Getting to know her

Dear Baby Girl,

I hope you will like the little pink blankie I just bought you. I wanted you to have something special to cuddle. It has butterflies and a flower on it, and it's the same pink my "boppy" was. Oh, I called my blanket "Boppy" before there was a name brand to usurp my word, and there's your first indication that your Mom is brilliant: I coined a NAME BRAND. When I was a BABY. Anyway, I rushed right over to Target this morning after receiving more sweet photos of you and your undeniably girl-self. I couldn't wait to add something soft and flowery to the household, and to think of you while cruising the Carter's aisle. Just imagine how many years of shopping we can do together; I had to get started right away.

You are going to have plenty of hand-me-down clothes even though you have an older brother, because there is a thing called SECOND COUSINS, right here in Georgia. And God Bless the three of them, and their mother's truly excellent taste and tidy storage bins. But I wanted to be the first person to give you something of your very own to wear. That's why I also bought the lavender polka-dot onesie, size "NB," and I hope you'll get to wear it at least one time. :)

It seems like you really should be coming any time now, although I know you still have a lot of growing to do before you're ready to see us. So stay in there and stay cozy, we'll wait. Everyone is going to love you, and I really think you're going to change us all in good ways. For myself, I know I'll have to really lead by example as my Mom did, and teach you grace and inner beauty and goodness, if I can muster them up myself. I'm trying to teach those things to your big brother, of course, but it's different with girls, you know? I hope we'll be good friends long into my old age. It makes me teary just to think about that -- having someone to girl-talk with.

Your Daddy isn't going to know what hit him when you arrive, I think. I can't wait to see how he cradles and protects you, his precious little girl. I know that the confidence he's gained with three years of parenting under his belt will make him your strong rock, your Giving Tree. You're just going to love him, and I pray that he'll always be your number one. Here's a hint if you ever want something from him: One smile, one kiss, and I bet you'll send him straight over the moon.

AJ has been speculating that you're a girl; I'm excited to tell him tonight that he was right, and he's going to have a sister. He may jump up and dance at the good news; he's very happy about things like this lately. He is planning to teach you all kinds of things, like which Mother Goose poems are the best (The House that Jack Built, naturally) and how to make a Legos Zoo. And how to run really fast. You're so lucky that you'll have a big brother -- something every little girl without one dreams of, I think. He's great -- vibrant, smart, and even sensitive. I bet you'll be able to tell him anything. Be friends, okay? Even if he tells you to go away sometimes. Big kids just say that; they don't mean it.

I have a lot to do now to get ready for you. There are paint schemes to choose and new crib sheets to buy (I had a hard time resisting one of each pink item at Target), and I'm eager to get started now that we are starting to know you a little more.

I love you, can't wait to meet you.
Mommy

(...You guys? POLKA DOTS.)