Capacity for Love

I know I have said it before, but when you have a baby all the cheesy stuff that people have told you about having a child...it is totally true! My world has forever changed and it is so much better and so much richer than it was before. Now do not get me wrong a year ago at this time I was unbelievably happy and loving every minute of my life, completly unaware that I was pregnant. I was loving married life with the most wonderful husband, we were enjoying our jobs, and we had just moved into our home that we adore. Life was good and I felt like the luckiest person ever...little did I know how much more full my life and heart could get.

When you become a parent, whether you planned for this new little life for years or were surprised by it, you trully learn your capacity for love. I am telling you...you really have NO idea how big your heart is or how much you can adore someone until you have a child. This is not to say that I love my wonderful husband, parents, sister and extended family any less, it is just a completly different feeling, and I think I might love them all a little bit more than I did before, after all I think my heart might have grown. (Imagine the Grinch on Christmas when he hears the Who's singing down in Whoville despite his evil Christmas stealing plot...only my heart did not start out that small)

I now have a completly different view of my parents, and Michaels parents. I cannot imagine how they all feel having grown children. I am just desperate to be involved in every single moment of Riley's life, having grown children married and living further away then down the hall must be an amazing experience (time will tell). And I know many of my friends have heard me sing the praises of my mother-in-law, she is incredibly supportive of Michael and I, but is always very good to make sure she is giving me enough room to be the wife to her precious son (Riley's amazing father). I just do not know that I am going to ever be able to do that for Riley's wife!

Another thing that I have learned about love, is the love of a grandparent. Riley's grandparents all ADORE him. They cannot get enough of him and are so good to help us out with him all of the time. And as they are all four first time grandparents they are also amazed to see how much of an attachment they have to their grandson. I adore(d) all of my grandparents, but I now have a new perspective of how they felt about me, if they were even half as excited as Riley's grandparents and greatgrandparents are about him.

I think that Riley is aware of how many people love and cherish him. He is such a happy little boy and he seems to love everyone he meets, so I think he feels treasured. I can tell you that love is an amazing gift and that everything we went through to get here would not have been as easy or amazing without the love and strength of our family. Riley's grandparents and aunts and uncles have been such an unbelievable support system that we could not have done without, our introduction into parenthood would have been a completely different experience without the love that surrounds us.

The love that we have felt does not only come from our family but from our many amazing friends. So thank you to all of our family and friends for helping Michale and I to be the very best parents that we can be. Your love and support has made such a difference in our lives and in Riley's. We are blessed beyond words and we thank you all for being a part of this time in our lives.