I had a realization last Sunday while getting dressed to go to my baby girl's first Christmas program. Here it is: no matter how much she sang, no matter if she ran off the stage screaming, no matter how many correct arm motions she performed, I was going to be overwhelmingly proud of her. It hit me like a ton of bricks. My baby was about to get up in front of a crowd and perform. Wait, what!?!?! Big kids do those sort of things. Surely my baby is not that big.....surely not. But alas, she was big enough and she was capable of expanding my heart to five times it's normal size. It was swelling with pride by the time she had finished her five minute performance that day. The pride a parent has related to their child(ren) is almost too much to comprehend. So I'll quit trying to analyze it and just enjoy each Christmas program, dance recital, soccer game, basketball game, music concert and whatever else my BABY finds herself participating in. But enough of my crazy mommy talk...back to Sunday!!!!
We found out that morning that Hallie would be a part of the church children's music program. I immediately thought "oh man, I don't know what she is going to wear!" But that thought quickly passed and next I was thinking "oh my, how on earth is she going to sit still long enough" which ultimately led to me picturing her running around on stage flashing her panties and removing the cushions from the alter bench. The pride hadn't quite hit me yet, ya see. ;) Riley and I laughed all afternoon thinking about the possible outcomes. It was suddenly time to wake her up to get dressed for her big afternoon. Purple and red was what she chose. My little Red Hat Society baby.....
We dropped her off in her Sunday school room with Ms Kristi and Ms Janet to do some last minute practicing with her little friends.....
Ms. Kristi escorted her pal Hal into the sanctuary. The two were looking mighty adorable walking in together.....
Papa, Riley and I watched with much anticipation to see what Lil Red (and purple) had up her sleeve. I was so happy to see that she was calm and quiet as she sat with her hands in her lap scanning the audience....
In my eyes she couldn't have looked more precious seated up there next to her friends waiting patiently....
What happened next is what made my heart skip a few beats. Her scanning eyes finally laid eyes on me and she started pointing and hollering in a very excited voice "dat my momma!! dat my momma!!!!" A-dorable. No wait, insanely cute. No wait, overwhelmingly lovable. I'm not partial at all though. ;) She shouted that at least five times before the boy next to her told her to "ssh" to which she responded like a lady and put her hands back in her lap and faced forward all the while still beaming with happiness and shooting me some excited smiles. Then it was time to start singing. This is when the laughs and tears came. The ladies sitting in front of them helped them remember the hand motions which helped Hal quite a bit. But it was her freestyle moves that had the whole place giggling. During "Go Tell it on the Mountain" she did some pretty awesome "Rollin' on a River" stunts and her version of sleeping during "Away in a Manger" had me wondering if she was ever going to "wake up." She did some interesting pot-stirring motions and finished off the program with a rather enthusiastic arm thrust during "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."
"I think I'll just hang back here since I've already got my request in with the big guy."
Baby girl, I hope you know that I'll always be your biggest fan, your loudest clapper and your most enthusiastic cheerleader. Keep on shining!!!
P.S. I'm not ashamed to admit that I've watched each video from that afternoon at least thirty times this past week.
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