A Well Loved Baby

I haven't posted in 2 weeks, mainly because our house has been knee deep in the Pepsi Refresh Project.

We are trying, no make that going to, win a grant for $50,000 for our work with abused and neglected children.  The group of parents at ATN are very dedicated.  We work hard to help families.  Every person "on staff" is a volunteer and every person is parenting at least one traumatized child.  We know what the parents deal with, because we ARE those parents!

Today, in some down time, while we waited on the results of all the coding and entering that we have been doing with the power vote caps, I took a drive to see a couple who had just had a beautiful little baby.

These are friends of ours, and true friends at that.  Just a few hours after giving birth, they were helping us to win this grant!

I held this little girl and didn't want to put her down.  Babies are actually my favorite age.  I know many people prefer older children that interact, but I love the feeling of a baby in my arms.  The pure innocence, the way they snuggle into you, the smell and feel... It makes me so incredibly happy.

When I left the hospital today, I realized that this beautiful girl is the opposite of what we are fighting for. She was born to two parents who love her and want her.  There was no need for an adoption plan.  Instead, conceiving a child was their plan.  She will go home to a beautiful nursery, surrounded by friends and family who welcome her arrival.  Her clothes are neatly folded and hung.  Her mother took great care of herself during the pregnancy, and will continue to do so while mothering this child.

She has a daddy who loves her completely.  He maintains that he will be a strong father, and he will, but I also know that this man will also become a softie with his little girl.  He will stand strong and protect her with everything in him.

Besides the grandparents and other family members, she will have a group of "aunties" who will watch over her, protect her, and of course, spoil her. I am honored to be in that group.

All of this is so different from  the beginning of the lives of both of my children, and the lives of so many of the children that we work with.  The families we work with  have children who have been abused, neglected, or even unwanted in the first place.  How different their lives would have been if they had parents who loved them from the very beginning.

So while our group works hard to help the children who didn't get this start, I celebrate this beautiful baby who WILL have a great life and a family who loves her.  Welcome to the world little one.