To My Baby Girl

 

Dear Eliza,

 

Wow.  I can not believe that an entire year has come and gone since the early morning hours when I finally got to hold your tiny, pink body in my arms.  An entire year since I endured hours of labor at home with your twenty-one month old big sister climbing on my back as I breathed through contractions and wished for your dad to get home from his school trip just a little bit sooner.  One year since I called your grandmas in a excited panic to tell them that you were not coming 18 days later like we had planned.  No, you were coming on your own time, and that time just happened to be 3 weeks early at 10:30 at night in a cold, bright operating room.  We were so very excited to welcome you to the world that day.

 

Since that day that suddenly seems so long ago, your personality has blossomed and you have certainly made your presence known in the world.  Just like your exciting entrance into our lives, the subsequent 12 months have been full of adventure.  RSV, falls from Bumbos and down stairs, choking scares, and each day finding some sort of new bump on your head have kept us on our toes.  I keep saying that it will be a miracle if we both make it to your second birthday.  But lets give it our best shot, shall we?

Everyone says you look and act just like your dad, and I must agree.  You are calm, silly, and almost seem a little disinterested at times.  I love your personality.  It is what makes you who you are, and I hope and pray that you are never afraid to be you.  We will always love you no matter what.

Eventually you will become a “middle child”.  Neither your dad or I know much about what that feels like, but rumor has it that it can be hard at times.  I hope you never feel forgotten.  You will always be an essential part of our family.  You are our Eliza Bug, our Boo Boo, and your sister’s best friend.  We all adore you today, tomorrow, and forever.  I hope I can do my part as your mother to always make you feel important, loved, and special.  Because you are all of those things to me.

Nearly three years ago, your big sister, Stella, made me a mother.  It created a special bond between the two of us that can’t be replicated and that will stay with us throughout our lives.  I worried that none of my other children could live up to that bond, that my love would never be stronger than it was for her.  I was thankfully so very wrong.  While your sister made me a mother, you helped me to fully embrace motherhood.  To accept it as my calling in life and to enjoy it in an entirely new way.  Being a mother to one was wonderful, but certainly a difficult adjustment.  Adding you to our family seemed effortless and you have brought me nothing but joy (okay, and maybe a little worry) since the very first moment you came to our home.  I feel that I am almost in mourning that you are now doing your best to leave your days of being my baby behind.  I know that I will continue to enjoy your sweet personality as you learn to walk, talk, and develop into a toddler and beyond, but I have loved getting to call you my baby girl.  The love I feel for you makes me confident that I will be able to love any brothers or sisters who are to come just as much.  I feel like you have filled parts of my soul that I did not know were empty and am certain that is what being a mother is all about.  You love and cherish each of your children more than words can often express, because they each play a part in helping to complete the person you were meant to be.

Thank you for joining us, making us smile, and moving us closer to being complete.  I love you, sweet girl!

Love, Mom