Dear Lainey,

Oh Alaina,

My sweet girl, you are having some major separation anxiety...teething issues...and a mean, mean virus. Mommy hasn't slept in 3 weeks, in fact, neither have you. At night, you will only sleep if it's on top of me. When daddy comes home, you only want him. It's been a hard thing for mommy but she is very much enjoying the extra snuggle time. 

Just this week you learned to give kisses! I love it! It's so sweet. In the morning, you roll over and kiss all over mommy. I love watching you grow and learn new things. You are such a smart and fun baby.

Yesterday we had to go shopping because you outgrew all of your clothes. Too fast...

Love,

mom

Dear Lainey,

My sweet girl! You are growing way to quickly for me! You turned 7 months yesterday and you are just the sweetest thing I could ever imagine. You make my life better every day. You recently started crawling...And it's making mommy a nervous wreck. You are into EVERYTHING, so curious and so interested in anything new. 

You constantly babble and mommy loves to talk to you. Below, you will see your baby, your favorite baby!  You carry her everywhere.

Here are a few of your six month pictures....

Dear Lainey,

My sweet, sweet baby girl. Where is the time going? You are growing so quickly! I cannot believe that you are already 5 months old. 

I love watching you learn and grow and develop new skills. You new things include grabbing, reaching, screaming (not crying, I actually call it singing) and laughing. You are such an incredible baby.

Every night when we put you to bed you reach up and grab our faces. Sometimes it hurts, but it's always sweet. 

You are also tossing and turning like crazy! I am so nervous you are going to pull the curtains down behind your changing table.

I love to take you to the aquarium, and you love to watch the fish! It's such an incredible thing to watch you get so excited about it!

Every day I love you more. I don't understand how I ever lived without you.

Love,

Mommy

Dear Lainey,

Tomorrow you will be 4 months old. Seriously, where is the time going. You have grown so much in the past couple of weeks that's it's unreal! You are so cheery, you laugh and you are trying so hard to roll over!I am dreading taking you for your 4 month check up tomorrow...I hate watching you get shots! I know you will be fine and that they are a necessary evil, but I hate seeing you in pain.

Hopefully you will react fine, like you did last time. I love you, Lainey Bug.

Love,

Mom

Dear Lainey,

This is my promise to you:


I promise that I will always love you. I can also promise that I am sure we will fight, we will disagree and we will get angry with each other, but I promise that there is nothing you can do that will take away my love for you. You are perfect. You are the greatest gift that God could ever have given me and I will never take you for granted.


Love,


Mom

Dear Lainey,

My sweet girl. You had quite the week. I took you to have your photos taken and they came out so cute! I can't wait to get them in. Here is one of them.

Last night, well, very early this morning, I put you in bed with me. You decided you wanted the entire thing.

 But every time I see your cute face, I can't resist. I am putty in your hands, my sweet! 

You are so funny, your new "thing" is licking. You seriously lick everything. I can't help but get a kick out of it! 

Mommy loves you, always, no matter what.

Love,

Mom

Dear Lainey,

My sweet bug. You are napping and I'm watching you on the monitor, waiting for you to wake up so I can get out of the house and run a few errands.


You are sleeping so peacefully. Last night you finally gave mommy a little break and you slept from 8:45 until 6 a.m., and then again from 6:30 until 9:30! You have no idea how much I needed that little rest.


Every day I see and hear things, in life and on tv, and because of you, I have such a different perspective on life in general. Things that normally wouldn't particularly bother me now enrage me. Things that I thought would make me tense or upset, now seem to not matter.


Sometimes people in our lives will unintentionally hurt us. And sometimes they will say things that they should never say. But I promise you, my little Lainey bug, that I will never dump my problems on you. I will never make you see your daddy in a bad light and I will always want you to see the best in both of us. I can't promise that there will not be tough times that you will unfortunately be witness to. Some things are unavoidable. But I do promise that I will never unnecessarily make you aware of my problems that will do nothing but make you feel guilt or sadness.


I never in my life imagined I could be as happy as I am at this point in my life and I want to do everything in my power to protect that happiness so that you will grow up and have the same thing. I want you to be happy and confident, and I eventually want you to know and love our God that is responsible for all of our happiness. I want you to never question mine or daddy's motives and just to know that no matter what, we love you and you will always be important. Every decision we make will be with you in mind. You are our life. Nothing will change that, please always remember that.


Love,


Mom

Dear Lainey,

You are growing so quickly. Yesterday I put you down for a nap on your belly (gasp!) and you woke up on your back! You are trying so hard to roll over and to sit up. Sometimes you forget that you are still so little.

You have also recently found your voice. You chat with mommy all day long. I love to hear you talk and sing. When I sing to you, you will sing along.


I remember how badly I wanted you and how the day I found out you were coming, I cried tears of joy and knew that my life would be forever changed...for the better. Life with you is better than I could have ever imagined. Every day I sit and stare at you in wonder. I can't believe how lucky I am that God chose me to be your mom.


I promise that I will spend each day trying to be the best mom I can be. Because you deserve the best. I am in complete awe of you.


Today was your first day in church. You were great, until you started screaming. But everyone was fine with it. They were just happy to see you there! As we sat there, I tried to think of words to show my thankfulness to God for you...I couldn't. Because there simply aren't words. Love, thank you, gratitude. They just aren't enough to express what I feel for you.


I love you, bug.


Love,
Mom

Dear Lainey

Dear Lainey,


Today I made a decision to start a blog for you. A place where I could tell you about your life, your growth, your beauty and the silly things you say and do. I have been keeping a journal since I found out you were coming but this is something that can never be destroyed or lost. Something just for you, from me.


I hope to update you daily on your life but I promise that even if I don't, this is one blog I will keep up with.


I love you to pieces and I cannot wait to begin this journey of documenting your life. I am three months late, so I am a bit behind. So here's to looking ahead.


Love,


Mom