an open letter to my baby-daddy-to-be.

darling,

let's make sure our children know we planned for them. we prayed for them. we thought about them years before they came to us. we made choices long before we met each other that would benefit them.

we should be sure and hold them as much as we can when they're little. we can rock them to sleep and hold their little hands while we read them Madeleine books.

let's teach them big words. more importantly, kind words. let's encourage them to share and compromise. let's help them be gracious and patient.

let's make sure they know they can be anything they want. let's help them to love their choices and learn from their mistakes.

let's teach them to be independent and free-thinking. let's push them to ask questions and seek answers.

let's help them to accept the things they cannot change.

let's teach them to save and be smart about money. let's teach them money isn't everything.

i hope they learn to love and accept themselves and others. i hope they value opinions that are different from theirs, and know they can grow from hearing different perspectives.

i hope they know that our way isn't the right way. it's simply our way. it works for us.

i want them to live their own truth. let's teach them to respect the truth's of others.

let's be sure they know our family is our priority. let's tell them how much we love each other. let's show them how much we love each other by always putting one another first.

let's tell them everyday that we waited and longed for them.

let's be sure they know they are children of our heavenly father, on loan to us for an earthly existence. we'll tell them our #1 goal is to get them back to him.

we won't be perfect parents. we'll mess up. we might yell. we'll lose it at times.

i'll probably teach them their first swear word and will likely forget i promised cupcakes for a classroom party.

i will probably embarrass them in an failed attempt to be a "cool mom," and you'll probably say something ridiculous to their 3rd grade teacher during an open house.

but whatever.

they'll know that they are ours, and we are theirs. celestially involved thanks to a sealing power and a choice we made long ago to be a forever family.

xoxo

an open letter to my popsicle.

dear dadsy-

thank you for wanting a daughter. i think that having a girl, changes a family. 

thank you for raising me to always keep an open mind and embrace diversity. thank you for teaching me about kindness and respect. 

thank you for helping me see that life is a series of choices, and that there is always another option if something doesn't work out.  

thank you for having dinner with me during tax season and telling me i had to have a plan for college. thank you for saying you didn't care what it was (even though you did), as long as it was well thought out.

thank you for assuring me that the plan could always change. 

thank you for caring appropriately when you thought i was making a mistake. 

thank you for letting me make so many mistakes, and picking up the pieces when things fell apart. that must have been so hard for you.

thank you for driving all my furniture to san francisco after college so i didn't have to keep sleeping on that air mattress. 

thank you for taking me camping (even though i hated it) and instilling within me a love for the environment that i hope to pass on to your grandchildren. 

thank you for being a little bit of a hippie. 

thank you for your long legs and athleticism. 

thank you for ensuring i can always come home to california. thank you for making california my home. 

today i cried when i saw a billboard for avocados, so. 

thanks for that.

thank you for telling me that if i want to go to business school, i should. thank you for telling me you think i can do it. 

thank you for supporting my career. thank you for being a little bit of a feminist, for me.

thank you for making it clear god sent me to you and mom. i think we were just right for each other. 

xoxo