Maggiesville

I love putting Maggie to bed for the night. She's so adorable when she's drifting from drowsiness into sleep, and she's so warm and serene in my arms.

During this ritual, tonight, I was thinking about the pregnancy and how funny it was to have people tell us how much we'll love our baby and how surprised we'll be at how much love we have. Obviously, this came true but it feels strange to define how I feel for Maggie as "love". That seems far too superficial and a bit too close to a Hallmark card (no offense to my mother-in-law!). That said, I really struggle to find the right words for how I feel. I guess, to start, I feel like she is a part of who I am. I feel like I carry her with me every moment of the day - even when I'm not actively thinking of her or I'm focusing on other things. To say I love her is such a small expression for how connected I believe we are. There's not a lot of mush and gush involved... it's more like a sense of belonging to one another that doesn't require hearts and teddy bears for it to be understood.

I guess that's a start? I'm curious to know how other parents might define it. I can't be the only one who finds the word "love" to be inadequate.

P.S. Her hair clips the day of this photo were a choking hazard. I know. I promise that I was watching them like a hawk. It's just that they're so darn cute, I couldn't resist.