She gets it.

A few nights ago, just around bedtime, Libby passed by me in the living room and started her stomp up the stairs and made this comment, "Everybody was happy and had fun 'til I came to live here." Whoa. Come back here young lady! Where in the world did this come from???

Apparently she and Sam had been looking at photo albums earlier in the day. No big deal, right? Well... let me explain.

Okay, I'm going to confess something here. We have more photo albums of Sam than we do of Libby. Sam was an only child for 11 years. So yes, we do have like a gazillion pictures of him all printed out and neatly arranged and labeled in albums. Most of these were taken back in the days of 35 mm cameras, so I was diligent about getting my rolls of film developed. Fast forward to the age of digital cameras. I have taken hundreds of pictures of Libby and the rest of the family in the last 18 months since she's been home. BUT - most are still on the camera, memory card, or saved to flash drive or disk. I do have some printed off and I do have pictures displayed everywhere in our home of Libby. I have been very purposeful about framing and displaying pictures of Libby, even making sure I have equal numbers of her and Sam on display. BUT - I haven't taken the time to make photo albums. And I should have. I am going to. Like this weekend.

You see, Libby had spent an hour or so pouring over all these tangible reminders of a close, happy family. And Sam was reminiscing and I think she just got sad. She's expressed that it really bothers her that she doesn't have baby pictures of herself. Plus, you know what family pictures look like. We're all smiling and having fun. I had to pull up the pictures that I have taken recently of Lib and our family and show her that we're all smiling and having fun in those pictures too. Just like we are in the pictures with Sam.

Somehow our discussion (now it's like 11:30 pm) turned to television families. And we talked about how real family life is not like TV and the movies. We watch a lot of retro sitcoms like The Cosby Show, Full House, Leave it to Beaver, etc. And no, we are definitely not the Cleavers. Out of curiosity, I asked Lib what TV family does our family resemble or more specifically what TV mom am I like? Yes, it's a loaded question. She said, "Mmmmm, Caroline." Caroline Ingalls, from Little House on the Prairie. I'm liking this! Until, Libby said, with a mischievous grin, "Well not exactly, you're not that good a cooker." So true. But then, she said, "Really, you're like the mom on Home Alone." Oh? "Yeah, Kevin was mean and she punished him like you do..." Yep, I'm a firm, tough mom. "...and then she forgot about him..." Yep, my family jokes about my short term memory. "...but when she couldn't find him, she was goin' crazy and would do anything to get home to him 'cause she loves him so much." YES!! She gets it. She. Gets. It. When all is said and done, after the drama and when the tears have dried, I honestly think she knows. She knows in her heart the amazingly deep love I have for her. My daughter. My Libby.