a.k.a. M&M

Ten years ago this morning Emily Anne came screaming into this world. Hard for me to believe I have another daughter who has entered the world of double digits!

Emily is my middle daughter and special in so many ways. She was born a year after I miscarried another child. I remind myself of this fact often when struggling with her that while I am struggling I wouldn't have had her had I not lost the other child. Emily is so much like me.

Six weeks after Emily came into this world she almost left it. She had been crying in her crib and all of a sudden she stopped dead quiet. The sound left me bothered, hard to explain why the sound of your child not crying would bother me, but it did all the same. I ran into her room to find her laying there blue. Tears pouring down my face as I lifted her into my arms and then she started to scream again. Not a single word can I muster up to tell you what that did for my heart. For 6 months after Emily was put on an Apnia monitor to keep track of her sleep cycles. This allowed me to eventually fall asleep again while she slept, but it was a rough 6 months.

I can recall the visit to Children's Hospital with her six months later in vivid detail. The doctor looked at her square in the face and then sat down and said to me. Oh yeah, she's a fighter she doesn't need to be on this device any longer. Little did I know how acurate that doctor would be in describing my daughters personality so perfectly.

Emily is out there in your face defiant at times. I believe when dealing with a child like this you have to call yourself lucky. I know that doesn't seem to make sense but honestly you know exactly where she stands all the time. If she is happy, you know she is happy, if she is angry, you hear the anger, if she is selfish, you hear the results of her selfish acts. Nothing is hidden under the surface. Emily became my 'shining' example of so many topics I later did workshops for mothers on. Through the tears of my struggle as a young mother many learned through the battles I had with this little 2 and 3 year old girl. You always know whats up with her. I call this a blessing. Emily in my life is a blessing to me.

Emily was named after the two most influential women in my life when she was born. Emilie Barnes and Anne Marie Ezzo.