There’s a lot of talk about babies going on in my world, what with our little “Lilli” due to arrive in just over a month. On the baby shower day when this picture was taken, the room was filled with women of all ages, family and friends, sharing their tips, labor strategies and birth stories as only women can do.

We’ve spent these past months talking about the development of our tiny girl, how much she weighs one week, how developed her lungs are the next. We’ve talked about when she can hear what’s happening outside the womb and marveled at her first in utero dance steps. But, as thrilling as it’s been to see each step of God’s plan for that baby unfold, it’s been beyond all I could imagine to watch His plan unfold in my daughter.

As Lilli grows and changes each week in preparation for birth, so does Emmie. Physically, to be sure; but her heart and mind are also being stretched beyond the confines of self to embrace another human being in a capacity she’s never experienced. Her every thought now includes the welfare of someone completely dependent upon her actions and decisions, and at the tiniest hint of a threat, her protective instincts mimic that of bear over cub. The narcissistic mindset of youth has fallen away to reveal an open and ever-expanding heart.

This Mother’s Day, I’m marveling that yet another facet of motherhood has been revealed to me. I guess it takes being a grandmother to really understand that during a pregnancy, we’re not just preparing to witness the birth of a baby. We’re also beholding the birth of a mom.

And it is a thing of wonder, indeed.