My Sweet Little S,
I’m a couple of months late on this but I hope to write you a letter every year for your birthday to remind you what you mean to me (and your Daddy) and to remember all that God does in your life over that year.
Oh dear one, I don’t even know where to begin. I’m sure most of my letters will begin like this, with me staring at a blank page, because there just aren’t words to describe the way my heart treasures you...but here we go...
You bring your Daddy and me more joy then you will ever know! Your personality is sooo much fun. You are a lover of people - from your closest little friends to relatives to Mr. Elmer who lives across the street, even strangers! God has given you such a unique gifting to love everyone you come in contact with. You won’t let people pass you by without saying hello to them, even if that means shouting it over and over until they hear you across the street, and I absolutely love that about you! You brighten people’s day and make them feel so loved - generously giving hugs and wanting to “mmuh” everyone when we say goodbye. My prayer is that God would help us to nurture this gift He’s given you.
Some of your favorite things right now - walks (especially with both Momma and Daddy when Daddy holds you and runs. I’m thankful that your sweet Daddy has taught you that then you stop and wait for me and your Baby Sister in my belly to catch up. I love after 5 or 10 seconds of pure joy, running in Daddy’s arms, to hear you say, “Wait [for] Momma.”). You also love dancing (especially to the princess songs on your princess castle from Nana and Pop-Pop). You’re a big fan of parks, especially swings and slides. Eating ice is also a favorite - I chop it up for you in a baggie and you are in heaven:) It’s quirky but I think you inherited your love for ice from me, so I can’t blame you! You love jumping in your crib, I mean you get air, girl! You also love singing, so much so that sometimes if Daddy or I join in with you you’ll stop, wave your hand at us and say, “No thank you Daddy/Momma”...hilarious:) Some of your favorite songs are “Jesus Loves Me”, “Oh How I Love Jesus”, my song for you “Sweet Baby of Mine”, “Baa Baa Black Sheep”, and all of the interactive songs like “Itsy Bitsy Spider”, “Five Little Monkeys Swinging in a Tree”, “The Wheels on the Bus”, etc. Favorite foods are - avacado, tomatoes, pizza, “chicken and fies”, prunes (you beg me for them!), and any kind of berry.
I cannot WAIT for you to be a big sister! You adore babies, you cannot get enough of them! Anytime you see a baby your voice goes up and you talk to them in a sing-songy voice, tickling their toes or kissing the tops of their heads (since we’ve had to have a talk about how those are the only two places you can touch so we don’t spread germs:)). You love to comfort babies if they’re crying, saying, “Dat ok, Baby...it ok” and you take such good care of your baby dolls - rocking them, singing to them, feeding them, changing them and just loving on them. Your two favorites are “Baby Susu” and “Baby Sistuh” (both you affectionately named). I just can’t wait to see you with your real baby sister! You are two of the luckiest girls in the world to have each other!!
Lately, like most two year olds, we’ve been learning about sharing and using kind words. My heart was so warmed by a recent conversation we had about your Baby Sister coming and how when she comes she’ll be staying with us forever. You said, “I share [with] Baby Sistuh and kind woods!!”. We’ve been learning about apologizing to friends when we hurt them and asking for forgiveness. Every time you disobey and need to be disciplined we talk afterwards about who made you (God) and who does God want to help you to be like (Jesus). We talk about what you did, what Jesus would have done, and what you’ll do next time you’re in that situation. And then we pray together. Sometimes I can see the wheels turning and you amaze me with how much you understand, telling me about how Jesus wants to not just wash your feet (like He did the disciples), but He wants to clean your whole heart. Then of course there are the times where you’re ready to move on and pray, “Dear Loowd, Amen.” But recently you told me that you want to sit in Jesus’ lap and have Him read to you - I see such a love of your Heavenly Father growing in your little heart and I beg Him for more every night.
Putting you to bed at night is where I often see this the most. We sing a few songs and then I pray out loud for you. I pray that you will know Jesus from a young age and walk with Him all the days of your life, that you’d love telling others about Him, love spending time reading His Word every day, and that people would be drawn to you because of the way you love God and serve others. I pray for your friends, Raelyn, Lily, Kate, Nora, Natalie, Ainsley, Ezme, Ava, Baby Nora, and Baby Charlie - that they would know Him too and that you all would be an encouragement to one another. I pray the same for your cousins, Mae Mae, Rosie, Jacquelyn, Aidan, and Colin - that they’d know God and you’d all have sweet friendships because of that. I pray for Aidan and Colin’s siblings that they’d come home soon and safely - we can’t wait to meet them! I pray for you and your sister, that you’d be the best of friends, inseparable, that you’d be each other’s biggest cheerleaders and have sweet relationships with your Daddy - that he’d be the most important man in your life until God brings the right one along. I pray that as God knits your baby sister together in my womb that He’d create in her a personality that would compliment yours perfectly and vice versa. I pray for your future husbands - that they’d know Jesus from a young age and walk with Him all the days of their lives too; that their families would have wisdom to point them towards God and talk with them from a young age about purity; that God would protect you each from evil and help each of you choose to save yourselves for marriage and remain faithful all the days of your marriage; that He’d bless you with many children who love Him too and that our family would be one that would glorify Him generation after generation until Jesus comes back. Then I open my hands and agree with the Lord that these babies (you and your sister) are His, not mine to hold onto. I ask Him to have His way with you both, to glorify Himself in your lives and deaths. I love that you have initiated lifting your hands with me at this point and we talk about how we are giving everything we love to Jesus - it’s by far one of the sweetest moments of my day! Then we stand by your crib and sing Jesus Loves Me. I tell you that I love you and that Jesus loves you more than you can imagine and even if you’ve started getting sleepy and closed your eyes, you open them at that moment and say, “Yes!”, and then close them again:)
God has really begun working in your heart and drawing you to Himself and I couldn’t ask for a better gift than having a front-row seat to seeing this. God has used you to change your Daddy and I in many ways and we are so thankful. It’s as if He’s enlarged our hearts to love more than we thought was possible! Your Daddy’s face lights up in a way I’ve never seen before when he sees you - whether it’s after a long day of work or just after you wake up from your nap, it’s like he’s seeing you for the first time in years and he falls in love with you all over again. Goodness knows that I can’t get enough of you either. I’ve never experienced anything like this - you are a part of me. I remember saying goodbye to my Mom (your Nana) when your Daddy and I came home from our honeymoon and we were all packed up to drive from MD to OH to settle into our new life as husband and wife. As we hugged each other and cried she said, “I wish I could just absorb you into me.” I thought I understood what she felt then but now that I have you, I understand it on an entirely new level. I wish I could bottle up every moment with you - I’d never stop kissing your sweet face. My heart is constantly torn between watching you in amazement as you grow and learn new things and loving very minute of that and on the other hand never wanting anything to change!
I adore you, my Love! Being your Momma is one of the greatest privileges I’ve ever known!
Love,
Your Adoring Momma
