Why I Love Moriah

I love Moriah because she was the immediate blessing of my marital union with Jeramy. I heard that in Old Testament times, immediate conception was an indication that the marriage was ordained by God - like a rubber stamp of approval. She is the sign that our marriage was God-ordained and blessed.

During my pregnancy with her I was so worried about miscarrying because of similar stories people would tell me. I prayed so much that this child would come into the world. At our first ultrasound when I heard her heartbeat, I was filled with joy and excitement. I marveled at the new life that was growing inside me. For years I thought that it would *weird* me out (another person sharing my same body), but weird was definitely not one of the emotions swirling around my head - it was more like nausea. I was excited to have ultrasounds and to hear the heart beating at all my doctors visits. When I felt her moving for the first time, awe struck me again. Wow. Later it became more like somersaults, which was just a preview of what was to come. :-)

I had a mental image of what our child would look like. We wanted to be surprised about the gender of our child, but I knew that he or she would have a medium brown complexion, strong, curly, oily, beautifully perfect black hair, and brown eyes, . When Moriah was born, that's exactly how she looked. From the beginning she met all of my expectations - beautiful. Moriah takes great photos. I love it when all the tangles are out of her hair and the curls lock up nicely. I love to see her in pretty dresses.

I love that Moriah was very easily trained to sleep through the night early on. From about 10 or 12 weeks old she would consistently sleep 7 to 8 hours a night with regular recurring naps during the day. Her nighttime sleeping continued to increase and now she sleeps about 11 to 12 hours a night with a 2.5 to 3 hour nap during the day. Yes, that is VERY much a blessing!

Moriah's physical development has always been great. She is physically strong, bright, intelligent, and interested in helping. She cleans up her toys and picks up food from the floor. She starts and unloads the dishwasher. She loves music and has never really been bothered when I need to practice with her present. She has never rejected going to other people for temporary care and behaves well for others. She feeds herself. She goes safely up and down the staircase. She wants to be independent and clothe and bathe herself. She willingly shares her toys with others.

I love to hear her laugh. I love to see her run with excitement. (She kind of waddle-runs, swinging her arms back and forth, yelling "hey!" as she goes. It's really funny.) I like to see her dance and jump around on the sofa. I like to see her pretend and talk toddler language to her toys. I am very glad to know what she is saying, when she speaks english. I love it when she is excited that I've come home or when she first sees me after waking up. I love to see her smile and happy. She is affectionate to the family and she is gentle with her baby sister. I love it when she says, "Mommy." I like to read to her while she sits in my lap.

She is getting increasingly more comfortable with the potty and is holding her bladder longer! I love that I don't have to change so many of her diapers. :-) And I love it when she listens and obeys.

In the future, my joy will be increased because I will be more sanctified as she mirrors myself back to me. Indeed I would not be who I am now if she were not here.