Dear Sweet Norah
You are 4 months old! You weighed in at 13 lbs, 14 oz and 25 inches long! You had
so many firsts this month. Your first Halloween, your first laugh,
first time you rolled over, first Thanksgiving, first time to visit
Grammie and Papa's in Fresno, it’s been crazy wonderful!
This has been the month of
you discovering the impact you can have on the world around you. You
finally figured out your hands. You reach for things with such focus
now, you’re still clumsy and often hit your face
in your effort to bring ALL things to your mouth, but you’re learning.
You also found your feet. You pull them up with your hands, bringing
them as close to your mouth as you can get.
You also learned about people
this month. You laughed for the first time just looking at your cousin Quinn. It was adorable! That same day you gave some laughs to your Grammie. We get a little more out of you everyday! You love to smile, pretty girl. You look around the room and
make eye contact with people, eagerly waiting for them to smile at you.
The moment they do you smile back gleefully,
and then bashfully bury your face in my shoulder. I pray you always love
people as you do now. You make no distinctions…people I’d never say hi
to, you make light up with your smile. You’ve opened doors to
conversations with strangers and bring out a genuine
warmth in them. You’re teaching me to see people differently, more like
Christ sees them. What a gift!
We had a terrible time with
Daylight savings, you were waking up crazy early for a while, but we’re slowly recovering from that. It seems like we are finally getting
past the 45 minute intruder that has plagued
your naps for so long, hooray! You still spit up, although there are
some better days mixed in now.
I’m still learning what it
means to be a mom, a wife, a professor, a friend, a sister, a church
member, etc. Learning how to blend so many things, and ever aware that
who I am today will greatly impact who you are
tomorrow. I was really encouraged by a friend this month. We were
talking about my situation, having to work part time, and she said,
“Sometime we miss how God has already provided because we’re still
looking for him to provide in the way we expected.” What
true words those were. God has so generously provided for me with my
job. A job I love, that allows me to be home with you the majority of
the time. I hate the thought of leaving you more next semester, but it’s
still less than what so many moms have to do. I
just have to take it one semester at a time, trusting God to give me the
grace to endure and the strength to pull it off.
You
turned 4 months old on
Thanksgiving day. It was quite an emotional day for me. It seems like
yesterday I was at my mom’s for Thanksgiving, announcing you! And there I
sat, looking around the room, a table full
of faces I love, food that we eat year after year, and I watched it
through your eyes. This family is all new to you, and I hope you will
grow to love them as I have. I hope you will cherish the chaos, the
loudness, the laughter, the traditions, the beauty,
all of it. You are one of us. I hope this family brings you the strength
it has brought me. I miss Papa. I missed Thanksgiving with him, I miss
dinner with him, I miss conversations that aren't about cancer. But
through this, what strength your aunties have given me. Love our entire
family, and they LOVE you! Praying you will one day get to know the Papa
I know!
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| Playing with Nonni |
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| Thanksgiving |
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| Thanksgiving with Grandpa John and Gigi...also, first time in your Bumpo, a little hunched over :) |
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| Fresno Trip |
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| Halloween |
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| Cousins! |
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| Auntie Brooke |
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| Best friends! It's been a big year for us! Sam got married, I had you, Whitney had Brynn, Natalie is pregnant with Johnny, Bri is pregnant with baby girl, and Brooke bought a house! Whew! God is good! |
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| Pretty girl...wearing the dress Auntie Summer got you when we found out you were a girl. You wore it for the first time to her engagement party! |
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| Me and you |
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| Rolling over! |
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| Papa and his grandbabies on Jude's 1st birthday |
