Every year Zach and I each write a letter to our children on their birthdays. I LOVE this tradition as I think it’s something they will enjoy reading someday. I think it’d be neat as a wedding gift to give them each a book filled with their letters from us 🙂 We’ll see if I remember!
I also go through and put all the pictures of us alone with that child from the past year together with the letter. I love looking back at pics of us with our babies and seeing how much we’ve changed in just a year!
Here is my first letter to Britt from last year!
My Sweet Britt:
I cannot believe you are TWO! In many ways time has gone by so quickly. I remember so vividly carrying you in my belly. You were SO active, even then! I loved feeling your little kicks and eagerly awaited the day I’d get to meet you. In other ways I look at you and think you must be much older than two. You have such a “big girl” look and you act way above your age. When I see you around other children your age you always stand out as the “older one!” You are above and beyond in all developmental areas…I cannot get over how well you speak and are able to communicate with us all of your thoughts and desires (and complaints too!).
This past year has been such a big one for you. First steps! A mouth filled with teeth! Weaning from nursing! So many exciting milestones. You little baby locks turned into long beautiful ones that I constantly envy! You wake up beautiful and I know you will be one of those girls who doesn’t need any makeup or hair products…you have such a natural beauty. Your personality has truly blossomed and you went from barely speaking to talking non-stop. We laugh constantly when you are around. Especially when you interrupt us to say “Talk about ME!”
I am very proud of the accomplishments you’ve made this past year. So many people told me that Kye was a fluke. That I was “lucky” and they’d say “just wait for the next one!” While you are a bit more spirited than your brother may have been, you have been a more true “Babywise Baby” from the start. You LOVE to sleep. Your bed is one of your favorite places and you’ll ask to go to sleep at naps and at nighttime. You also potty trained even earlier than Kye did! You truly are a BIG GIRL and I am excited for the things you will achieve in this coming year.
The year of being two is going to be a busy one for you. I know how excited you are about transitioning to the big girl bed. I also am hopeful that you will be able to be done with diapers at sleep time and be fully in big girl panties while sleeping! The biggest thing will be weaning you from your fingers. I KNEW when you were just a little baby that you’d be a tummy sleeper and a finger sucker. And boy was I right! As soon as we put you in your bed at night you flip right over on that tummy and have those two fingers in your mouth. I know people say that weaning from fingers will be much tougher than weaning from the paci was, but I know you will do amazing with it! You WANT to be a big girl and I am confident that the fingers will no longer be an issue by the time I write your three year old letter 😉
I also cannot wait to see you start school in the fall. It will be tough to let my little girl go but I know you will LOVE being in the classroom setting. You admire Kye so, so much and always want to do everything he does (constantly!) so I know you will enjoy having him there with you to guide you. I get teary eyed just picturing the two of you holding hands walking to your classes together. You have such a sweet bond and I know he will always protect you and look out for you and that you will always admire him and look up to him and that is precious to me!
I am VERY excited about our upcoming Disney trip!!! We talk about Disney every single day (multiple times!) and I KNOW you are going to feel the same magic we all do each time we visit. I’m so thankful your daddy loves it so much and that we are blessed to be able to give you and Kye this amazing experience. It truly is such a happy place and I know we will make magical memories there together!
The biggest change coming to our family this year will be the addition of a baby brother or sister for you. One of my favorite things to do is watch you with your baby dolls. You are such a good and loving mommy to your babies and I know that will translate into being an amazing older sister as well. I am trying to soak up our quality time together as much as I can before “Little Leo” arrives and I hope to make it as smooth as a transition as possible. While I’d love to see you have a sister (and share a bond I myself was never able to have) I know you are a girl who will do FINE with two brothers! You are so, so tough and so, so active. When I talk about your personality traits with others many times they will tell me that you share traits that toddler boys typically have!!! You are non-stop all the time! I often tell you that you are a “handful and a half” and it’s true. You keep me on my toes and are helping me not gain much weight so far this pregnancy!
When I look at you I think of your daddy in so many ways. We often joke that Kye’s personality is just like mine and yours is just like Zach’s. You have SUCH a sense of humor and love to be the center of attention and to keep people laughing. You are fearless and brave (and accident prone!) and you never run out of energy. You also never sit still. Just like your daddy you are always moving! I love that you share so many of Zach’s traits as I love your daddy more than anything in this world and I love seeing him reflected in our baby! I also love that you challenge me and help me to see things in a new way. Kye is so similar to me that I can easily relate to him and understand his perspective because he often shares my own. But I love that you think differently than I do and that you help broaden my views! I truly think this will give us such a wonderful relationship as you grow up. Just as your daddy and I complete each other in so many ways I know that you will be such an amazing friend to me once you are a grown-up!
I know I often see moms say their daughter is their best friend. While I adore you and love you with my entire heart, you are not my best friend. And you will not be my best friend until you are a grown woman (and possibly even not until you are a mother yourself!). I am your mom. I will always and forever be your mama. I’m here to guide you on your journey of life and help to keep you on the path of righteousness. My goal isn’t for you to think I’m “cool” or to like me. My goal is to get you to Heaven and to raise you to be a woman who leads others to Christ. I want the world for you Britt. I want you to be the best person you can be and I will do everything in my power to allow you to live up to your full potential! Even when those times come that we will clash and be frustrated with each other, I will ALWAYS have your best interest at heart and my intentions in all that I do will always be out of my unconditional love for you.
My relationship with my own mother is not what I wish it could be and when I first held you in my arms I knew I would make a different path for us. I promise you that our family unit is like a huge fortress. We will always protect each other and be there for each other. Your daddy and I will love you no matter what. Forever and ever and ever and ever there will never be a time that you will feel unloved or unwanted in this family. Our family could not be what it is without you! Each of us is critical to the rest of our family and we will always have each other! The world will hurt you, and I hate that I can’t always keep you in the safety of our home, but you will never know hurt within our walls.
I am so thankful the Lord blessed our family with you! You bring us so much joy. You are truly a light in this world. Everywhere we go smiles come across each face we pass. You are not only adorably cute but you are so funny and friendly and have the most precious little voice ever! I love to listen to you sing and hear the silly things you come up with. I’ve never met a child who has such a personality at such a young age. You are truly your own person and I admire that in you! You have also always had a love for God’s word. I joke that you are a “Bible collector” because you always have one (or three…) in your arms. I pray that as you grow you will always lean on His word as it is our guidebook for life. Mommy and Daddy will make mistakes (many!) but God’s word never falters and will never steer you wrong!
Thank you for all the amazing memories you have given me these past two years. I cannot wait to see what is in store in the coming year! I am so thankful to be your mommy and I am so proud of you and love watching you grow! You are truly my sunshine and I will love you forever! Happy Birthday Britt!
Love,
Mommy
My work has been featured on Love What Matters, Today Parenting and Babywise.Life. I'm also honored to be a member of the Babywise Friendly Blog Network.
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