I can't believe my baby girl is four. Seriously. I remember that day she was born...I went into the hospital around 9am to be induced (the doctor feared she was too big to deliver). The doctor greeted us and said, "Let's have a baby today! September first is a great birthday!" We agreed. I was excited and nervous. I called my mom and Liz to tell them we were being admitted (Liz had Eden). Things started a little slow, but once they got moving, they moved along and at 1:31pm Elly Lyn Grimes, a delightfully pudgy 7 and a half pounder came bellowing into the world. I remember her lips distinctly. She was perfect and beautiful to me. Dan and I cried tears of sorrow and joy, and we grieved the grandmother who had just gone home 6 weeks prior. Oh, how Dian Lyn would have loved Elly Lyn.
That day I felt terrific. This whole labor and delivery thing? Piece of cake :) (Ask me after I get home and get the post-epidural neck pain!). Dan and I hung out in the room with our snoozing newborn and Dan flipped on the T.V. News of Hurricane Katrina hitting the Gulf Coast had already been reported two days earlier, but since we were preparing for a baby we weren't watching much television. Now, I laid in my clean hospital bed cradling my new baby girl, crying at the footage CNN was streaming. A woman who looked to be about 9 months along stood in the aftermath. I remember thinking, "Why, Lord, am I here safe in this hospital, my child is healthy...why do some suffer while others can go on as if nothing happened?" It was so difficult to process the two things- the miracle of our new daughter with the tragic suffering that was being endured by the people of New Orleans. It just broke my heart. I can not separate the two events, even now.
Oh, my sweet Elly Lyn. You are so lovely. You are YOU one-hundred percent of the time. Even if that means throwing a fit in Sunday School. You are energetic, spirited, hilarious, and beautiful. Many, many people tell me you are gorgeous. I say, let them get to know you and you become even moreso! I love you, sweet daughter. No matter how tired I am at the end of the day from your stream of questions! You are precious to me and Daddy!
True to your name, you are Light and Beauty!
