A Birthday Letter to My Girl

Dear M,

Twelve years ago today the Lord brought you into our lives.  Well, technically twelve years, forty weeks and four days earlier, but I digress.  We were so excited to find out two days before Christmas the previous year, that we were having a baby.  It made it even more special that we found out on Granny's birthday and she was the first person we told!  Even though she passed away just a week later, I know that it was special for your dad to be able to tell his Granny that he was going to be a Dad.

Well, time went by and you were due on August 18th, which was a Friday.  Your Dad was really hoping you weren't coming then because he had a softball tournament the next day.....sigh.  And well, you didn't.  By Monday I went to the doctor and he said, ok well enough's enough, let's have this baby and sent me to the hospital.   But, your Grammy and I are smart cookies and thought there was no way they would let me eat, so we stopped at Wendy's and had lunch before we grabbed our stuff from the house and headed to the hospital.

You took your dear sweet time getting here (who knew that would be an omen on how you would move in life dear girl ;).  They started inducing me at noon on Monday.  By 11 pm or so that night, still not too much was happening, so they broke my water.  In the middle of the night they were getting some concerns about you, so they kept a really good eye on your heart rate all night.

By the next morning things were still moving slow and they were threatening a c-section.  I think they shut off my epidural, but no one ever told me that.  They "said" it wore off, but I've never hear of such a thing, because within a half an hour I went from 4.5 to 9.

By 8:30 we were ready and well, it took a while.  At 10:30 on August 22, 2000 at BEAUTIFUL 8 lb. 14 oz. little red haired girl was born.  Family and friends were hanging out in the hall way.  I held onto your Dad for dear life.  His shirt was not the same all day....TRUTH!!!

That night when everyone was gone from visiting (boy, you had A TON of visitors) Daddy and I were just looking at you in your little crib thingy and saying look at how pretty she is.

Here we are 12 years later and I still think look at how pretty she is, but more than that, look at how pretty she is on the inside.  M, you are probably one of the kindest people in the world I know.  Not one of the kindest kids I know, kindest people I know.  You see someone who needs something and you just jump to help them.  You have a heart for people.  You are confident in yourself that you know what you want and it's ok that it's not the popular thing that what all the other kids are doing.  You hardly ever complain that your brother ends up with a bunch of attention because of his special needs.  You do chores and work around here without complaint.  You come home daily from school, go straight to your room and do your homework, without complaint.

Mom and Daddy are so proud of you M.  More and more everyday we see the young woman you are growing into.  If you continue to pray and read your Bible and allow God to speak to you and tell you His will for your life, you will continue to do great things in Him. 

We love you baby girl.  Booch, you are the best present I ever got.  Even though our personalities are polar opposites, Mama couldn't be more proud of a kid!!  I'm protective of you because I don't ever want to see that golden heart hurt.

We love you.  Happy 12th M!!!