Thirty Days of Thanksgiving - Day Three

So on Day three let me tell you about one of the most amazing blessings in my life. Her name is Ashlynn Ka-Bashlynn and she is my world. She is the quirkiest, sweetest, most generous person I know. She is a remarkable problem solver who can look at a situation and fix it in her brain. She spends her days making a better mouse trap ( it actually worked), reading books ( she can read entire books with some help), and doing math because " it's fun." I am so very very thankful that I get to spend my time with this child. She brightens up a room with her smile and chatter... and make my life infinitely better because she is in it. Ashlynn can talk like nobody's business... in fact as I am typing this she is showing me how by taking apart a toy she is making a duck call and wants to go outside to see if it works. THIS is the beauty of my Ashlynn child.
Ashlynn has this sense of style that has had me shaking my head since she was two and started to have opinions about what to wear. I have tried to foster that ability to offer and trust her opinion, so even when I thought that things were a little crazy I have let her go... this has turned out to sometimes mean that I have gone out into the word with a girl in dress and sneakers or a princess dress. And I love it that unique ability to put things together that cause a question mark in my head and wear them with PRIDE and ATTITUDE enough to make it all work.
Her goofiness knows no bounds. She is nutty and zany and fun. She is friendly to everyone she sees... and often a trip to a park will have her telling me about a new friend, because as she has told me " strangers are just an opportunity to make new friends." This has her telling me STILL about the girl that she met two years ago at Playland..... she remembers her to this day and has only met the girl once. She has waitresses that remember her and cashiers that ask after her if she isn't with me. She draws pictures for people she hardly knows and offers them to make a day brighter for them.
She has such a way of looking at things. And when she explains it all... it makes sense. A couple of weeks ago I was grumbling because our funds are limited and I didn't want to have to spend what little we had one something or another and my little girl looks up at me and says " But that is what money is for mommy, to spend. It doesn't have any other purpose." And well.... huh... yup she is right. And that way of looking at things has me marveling all the time. She is so close to the Spirit and in her innocence has answers in ways I have forgotten to look.
I was afraid after Aislynn and Aidan that I would never be able to have a child. So when I held Ashlynn for the first time I was sure that all my dreams had been answered.... I didn't realize that all my dreams had just STARTED. I had been so focused on having a baby... that I didn't know what to do once I had. But Ashlynn  showed me quickly that every day is a new adventure, one that she is excited to meet. She helps me to be excited. She helps me to see the newness of the day and to celebrate it. I love her more than earth and air... I don't know what I would do without her..... but if you have ever met her you know that my life would be a lot quieter without her.
Ashlynn ( which is the anglicized version of her sister Aislynn's name) means "Dream or Vision" and her middle name Aoibheann means " Radiant beauty" ... and so aptly fit for her.  A dream or vision of Radiant beauty.... yes yes I believe that is the most fitting name she could have received.