It takes a village.

Most of the time in the hustle and bustle that is life it is very easy to overlook or take for granted what you have never been without. You cannot miss what you never had, right? Well on the flipside it is easy to take for granted something that you are really used to.

I have a wonderful family. There are not a lot of us but what we lose in quantity we make up for in quality. I have a small amount of cousins and aunts and uncles so we all are really close and see each other quite often (well, before a couple of traitors move far away). The point is - it takes me having my own child and seeing how much everyone else loves her for me to appreciate just how lucky I am to be in the family I am. The reminder of it all puts of warm and fuzzy feeling in my belly.

This weekend my sister came to visit. She is over the moon in love with Sophia and loved spending a few uninterrupted days with her where she only had to share her with me and my husband. This was the second weekend in a row that she got to do this and by the time she left yesterday I realized that there was now a new bond between aunt and niece. Its adorable to see Sophia's face light up when my sister walked into a room.

My grandmother spent the last few weeks knitting a gorgeous dress for Sophia. GORGEOUS. Almost an exact replica, except for color, that she made for me when I was a child. Sophia will not be able to wear it until she is about 18 months old and it hit me - she is only 5 months old and she already has a family heirloom because that dress is one of a kind, handmade by the only great grandmother Sophia will ever know.

My uncle/Godfather spent the weekend painting a 16x20 portrait of my baby. Can we say humbling? I have not even taken the time to sit down and put her photo albums together and my uncle spent a good chunk of his free time painting her. Its beautiful.

Add the three grandparents (my mom, dad, and mother-in-law) into the mix and what you have is a village of people who love this baby from the top of her had to the tips of her tiny toes. All of whom will add so much to her life and enrich each day, month, and year she spends with them.

I am going to have to make sure she really realizes all of this one day - because right now you can tell our little princess takes all of this love and attention as her rightful due. She is already an attention hog, social butterfly, and a flirt to boot - Lord help us in the years to come!