November

I used to be indifferent to the month of November.  It was such a boring month, wedged in between my birthday and Christmas with absolutely nothing fun about it and what felt like 30 straight days of rain.  My feelings for November changed the minute my doctor gave me Sydney's due date, November 28th....suddenly November became the most significant month of the year to me!

I have been spending a lot of time over the past few days reflecting back two years ago to these few days leading up to Sydney's arrival.  Sydney was born exactly four weeks early, no one could have been more surprised than me!  Having always heard that first babies came late, I was convinced that I'd be sitting on my couch praying to go into labour well into December!  Little did I know that Halloween night two years ago would be the start of what was to become the best day of my life!

I started my mat leave from work three months before my official due date thinking that I would have a couple of months to get myself organized, shop for baby gear, get the nursery together and house in order so that I could spend the month of November with my feet up on the couch relaxing, enjoying my belly and waiting for Syd's arrival.  I literally had just bought diapers, wipes and bum cream on Halloween night, put them in her perfectly complete nursery and shut the door and sighed....everything was done....there was nothing more to do than sit and wait for her to come.  And come she did!  My water broke the very next day without any warning whatsoever and she was born a full month early on November 2, 2009!

So tomorrow I will celebrate my little early bird's arrival for the second year in a row and reflect back on how much my life as a Mom has defined who I am.  I wouldn't change it for the world!  I truly do love being a Mom to Sydney and feel so blessed to have her as my own!  She has taught me so much in two short years about myself, what really matters in life, how big and small the world really is, and the power of unconditional love.

For my first Mother's Day last year Paul bought me a very special present, this beautiful ring from Birks with a gorgeous Citrine stone in it, Sydney's birthstone.  It is something that I wear all the time and reminds me of this month, November, my girl's birthday month.  On Sydney's sixteenth birthday, I plan to pass the ring along to her as an heirloom and will share with her, probably for the millionth time, the story of her early arrival and how much she has enriched our lives ever since!

Welcome November!