Amelia's 1st Birthday

To: Amelia
From: Mommy
What a journey this year has been. I must start by saying that, "In Life there is death, and in Death there is Life." The story of Amelia and my Grandmother Lemke are so beautifully and amazingly intertwined. I shared the secret of my pregnancy with my Grandma in her last days. We wanted a third child but Amelia was an early surprise. My Grandmother passed as I held her hand and I feel that some of her soul went into my unborn child, Amelia. Amelia was born Oct 2nd....14 days shy of my Grandmother's bday. (Her little friend Ava was born on my grandma's bday as well.) There are days that I feel Grandma comes to help me with Amelia. Amelia's little frown sometimes scares me b/c it looks as if I am staring into my grandmother's eyes. Amelia has grown this year.......she has hair that is curly!(poor Kendall was bald.) She is babbling and saying a few words like "ut oh". She is walking everywhere as well. As I look back over this past years blog entries you can see the times of stress, uncertainty and happiness. A song comes to mind that I loved to hear when I was in youth group. It is by Cindy Morgan, "How could I ask for More." I have attached the song as a tribute to the perspective that we have on Amelia and our life. We are thankful that Amelia is alive and well. Times have been rough but Thank you to God, our family, and our friends. My favorite part of the song "Simple truths will keep you going, Simple love will keep you strong b/c there are questions without answers and flames that never die, and heartaches we go through are often blessings in disguise." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1ODIFfo1KE