October 13th 2004

On this morning I woke up and had absolutely no idea what I was in store for. I never really pictured myself being a mom and I guess I never really planned on it happening the way it did. But God knew what he was doing. He knew that his plan was far better than what I was doing with my life before I found out that I was pregnant. In a matter of 9 months I found out that my life would be forever changed and I could no longer continue with such selfish, self destructive behavior. I married my husband after dating for a whole 7 months, the beginning was a little rough and we actually broke up several times. We started planning a wedding around 5 months, officially engaged by the 6th month, and married on the 7th. Did I ever plan it this way? No way. I would not change any of it. So on October 13, 2004 I go to St. Vincents to be enduced for labor. My blood pressure was high due to a pregnancy rash that I developed around week 34. It was horrid! Around 2:15 Pm they told me that I was not progressing as I should and they were doing a C-section. At 3:45, Mallory Claire Brannum came into this world at 7lbs 3 oz. I was In love with her instantly. We heard that sweet little cry for the first time and it lasted all but 1 second. They did their thing and wiped her and rubbed her and honestly, she did not make a sound. She stared at them the entire time and her eyes were so big and bright. My OB doctor actually called her bright eyes because every time she came in to my room to check on my, Mallory was staring around the room just taking it all in. She was the perfect baby. She hardly ever cried and was always so content. You could not disrupt her schedule. Even as a toddler, she never went through a bad stage. She would take naps on her own and was such a joy to be around. If anything, she was a little sensitive. She spoke in complete sentences when she was only 16 months old and was reading at 5-6 year old level at age 4. Commen sense comes very easy to her and she is great to get along with. She loves everyone, especially God and she is a wonderful big sister. I love this girl and can not believe that she is 8 years old. She is still as well behaved and content as ever. She also still has those big eyes and always absorbs everything. She really does not miss a thing. I am proud to be her mom. Mallory wanted to shop for her own clothes for her birthday. So we celebrated with a little birthday dinner with family and one of her friends on Friday night at Mizu (she loves Japenese food) and Saturday we had a mother daughter shopping day. We followed that up with a birthday party for a friend from church at the skating rink. And yes, I skated too. I felt like I was in middle school. LOL

She is getting so big and her hair is getting so long......Tear...