TO MY FIRSTBORN ERICA WHO CAME A LITTLE EARLIER THAN EXPECTED INTO MY UNPREPARED, KAOTIC ATTEMPTS OF LOOKING LIKE I KNEW WHAT I WAS DOING!

Erica, as my firstborn you were my eye-opener. You came about a month earlier than expected. When my water broke in bed that morning I didn't realize you wanted out, I just thought I had pee'd the bed. It never dawned on me until after your fast and furious delivery that I had missed one of the most blatent signs of going into labor! Hence, proof that my naivety and sheer lack of common sense in an emergency situation totally exposed me as the unprepared, ignorant co-creator I was! Thank goodness the other two creators in your life, your earthly father and your Heavenly Father, were around to edit and override my mothering journey so in the end, all you children survived relatively unscathed.

Motherhood was a difficult road for me because my second, third and even fourth born came so quickly after you. Somehow, in spite of the circumstances, you developed the ability to become special, unique and choice. You wandered from the path of who you wanted to be for a small season but never so far as to not know your way back. You came back with great fury establishing who you are, why you are here and where you want to go! You are much like the wonderful photographer you have become. You take pictures and develope the negatives into positive images that reflect eternal purpose. As a mother you are the greatest example in demonstrating that raising children is the most important picture you can frame. Many times I witness and learn things I should have done differently and with more emphasis from watching you raise your children and of course, your husband. I can gain closure to mistakes I made when I see your wisdom in avoiding those mistakes with your family. It gives me the ability to say, "I should have..." with resolve instead of hanging on to destructive guilt. Thank you for that gift. It is a joy to watch as you run full steam ahead, in fifty different directions, doing all that a mother does and discovering that exhaustion and exhilaration somehow magically can be morphed together to create a whole new attribute that shapes the next generation. You do good work! I love you very much! Mom