My little Moochie,

I love the time we spend together with your sleepy head laid upon my chest, your eyes closed, and your little lips twitching as you dream.  Your breathing matched to mine and your ear, even in your quiet slumber, listening to the rhythmic beating of my heart.   My hand finds yours, soft and small, and your fingers curl instinctively around mine.  You coo in your sleep as I trace small circles on your back and in this moment, as my heart swells and my breathing slows, I am fulfilled to my very core.

I had 40 weeks to picture what life would be like with you and even in the most perfect of day dreams I never came close.  I could never have known how wonderful life would be with you, or how much I would love you. I could not have pictured any living creature more beautiful, nor could I fathom the way your smile would melt my entire being.  To be told that a baby changes your life is one thing, to bare witness to it is too enormous to put into words.  You have turned my world topsy turvy, my daughter, my Moochie, and I am so very grateful you did.

Love,

Mom.

Maddie,

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

                                                               - e.e. cummings

(you're three weeks old tomorrow, I cannot believe it.)

Love,

Mom and Dad.

Little Maddie,

You are already over two weeks old and I can already feel the time slipping by.  Each day melds so easily into the next, each 3am feeding indistinguishable from the 3am of the previous day.  You are more and more alert each and every day, your blue eyes have given way to a deep brown, and your face changes by the minute.  It’s hard to believe it’s been two and a half weeks since laboring in the hospital, it seems like only yesterday we brought you home.

There are many things we cannot wait to see in you: your first smile, your first words, your first steps… but for now, I am happy you are my little newborn, helpless and dependent, and using your big brown eyes to stare up at me as we snuggle at 3am.

I hope that my child, looking back on today
Will remember a mother who had time to play;
Because children grow up while you’re not looking,
There are years ahead for cleaning and cooking.
So, quiet now cobwebs, dust go to sleep.
I’m nursing my baby, and babies don’t keep.

-Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Love,

Mom

Introducing our most beautiful daughter, Madeline.

She was born on July 24th at 9:39pm weighing 8 pounds, 9 ounces.  I was in labor for 41 hours.  In the end I was prepped for a c-section but given one last go and, with the help of foreceps, she was born.

But it’s a story for another day, a tale of her birth.  For now I am exhausted, and there is a cute little lady calling me.

Dearest Maddie,

Today is July 10, 2010, better known as your due date.   I’ve been counting down each and every day until this date for well over 150 days now, and I even put up a countdown so others could expect your arrival as well.  Now the timer is up and here we are, still waiting.  Right now I can feel you as your little body shakes with each hiccup, and I continue to wonder: will today be the day?  When will we finally get to meet you?  We found out about you on your father’s birthday and you are a well overdue little present, just waiting to be unwrapped.

So, unless you plan on arriving in the next 5.5 hours, you are going to be officially late.  I realize it is probably quite cozy in there, but I assure you it’s great out here as well and you have many people who have been waiting to meet you here, your father and I the most anxious and excited of them all.

So please, can we forgo you being fashionably late?  We are so excited, and the waiting is killing us!

Love,

mom and dad