Happy 1st Birthday, Cara!

Dear Cara,

We named you Cara because we thought it was such a beautiful name, and we knew you would be so beautiful. But we also named you Cara because it means “beloved,” and you are oh so loved. <3 What a year this has been! At the beginning it seemed like you would overcome one challenge only to be faced with another (learning how to drink out of your bottle without any suction, only to have to relearn after we started using the NAM, and then relearn again after surgery! Struggling with silent reflux, pain from your dairy allergy, etc.), but God really helped you to overcome each challenge! He gave us all strength, and wow! Here we are: you are a happy, adorably cute, funny, active, almost-walker who is turning 1 year old!

I will never forget the moment you were born. I heard the sweetest little cry I’d ever heard in my life and the midwife handed your tiny, warm little body to me. I laid you on my chest and you stopped crying right away and started looking for something to eat. ;) Jonathan and I are so proud of how you kept trying, right from the very start, even when it was hard or seemed impossible for both of us! You are such a strong baby girl. J  God made you so perfectly, from your fuzzy round head to your beautiful smile to your chubby thighs to your little toesies. Never forget that, Cara. God knit you together purposefully and perfectly and lovingly.  And we are so thankful that He gave you to us. It has been so much fun watching you grow and learn! I love hearing you say “mama” and sometimes “hi,” to watch you wave and sign “milky (very enthusiastically I might add ;))” or “all done.” We love to watch you light up when Daddy gets home and crawl across the floor toward him so fast that you face plant in the carpet! I love to watch Daddy read Bible stories to you as you stare at the pages (short-lived though it often is). I love to rock you and kiss your soft head while you drink your bottle, and then to put you in your crib and watch you reach for your tedsters, tuck them under your tummy, and snuggle in.

It has been such a gift from God to be your Mommy this past year. You have taught me more about who God is and His strength in my weakness, you have helped Daddy and me to grow in our love and intentional communication with each other, and you have taught me all about a new kind of love I never knew before – my love for my baby girl. <3 I love you, Cara!

Love,

Mommy