Jenna

25 years ago, my fourth beautiful daughter was born. I was so happy to have another baby girl and so was Dennis. She was healthy with ten chubby little fingers and ten toes. I couldn't have been happier to have her here.
Jenna came into this world smiling. She smiled at the hospital and when I told the nurse, the nurse commented that it was probably just a gas bubble. So I showed the nurse that when I talked to her and touched her, she smiled. The nurse was amazed because Jenna did it over and over. She had the other nurses come in and see this newborn baby who would smile when her mama talked to her. There was no denying it. She was just so happy to be here. And she hasn't stopped smiling yet.
She was a happy baby and very content to be squished in between sisters and loved to death. She was named after my mother and I loved her name. We soon found that it fit her well. She is a lot like my mother and sometimes it takes my breath away when she says something and I know she is thinking just like her grandma would have thought. She likes the same things her grandma likes and dislikes the same things her grandma dislikes and she sees life through the same eyes as her grandma did. I love everything about Jenna, but the part of her that is my mother is especially sweet to me.
Jenna is the true middle child. She has three older sisters and three younger siblings. She is right smack in the middle. She is the peacemaker and the one who will go along with the flow. She is so easy going all the time and can even be a pushover. She will put up with all kinds of crap from people she cares about and forgive and move on. But every now and then she gets the wrong button pushed, or it goes too far, and then all *@!! breaks loose. That is rare enough that we can laugh about the few times she "wigged out" and did something random, totally unlike her, like throwing the remote at Alan and storming out:), and we say things like, "Remember when Jenna..." and we all laugh our heads off because it is so unlike her and yet so funny.
Jenna always got pushed down to the "little kids" category in the family and she fought that. She finally made her way out when "the little kids" all grew up. Now she is just one of the "sisters" as the boys call them and part of the mommy group.
She always has been and still is a "Daddy's Girl" and can get most anything she wants when she does her little whining, persuasive, "Daddeeee...." followed by a request. She calls him Daddy even when she isn't asking for something which would maybe sound a little childish with others, but not with Jenna. It just sounds sweet. Like her.
She is the most fun to watch movies with. She laughs when it is remotely funny, cries when it is remotely sad, covers her eyes when it is scary, and will quote lines if she has seen it before. During the movie. Just ahead of the actors. I love it!
I miss our "bonding" times when we watched Gilmore Girls religiously. I missed meetings and outings to be home to watch that with her. It was our time and it was sacred. And silly. We both laughed at the same things and quoted the same lines and loved the same parts. Every week for a couple of years we met, we even watched the reruns during the off season. We still get together to watch movies and shows together and now we talk all about NCIS like it is real. Just like Gilmore Girls, only she isn't there watching it with me. And I miss that.
I love reading her blogs, I love talking to her, I love being around her, I love going places with her or working on projects with her. I love her and everything about her.
I couldn't have asked for a better gift than the gift of her birth and her place in our family. She is the sunshine in my life and she brings me so much joy.