Letter #9

My sweet Molly Jane,

I'm watching you play tug of war with Buck right now. He has one end of your balloon and you have the other. You keep saying, "Mine" and laughing. I love listening to you laugh like this. You're so full of joy. I hope you realize one day how much happiness you bring into my life everyday. I know that there will come a day when you and I may not get along so well because I'm going to try to protect you from things that you aren't going to want to be protected from. We'll argue and have disagreements, but I promise you that my love for you will never ever go away. You are so special to me and I love you so very much. Thank you so much for being who you are. I couldn't have asked for a better baby. You're the best, baby girl.

I love you.

Love,
Mommy

Letter 8

Hi baby,

I'm sitting here in bed next to you. You're sleeping so peacefully. Daddy is at work making his last (we hope) flight in the military. It's nights like this that remind me of when it was just you and I here. It's lonely for me, but these days at least I know that Daddy will be coming home later to give you and me kisses and love. You're so special to me. Probably my best friend these days. You listen to me, talk to me, let me cry when I need to and you smile at exactly the right moments. I hope one day that you will feel like I'm your closest friend too. Today, you were sleeping on Daddy's lap and he said, "I'm going to miss this one day." I know I'm going to miss getting to cuddle with you and getting to hold you when you wake up one of these days, too. I hope that in 13 years, when you're too cool to cuddle with me... you will anyway because you know how special it is to me. I love you very much and I want you to know that you light up my life in ways that I never thought were possible. You're the best.

Love,
Mommy

Hello, angel...

My dearest Molly Jane,

We are at Lake Kabetogama this week. This is Daddy's most favorite place. It's beautiful here. You were running around playing yesterday when we got here. Now you're in bed cuddling with Daddy. We're going to take you fishing today. I can't wait to see your face when you catch your first fish. You were running around with your Barbie fishing pole yesterday, so I think you'll catch on quickly.

I love watching you explore and learn. You are always doing something new and exciting for us to watch! Everywhere we go people are just gaga over you. You're just the cutest thing they've ever seen. But Daddy and I already know that.

I love you so much, Molly Jane. I will always be here for you. No matter what. Thanks for bringing so much joy into our lives.

I'll write again soon, baby.

Love,

Mommy

What I love about you: Day 274

You always smile at me when I smile at you.

You growl. I have no idea where it came from, or why you picked it up, but it's so odd and I love that.

You are getting into everything now and I see the curiosity in your eyes. I love that curiousness.

You watch television like Daddy.

You have my James ears. (Sorry for that.)

The first person I ever saw you intentionally reach up for was Daddy.

You cuddle.

You reach for me in your sleep.

You love your books.

You are beautiful.

You started making "mama" and "dada" sounds. Okay... "dada" came first...

When you crawl, you push off with your left foot instead of using your knee causing you to have the most crooked, cutest crawl that I've ever seen.

You have the cutest profile. (I just looked over at you watching television and it melted my heart, so I had to add this one.)

You let me dress you up in the most mismatched clothing and you don't care.

You get little cold chills and they give you the shivers.

You melt my heart just by touching me with your tiny hand.