Happy Birthday Aubrey!!

My sweet baby girl -

Today (September 6th) - you will be eleven years old at 9:38 p.m. I will never forget the night you were born. I had been in the hospital for awhile waiting for you to grow. I had laid at the hospital and thought about what you would be like, who would you act like, who would you look like, would you be just like Taylor or nothing like Taylor, etc.

When the doctor decided you needed to be born on the morning of September 6th, I had many mixed emotions. I was scared of what your health would be like because you were 8 weeks premature. To be honest, for me this day and a few days afterwards was the absolute worst time of my life. Not because of you. But because instead of you being born and me taking lots of pictures and holding you on my chest and watching you sleep in my room - you came out tiny and not breathing well. Instead of swaddling you and holding you - they were wheeling you in in a tiny incubator to the hospital across the street. Instead of me and daddy and the rest of your family having a great time in the hospital room that night and celebrating your birth - they were following you in the incubator to the NICU. I was left all alone so sad that you had been born early.

But we were so blessed and you got better. Your time in the NICU was a hard and scary time but it was also a wonderful time. It was a time when we saw God in the flesh. You were prayed for by many people. We witnessed the kindness of strangers first hand. Our friends, family, and church members came to see us and prayed for us.

So today we are going to celebrate your life. You have brought us so much joy I can't even begin to share half of it. I thank Jesus every single day for allowing me to be your mom and for blessing me with you. From the beginning of your life, you have been my "Masterpiece" from God. I am so blessed to spend the rest of my life loving you!