What a wonderful time of year to share the joy of a new little girl. The announcement of our precious pink bundle of joy made Chanukah and Christmas even more special for us all.
For me, having a girl brings a flood of emotions. The rebirth of a mother-daughter relationship after loosing my mom when I was 10 is so magical and not something I can adequately put into words. My relationship with Lauri, Adam’s mom, has already healed so much of that link in my heart but this is another opportunity to gain a piece of what I lost so long ago.
I feel empowered by thoughts of raising a strong woman. So many of my daydreams are around the powerful relationship she will have with Adam. The moment we found out it was a girl a little twinkle in Adam’s eye appeared and it hasn’t left. He is going to be an anchor of love, friendship, guidance and support for her and I feel so thankful that she has him.
As a mother, I hope I can create the same type of relationship my mother had with us. She was always so honest, open and loving. She treated us as individuals as well as her children, which made her parenting skills very effective. She knew what made us tick and played to our best traits, and she constantly reminded us that there is nothing in this world we cannot do if we work hard and believed in ourselves. Even when she was very ill she was the picture of strength and determination. I pray my daughter will have her spirit - I have a feeling she will.
There are a million more feelings rushing through my heart/mind – too many to put into coherent thoughts for you but this much is for sure - this is blissful time for us indeed.
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Telling the Family
The first night of Chanukah is always a special evening. However, this year topped all others when it was announced Mia was coming home from the hospital. Her battle with meningitis was extremely scary. Time felt like it was moving so slowly that week as we waited for calls and updates. Thankfully the good news that it was viral (vs. bacterial) came just in time to welcome her home on the first day of Chanukah – a true miracle. She is doing wonderful and even outgrew the Christmas outfit we got for her!
Not that the evening needed anything more to celebrate, but we jumped on the opportunity to tell everyone when Jonathan, Jaime and the kids Skyped Bill when we were on with Eric and Luci. We all lit the candles together, talked about Mia and the holidays and then we announced the news of our little girl. It was great to tell everyone at once, something we are unable to do often with half the family being in New York. Everyone yelled with excitement “I knew it!” “And you thought you could wait!” “I would have been shocked if it was a boy!” Phone calls and emails followed up the next day – it was a lot of fun.
With the Onders we had to opportunity to tell everyone in person on Christmas Eve which we hosted for the first time this year. Although it was extremely hard keeping the news from them it was well worth it! Special props goes to Adrienne who knew we had found out but waited until xmas eve. I don’t think I would have been that patient.
Brooke had been expressing a great deal of interest in finding out the baby’s gender from the very beginning. Every time I would see her she would beg me to tell her! When I finally convinced her I didn’t know she would say things like “well, can you tell the doctor to call me?” haha. For this reason, we decided to wrap a big box up for her and Mckenna and fill it with treats, toys and a balloon which would pop up saying it if it was a boy or girl.
Of course, being an Onder, I had to mess with them a little. When Brooke opened the box two blue balloons popped out saying “I’m not a boy!” Nobody noticed the writing and started screaming – “OMG it’s a boy!!!!” Since no one was going to find out on their own I told them to look harder and the screaming and freaking out that happened when people realized was amazing! Cindy caught it all on video – I will try to get a copy up on the blog soon.
I hope the season has brought you all the same amount of joy it has us.
It was tight but we all fit!
Last Christmas/Hanukkah without our little girl!
It was a wild night - this is the best picture we could get! haha.
So lucky to have Kristy join us again this year - Hope this continues as our tradition (but with Jake next time!)
The onder girls
For me? Thank you Aunt Cindy!
Fay-Fay and MaryAnne - looking good!
Christmas day belly bump!
