Ashley Needles

 Your father and I weren't expecting you. You were the life change neither of us planned on. The best things in life sometimes happen that way.  My sweet child, let life surprise you and be glad for all the twists and bends and all the things that don't turn out exactly the way you plan. Predictable is boring. As your mother, I want to give you everything. I want to be the perfect mom you deserve. Unfortunately my little one, I am still very human. I'm going to make mistakes and mess up, but I will always do my best. In life that's all anyone can do.  I hope you allow yourself the gift of failure. Failure is the stepping stone to success. Celebrate your failures. Without failure, life would be boring. The most difficult circumstances are the most interesting.  Those who endure difficulty with passionate perseverence are the most fascinating villains, heroes, and people. If you can be positive during difficulties you're already on your way to overcoming any problem....

Being pregnant, I've noticed something, everyone and I mean everyone tells my partner what to do for me. "Rub her feet," "Rub her back," "Make her take it easy," etc. and while I have to say I'm a huge fan of massages and putting my feet up, and all this advice is well intentioned, people don't know my partner.  Res tries to give me massages but ninety nine percent of the time his hands are cut up from being a mechanic, electrician, plumber and more. He works himself to the bone in bitter cold and blistering heat and when people tell him all the things they think he should be doing for me, that he just can't, he feels like crap.  He is doing more than one person should ever have to do. To me, he is a super hero without the tacky cape. Today he worked on his sister's car, his grandfather's van, and a truck to sell for some extra cash to feed and cloth our baby, then he did a mountain of dishes by hand.  While I've cooked a few th...