Easter | 2016

Dear Pemberley,
This year Easter was full of family, food, love, and pure exhaustion! But worth every minute.

We woke up to snow. Yes, you read that correctly. Snow. It's not unheard of in March in Kansas, but I was still a little peeved. We got you and sister dressed and bundled up in coats, and headed over to Uncle Eli and Aunt Sally's for a delicious brunch. After we ate, we all went downstairs and you participated in your first ever Easter egg hunt! (Which was originally scheduled to be outside, but you know...snow happened.) Here you are, picking up M&M filled eggs, with one shoe on.

While you licked  played with cousin Reagan's toys and walked around in your one shoe, Auntie Darcy got some cuddle time in with Waverley.

After brunch, we headed over to Grandma Joanne's house for an early dinner. You took a 30 minute nap on the way, which seemed to recharge you quite a bit! Once we got there, you just loved throwing plastic eggs all over the place, and you adored the newest addition to your sippy cup collection :)

When we finally left Grandma Joanne's, it was about 4:30pm and you were tired. I mean...tired. You started crying in the back seat out of pure exhaustion, and it reminded Mommy that even though you look and act like a big girl, you need to take your regularly scheduled naps because you're still my little baby.

Just for fun, here's a throwback to last Easter. It breaks my Mommy heart when I see how much you've GROWN! (Except for those chubby baby thighs! I hope you NEVER outgrow those!!!!)

I'm pretty excited for next Easter, when you get to school Wavie on how to hunt for Easter eggs. ((And we'll start crossing out fingers for no snow so we can do it outside!))

Happy Easter 2016, my little toddler bunny,

A Letter To My Only Child, Before She Becomes A Big Sister

Dear Pemberley,
Any day now, you will become a big sister. You will never remember a time when Waverley wasn't in your life. For almost 18 months, it was just you and me and Daddy. You will never remember what being an only child was like, so it's up to me to tell you.

You won't remember the beginning time we spent together as mommy and daughter after daddy's paternity leave was up. That first day I woke up scared shitless, wondering how we would fill the next nine hours until daddy got home. But we fell into a routine almost immediately. You won't remember our Friday Night Lights marathons, sprawled out on the couch and the bed. You won't remember the all-day pajama fests, or the days when I would load you up in the car and we'd go walk around Barnes and Noble, just to get out of the house.

You won't remember how doted upon you were, and how adored. You were the first grandbaby that Grannie and Grandma Joanne got to spoil, and you were loved and kissed and hugged and cuddled every moment they saw you. You also won't remember meeting your great-grandpa Stan before he passed away, or how he loved to take off your socks and hold your tiny feet. You won't remember him asking me if I was finally happy, and you won't remember me looking at you and whispering, "Yes."

You won't remember all of the toys and books that were only yours for your first year and a half...the times when you didn't have to share because there was no little sister asking you to.

You won't remember that the moment the doctor placed you on my chest and I heard your cry, my heart swelled with a love I could never comprehend before your arrival. You'll never remember that it was YOU who made me a mother in that second- the most difficult and rewarding job I've ever had.

But there are times when I'm thankful that you can't remember; the little times when I feel like I failed you as a mommy. Like when I forgot your diaper bag at our very first doctor's appointment. Or the time when I forgot your milk for daycare at home, and I had to rush to work to pump so you would have enough to eat for the day. Or the time when you were 11 months old and we had to give you your first bottle of formula because my supply had dropped so much in my second trimester with Waverley that I couldn't pump enough for you anymore.

***

I guess it's all just as well. You'll never remember that you had your mommy and daddy all to yourself and didn't have to share our attention...you won't remember when we weren't a family of four.

But I won't forget. I will remember every precious minute of it - and I will remember it for the both of us.

Pemberley, you are going to be an amazing big sister. I can't wait for you to meet Waverley and open up her world like you opened up mine.

With all of the love in the whole world,