Dear Mac

Dear Mac,

You are so silly!  Mama adores you.  You are sassy, smart, and so special!  You are squishy.  You wake up every morning (at 5:30 by the way), and come to my side of the bed and SNUGGLE.  You wrap your arms around my neck and like to have our faces touching.  You tell me "Hey mama, your boodiful." And "Mama, I wuv you." You tell daddy, "Hey dada, I wuv you," and, "You're awesome."  You like to shake your booty, and you make the funniest faces.   You love your brothers.  You can play hours on end BY YOURSELF.  You love to line all your toys up.  You are quiet, until you're away from your bros, and then you HAVE TURBO TONSILS. You move like a football player.  Honey, I love you so much.  You bless my heart. Your sweet heart is already evident.  You are so much fun.  

I love you my littlest.

Mama

Kinderdays

Marshy,

I am so proud of you son. You are smart, talented, compassionate, competative, thoughtful, and funny. Tonight was such a gift. I'm thankful beyond words. I believe in you and your dreams.  You're going to do great things.  I can tell.  

These pictures will be looked back on someday - and I know already - we'll wonder where the time went.  So today - in this fleeting moment, I treasure you.  Your face, your hands, your heart. You are so special to me.  I love you.

Letter to Mason

 

Hey Cutie.  My Mason.

 

You are BEAUTIFUL.  Inside and out.  I love when you snuggle up and wrap your skinny legs around me.  You are very articulate.  Most recently you told me "Mom! I fell.  I fell right on my eczema!"  You are quick to make things right.  You are willing to say sorry, without being prompted.  You run fast.  Today you got a citizenship award at school.  You care about others, and you're a good friend.  I'm so proud of you.

 

Always remember two things, ok?  First?  You are my greatest gift.  Second, no matter what you face in this life - the good, the bad, and the ugly. "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever." Ps 136:1

You always be my peanut.  My sweet middle-ist  I love you baby.

Mama

Letter to Mac

Dear Macky-

Hi buddy.  You are amazingly amazing.  You crack me up.  I love that you are, and always will be, my baby.  You are not one for words... but you definitely get your point across to us.  You love to snuggle, my favorite is when you come in and snuggle me in the mornings.  You are an early riser.  You LOVE cars.  Cars of all shapes and sizes.  Cars on movies.  Cars on the road.  You make the funniest faces, and keep everyone laughing.  I love kissing your chubbiest of cheeks. 

You love the men in your life very much.  You would rather sit on daddy or papa's lap ANY DAY.  You run and laugh, and chase your brothers.

Buddy, I'm writing you this because I want you to know two things.  First, you are my greatest gift.  Second, I want to remind you of something else. No matter what you face in this life - the good, the bad, and the ugly. "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever." Ps 136:1

Sweat pea, I can't tell you enough how much I love you.

Your Mama

I never knew! And a letter to Marsh

Today Marshal rode his bike.  A big-boy bike without any training wheels.  I've nevery really appreciated the significance of this event when heard about from other parents ... "Riding a bike? Big deal."  Um.  Uh.  Yeah, big deal.  Some how it shot him out of the little boy stage, right into college.  Ok, maybe not that bad.  But man, is he grown up!  I'm so proud of you Marshy!



Marsh - I want you to know something.  Something IMPORTANT.  I love you buddy, so much.  I see so many amazing qualities in you already.  You are kind.  Kindness is mommies favorite attribute, I'm so thankful you're so good at it.  You think a lot about others, and don't like them to be unhappy or hurting.  I'm sure God put that in you for his purposes.  You are also very competitive.  Haha.  You love to play hard and win.  Mommy and daddy feel the same way.

I want to remind you of something else.  No matter what you face in this life - the good, the bad, and the ugly.  "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!  His faithful love endures forever."  Ps 136:1

The secret to life.  I love you.  You are my greatest gift. 

Mama

Letter to Mac

Dear McKale, Mac, Macky, Macaroni, Mac and Cheese - 

Hey baby.  I love you so much.  We just celebrated your first birthday.  You are AMAZING.  I am so very proud of you.  You are FUN.  You make faces.  You talk.  You nuzzle tight into my neck - usually the left side.  You are eating all kinds of foods.  You are starting to drink milk.  You like to give drooly kisses.  You like to kiss yourself in the mirror.  You like playing with your brothers.  You're different than your brothers in that you can entertain yourself - for a really long time.  You crawl like a bullet to any open toilet and start splashing in it.  You are SWEET.  You love men - Dada, Uncles, Tell, Greg... you'd rather be with them than ladies any day.  You're a great nurser, and this of course makes me so happy. 

Thank you for being my baby.  You'll always be my baby, you know.  I can see in you gifts already.  You have a joy in you, and you bring joy to others.  You are smart.  Determined.  You are called by God to do great things.  Whatever it is you do in your life, I'll always be your number one fan.  Honor God in everything you do okay?  He won't EVER let you down.  You can trust Him in ALL things, no matter what those things look like to you or me.  

I love you baby.

Mama

Dear Mac - Our First of Many Love Letters

Dear Mac -
You have captured my heart.  I mean it, you are sweet.  You have this BIG grin and belly laugh.  You have finally become a good sleeper now that your allergies or cold are getting better, unfortunately you've been congested much of your little life.  You'd never know it with how good-natured you are are.  You are REALLY cute.  As you've hit your two month mark you're developing quite a fun personality. You coo and giggle, and can track us with your gaze.  Very smart if you ask me. 

