14 June 2012
My Maelie,
This is a letter that I don’t want to write.
I mean, I do want to write it…to continue the tradition of documenting my thoughts on your birthday each year. Who knows? Maybe these letters will contain words you come back to over and over in the future.
Most of the reason I don’t want to write it is because you are growing up too fast. You are TWO!
The past year has truly been a pleasure to watch…
Last June, you were crawling and standing but still over a month shy of your first steps. Today? You run everywhere, and I do mean EVERYWHERE! You run with abandon, you love to be chased, you love doing the chasing, sometimes you love to run from mommy… 
A year ago, you said words…several. This year, you speak sentences. You always have something to share, and I believe you might be a storyteller like your mama…I’m excited to watch!
Last June, your hair was just starting to grow. Today, we did piggies, and though I still have to bribe you with fruit snacks to wrestle those pigtails in, you tell me you like them. And you sure do look like a cutie pie with them!
There are a thousand other things that have changed over the past year.
But there are also things that have not changed, but just grown even more.
You are beautiful. Daily, you shine…not just on the outside, but on the inside, too. I watch you giving hugs, stopping to “talk” with everyone around you, flashing smiles, laughing with that so-sweet-I-want-to-bottle-it-up-forever giggle. You have JOY in your heart, and God uses that JOY to remind me each day how truly blessed we are.
You are independent. We joke that you came out of the womb that way, which isn’t entirely untrue. But your independence is a wonderful thing…watching you learn and discover and grow has been such a huge part of our year together. You know your ABC’s, your numbers, many of your colors, and you have a lot of your books memorized, too.
You are loved. People surround you, Mae. They love you…to play with you, laugh with you, sing with you, talk with you, just be near you. We are unbelievably blessed by our family of friends…and you are always showered with love.
God loves you. My deepest desire and prayer for you is that you walk with your Father for all of your days. He loves you, He always has, and He always will. And He loves you with a love that is infinitely stronger than the love your daddy and I have for you…which is so hard to fathom but so wonderful to imagine.
My favorite part of our days has become bedtime. Most nights after story and teeth-brushing, you snuggle up to me, and we sing. Jesus Loves Me, All Through the Night, One in a Million, He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands…those are some of our favorites. After we snuggle and sing, we pray…always, that you will grow up to love God.
My precious daughter, I love you to the moon and back…plus infinity.
Love,
Mommy
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