reality that my baby would most probably be born that day. My water broke, and I instantly started shaking with the most intense excitment and fear that I have ever felt. I had wanted to be a mommy my entire life, and now I was about to live all of my dreams... if I could just get her here. At 6:18 that night, after a dramatic delivery, my precious baby girl was born. I did not realize at the time that she was blue, but I did realize after a few seconds that she was not crying. I did not even get to look at her before she was wisked away. The nurses rushed her to the warmer and worked with her for a few minutes to get her to breathe well. It was the most scared and the most elated that I had ever been. What a mix of emotion! Once she started crying, she did it well. Very well. ... Until they laid her in my arms, and I began to talk to her. At that moment, she stopped and looked at me with eyes that seemed to know and understand much more than they logically should. She got calm, and everything else in the room melted away. I know that she knew me. And I knew her on a deeper level than I could ever have imagined. Those eyes are still a part of my everyday life. My Allie is a deep thinker, mature, and very intuitive. She always has been. In this stage of being somewhere between little girl-hood and adolescence, I can sense her frustration with herself sometimes and see the turmoil that it brings her. But usually, when it is just me and her, and I can speak softly to her, and she can look into my eyes, we both experience an amazing calm. Just like 11 years ago.

So today, because of that amazing day eleven years ago, we celebrated Allie!

Today started with a cuddle on the couch as we watched a show together before the boys woke up (a favorite activity for Allie). Once everyone was awake, she opened part of her gifts. One of her gifts was a game called Cosmic Catch, and we all played it together. It was great fun! After that, we worked on a bit of homework. (It had to be done. Birthday or not.) By the time we were finished with that, she opened the rest of her gifts, and we went to lunch (her choice: Potbelly). After that, we went to a movie that she has been dying to see (The Game Plan). After the show, we finished up getting our costumes together for tonight and came home to get ready for Trick Or Treat which we did with the cul-de-sac neighbors and had a blast! (More on that to come.) After taking a good, long look at her candy, a bit more homework, and some time alone with Mommy, she was off to bed.
My big girl. My eleven year old. My baby.

GIfts Galore!
Allie was so excited to receive some of the things on her wish list! She got a shirt that she had really wanted, a game or two, and a gift card. She also got a couple of sentimental things. Each year on her birthday I give her a charm for her charm bracelet. This year I gave her a little tiara becasue she is my princess. Also, Corey and I gave her her first "real" Bible.