Dearest George,

In twenty minutes time you will be exactly 12 months old. I'm writing you tonight while reminiscing about today and yesterday and all of the weeks and months that have made up this one wild, glorious, life-changing year.

It feels like just yesterday I was mailing out your birth announcements and now here we are back at the beginning again...June 2...one whole year later! WHERE has the time gone?!

I've been reminiscing this week about last year...feeling SO pregnant...waiting to go into labor...finally going into labor...giving birth to you!!!!...taking you home...and those first few days of newness, joy, wonder, and emotion.

I didn't want you out of my sight for even one minute. I remember that first night/morning we brought you home and I just couldn't sleep. I had to watch you. Look at you. Wonder at you. Check your breathing. Stare at all your precious, perfect features. I was in awe.

I remember watching my parents hold you and seeing them become grandparents in an instant. I was so overcome with emotion at their joy and love for you.

I remember taking you to church on the very first Sunday of your life. Your Dad and I sat in the back of the auditorium at Bishop O'Connell High School and neither one of us could hold it together for most of the service. We were so incredibly grateful for the gift of YOU!

I look back at this last year and simply feel thankful. I feel thankful for God's provision to us. He provided amazing coworkers that helped send me off into this new job with such confidence. He provided a next door neighbor who was a midwife. He provided a church community that brought us meals, prayed for us, and encouraged us. He provided friends like the Skolnitskys who were embarking on all of the same things we were on this parenting journey. He provided my Mom! He provided neighbors to watch Admiral Byrd when we traveled, the Smith gals to babysit at a moment's notice, and girlfriends who made things so easy for me. During those sleepless nights that we thought would never end, God provided miraculous pockets of rest. We had a pretty serious health scare with you at six weeks and God provided just the right doctors to care for you. He provided my sister and your grandpa who came to sit with us in the hospital. He provided healing. He provided safety for us in all of the many travels we made this last year to see family.

There has not been one day of your life, dear George, when I have not needed the grace of God. It carries. It upholds. It strengthens. It heals.

You have been the greatest joy of our lives this year, darling boy! I cannot believe how quickly the time has gone.

We went to the grocery store yesterday afternoon and an elderly man stopped to wave at you. You waved back so enthusiastically and he smiled as he told me, "Enjoy this time. It goes so fast. My son is 54 and I still can't believe he's grown." I had such a lump in my throat that I couldn't even reply, but I nodded, yes! yes! I am trying to enjoy these days! Every day. Even the hard ones. These are precious days.

George, your Dad and I love you more than we could ever say. We thank God for you. Happy, happy birthday to you, our beloved son!

A Letter to my Mother-in-Law on my Husband's Birthday

Dearest Carolyn,

I spent many years praying for my future husband. I knew the kind of man I wanted him to be. When I was 15 I wrote out nine qualities I hoped he would have. 

I prayed, "Lord, let me marry this kind of man!"

1. A man who loves God
2. A man who is a leader in his workplace and church
3. A servant
4. A man who loves his mom more than any other woman
5. A gentleman
6. A man who respects my parents
7. A man who loves kids
8. A man who loves each of my siblings
9. A man who loves Jesus more than me

I found that list the other night and read it to Andrew. I told him, "Babe, you are everything on this list! And more!!" God abundantly answered those prayers that I prayed so long ago. And he answered so many of them through you.

Now that I am a mom myself I understand the work and the monotony and the joy and the exhaustion that comes with caring for a little person. For years and years you worked tirelessly to raise a son. And that son became my husband. Thank you for raising such an incredible person. Thank you for all of the years you sacrificed your needs on his behalf. Thank you for shaping and guiding and molding the man I prayed for.

I love both of you so much.

Your daughter-in-love,

Emily

Letters to Baby Fossen // Volume 2

Dearest Baby Fossen,

It's your Dad's birthday tomorrow! I'm up late thinking about him and about you. 

Your Dad is such a wonderful man. The love of my life. He's just the best. Sweeter than anything I could have imagined. And I have a pretty good imagination. :) I love celebrating him, especially since he likes to fly under the radar with his birthday. I'm all, where's the cake? Do we have balloons? How many candles can we light at once? Is there a mariachi band available? I like to pull out all the stops for him.

Your Dad is a good man.

Sometimes I feel like there aren't enough things said about good men today. Your grandfathers are good men. Your uncles are good men, too. And your Dad is such a good man. He's so manly, too. He's rugged and muscular and outdoorsy and tough. But I don't think those qualities necessarily make him a good man. 

I think a good man is one who sacrifices and serves. Someone who puts the needs of others above his own needs. Someone who spends his time and energy and passion and money for others. Someone who stays up late to take the dog on one last walk. Someone who helps you buy nursery furniture instead of spending Saturday hunting. Someone who treats even your girlfriends with abundant generosity. Someone who genuinely loves your parents. Someone who holds your hand and watches the Will & Kate Lifetime movie with you and lets you hog the covers and makes pizza for dinner and brings home flowers just because. Your Dad is that kind of man. 

Yes, he's terribly rugged. And an excellent shot. And a terrifying display of force on the basketball court. 

But, he's also kind. And forgiving. And tender-hearted. And faithful. 

Those qualities make a man a man. Good men have more than skin deep character. Good men have depth.

Baby Fossen, I don't know if you're a boy or a girl, but I hope you'll grow up to know, and love, and appreciate good men. I hope you'll recognize that real manhood comes when you bend low to serve and sacrifice for others. Good men deserve our respect. 

I'm so thankful for the father you'll have, sweet baby. He sacrifices for you already. I hope you'll love and enjoy and respect and celebrate him for a lifetime.

With much love,

Your Mom

{engagement photos by Katie Stoops}

Brother's birthday!

I think your heart melts a little bit more when it's your younger brother's birthday. There's just something about younger brothers that gets you. Or maybe it's just me...

Anyway, it's my younger brother's birthday today! He's stationed overseas with the Navy, so we'll be doing our celebrating from afar this year.

I've been so nostalgic all day thinking about him. He's grown up into such a wonderful man. I really couldn't be more proud of him! He's 26 today. I'm sending him all kinds of love from Virginia! 

Sunshine on a Cloudy Day

It's Andrew's birthday today! If there's one thing I could do in my sleep it's celebrate him! He is just the best of the best. I love him and respect him and appreciate him more each day. Marriage takes work, yes, but oh my goodness is it ever worth it. The last eight months have been some of the happiest months of my life. I just adore being married to Andrew!

photo from our wedding day!
june 1, 2013

I made a little video montage for Andrew's birthday...highlights from our last two years of dating, being engaged, getting hitched, honeymooning, and become Virginia homesteaders! :)

Another year of life is a thing to celebrate! Just like that husband of mine. We're heading out for steaks tonight with his family...bring on the festivities! :)