Happy 12th Birthday Allie!

Today is a special day... it's not just the day that all kids and the Hershey family wait for with great anticipation each year... it is the day that our family celebrates the birth of our first child. Our baby girl.  

12 years ago I woke in the middle of the night to a feeling that I had never felt but one that I knew all at the same time.  A few seconds later my water broke, and I knew that I would be meeting my sweet baby that very day.  There was a feeling of anticipation and excitment that I felt in that moment that compares to nothing else on earth.  That day could very well be called the best day of my life.  It is the day that I became the mommy that I had always dreamed of.  It is the day that I conquered the mountain of bringing a baby into the world for the first time, and I have never felt anything that compares to that.  I loved it.  Really!  I did!  And I have loved being Allie's mommy - and since then the mommy of Jack and Cooper - for each and every day of the 4,380 days since October 31, 1996.  Not every one of those days has been easy - not by far - but truly, every single one of them have been a blessing.

Today, I celebrate Allie.  My little girl that is turning into a woman.  The little one that I have always worked to teach lessons to that has taught me so very much.  Allie, you are beautiful.  I am proud of you.  I love you.  You are the one that opened up my heart to the kind of love that only a mother can feel for her babies, and for that reason - among many - you are so special. 

Happy Birthday Cat!  I'll Love You Forever!