Happy birthday Lavella!

Dear Lavella,

Two years ago, I began a brand new kind of adventure. Before that moment on April 17th, 2007, I had become comfortable in my role as the mother of two boys, and suddenly, everything was different.









































It delights me to watch you grow, and to watch your unique, feminine traits develop, even in a house full of boys. The unfolding beauty of your face delights me. I am so honored to be your Mommy, and the person who gets to know you first before the rest of the world does.

It's amazing how much you've grown, even just in the past year; I can't wait until you can start getting to know your Daddy again.

This is how you looked the day after he left:



Today you cried because we lit the candles of your cake on fire.



Tomorrow you'll cry because I've given you the wrong color of socks to wear.

It's the tears and thunderclouds that make your smiling moments shine all the more. While steering you through the landmine of emotion that is your two-year-old life, I dearly hope to do so with delicacy and grace. I realize that the roller-coaster has just begun, and I fully understand that I'll never be ready for it.



Being your Mommy is an adventure, to say the least, and I look forward to seeing who you grow into. I hope and pray that Daddy and I do our job well, raising you to be a woman who will make an impact on the world you will live in. And not a woman who cries because she's discovered it's too warm to wear her Ugg boots in the spring.

I love you, little girl.

Always,
Your Mommy