First Letter, First Birthday

Dear Rainier,

On the day of your birth I thought it would be appropriate to write you a letter, one as a way to commemorate this special day and two, because blogger is taking way too long to upload photos. I have been trying to upload photos for over an hour now with absolutely no success. Nonetheless it made me realize that I have written a letter to the girls but not to you. Now you may be thinking what possibly could I have to say to a one year old....well actually quite a bit.

Rainier I just want you to know I won the fight. Don't let your dad ever tell you otherwise. It took me a long time to be ready to have another baby. Life was hard with 3 little ones, and with Claire and Ainsley being so close it was really hard. We were in the baby stage for a LONG time. Ainsley was born just after Claire turned one, and she wasn't walking yet, so that meant I had two babies to carry around and care for. It seems so bizarre to me now that you are one and to think about having a new born right after, but I survived, waited a few years, and then that brings me to you. I begged your daddy for a long time for you...I think he was scared, the girls were older now, and pretty capable and the thought of having a newborn again in the home brought up fears about 'rocking the boat.' Your dad is a good fighter, he's pretty stubborn too, but I fought and fought, and WA-la...you're here.

The minute he decided to 'let me win' he was excited and the minute we found out we were pregnant we were even more excited. I knew we were going to have a boy I just knew it. I promised your dad that, but he didn't believe me...or maybe he didn't want to get his hopes up. So when we went to have the ultrasound and they announced you were a boy I think it was safe to say he was stunned. The girls and I were smiling and giggling and your dad, he just sort of sat there with a weird smirk on his face and didn't say much, I don't think he knew what to say or think. I just want you to know baby boy, that he thanks me every day for you... he loves you more than you will ever know.

From the day you were born you have been the center of attention here. The girls LOVE to play with you and you LOVE to play with them. When you were first born dad would lay for hours looking at and holding you, and now we still do it. It is so much fun to see how fast you've grown and to watch you crawl around and figure things out. We love to hear you laugh and growl and mumble away.

Rainier we could tell very quickly that you have such a sweet, easy going personality. You are one happy baby and that makes all of us happy. I will take you to the grocery store and get stopped numerous times by other customers who want to greet you and you play right along and give them your cheesiest smile, sometimes I find you staring down people, crooking your neck, until they look at you and smile, you are one funny guy.

You have brought us closer as a family Rainier. It is such a delight to see the girls work to serve you, to make you happy and it is so wonderful for all of us to be working together on something we love so much. I hope Rainier that we don't spoil you, that you too will realize how lucky you are to have a family that loves you so much.

We love you Baby Rainier.

Love,

Mom