To our baby girl AANVI,
Before you even entered the world, you were anticipated, loved, cherished, and wanted.
Now that we can hold you in our arms, those feelings have multiplied.
We look at you and fall deeper in love every time you rest your tiny head on us.
You are actually ours - our perfect gift from God — a precious life which He has trusted to our care.
We are celebrating each moment with a spirit of love & that is YOU.
We are lost in the sweetness of lullabies from the rocking legs at 2am to holding you in our arms.
How you drift to sleep as we walk around the house, talking with you so you learn to feel safe with our voice.
We are so excited to teach you wave and hug, to watch you open your eyes on every morning, to pull a stool up to the counter and eat chocolates together.
Right now you are so innocent and soft. You are our baby girl.
And before you start changing and growing before our very eyes, there are a few things Mumma wants you to know.
• I love your daddy with all my heart. He is kind and warm, fiercely loyal, and the most driven man you will probably ever meet. On the day you were born, he held my hand and amidst the pain and fear I was experiencing, he made me feel like both the most beautiful and strongest woman in the world. He makes me feel like that every day. He makes me laugh every day. He encourages me to be active and enjoy that piece of cake. We are a team and always will be.
• It is more important to us that you explore, challenge yourself, try new things, and give your best that you “succeed”. You must not let a fear of failure or of judgement ever stop you from trying. Audition for the solo. Volunteer to go first. Try out for the team. Life is full of adventures and surprises and bravery is what will allow you to experience them fully. Be brave, little one, for you are made to do great things.
• Great things are not always big. We hope to show you the power of a kind word or simple gesture. Boldness is admirable, but so is gentleness.
• People will continually tell you to be a lady, to smile, to behave. These are all good things, things we hope you will do often— but we also give you permission to cry, to fight with your fists, skip down the stores, tell jokes, and play in the mud. You are allowed to have emotions—they make us human. You do not have to hide them or fear them— in fact, we would prefer you to recognize them, come and talk to us about them. We have experienced every emotion in the life-book and want to help you through yours, too. It is okay to be heartbroken, angry, goofy, quiet, and strong willed. You are not obliged to any certain personality type simply because of your gender and others perception of it.
• You are beautiful. People told you this from the day you were born. But we hope as you grow, you see beauty as a rounded quality— not just superficial. You were born with purpose and uniqueness— crafted for perfection. So be your own kind of beautiful, our darling. Do not let the world tell you what that looks like. Have confidence, be healthy, be genuine, be kind— this is beauty.
• You never have to feel alone.
• Life is too short to give up chocolate.
• There is only a certain time in your life you can get away with wearing whatever you want anywhere you want— enjoy it.
• You will find more happiness and excitement outdoors than through any screen or toy.
• Music has healing powers.
• Our love is unconditional.
• Family is first and forever.
• God is for you, even when it does not feel like it.
• So are we.
We cannot wait to do life with you, sweet baby girl. We will not always get it right, but we promise to do our best.
With love,
Your Mom-Dad
