Schnuckie4 is turning 5

My goodness, Birthday Season is in full swing. Another celebration this special day, March 11.2009. Five years ago the doctor announced "Its a girl" and I opened my arms, grabbing this bundle of baby, and quickly assessed the situation for myself (yes, I has been told to expect a girl but after two boys, I wasn't gonna believe anything until I could check things out) yup, sure enough here she was, a round and cheeky, sweet little girl. (It actually took me quite awhile to not change a diaper with a sense of alarm that something was missing). She was so roly-poly and squishy chub that we took to calling her 'Nanuck Schnuck' and would comment on how much she resembled the baby in the movie Ice Age.



Somehow my husband (or maybe my mom, or some stranger that has decided to wander into my hospital room, as I have no recall of any of them) always takes a picture of me in those minutes right after I have had a baby. He snaps a picture of me in a moment that is almost uncapturable (is that a word?). These are my favorite pictures of me holding my kids, I swear I have four identical pictures of me holding a baby in my arms ( I can tell who it is but most can't), I have a look that I have never been able to duplicate (well, that's not true as I have four of them, but you know what I mean) I am beaming and proud and happy and content, I am full of love, and might I even say, (despite the dried sweat and messy hair and exhaustion), I look absolutely radiant and beautiful.

And so I had a girl, and a whole new kind of different. She has proven to be quite the challenge in areas that I did not know were suppose to be a challenge. She has forced me to stop and deal with imagined crisis everyday with patience and love (OK, I never claimed I was successful at that all the time). She is the most mentally difficult child I have yet I wouldn't trade one single strand of hair on her head for another. She is a 'mini-me' in many ways and I like to claim we have started early on the long complicated affair that is the mother-daughter relationship. She can be sweet and sunny, compassionate and loving. Yet, I frequently claim that I would never have another child for fear of getting another girl, as I feel I am not the best suited to the drama that they bring, (I wonder who is?). However, I thank God frequently that he blessed me with a daughter. She is the balance the boys need and I love her desperately. My sweet little girl has turned FIVE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY SWEET SCHNUCKIE-PIE