Light, Love, Hope

All I have been able to think about is this little miracle baby growing inside of my niece as I type this.  I literally live, breathe, and obsess over this BABY!!!!

My niece came over to my house when my oldest daughter was home, which seems to be a rare occurrence in and of itself lately since she works in Charleston now.  We have talked of wanting to do maternity pictures of my niece, but now it’s more of a documentation of the entire nine months between the blog here and the MANY pictures we’re taking of her!

Obsession … I am NOT kidding you!

The eyes of my niece lit up when she saw my daughter bringing out all of her professional photography equipment.  As we set up the background and the lights, her eyes widened and she started giggling with excitement.  My daughter positioned her, and she began with the photography session.  I sat there with the biggest smile on my face with each shot taken.  Then, my daughter told me to get in the picture with my niece.  Not wanting to take away any attention from her at all, I bowed out of the pictures initially.  When my daughter insisted again, my niece insisted this time also, so I gladly stood beside her where I did not have to contain my excitement any longer!

I felt like a giddy school girl at that moment, and I had to do something a little silly in the picture so I pointed to her baby bump.

Then my daughter insisted I touch my niece’s stomach.

Well, you normally don’t walk right up to someone on the street, or even your own family members for that matter, and just randomly start touching their stomach.  That is just frowned upon, but with a pregnant woman, people cannot keep their well-meaning hands off of their stomachs!  I didn’t want to be “that” person, so I refrained UNTIL my niece said, “Go ahead, Aunt Shirley … you KNOW you want to …”  SO I DID!!!!

I “held” the baby for the first time as we took pictures together!!!

And I skipped off down the hall afterwards with the biggest, goofiest grin on my face that stayed there the rest of the night and into the next morning!

*Since I was out of town this past weekend in Tennessee, I am going back to snag the prompt word from Friday.*

Moment

My pregnant niece invited me to accompany her to her OB/GYN appointment Wednesday afternoon.  Imagine my excitement when thinking of the ultrasound they were going to do that day!!

We shared a moment together.  Not just ANY moment.  The most special moment EVER when we saw the silhouette of her precious baby appear on the screen!!

~SQUEAL~

My niece was trying to contain her excitement, but when I started saying “Oh my gosh …” it was almost as if she found freedom to release what she was feeling also.  She followed with a much louder, “OH MY GOSH …” and lots of giggles … and at that moment, tears escaped from the outside corners of my eyes.

We saw and heard the baby’s heart beating, and we were wrapped in a blanket of joy beyond measure.

Three months pregnant … with already a perfect little nose that appeared on the screen … with what looks to be hair already!

Our thoughts ran wild about what the baby will look like … obviously it’ll have darker skin and black hair because we imagine the Mexican genes of her boyfriend will be strong.  That is okay, as long as the baby looks just like our side of the family.  ~grin~  No matter what, this baby is going to be beautiful and absolutely spoiled beyond belief!

A little baby!!

And a priceless moment shared with my niece!

This song struck a part deep within me, and I’m certain will resonate with so many, far and wide.

Tell Me You Love Me, by Demi Lovato, with the choir joining her in the video, stirs the soul.  We have a longing within us to be accepted, to be told we’re loved, especially on days when we’re struggling.

Tell me you love me …

Words so hard to speak as it leaves us so vulnerable when we’re standing there in front of someone wanting, needing to hear those words.  Will they say them back?  Better yet, will they make you FEEL it?

I shared this song with someone near and dear to my heart months ago.  They were visiting their mother’s grave on either the anniversary of her passing or her birthday, I can’t remember which, but those are what I refer to as “tender days.”  You NEED to feel love even more so on those days.

And the song played … and the tears fell like rain …

Tell someone you love them TODAY!