Maren Grace

Dear Maren,
I prayed for you...for the past five years I have just had this feeling that our family wasn't complete.  This feeling that we were still missing something.  I started praying...praying that God would either send us a baby or change the way I felt.  And then one day, it happened...God gave us you.  We were so excited.  Parker and Row were over the moon.  I spent every day praying that you arrived safely and you were healthy.  I had a feeling very early on that you were a girl...everything gender-neutral somehow seemed too masculine. I found myself ordering bows and dresses-just in case.  We even knew your name very early.  It was the first name we mentioned and we never went back.  You have always been Maren.

The night before you were born Parker and Rowan wanted to have a sleepover in Rowan's room.  We read stories together and talked about how excited we were to meet you.  Gram Gram, G-Dawg and Grammy all stayed the night too.  It took Daddy and I soooooo long to get to sleep because we were so excited.  We had to wake up at 4AM and Rowan and Parker woke up and came into our room so that they could see us before we left for the hospital.  That was such a sweet time...getting ready and listening to them giggle with excitement.  As we left the house, they were waving from our bedroom window.

We checked into the hospital and began the process of prepping for surgery.  I was so scared.  I could not wait for you to get here so that I knew you were healthy.  Surgery was quick and Daddy was the first one to say, "it's a girl!"  We were both so happy.  You cried the loudest of all three kids and we laughed at how you had already found your voice.  Holding you for the first time was one of the happiest moments of my life.

Luckily, the nurses let us sneak parker and rowan in early so they could meet you.  They were both excited...until Parker cried, ha.  He was definitely overwhelmed.   Rowan held you right away and was smitten from the start.  Parker needed a minute to digest everything, but when he came back the next day, he fell completely in love with you.

We came home after three days and two days later, Gram Gram, G-Dawg, Uncle Landon, Aunt Bette, Ellis, Nana and Papa Bill all came to celebrate Thanksgiving at our house.  You were loved on so much.  Even as a newborn, you brought out the best in each of us.  We could not love you more.