Three Years Old

Monday was Amelia's third birthday. I have said it before but birthdays are a bitter-sweet thing for us. We are so amazed and in love with Amelia. She has been through and accomplished so much in her short life, she is my hero. Yet, is difficult not to think of what we lost in June 2007, all those hopes and dreams for our first born. We still have hope and we still dream, things are just different now...not the typical.

We celebrated with several smallish parties...Thursday in Valentine with my famliy. Friday in Ord with my family (yes, I have a lot of family). Sunday at church with our church family. Monday with a sweet friend, her grandparents and two amazing therapists at Madonna during therapy. Miles and I sang "Happy Birthday" about a million times and Amelia got lots of e-mails and phone calls too. Thanks to you all.

Party time in Valentine

Party time in Ord

She talks with her eyes...

Amelia bundled after a bath

The main question we get from little kids about Amelia is "why doesn't she talk"? To which Steve and I usually reply "look at her eyes, she talks with her eyes". Sometimes we elaborate sometimes we don't (sorry to all you parents who have to explain what we mean). My friend Tara has two daughters who are very interested in Amelia. They talk to her every Sunday and pray for her faithfully. A few Sundays ago Tara sent me the following...

...after we got out of church to the car, Olivia and Ava asked about how Amelia "talks with her eyes" like Steve had told them she did. We talked about how you can show emotion and "words" through your eyes without using any verbal words at all. So, a few minutes later I asked Liv (who is 3 1/2) a question and she didn't answer...I asked her again, and she replied "I'm talking with my eyes, mom. And I said 'yes'." So then they were both really excited to try it and communicate with just their eyes (and lots of blinking : )), I just thought it was so sweet, the way that they were wanting to relate to Amelia and in a tiny, small way, understand her and know her just a little bit better. : ) It certainly makes me excited to have Amelia as part of our church and ministry. She can speak to others like none of the rest of us can....

We are all settling into life in Lincoln. We have great friends here, so many people who love and care for us. Amelia is almost three and time has healed some of our pain. Amelia brings so much joy to our lives. She makes us slow down and learn how to listen to her talk with her eyes. Most don't take the time to hear it, but those who do are blessed beyond belief.