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Well, this is long past due, even for a guy who only ends up posting once or twice per year. As many readers of this blog likely know, I became a father on June 23, 2013 when a beautiful baby girl came into our lives. She is truly a delight and even in the two short months I have had to spend with her it is abundantly clear that she is and will be one of my greatest blessings. I have set a goal for myself to write to each of my children every year on their birthday to tell them what they mean to me. As part of that goal I intend to write to them on their very first day, the day they are born. I've discovered with Tirzah (Hebrew - "She is my delight") that it likely won't happen close to the date of birth, as the end of a pregnancy and the impending arrival of a child are filled with many other concerns. I do, however intend to get the first birthday letter written before each child turns three months. Well, sweet girl, I am writing this with just under three weeks to go. I love you.
September 4, 2013
My dear sweet Tirzah,
Happy birthday! I'm only a few months late, I hope you forgive me. Your mom and I have been busy getting to know you and experiencing the joy you bring to our lives. Both of us had to wait a while to find one another and it took a few years after that before it was time for you to enter our little family. I want you to know how wonderful your mother is and how dearly she loves you. No day goes by in which she doesn't tell me that every moment she loves you more than she did before, and more than she ever knew she could. We found out you were coming last year while on vacation with your Grandma Garr, Uncle Steve, and Uncle Brett and his family in South Carolina, but it took a while before we started telling anybody. We were so excited for you to come and we waited for the time when we could have an ultrasound to find out if you were going to be a boy or a girl. When the day came, we sat in the room looking and you were covering up so that we couldn't tell. The doctor ended up ordering a second ultrasound to check on your mom, and we looked again to find out if you were a boy or a girl and you were covering up again.
So, we didn't know your gender at that point and decided we would wait and find out when you were born. In this day and age there is so much you can know beforehand, and your mom and I discovered that waiting has its own joys. When your due date came (June 12) you showed no signs of any hurry to get here, probably because you loved your mother so much you wanted to stay as close to her as you could. After almost two weeks you still hadn't arrived so the doctor scheduled to induce labor and bring you here. Even after the doctors started to help things along, you weren't in any rush and we were at the hospital all day on June 22. Things started moving towards the end of the day and close to midnight we knew you were coming soon. And on June 23, 2013 at 12:43 a.m. you were here. In an amazing moment of serendipity I was able to see you and the doctor asked me whether you were a boy or a girl. That moment was one of the highlights of my life as I was able to tell the doctors and nurses that we had a sweet baby girl. Of course, the next question everybody had was your name. I hesitated, your mom and I had discussed several names and new that Tirzah was our favorite if we had a girl, but I wanted her to see you before we named you. Then, as the doctors were taking care of you, your mom looked at you from her bed and said "I think she looks like a Tirzah, don't you?" And so you were named, my sweet Tirzah, our delight.
Oh, sweet girl, we have such hopes for you and I could go on forever telling you about them. But, over the past few months I've had the joy of getting to know your little spirit, to see your heart-melting smile, and to hear your joyous laugh. And I think the best way I can tell you of my hopes for you is to say that I hope you are always you. I hope as you grow older you continue to show that beautiful smile to as many people as you meet. I hope you continue to laugh whenever your heart desires. I hope you continue to look out at the world with those big, bright eyes and take it all in. There is so much to love in this world and there's so much to learn. There are scary things, and we'll do our best to help you deal with them. But more than anything, I hope you will live up to your name as you already do; I hope you will be my delight, and your mom's delight, and the delight of every person with whom you come in contact. You are such a bright light and I am so glad I get to be your father and watch as you go on this journey. So, baby girl - Happy Birthday! (two months, one week, and five days late).
Love,
Dad
September 4, 2013
My dear sweet Tirzah,
Happy birthday! I'm only a few months late, I hope you forgive me. Your mom and I have been busy getting to know you and experiencing the joy you bring to our lives. Both of us had to wait a while to find one another and it took a few years after that before it was time for you to enter our little family. I want you to know how wonderful your mother is and how dearly she loves you. No day goes by in which she doesn't tell me that every moment she loves you more than she did before, and more than she ever knew she could. We found out you were coming last year while on vacation with your Grandma Garr, Uncle Steve, and Uncle Brett and his family in South Carolina, but it took a while before we started telling anybody. We were so excited for you to come and we waited for the time when we could have an ultrasound to find out if you were going to be a boy or a girl. When the day came, we sat in the room looking and you were covering up so that we couldn't tell. The doctor ended up ordering a second ultrasound to check on your mom, and we looked again to find out if you were a boy or a girl and you were covering up again.
So, we didn't know your gender at that point and decided we would wait and find out when you were born. In this day and age there is so much you can know beforehand, and your mom and I discovered that waiting has its own joys. When your due date came (June 12) you showed no signs of any hurry to get here, probably because you loved your mother so much you wanted to stay as close to her as you could. After almost two weeks you still hadn't arrived so the doctor scheduled to induce labor and bring you here. Even after the doctors started to help things along, you weren't in any rush and we were at the hospital all day on June 22. Things started moving towards the end of the day and close to midnight we knew you were coming soon. And on June 23, 2013 at 12:43 a.m. you were here. In an amazing moment of serendipity I was able to see you and the doctor asked me whether you were a boy or a girl. That moment was one of the highlights of my life as I was able to tell the doctors and nurses that we had a sweet baby girl. Of course, the next question everybody had was your name. I hesitated, your mom and I had discussed several names and new that Tirzah was our favorite if we had a girl, but I wanted her to see you before we named you. Then, as the doctors were taking care of you, your mom looked at you from her bed and said "I think she looks like a Tirzah, don't you?" And so you were named, my sweet Tirzah, our delight.
Oh, sweet girl, we have such hopes for you and I could go on forever telling you about them. But, over the past few months I've had the joy of getting to know your little spirit, to see your heart-melting smile, and to hear your joyous laugh. And I think the best way I can tell you of my hopes for you is to say that I hope you are always you. I hope as you grow older you continue to show that beautiful smile to as many people as you meet. I hope you continue to laugh whenever your heart desires. I hope you continue to look out at the world with those big, bright eyes and take it all in. There is so much to love in this world and there's so much to learn. There are scary things, and we'll do our best to help you deal with them. But more than anything, I hope you will live up to your name as you already do; I hope you will be my delight, and your mom's delight, and the delight of every person with whom you come in contact. You are such a bright light and I am so glad I get to be your father and watch as you go on this journey. So, baby girl - Happy Birthday! (two months, one week, and five days late).
Love,
Dad
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