Another Last

9 years ago today under a full moon I became a mom for the last time. Originally I thought I might have another to keep her company at the tail end of our family but as soon as she was born, I knew she was the last one and our family was complete. We were all there for the moment of her arrival at 4am in the hospital. We were the only ones there and it was quiet and perfect.

9 years of Rhiannon. I like to say she is the angel that brought our family together to be her family. She was definitely a presence long before she was born. The first night that Dean moved in with us, he talked about a daughter he wanted to have and that he would name her Rhiannon. I had a sense of her playing violin. She cemented us a family. (I like to call this family picture the Drew as a serial killer series - I didn't have them printed but I bought the disk just for the hilarity factor)

I have loved getting to know her these last 9 years. Made all the more poignant as her older sisters have grown up and left home. Sometimes I feel like Emily in Our Town only I'm not dead, I am here and being reminded how precious this time is. I am so blessed to be more settled during this time of her childhood. She has taken me on a most wonderful journey.

This last year she has grown up so much. It has been fun to watch her confidence grow as she has mastered physical skills like swimming and skiing. She has firmly entered middle childhood and left young childhood behind. She's interesting; she's opinionated and she knows how she likes things.
I am so proud of her and so grateful for the experience of being her mother. She has brought so much joy into my life - my dear, sweet daughter.

So we have been celebrating. Her birthday has stretched over 3 days. She had a sleep over party with 2 close friends on Saturday night. Then her family birthday dinner on Sunday night and then tonight she got to celebrate with another friend whose birthday was yesterday. That's 3 birthday cakes!