The Beginning of Something Beautiful

Dear Kayleigh,

Something wonderful happened last Thursday! Your Uncle Jon proposed to your Aunt Megan. We are all so happy for these two, and so excited that she will officially be your "aunt" soon!

I'm so happy that you'll get to grow up with her in your life--what a blessing she is to our family! God couldn't have chosen a better person for Jon to marry. They are so perfect for each other, and the way she fits into our family makes it feel like she's been part of it all along.

Your Uncle Jon is absolutely beaming. His eyes are bright and twinkly, and the bluest I've ever seen them. It's such a happy time! Daddy and I went up to Oxnard after I got off work on Friday to join the family for dinner to celebrate, and then we spent the night. Everyone is so happy. Wedding chatter is hard to keep to a minimum--it's just too exciting!

And guess what? You'll get to be at their wedding. They haven't set a date yet, but the plan is for early November. I'm so happy to think about that day and realize that we'll have a beautiful little 6 week-or-so old little girl. You're going to be the most precious little niece ever!

This family has lots of excitement coming up in the next few months!

I loved your Auntie Laura's facebook status from yesterday:

Woke up this morning and jumped in the freezing Pacific with 5 of my favorite people, and is spending the rest of the day packing for Europe, drinking coffee, and Greek-dancing around the house. Oh yes... did I mention that, between the Brubakers and the Muellers, we're having a BABY AND A WEDDING in the next four months? Life is good.

Yes, Kayleigh Girl, life is good!

Love, Mom

p.s. I hope you'll always have memories of me swimming in the ocean with you, but just for the record, Aunt Laura was talking about how Uncle Jon, Aunt Megan, Aunt Kate, Aunt Laura, Dad, and I went to the beach first thing yesterday morning. To the beach where Daddy proposed to me, in fact! It was so wonderful to breathe the fresh ocean air again, to feel the sand between my toes, and be back in the water. At least, I tried. The water was pretty cold, and you didn't like it. Think I'm crazy? I waded in up to my belly button, and you started trying to crawl up me! It was pretty hilarious. I guess we'll have to work on turning you into a water girl later :-) After that, Aunt Megan and I stayed in water up to our thighs and enjoyed chatting with each other while we watched the others diving in the waves. I didn't want you to be cold or uncomfortable, and Aunt Megan didn't want to lose her gorgeous new ring!

Friendship

Dear Kayleigh,

Today, I'm thinking about how much I'm going to love cultivating a friendship with you. Not the "I-want-to-be-your-best-friend, not-your-mom" kind of friendship that so many parents fall into, but a companionship built on love and respect--the kind that I share with my mom.

I love that I can talk to my mom about anything. I love that she listens to me, and that now that I'm grown up and a woman of my own, she trusts and respects me. I love that she seeks advice from me at times, and truly wants to know my thoughts. I love the independence that she's given me--and the fact that I know that she will always be there for me when I need her.

I hope that you and I can have the same bond.

This morning on the way to work, I cried to my mom about the "unknowns" in my life. Your due date is 10 weeks away, and we don't know if there are job changes in the immediate future, or even what home we will be bringing you to from the hospital. It's a lot to have up in the air when we want to give you the most secure, stable life we can! Mom was such a comfort to me this morning. I had to hang up with her when I pulled up to work, but when I got inside, there was a text message from her with a portion of Psalm 84:

How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord!

Even the sparrow has found a home,

and the swallow a nest for her young.

Blessed is he who trusts in You!

I'm thankful for a mom who reminds me of my Heavenly Father's love for me, and always points me to Him. Today made me realize how much I want to be like that for you.

I pray that you and I will share a close relationship like I share with my mom, and she shares with hers. I love thinking about enjoying cups of tea in the early mornings with you when the rest of the house is still asleep...finding cute little cafes for "dates" with just the two of us...long walks with heartfelt conversations...evenings spent together working on new projects...experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen...

As much as I love sharing moments with you right now, when you make me laugh with your little acrobatics or swoon when I see a picture of your chubby little cheeks, I'm looking forward to sharing the years ahead with you. What wonderful things we have waiting for us!

