Sunday, December 30, 2012

Happy Birthday Amanda Kay

It simply is not possible that 14 years have passed! 14 years ago today, Brooke's and my life we forever changed with the birth of our daughter, Amanda Kay. Thinking about these years we have had together as a family brings a whole new perspective to being my understanding of being blessed. I feel Brooke and I have truly experienced the favor of God in the gift of our daughter. I love her and am very proud of the youth lady she is becoming, of her love for others and of her tender heart towards the Lord.

When Brooke and I first got married, I told her I was not saying I didn't want children, but I did not want children right away. We talked about it and were both fine with waiting for a little while. I remember very specifically walking the dog one night, I guess about 15 years ago, at our last apartment and the thought hit me, "If I became a father, that would be OK with me." Something had changed in my heart, and I was ready. I don't know if Brooke had a "moment" like that, but I think she was always a little more open to the idea of kids than I was.

It wasn't too long after that we moved out of our apartment and into the house where we currently live. As we were unpacking, Brooke kept saying how tired she was. And as I painted, for some reason, the paint smell made her sick. And soon after that...we discovered Brooke was pregnant! As I thought about becoming a father, of course I would be a proud and thankful father with either a boy or a girl, but something about being a Daddy to a little girls really touched my heart. I don't know whether God gave me the desire of my heart or if He put that desire there in the first place, but we were blessed with a little girl and my life as Daddy began. It has been an incredible journey!

So this week, we celebrated 14 years with Amanda Kay. Today is her birthday, but since we were traveling back to Texas from Alabama today, we did a little celebrating several days this week.

On Thursday, we were at Academy and Amanda saw this camouflage comforter.  Amanda likes cammo (an understatement) and since she was in need of a new comforter, we picked it up for her birthday. She closed the bedroom door and turned on the fan Thursday night. This is how I found her Friday morning when I went to wake her up!

On Friday, Amanda opened her official birthday present that we brought with us from Texas. She also got some $$ from MaMa Brenda.

Friday night was dinner at Alfonso's. It was "Amanda's birthday meal" but the restaurant choice was strongly influenced by Brooke's "desire" (read as 'demand') to eat at Alfonso's while we were in Decatur. Note also the new cammo shirt, also picked up at Academy.

On the way home from Alabama today, we stopped by Geama & PaPa D's to pick up the dogs and Amanda got to celebrate once again. Geama added the 14th piece of Amanda's Precious Moments birthday collection and Amanda also got a gift card for Walgreens so she can buy the curling iron ("wand"??) she wanted. Also note the cammo rain boots...another impromptu birthday present while in Alabama.

Amanda Kay, I love you and I am so thankful to be your Daddy. You are a BLESSING to me and your momma!

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