In My Daughter's Eyes

This song says everything there is to say. I can't listen to this song without crying. For Maddy's 1st birthday party, I had her dad make a slideshow of her first year and this is one of the songs I used. If I can find the dvd of the slideshow and figure out how to put it on my blog I will put it on here. There is no way of explaining to someone who doesn't have kids just what a blessing kids are. I have always had a passion for kids and thought I knew for the most part what it would be like having my own, but I really had no clue. Before Maddy was even born she was teaching me things. I will never forget my "aha" moment about how the Lord loves me when I was 7 to 8 months pregnant with her. I was sitting on my bed thinking about her and I was thinking about how there was nothing she could do that would make me love her any less. I thought about all the trouble she could possibly get into and how I would handle it. I knew I would have to discipline her, but it wouldn't be out of hate. It was in that moment that I realized that that is how God feels about us. He loves us unconditionally and when we do mess up, He is there to correct us...out of love. When I realized that I just sat and cried and that moment right there made my relationship with the Lord a lot stronger. Maddy makes me better myself everyday. Just as the song says she keeps me going when I feel like giving up...I can't give up...I don't want to teach her to be a quiter. I can tell you there are many days that I feel so ready to give up, but I see her and know I have to keep fighting...I have to keep giving it my all. I want to be a good/positive influence on her and give her the tools she needs to live a happy and successful life. I want to give her the best...and that doesn't always mean in a financial way. Being financially stable is important I believe, but money doesn't buy happiness...it doesn't define who we are. I want to make sure I spend good quality time with her and make some amazing memories. Today when we went on a walk she turned herself kinda sideways in her stroller so she could me and she was just a talking, so I talked back to her and then started to play with her by barely touching her hand and then quickly pulling my hand away and she just thought that was the funniest thing. So we played that for a little bit and then she added a new twist to it by putting her head down as if she were hiding. I asked where Maddy was and she'd pop her head up and laugh and then want me to get her hand. I'm sure she won't remember that moment, but it's something that will be etched in my memory forever. Another memory I'll have forever is over the weekend I decided to be goofy and she was pushing her shopping cart she has and I'd run towards her and grab it and make it look like she hit me and then I'd run back a little bit and then come running right back towards her...she laughed sooo hard. I'm really not sure I've even heard her laugh as hard as she did that night and my heart was just grinning. There is nothing better then hearing your child laugh, especially when you are the reason why.