You are being born into a legacy of amazing women, Kayleigh Girl. Your Grandma, YiaYia, Great Gramma, and Ami are all incredible women who have lent so much support to me. They are thrilled for the opportunity to get to be there for you, too. I'm so happy to know that you will get to grow up with their listening ears and loving hearts.

Keep growing, Little One. Always. Not just now--all your life: grow in compassion, grace, and knowledge of your Father's love for you. That's my prayer for you today.

I love you.

Love,

Mom

Mornings

Dear Kayleigh,

Mornings are my favorite time with you.

Usually, you wake me up before my alarm clock goes off, and I lie in bed enjoying your gentle little movements or your adorable fits of hiccups. You'd think I'd be used to this whole pregnancy concept by now, but I still marvel that there's a little person growing inside of me. I'm so excited to see who God has created to be our little girl!

Dad always sleeps with his arm around me, and now, he wakes with a smile when he feels your movements. It's such a fun thing to share between the two of us. We lie here and laugh about the way you squirm around, we talk to you and tell you teasing things about your parents, and we imagine what life will be like three months, six months, a year, 5 years from now. We have so much to look forward to with you in our life!

We get to see you again, tonight. The doctor ordered another ultrasound to make sure everything's going as it should. Dad and I thought that the 4D ultrasound would be our last glimpse of you before the delivery room. I'm excited to see how you've grown. Smile for the camera, ok?

We're 30 weeks along now, kiddo. In less than 3 months, we'll be enjoying cuddling with you in the early mornings, keeping you warm between us, talking and teasing just like we already do, marveling at tiny little fingers and sweet, soft baby skin. Our hearts are ready to burst with happiness.

Joy comes in the morning. Psalm 30:5b

Love, Mom

Spending the Night Away

Dear Kayleigh (it is still so great to be able to say that and know who you are),

    Your Mom and I have a few traditions that are special to us, and we are sure that you will enjoy them too.  One of them we borrowed from your grandparents.  Whenever we have to be apart for a night, your Mommy and I leave notes for each other to find and read.  It is such a great thing to have a personal message from the one you love when you can not be together.  This letter is for both of you, my Kayleigh and my Cutie.

    It is such an exciting thing to see our family growing right before my eyes.  Getting to see my beautiful wife and the growth of my beautiful daughter.  I can't see you, but I sure know you are there when I look at and feel Mommy's belly in the morning.  Thoughts of you and our future are such wonderful things and I can't wait to be able to hold you and see you in my arms.  Tonight I won't just be missing Mommy, I will be missing the two most important women in my life.  It will be a sad thing for me not to wake up right next to both of you.  However, this will give me an opportunity to think of all the time we will be able to spend together in just a few months.

    Another tradition we have is the giving of nicknames.  For a very long time now, your Mommy has been my "Cutie."  You have already been given a nickname, almost as soon as we knew you were with us.  You are our Brubaby.  It will be great coming up with fun nicknames together when you are older.  I wonder what we will call each other.  Either way, you will always be my little Kayleigh Grace, my precious girl.

    Daddy loves you both and I can't wait to be home with you again.  God bless.

Love: Your doting husband and father

Hiccups

My Sweet Kayleigh,

You had your first set of hiccups today!

I was sitting in my classroom during naptime with my feet up (they're getting painful and swollen these days...are you going to thank me for that someday? :-) ) and I started feeling very rhythmic movement. Just little taps about 1.5 seconds apart. I knew right away what I was feeling!

I remember when your Auntie Laura was inside my mom's stomach, and she'd get the hiccups while we were all sitting in the front pew at church. Mom, Jon, Kate, and I would all put our hands on Mom's belly to feel Laura's hiccups, and we'd sit there with our shoulders shaking with laughter and your Papa looking at us with confusion from the pulpit. Ha!

It was fun to experience for the first time with you. And you were so cute about it! I'd feel *tap*tap*tap*tap and then you'd seem to get frustrated and flail around a bit and then *tap*tap*tap! It went on for a long time, too. Sorry, sweet baby, Mommy gets the hiccups a lot, too! Can't wait to laugh and try all sorts of remedies with you when you get here :-)

I love you!

Love, Mom

Your First Baby Shower

Hello, Beautiful Girl,

Last Saturday, our friends at church threw you your first baby shower. A surprise shower!

