To our little girl,

I am copying the great idea of my friend, PMB, by writing a letter to my soon to be born baby girl on my blog. Someday, I hope she can look at this and see just what I want for her. (No, she doesn't have a name yet and even if she did, we wouldn't tell you)

Dear little girl,

You will be coming to live your daddy and I very soon. We are so excited to meet you. I would love for you to have blonde hair and blue eyes like me, but even if you don't - that's okay because you will be ours. You will have long toes and long fingers like me and your daddy. Maybe someday you'll learn to play the piano, or tennis, or golf. I bet you'll be a little bit serious like your mom and a little bit silly like your dad. And just maybe you'll want to be a mom when you grow up and have kids of your own someday. I wonder if you'll like music or sports or a little bit of both. I wonder if you'll want to be a businesswoman or a teacher or an artist. (Probably not an artist if you really do take after your dad and I) If you like to watch TV, I hope you always pick good things to watch. Maybe you'll love Mexican food like we do and we can have tacos for dinner. And if you decide to drink soda, it's okay because we can drink our Dr. Pepper's together and sit on the couch and talk about our day.

My favorite color is red, so I hope you like red too. But not in the Utah Utes or the Nebraska Cornhuskers sort of way. I just like red because it's strong and bold and maybe that's why you'll like it too. When you are born, you'll have 4 cousins. They are all really fun and I hope that you can be great friends. They will be girls you can look up to and share your secrets with. (But you have to share some of your secrets with me) Maybe someday you'll go to college and go on a mission and fall in love with someone.

And probably someday you'll fall and scrape your knee or lose your favorite doll in the empty lot next door. And maybe be sick, or sad, or hurt by something someone did or said. I wonder if you will ever have a broken heart or just need someone to talk to and I wonder where you will turn.

When all the good and the bad things happen in your life and no matter what you choose to be, I hope you will always know we love you. And no matter what you look like and no matter who hurts you along the way, I hope you know we will always be here for you. And no matter how many friends you have or mistakes you make, I hope you know you can always trust us. And I hope you know that on your best days and even on your worst days, God knows and understands how you feel. And more than anything in all the world, He wants you to be happy - just like your dad and me.

I won't be a perfect mom, and C won't be a perfect dad. But - we will certainly try. Please forgive us when we make mistakes or when we forget something important. Please be patient with us when we don't always know what to do. Please ignore me when I say something bad about someone else or when your dad says a swear word. Know that we were just like you once before and that even when we're not very cool and may be embarrassing sometimes, that we are doing our best to be a good mom and dad. And when I sing "Happy Birthday" to you over the intercom at Wal-Mart or have a cute boy deliver balloons to you in front of the whole school on your birthday, remember that my mom did those things to me one day. And even though I was mad at her for it then, I love her for it now. And when your dad locks his keys in the car for the 50th time or asks you where something is when it's right in his face - just remember those are the things you'll miss when he's gone.

I can't wait to meet you, little girl. We love you and we know that you will be everything we hope you will be because you'll be ours.