Today we have another celebration in our family. It's a wonderful and busy time of year. And it's a time that always stirs memories of past events and makes me wonder about the future.

Before my daughter arrived I had so many expectations of motherhood and dreams of what my baby's life would be like. Those dreams and expectations were a strong combination of the fairy tales I was told as a child, the movies I had seen growing up, and my own ideals of what a perfect family would be like. 

Thankfully, life has so much more for us than any story. Each celebration, each accomplishment, each struggle, and each heart-break color our lives in ways that make us closer, and stronger. This job called motherhood has turned out to be much harder than I could have ever imagined, and more wonderful, too. Even if I had known where we would be today, I could not have imagined all the events that have brought us to this place.

Some of the dreams and expectations I had are still there. Life hasn't altered them, at least not yet. I know that the older my daughter gets the more she will shape her future and that is how it should be. Hopefully, I have started her on a good path so that she can reach for her dreams and expectations in life. 

As I reminisce over old photos of when she was just a baby I see flashes of the young woman she is becoming. I see the same heart and the same smile as she wears today. And I'm thankful for this journey we're sharing. We might not be the perfect family from the fairy tales or those childhood movies, but as it turns out, we are the perfect family for us.