We were up at Lake Arrowhead for the weekend with Chris and Jenny Williams, Tyler and Stacey Stover, and the soon-to-be Matt and Emily Terhune. After a wonderful day of walking around the lake, enjoying all of the fun shops at The Village, and feeding ducks, we stopped at a small landing down the street from the cabin we were staying at to wade in the water and enjoy a perfect afternoon in the sun. Half of the group went ahead to "take showers" (there's only one bathroom at the cabin, and taking shifts was a must with 8 people!) and the Williams and Daddy and I stayed behind to skip some stones and enjoy some more time at the lake. (On a side note, that day was the first time I ever tried skipping stones, and I got one stone to skip 5 times! It was pretty exciting. Your dad is a great teacher! Hopefully, you'll be younger than 24 when he teaches you how to skip them!)

Anyway, when we headed back up to the cabin, we were greeted at the door with "Surprise!!!"

They had decorated the cabin, filled it with gifts, and even planned games for all of us to play!

Jenny, Stacey, and Tyler wearing their "party hats" (aka gas masks to go with Daddy's "Dad on Diaper Duty" gas mask they made for him!)


Matt and Chris

Daddy's all set! :-)


It's so much fun to see your name on things!


One of the activities they had planned for everyone to do was to paint little animals for your nursery. The girls brought paints, brushes, and even a plastic table cloth so that we wouldn't get paint on the table of the wonderful couple who let us stay in their cabin over the weekend!

Jenny and Chris painted a set of little ducks for you...

Matt and Emily painted some giraffes...

Tyler and Stacey painted a pair of elephants...


And Daddy and I decorated two frogs.

Here is the adorable line-up from the end of our fun painting session!
It was such a blessed time of celebrating your life with some of our dearest friends. Right now, all of us are at a crossroads in life, and I'm not sure how many of these wonderful friends you'll grow up seeing frequently. But I just wanted to share these pictures with you, Kayleigh, of 6 people who continually bless my life and Daddy's, and who love you enough to celebrate you before they have ever met you. Whether you grow up seeing them every Sunday at church, or mainly through out-of-state Christmas cards, these friends are precious to us--and they showed us last week that you are precious to them. Doesn't that make you feel loved?

You are!

Love, Mom

Kayleigh Grace

Our beloved Kayleigh Grace,

It's so exciting to be able to finally call you that!

Daddy and I have known now for two weeks that you are our precious baby girl, and we just can't get over the excitement of knowing it!

We had a 4D ultrasound on June 16th, and within a few seconds of your picture being up on the screen, the tech said, "Well, that's easy! It's a girl! 100% girl. 100%."

We enjoyed getting you watch you on the screen for about 20 minutes, loving every movement you made and every peek we got of those chubby little cheeks of yours. Can't wait to kiss them!

It was the 4th time we've seen you on the screen (first ultrasound at 10 weeks, another at 12, the gender determination flop at 20 weeks, and then this one at 26 weeks) and the 4th time an ultrasound tech has commented on what a calm, mellow baby you are. Apparently, that's great for ultrasounds where they need to get measurements, but for the 4D ultrasound, our tech wanted you moving around and entertaining us all! You were being a cuddler, and were totally happy balled up against me with your hands in front of your face. I wish you could have seen the tech! She had me twisting and turning trying to get you in a better position to see your face. There are even a few times in the 4D video where we can see you bouncing up and down as she gently tried to wake you up with the probe on my stomach. But you didn't budge. You were perfectly content with your hands in front of your face, curled up and snuggling into me. Can you promise me you'll be like that through childhood, too? :-)

Here are some of our favorite pictures from our big day, Miss Kayleigh.

All snuggled up...
Look at those chubby cheeks!

Smiley girl...your smile looks just like Daddy's.

And, my goodness, isn't he excited about you! We found out just days before Father's Day that you were a girl. Auntie Em and I stormed the shopping mall looking for a fun gift for your dad's first Father's Day.

We found him a pink tie so that he could announce his baby girl to the world (or, at least our church congregation!) and a little matching outfit that you can wear for him next Father's Day.

I'm having fun wearing pink these days, too! Last week, my toes finally disappeared from sight.

You're growing, baby girl!

We love you so much!

Love, Mom