You are a great nurser, which of course I love.  At your last appointment you weighed 13 lbs! Your belly shows it!  I'm so thankful you are part of our family.  I want you to know I love you deeply.  I've loved you from the moment I knew you were growing in my tummy.  You are special, I can tell already.  I believe in you.  Please know that no matter WHAT happens in life I will always love you, and you have a very special place in our home and in my heart. 

I love you my Macaroon,
Mama

First Day of Preschool

Oh Marshy Jay.  You steal my heart in so many ways.

You started preschool this week.  And you LOVE it.  My emotions are split in half.  I'm proud of you, you're so grown up - and SWEET.  But at the same time I'm realizing we are entering a season of school-age.  No longer are you my baby, or even my toddler.  I'm determined not to mourn the change, because after all, you are destined to grow and thrive... that's the way it works.  But, for a few small moments - laying in my bed the night before your first day; my quick walk to the car after leaving you in your classroom; and this blog post - I'll relish a bit of a broken heart with misty eyes. 

You are tender-hearted, fun, and full of love.  You are smart, and I can't wait to see you learn and grow.  

I love you.  Muchly.  

(Miss Gresham is your teacher - and you the only boy in a class of all girls... you are in HEAVEN!)

A Letter to my Marshal on Your 3rd Birthday

Dear Sweet Marshal Boy -  

Happy third birthday!    I am so proud to be your mama.  You know, when I was pregnant with you I loved you from the second I knew you were in my tummy.  I thought I could never love you more than that precious, miraculous time we had together. But now, I can tell I was wrong.  I think I've loved you more and more each day I've known you.  You are truly amazing.  You are so obedient (thank you for that).  You have a tender and friendly heart.  You make friends everywhere you go.  You are REALLY smart.  You know all kinds of stuff: your ABCs, songs, the days of the week, people's names... and  you have this uncanny ability to know where were are while we're driving (even places you've only been once).  You love to read your Bible and pray.  You are compassionate.  You are sensitive.  You love your family.  You are so special.  Exceptional.

My prayer is that you fulfill the destiny God has for your life.  I pray for your preserved innocence and purity.  I pray that you will continue to trust and love and befriend.  I pray that you would have a deeply rooted love for Jesus; one that's your own.  Be a servant, put others first. 

You've taught me so much about life, God, calling, purpose, seasons, and family.  I love you.  Thank you for being you.  I look forward to seeing the story of your life.  Thank you for being my boy, you make life exciting.  You bring me joy.  I'm so proud of you.

Mama   

The 5:00 am Morning Call

Sweet Mason,

Did I mention how much I adore you? You're my little blue.  Littlest.  Sweet nugget.  You are an adventurer.  You are confident. You have that smile.  Dimples.  Curly hair.  If you ever have a sister you better hope she has that hair too, or there will be issues for sure.

You are in a stage of transition.  You're not my little baby any more.  I've LOVED nursing you.  Nursing you has been beautiful, meaningful, and easy (bless God). You are a joy of rest in the midst of a busy day.  You made me laugh when you sneezed milk out your nose.  You've been adaptable at taking bottles of pumped milk while I've worked out of our home a little bit. You've not been a biter or gone on nursing strikes.  You're so sweet and snuggly...

One of these days in the near future you're going to wean.  I can tell it's coming.  As we're about to lose that special bond, I wanted to just take a moment to remember how much I love being your Mama.  I'm not going to mourn the seasons as they change, because I know that with a new season comes new adventures and new special moments.  I know that you have to grow and develop and fulfill your destiny.  I'm so proud of you.

In this last little bit before you wean, I love scurrying through the dark quiet house, and finding you sitting with Panda Pete and crazy hair - bright eyed and waiting for your mama.  I love pulling you out of your crib.  I love how you bury your soft face deep into my neck as we walk into the living room and its awaiting soft couch and boppy.  I love how you easily fall back to sleep and how I doze until I finally decide to lay you back down.  I treasure your internal 5:00 am morning call.  I love our quiet times together.

I love you my sweet Blue.

Mama

A Letter to my M&Ms (Blue&Brown)

Hi Sweet M Boys -

Tonight it is quiet.  You are both sleeping, Marsh you're in our bed, Maso in the crib.  As I sit with hands positioned on the keyboard I search for words to describe tonight, and my heart.

Right now you are both so little.  I want you to know - you make life wonderful.  The joy and fulfillment you bring to our family is beyond anything I could have dreamed.  I am so proud of you.   

I want to be the best mama for you.  I want to be consistent, fun, wise, silly, humble, and approachable. But I make a lot of mistakes.  I'm going to make LOTS more.  Please forgive me.  Right now in life we are learning so much.  We are learning that stuff isn't what makes us happy.  We're learning that it's okay to prioritize family, even in a society where that foundation is crumbling.  

My heart is to protect you.  Oh how my heart wants to shield and guard you.  Babies, this world is hard.   It sometimes brings heartache and pain.  I won't be able to always be with you, I won't be able to always comfort you, and I won't be able to keep you from hurting.   This reality makes me want to hold you tightly, worry, and control.  

But you know what? 
As much as I like to think you're MINE, you're really not.  
As much as I think I love you, Someone loves you MORE.   
That One knows your stories from beginning to end.  
That One knows how to comfort you better than I do.
That One is with you even when me and Daddy can't be.  
That One will never leave you.  

So tonight I remember.  
I remember to not hold you too tightly.  
Oh, I'll take care of you with everything that is in me.  
I'll cherish every memory you make, everyday.  
But I'll remember that you are HIS before you are mine. 

I love you sweet baby M&Ms.  Know Jesus, okay? 
He's completely trustworthy, 
and altogether everything you need.

Mama