Happy birthday daddy!

Yesterday was Mark's birthday, and he informed me that he got the best birthday present ever. Was it the Red Sox hat and t-shirt that I gave him? Nope. Was it the strawberry double layer birthday cake that I labored over for hours? Nope. He told me his present was our little girl. He had been praying for the last few weeks that she could make it until his birthday... and here she is! If you would have asked us a few months ago if we thought that we would be sitting here today, we would have said no. After getting all of the horrible results back from our ultrasounds, we would not have thought it was possible that Adalyn would still be with us today. How dare we doubt our little girl?! How dare we doubt that she does not have her mommy and daddy's stubborn genes?! She is a fighter and a stubborn one at that. So, last night he got to enjoy a cake from his little girl. It is even decorated so terribly and it looks like she could have made it! 

Of course, there is no way I can give all of the credit to our genes and our little girl. We know that none of this would be possible without His glory and grace. Our little girl has been such a blessing, and we have enjoyed every single second of her presence in our lives. We would not be able to do this without God's intervention though. Even though I still get angry that Adalyn has been diagnosed with Trisomy 13, I am reminded every day how blessed we are to have her in our lives. This little angel was given to us for a reason, and we thank Him for that every day. 

The bigger my belly gets, the more people comment on it. Almost every time I come into contact with a stranger they ask me when I am due and if it is a boy or girl. They almost always tell me congratulations and talk about how excited that we must be. Yes, it is hard to participate in these conversations... it always breaks my heart to talk about her like everything is okay and pretend how excited we are for it. Of course I am not going to tell a perfect stranger the real story of what is going on. The reality is that I have been going about it all wrong though. Why shouldn't we be excited?! Why shouldn't we be so happy?! I will be 36 weeks on Thursday and our little girl is still kicking away. Mark and I feel it in our hearts that we are going to get at least a little bit of time with her. Right there is a reason to be excited! Even if we only get a few hours with our little girl we will be so happy. Why would that not be a reason to celebrate? I think this is what God has been trying to tell me when he puts these people in my life. He is reminding me all the time that we SHOULD be excited and happy.

So, whenever you are feeling down or depressed about something, just remember that you DO have something to celebrate. God has given each and every person so many blessings to be thankful for. Maybe it is something as simple as a sunny day or having good health. Whatever is getting you down in your life, just remember to step back and think about all the good things you have in it and rejoice!