To my littlest girl.

The "letter to my baby" section of Austens baby book has been haunting me since I learned I was expecting. At first, I wanted to gather my thoughts. Then, as my pregnancy evolved I became intimidated by the idea of talking to this little person who I hoped would one day admire me and respect my every word. When she came, my heart was so swollen with love that it seemed I could no longer write anything, much less words that she may read in search of a summation of her mothers love.

Tonight, I went to see Liz because she was a little under the weather. We watched as our two babes "talked" and we talked about how it all goes so fast. I told her how I just want to memorize each moment (and you wonder why I tAke so many pictures). She told me I should write that down, in a poem or something. I thought about what she said and it occurred to me on the way home--if I don't write to her now, in the thick of all of these moments, I may not be able to put it into words later. The magnitude of being her mother is overwhelming, immensely rewarding and beyond my wildest dreams. So, tonight I will tuck this little poem in her baby book. I hope when she reAds it, she knows just how well I know her and who she was born to be.

Someday.
One day.
You will think I do not know you.
So I must,
I have to
Remember today.
Soggy cheerios betweeen amateur fingers.
Bare feet with bubble toes.
I cannot forget.
Your fearless spirit,
Your toothless grin
The wisps of hair on your velvet head.
I have counted
Those hairs,
These moments.
Someday.
One day.
You will no longer be my littlest girl.
So, I won't,
I will not
Forget today.
You are precisely who I knew you'd be.
Your joys,
Your gifts.
The angles of your face.
I have known it all.
All along.

I will remember today.
So you never forget.


Love, Mommy.