6 Months Old!

Our baby girl is 6 months old today! I can hardly believe it! Last night before I went to bed, I reminded Nick that 6 months ago we didn't know Stella yet...and it was just a few hours later that we got to meet her for the very first time!
Sometimes I try to look ahead at what the next 6 months should bring...the ability to walk (maybe), first words, eating on her own, getting into everything, learning, doing, trying, failing, succeeding...she will be a very different person from the one that we know now. These past few months have been amazing to say the very least. I am so thankful that I am a mom. I love watching her grow and change and learn. I am fascinated by the smallest things and am constantly wanting to know how I can do it even better...by "it" I mean parenting.
It is a great blessing to be a parent and a job that many often take too lightly. We have the ability to impact the world through our children. We can teach them to be giving and honest or to be liars and cheats. We can give them false hope (i.e. American Idol try-outs) or guide and mold their talents. We get to be coaches and friends, disciplinarians, teachers, cheerleaders, nurses (good thing I know how to do that pretty well), and bankers...whatever role we have to take on, we know we can not do it alone.
On Sunday morning we had Stella dedicated at our church. It is a brief ceremony that allows us as parents to stand up before our congregation, our community, with family and friends present to say that we are raising this child in a Christian home. We dedicated her life to God with the hope and prayer that she will someday on her own choose to follow Him too. The dedication allows us to look out at those people that we count on and ask them for their help. We need them to pray for us, we need them to coach us, to keep us accountable and to be role models in Stella's life. We are hopeful that not only the friends and family that were present on Sunday morning, but also those who know us and care about us will recognize our dedication and support us as we raise Stella in the best way that we know how.