Dear Baby Girl

Dear Baby Girl,

You are going to come meet us soon, very soon, sometime in the next couple of days, and I cannot stop thinking about how our lives will be different from the moment you arrive. Actually, precious one, our lives changed the moment your mommy and daddy pulled your Uncle Chuck and I into a hotel room the night before our wedding and whispered the news that you were on your way. The joy I have felt since I heard you were arriving is unlike anything I’ve ever felt—and I hope that you will always know that there was never a day that you were not loved, cared for, and wanted by so many of us. Your Uncle Chuck and I were on our honeymoon when we heard you were going to be a little girl, and he can attest, I bounded all over the place shrieking “it’s a girl it’s a girl! We’re going to have a niece!!” I dragged him out the next day in the middle of our honeymoon to buy you a little pink sleeper, the one your mommy tells me you are going to wear home from the hospital. Yes, Baby Girl, you have been wanted, anticipated, hoped for, prayed for, and loved beyond anything you could ever imagine. Your Mommy and Daddy, your Grandma Gail and Grandpa Keith, your Auntie Hope and your Grandma Sue and Grandpa Vern have joined your Uncle Chuck and I in this waiting for and loving you. None of our lives will ever be the same because you have already slipped into them and grabbed hold of us—even if we have no idea what you look like or what your name is yet. It’s okay that we don’t know you yet, little one. We just know you belong to us. To all of us. To our family. And we love you because you are a part of us.

There is One, little girl, who does know you though. There is a song that I hope will follow you throughout your life, as it has mine. And it’s a song we sang at church tonight, appropriate for the week you are to join us. It’s a song that tells us that He knows our name. We’ve been calling you Zoe since we found out you were a little girl, because your Mommy and Daddy wanted to get to introduce you to us when you arrived. Zoe means “life,” and it’s a name your Uncle Chuck gave you. It’s pretty fitting. You, little one, are a gift of life to all of us. We don’t know your name. But Jesus does. He knows your name and has known your name since before time even began. He knows your every thought. He sees each tear that falls. And hears you when you call. He knows you baby girl, He knows the tears you are going to cry as you bump your head, skin your knees, have prom dates that don’t exactly go as planned, and as your Daddy walks you down the aisle the day you will get married. Those things seem like such a long way off, and they are, but those tears—the ones of joy and of pain—are already known and held in the palm of your Heavenly Father’s hands.

I will never stop loving you, Precious One. You are my baby sister’s baby girl. I love your Mommy passionately—she is the only sister I grew up with, the one who let me sleep in her bed when I had nightmares, who taught me how to climb on to the top of our swing set, who played dress up with me by the hour. Our favorite game though, was playing with our baby dolls. Your Great-Grandma made us a whole wardrobe for our cabbage patch dolls, and we played by the hour, convinced those babies were real, and were really in need of our love, our care. We practiced a lot to get ready for you! Your Mommy is going to be incredible, because she learned how to be a Mommy from your Grandma Sue, who was the best Mommy I could ever imagine. She taught your Mommy how to love, and now your Mommy is going to love you for the rest of her life. Your Grandma Sue taught your Mommy to read you stories, to give you popcicles when your throat hurts, to let you help make Christmas cookies even when that gets really messy! Your Mommy learned that sometimes a little snuggling time at the end of the day makes the whole day seem better. Your Mommy learned to say “I love you” every single night, and I know she will tell you that every time she tucks you into bed. I can’t wait to watch her be your Mommy, because she will be amazing, she learned from the absolute best.

Well, Baby Girl, it’s almost time for you to come join us; for you to push your way into the world, and forever into our hearts. Welcome to this world Little One, and welcome to our family—a family that is so much richer, so much more blessed because you have arrived. I love you, Precious Niece.

Love,

Your Aunt Sarah