Babies are little grandparent magnets. Ever since we had our Anastasia, my parents count down the days until the next time they get to see her. They, along with all three of my siblings and my sister’s boyfriend, all made the trek down from Iowa on Friday and part of Saturday. I’ve barely held my daughter since.
She loves the constant attention because, after all, she is my daughter. They all fight over who gets to hold her next, and they tell her how beautiful she is. I mean, I spend every day telling her how beautiful she is and holding her, but I guess after a few months you start to take things like her sweet cooing sounds and her love of cuddling for granted. It’s nice to have moments like these to be reminded of how amazing having a baby really is.
It also makes me wonder how things would be different if we hadn’t entered the military. Visits with her grandparents wouldn’t require a week of vacation time and a month or two of pinching pennies. We’d just pop over to their house or they’d pop over to ours. But if it were that convenient, maybe these moments with her would be less special than they are now. And right now, they’re definitely special.
And if we had never joined the military, I wouldn’t be eagerly awaiting summer for Anastasia’s first trip to the beach. And she wouldn’t spend every Sunday after church being passed around to her entourage of 40 fans. It may not be the life we thought we would give her, but I’m pretty proud of the life we’ve made for her so far. She has a family who loves her dearly and friends all over the nation. The girl will never want for love, that’s for sure.