This was us

Dear Ella, Henry and Grant-

Mama can hardly believe that this was us one year ago today, hours before I got to caress each of your precious faces and hear your beautiful cries. It seems like that moment was only yesterday and yet here we are embracing toddlerhood. It has flown altogether to quickly and makes me afraid to blink and step into tomorrow where I know you will be in the midst of another year that will bring you closer to your preschool years and eventually your school years. No parent wants their child to stay a baby forever, but what we would like is to capture perfectly all these moments of childhood where our hearts nearly beat out of our chests with love for you. Your first cry, the way you smell, how soft your skin is, the feel of your soft baby hair against my cheek, that silly look in your eye, your sweetness, the way you hold toys and chew food without all of your teeth. These moments I can't get back and I can't accurately describe them here or take a picture to remember them forever. Slowly, your first year will become something I only recall in small moments, as a gift God gives me to when He knows my heart aches to kangaroo with you again, stroke your baby faces and get back a little of my heart that is stolen with each day I've called you mine. I love you to the moon and back, forever and ever, every second of every minute, every minute of every hour, every hour of every day, every day of every week, every week of every month, every month of every year...for the rest of my life.

Happy 1st Birthday, my darlings!
Mama