I woke up crying this morning..........

 My daughter Nicole - who is my baby - turns 16 years old today, according to the calendar she's only 4.  I love the novelty of the Leap Year Baby! 

   Now, many may get tired of reading about my kids, but after having been told throughout my teenage years that I'd never have children I have to rave about them all the time. 

   I love all my children equally but, to me Nicole is going to be something special.  Technically, she wouldn't have been here if she truly wasn't meant for great things.  My husband and I had decided after my son Kyle was born that we were done having children.  Since his "procedure" was easier than mine, we decided to have him scheduled for a "snip."  2 days before he was scheduled to go in, he was shipped out for Desert Storm.  We had 2 hours to strip his uniforms of all identification and pack his bags.  They wouldn't say where he was going or when he would be home.  Typical nightmare for a military wife.  Especially with a 4 year old and 10 week old baby at home.

  After being gone for 10 months, he returned and evidently we weren't as careful as we should have been :) .  I had been having health issues while my husband was gone that led me to have to be scheduled for cryosurgery.  I had level 3-4 dysplasia on my cervix and the Dr. said 5 was full-blown cancer. They scheduled my surgery assuring me that I wasn't pregnant.  Well, I was!  Next was the terrifying realization that something wouldn't be right.  After months of worrying, Nicole was born at Warrensburg hospital on February 29, 1992. 

   Now, to me, all of this means Nicole is destined for great things;

• Dad was scheduled for the "procedure" and was shipped out.
• I had surgery that should've made it impossible for the embryo to hold on.
• Most of the children born to my husbands family are males
• My oldest son was in a car accident and the spot my daughter was sitting at was the only part of the passenger side of the car that wasn't damaged. 

So, with all the obstacles that she had to go through before she even got here, Nicole is definitely meant for great things!