Things you really have to experience to appreciate

There are so many things people told me about having kids but until I experienced them myself I didn't fully understand or appreciate what they were telling me. These are the few so far...

Everyone always talked about the "miracle of childbirth". I never really believed it was a miracle because if nearly everyone does it then why would it be considered a miracle. But after experiencing nearly 10 months of being pregnant, really learning about how babies are made, and then going through labor I can now understand why it is called a "miracle". It really is an unbelievable experience and one that I think about almost every day. When I see pregnant ladies or see someone in labor on TV it brings up so many emotions. I definitly have quite a bit of pride for making it through pregnancy and labor and think all women who have done it should be very proud!.

The gift I have been getting recently from Keaton (besides lots of dirty diapers) is his smiles. Up to this point I have been kind of dissapointed with the lack of communication between us....Manny (the dog) and I communicate much better than me and my child. Manny knows "treat", "go potty", "dogpark", "helecopter" and is really good at having a pouty face when he wants attention. I didn't really think a smile would be that big of a deal but it really is and makes up for any lack of sleep, fussy moments or all those dirty diapers. And it is reassuring that you are doing something right and hopefully he's on track to becomming a happy little person! Here is Keaton's first smile I was able to capture on camera.

This second picture is the only picture of him smiling from his photo session a few weeks ago...I'd like to think he's smiling because he is holding a blanket his grandma make him (grandma Leah Morgan). She would have brought many smiles to his life as she did to mine!