A Letter To Our Little Girl

Dear Ava, 

Here we are sweet girl, standing on the edge of our 37th week together.  It's almost surreal how quickly this time of growing and waiting has gone.  Your Daddy and I cannot believe how close we are to finally meeting you and holding you in our arms.  Your big arrival is a day we talk about and think about constantly now!

From the moment we first knew you were with us until now, we haven't let a single day go by without thinking about you, praying for you and dreaming about you.  Ava we cannot praise the Lord enough for you.  You are a gift to us, a sign of a promise kept.  When we think about the miracle of you, we are reminded of God's incredible faithfulness to us.  Someday we will teach you about what that means, but for now, we just want you to hear us say how much we love the Lord and how we pray that one day you will too.  

It is so special for us to see what He has done for us in this past year.  You are so cherished already, so wanted by your Mommy and Daddy.  These months have been sweet, little Ava.  We have loved watching you grow inside my tummy and feeling your strong kicks and your constant bout with the hiccups!  I know you are going to be just like your Daddy because you are so active and you seem to never be still :)  I can't think of a better gift than that.  

I have loved being the one who gets to carry you Ava.  Although I can't wait to have you in my arms, I will miss this time we've had together, just you and I.  I will miss those first feelings of knowing you were alive.  I will miss those soft flutters and faint movements that mesmerized me and left me speechless.  I will miss your wiggles and kicks, even the way you remind me that you're running out of room!  I will miss being the only one who can feel you in a crowded room, and I will miss the intimacy that we've had all this time.  As my body has grown and stretched and adapted, I've marveled at the wonder of you.  Every ache, every pain, every moment of discomfort has been worth the joy and anticipation of knowing we get to have you in person, very, very soon.  As much as I will miss these things, I know having you here will be ten times better than waiting for you.  I love you sweet Ava, and I always will.  I am so thankful God chose me to be your Mommy, to raise you and love you in the way He will show me.  

Ava I can't wait for you to meet your Daddy.  He is so excited about you and so ready to have his little girl here.  You have been blessed with a Daddy who is so kind, so sweet, so fun!  He will take great joy in making you laugh, in running carefree outside with you and in teaching you how play with balls of all kinds.  It's no secret to me that in no short time, you will be the apple of your Daddy's eye.  But the best thing about your Dad isn't his energy or his goofy sayings, but the way He loves and trusts the Lord with all his heart.  He will be an example of what it means to follow hard after Jesus and to be a man of integrity.  He will show you what it means to love a woman by the way He loves me and he will show you how to serve other people by the way He works and serves others so selflessly.  He will model faithfulness to you Ava, because he will always be here for you, always providing, always caring, and always loving you no matter what.  Yes Ava, you are so blessed to have the Daddy God chose for you.  You will love him from the first time he plants a kiss on your soft, sweet head.  I already know how much he loves you.   

Ava we are so happy to be near the end of our long wait for you.  As much as we want you here with us, we want you to be ready for this world, perfectly developed and safe.  We find ourselves jumping at the thought of you coming any minute and yet wanting more time to get ready for you, to finish preparing your room and your new home here.  We know we have great days ahead, days that will be filled with joy and so much love we won't be able to comprehend it.  But we also know there will be hard days too, days when we'll be impatient, when we'll make mistakes, or when we'll just throw our hands up and beg God to help us!  We'll learn to live life with you together Ava and we'll do the best job that we can.  Ultimately, we know that no matter how hard we try to perfectly parent you, we never can and we don't have to.  You already have a Creator who has been knitting you together, overseeing every detail.  He will love you without fail, without conditions, and without making mistakes.  In all the areas we will let you down, He will be there to make up the difference.  We are in good hands Ava, His hands.

So as we walk through this 37th week together, know that we love you, we are eager to meet you and we are busy preparing for you.  Keep growing little girl and be safe in my womb.  Our day is coming and we will be ready and waiting with open arms.  

You are a sweet gift, Ava, a miracle.  Your Mommy and Daddy love you so much.

   We hope to see you soon....