Hatchimal, oh Hatchimal, how I loathe thee so.  I despise the countless hours I've spent seeking your face and your bug-eyed, furry stare. 
​    Hatchimal, oh Hatchimal, you incessantly taunt us with your ways.  Every hour we beseech thee to no avail, all while questioning the insanity of your existance and why we partake in thine madness.
​    Hatchimal, oh Hatchimal, I hesitate to recall such seething over your kind.  Not since the days of my youth, when slugfests inccured between shoppers over your ancestor...the Cabbage Patch Kid.
​    Yet here you are, Hatchimal, with your maniacal grin on every ad, nook and cranny reminding children everywhere how you must be had this Christmas morn.
​    Hatchimal, oh Hatchimal, I officially end this relentless quest.  No longer can I waste days or nights in search of you.  Your nonexistance has taken me to my knees and I declare defeat.  My only resolve is in knowing you wouldn't last a day in our house once the intrigue of your hatching is lost on thine youth.
​    And for that, I must bid you adieu, oh Hatchimal, you annoying, pesky, ball of fur.  Fair-the-well until next year, when I pass you by on the shelves as you sit with twenty of your friends at half price while I kick myself for devoting such an irreversible amount of energy into never finding you this Christmas. 
​    Yes, parting is such sweet sorrow, Hatchimal, however you and I were simply not meant to be, but in our saddened farewell, might I implore of you one final request? Please, give my kindest regards to your long lost cousin, the Nintendo.      

   Our daughter wasn't supposed to be here.  She was our fourth and final pregnancy within five years and the doctors began to worry it was too much on my heart.  They called it "Pregnancy Related Cardiomyopathy," and told me several times I had to terminate the pregnancy before it was too late.
   They weren't  exceptionally  thrilled when I refused. 
   The journey became one of specialists and cardiologists, until the day she was born, perfectly healthy for both of us.
   When the nurse placed our only bundle of pink in our arms however, I'd envisioned things very differently.  Painted fingernails and hair bows, figure skating and ballet...were altered once her three older brothers took over.  Growing up in a house of footballs and cleats, left little room for tea parties and baby dolls. 
  Don't get me wrong, I'm happy our seven year old daughter has a mean curve ball, thrilled even...but it wasn't until my  best friend from home called me out, reminding me how it wasn't fair Lauren Elizabeth had been to more football practices, baseball, basketball, etc. for her brothers -  while having nothing individually for herself.
  Then, the unicorn came along. 
   A friend from North Carolina with four boys messaged me with the information regarding a unicorn photo shoot.  At first I thought she was kidding, until she said if she had a girl, she'd do it in a heartbeat.
     A unicorn?  Yes.  A "real" live unicorn with a tea party and the whole nine yards.
   I didn't know how Lauren would take it, and was surprised at her blood curdling scream throughout the house. 
    "YES!!!  A UNICORN?!  YEEEEEES!!!"
    She didn't realize it was a photo shoot - she wouldn't have cared - and we didn't realize the grandness of it either.
     Hair, make-up, wardrobe...it was a day of pampering, even though she wouldn't wear so much as a stitch of lip gloss on her face.
    When the time arrived for us to meet, "Teapot" the unicorn, you'd have thought we ventured beyond the North Pole.  Her eyes widened and her mouth gaped, only to release a tiny squeal of excitement. 
    My husband's brows rose and even our boys' heads tilted to the side, wondering how they made it look so real. 
    "Unicorns aren't real, are they, mom?" One of them whispered, and I smiled back, "I don't know, Buddy.  That looks pretty real to me."
     Our daughter, the one who shoots basketball with her brothers in the driveway and jumps on top of every WWF wrestling pile in the living room, floated to a magical dream of fairies while we watched  the rest of  the world disappear. 
    The pictures didn't matter at that point.  As phenomenal as the photographer and staff were, we had more fun watching her  filled  with wonder and joy.  She loved petting the soft nose and talking to 'Teapot' as though she'd waited her whole life just to meet him.
     For days she went on and on about her time with a unicorn and I genuinely began to wonder when the phone call from school would come regarding her perseveration of delusional  unicorn tea parties.
   It's been weeks since that day, and the photographer let us know she had her shots ready.  
    Sitting in my office at work, a slight smile crossed my face with the memory of the day, but when I opened the pictures it quickly turned into something else.  
    I cried, no, I wept as I flipped through the photos.  I couldn't believe what the photographer had done or how she turned such a magical experience, into a literal keepsake.  She captured the wonder  of our daughter and somehow  relayed it into reality.   Her work  was the result of exactly how it felt during the encounter and I marveled at her expression.

     It was a gentle reminder that even though she wasn't supposed to be, God had different plans and His plans are perfect in every way. 
   I'm grateful for my friends back home in Ohio who often nudge us in the right direction, as well as for the girls in Carolina who introduce us to new adventures. 
    Whether we understand the process or journey we take in this thing called life, it's always nice to be reminded of the ones you love, cherishing both family and friends along the way. 
    And if by chance you sprinkle that life with magical days filled with unicorns every once in awhile, well, you can't ask for much better than that.
  THANK YOU to Valerie at Myrtle Beach Click-It Photography for the Outstanding Pictures!  You're a Real Life Fairy Godmother!  :)
You can contact Valerie and her company at 843.877.3033 and visit her website at: 
http://www.mbclickitphotography.com/unicorn-photoshoots.html
 Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/MyrtleBeachPhotographerPhotographyAddict/