18-years-old

We interrupt this blog to focus on Caitlyn and the fact that she is now 18-years-old.

It is crazy that we have a child who is an adult!  We wanted to have a baby right away when we got married.  The year it took to get pregnant with Caitlyn felt like an eternity.  Every month was a let down and having two miscarriage's in that time was so hard.  I wanted to be a mom so bad.  We finally found out we were pregnant with Caitlyn in the summer of 2004.  I was so excited and didn't even mind throwing up every morning before work because I knew that meant that the pregnancy was going well.

We were so excited and couldn't wait to finally hold our baby.  I didn't want to have a C-section, but after the doctor tried to turn her (that was so painful) and she wouldn't budge, I made peace with it.  I just wanted to get her here safely.  The nice thing about a C-section is that you can schedule it.  I remember cleaning the house and getting everything ready the night before. 

Nothing can prepare you for the first time you see your child, there is nothing like it.  I remember Dr. Quinn pulling her out and showing her to me.  She was perfect.  She had a perfect shaped head and was a beautiful newborn! I wanted to hold her all the time and I didn't like to share her, but I did like to show her off. 

Caitlyn was a really good baby.  She usually only cried if she was hungry.  She did have a hard time napping and I would have to hold her, but I was okay with that.  It's so nice when you only have one child because you can hold the baby without worrying about taking care of anyone else.  Keith and I loved being parents.  We thought everything Caitlyn did was so cute and we took hours and hours of video of her.  Caitlyn walked early, she was walking by 10 months.  She also talked early.  Every first was so exciting. 

I remember worrying so much when I was pregnant with Jonah that I would never be able to love another child as much as I loved Caitlyn (spoiler alert, you can, you love all of your kids that much). Near the end of my pregnancy with Jonah, Caitlyn started getting into everything and running away from me and I started wondering if having two kids so close together was such a good idea.  She was a little jealous of Jonah, but also loved him and loved to hold him.  Caitlyn loved to be outside, we could go to a park or our back yard and she would be happy for hours. 

Caitlyn was a hilarious toddler.  She always said the funniest things and they were always so random. She always made us laugh.  She still does, she loves to make people laugh.  Caitlyn is so much fun to be around.  She makes everything fun and is so good at making everyone feel special.  She has always looked out for people who are struggling or get over looked.  She is very empathetic and hates to see anyone struggling.  She has always been wise beyond her years and very mature.  It's a beautiful thing and a hard thing. It's not easy to worry about people all the time. 

Caitlyn is self motivated.  She pushes herself and always wants to do her best.  She has always been on top of her school work and we don't ever have to remind her.  She isn't afraid of hard work.  She is a little too hard on herself, but I think she is getting better at that.   She has developed a great work ethic.  Her director at Chick-Fil-A told her that she is the best leader there and told her he is so impressed with how mature she is and how well she handles things.  She has learned a lot working there and she is excited that they just promoted her to be a training manager.  Her hard work and willingness to do whatever needs to be done has made her stand out. 

Caitlyn has a very strong Faith in Jesus Christ and she isn't afraid to share it.  She has always been a very spiritual person and a very deep thinker.  Caitlyn has started painting lately and has really enjoyed that.  I love her paintings, they are great.  Caitlyn likes to stay busy and catch up on sleep when she can.  She loves to spend time with friends and relationships are very important to her.  Caitlyn is so thoughtful, she is always sending someone a nice text or doing something for someone else.  Caitlyn is always quick to apologize and quick to forgive.  She is beautiful inside and out! We are so grateful to be Caitlyn's parents.  We are excited to see what this next year will bring.