Mazie is Seven

Today at 5:39pm Mazie became 7 years old. Here she is in the official Wright-Patt hospital photo taken when she was just two days old...
When I was pregnant with Mazie, I was told that when you have your baby (more importantly your first baby) you forget all the pain that went along with the labor and only remember the first site of your baby. I remember the pain. All.of.it. I won't lie. However, when I think back on this day 7 years ago, I remember Mazie's high pitched squealy cry the minute she was born and her little lips as she calmed down the very first time Jeremiah handed her to me in the delivery room. At that very moment, I knew I could do this parenting thing. I was quite skeptical up to that second but I was put at ease when she felt calm in my arms. I was a mom. And she was my baby. And now we have this beautiful, smart, sassy, big girl and I still think about that moment she made me feel like a mom for the first time.
Mazie has grown way too fast for me. I have enjoyed every minute of her since the day I found out I was pregnant with her. I'm just not sure how we got from this...

to this...
It pains my heart to see her this big. For the first several hours after her birth, I just looked at her in awe. I was so wrapped up in her baby-ness that I never thought that she would be 7 and smart and eventually some day married with her own new baby. Yes, it pains my heart to see her this big...
But at the same time, I am so very proud of who she has become. She has change my world in so many ways. And taught me how to parent. She has guided me through this journey we are on together.
I look into the future and wonder what she will be like as and adult. A mother, a doctor (like she has said on a number of occasions), with children. All maybes. But one this is for sure, whatever she decides to do with her future she will do it to her fullest potential because that is how Mazie is. And I love that. I love you, Mazie Moo. Forever and always.

Ok, now onto the festivities of the night. Tonight we had Mazie's favorite meal, spaghetti and meatballs, and some homemade wheat bread (Thanks, Rachel, the bread was so good!).
I know, Mazie is going to love me for that one some day! And then we took a break to open all her presents. She insisted on waiting until today to open any presents she received in the mail or from us. She didn't even open her presents from her party on Saturday (more on that party later). She is truly blessed to have so many people love her enough to remember her birthday. Thanks everyone. She got so many things. Earrings, accessories, lots of paint and paper and crafty things. She couldn't pick a favorite! She loved it all. She also insisted that tomorrow, whether it matches her outfit or not, she will wear this to school...
and when she saw who this package was from she immediately got a smile on her face and said, "Oh I wonder what the shoes look like this year"!

Don't let her face fool you, she put them on right away. And she can't wait until Friday's early release to try out some of the finger paint she got. Jamie was eyeing all that craft stuff too! Good thing we share in this house.

Then it was onto THE cake. I type THE because when I ask what kind she wants for her birthday she says, "Duh, strawberry, of course". The thing I'm wondering is: Does she like the cake because it is strawberry or because it is pink? I think I will never really know that answer.

Happy Birthday, Big Girl. You will always be my baby. We love you and are so very proud of you.