I've decided that I'm going to do a favorite photo on every Friday. I have oodles and oodles of pictures, and I love looking back on the memories and the stories that go along with it. So, without further ado.... my first favorite photo Friday.
To me, this picture is so special. I know that it seems like a random little picture, nothing to special about it. What this picture says to me, is me starting my journey into Mommyhood. How it felt. How much I knew that I loved my baby Natalie. My heart never knew that I could love someone just like I loved her. How I was only 17 years old, just a baby myself when I became a mother. It was scary. It was wonderful. I was realizing that I could be a good mom, and that I wouldn't be a typical statistic.
This picture was taken in 2001, when Natalie was 6 months old. I had just gotten finished feeding her. I didn't have a camera at the time, and I wanted to snap a few photos of my baby Natalie on my (ex) husband's web cam. So, I started snapping some random shots. As a baby she absolutely adored the camera. She would smile and start laughing. Right when I decided to stop taking pictures, I decided to take one of her and I, as I didn't have very many of the two of us together. And I loved this one. Its Mother and Daughter. A special and wonderful thing to have. Its only one of the very few photos that I have of Natalie and I together when she was just a baby.
Its hard to believe that was taken 9 years ago! She has grown so much since then, and I can't wait to see what kind of woman she is going to become. Now she is quite independent, and is figuring herself out. I have so many memories of my sweet little Natalie, and just how special of a girl she is. I was very young when I had her, but I knew she was meant to be in my life at that time. In many ways, she saved me. That first year of her life did go in a blur, but I can remember this exact moment. How content I was with being a Mommy. And I wouldn't trade it for anything.
