Grandparents

Whew. I have officially (at least for now) finished writing all of our thankyou notes! And it was QUITE a task, even with the six TJ wrote to lighten the load =).

     We went over to Brother Billy and Mrs. Mary Jacque's house yesterday, and got to talking about having little babies. Go figure. And Brother Billy just said the sweetest things about having a child. He almost started with a disclaimer, and said women were just made with a special part in their heart to have babies and know how to love them, and men don't have the same capacity to really understand like a momma does. He told T.J. that once we experience the birth of our daughter, he will never look at me the same way. "Theres just something about seeing your own flesh and blood, and holding her in your hands, knowing this woman's body just created her." Now maybe I'm paraphrasing his words a bit, but thats about exactly right if I do say so myself. My loud, audacious father-in-law was so gentle and sincere when he spoke those words to us and looked at his own wife, the mother of his very own three boys. It was enough to tear me up a bit. But as I thought about it, the more sense his words made. Not as if I am bragging about this baby I'm "making," because I know its the Lord giving her life inside my body, but the fact that this child is our flesh and blood. It reminds me of Genesis 2, when God says the man and his wife will become one. Now I'm not a bible scholar, and maybe it means one family, or something else entirely, but our perfect little daughter is just that. A small little miracle that mixes me and TJ to become one. One precious little beautiful girl, entirely individual and one of a kind, and OURS.
     Its tremendous to just think about the raw unconditional love we have for our daughter. I want only the best, only good things, for her all the days of her life. She's my baby after all! And I can only imagine what is must feel like to see your baby having a baby of their own... to be a grandparent. As I sat in my pregnant rocker at my shower Sunday, my own grandmother sat on my left and Madelyn's grandmother sat to my right. I just now realize it, but there we all were, 4 generations of women- a mother, and grandmother, and a great-grandmother. I can't imagine what it feels like to have your own child, or child's child, having their own. The JOY they must feel! (No pun intended, lol) I mean, they must know so much more than T.J. and I do. They've had the babies already, seen them grow, grown in love themselves, understood the pains, and they know. THEY JUST KNOW. Honestly, I have no idea what on earth is coming and how to deal with it or what to expect. But they have tasted the beauty and blessing of children and now their own flesh and blood is multiplied. Again (And if I have anything to do with it grandparents, there will be many more babies coming). Its really kindof a cool thought. And TJ and I are so blessed as a family to have great parents and great grandparents, all that are sweet and loving, and genuinely good-hearted people. Madelyn doesn't even have a clue of the blessings she is going to receive through the love of her grandparents.