Eleventh Birthday Letter to Addie Rae

Hey Birthday Girl,

I can't believe you are now eleven. It's going to feel so weird in a few short months when you are no longer in primary and will join the young women's, but at the same time I am so excited for you. Some of my best core memories come from the young women's program. You'll also be able to enter the temple now which feels wild to me. I wish there was one even closer to where we live so that you can fully appreciate the beauty that is the temple. This is a really big year for you as you also are in your last year of elementary school. As much as I want you to stay young it is exciting to see you achieve each new milestone. This year for your birthday you wanted to be surrounded by friends and of course you already have so many even though we've only lived here for a year so far. You're amazing at finding and making true connections with others. I admire that a lot about you. You're also a pretty good sport, because your dad and I thought it would be funny for him to dress up as Blippi and be silly in front of all of your friends and you handled it like a true champ. Thank you for playing around with us even when surrounded by your friends.

You're truly growing up and as you continue to keep reaching new milestones and having new experiences I hope you never forget how loved you are by your family. We wouldn't be the family we are if you weren't part of it. You're important, incredible, and so intelligent. I love you Addie Rae, and I always will.

Love,

Mom

Seventh Birthday Letter to Beans

Dear Grant,

This has been a big year for you full of high and lows. You've dealt with some new anxieties and new struggles, but I want you to know that you are the bravest boy I know. You're also still one of the happiest boys I know. You still fill our days up with giggles and smiles and you're very quick to forgive others. You love to be where others are and want to be included in all things. Your teachers describe you as a great friend and I would have to agree. 

You also know exactly what to say to make any adult melt over you and think that you are the cutest kid in the world and I love watching you when you do that because it's adorable, hilarious and pretty close to true. You might have been the favorite among the aunts at our family reunion because you paid them all so many compliments. Anytime anyone tells you that you're so cute you'll turn on your adorable voice and cute puppy dog eyes and reply back "well you're the prettiest lady in the world". Grant I can't even imagine what you'll be like as a teenager because you're already quite the charmer and you know it. In all seriousness though I can't even count the number of times where I might have needed a little encouragement and you've come up to me out of the blue to say "Mom I love you, you're the best mom in the world". I hope to be that same kind of person to you that you need during times where you're feeling scared, lonely or down. I want to be someone you can count on to come find you and cheer you up like you do to so many people. I love you and I want you to know that at nighttime when anxiety seems to be at a high for you I hope you know and feel that I'm just across the hall with a hug that always has your name on it. I love you sweet boy, and I always will no matter what.

Love,

Mom

Fourth Birthday Letter to Quinnie C

Dear Quinnie Girl,

I love you so much. I can't believe you're four years old now. I bet you can't either. You have been counting down to your birthday since Christmas. These last two months have seemed like eternity to you but it's finally here. You are so adorable and you know it. You love smiling and having people smile back at you. You do this thing lately whenever you're at the store with me where you put the world's biggest grin on your face and you'll make eye contact with every person we pass by to see if you can get them to give you a big grin back. It's pretty funny actually. You get a lot of smiles back and you live for them. The first time someone didn't smile back you sure did let them know that they should have smiled back at you since you were giving them a big smile. It was so funny because your comment caught me off guard so I quickly left the aisle we were on but we did laugh about it after. 

Along with smiling you LOVE unicorns. You've also added alicorns, horses and zebras to your list but unicorns still remain at the very top. I think you talk about them every single day. I have a friend that lives nearby who owns horses and she has a unicorn horn costume she can attach to her horse and she mentioned that we might have to go over there one day to see it because of your love for unicorns.

You also love rainbows, Peppa Pig, princess Ariel and the color purple (or rainbow color). You also really enjoy drawing. You can sit down and draw for a full hour without getting bored. And of course I can't toss any of the drawings away because each one is your newest masterpiece. Which is fine except we're starting to run out of room for all of them haha. I recently bought a 500 pack of paper and it's already all gone. It's hard to say no to you though especially with your giant grin. I really love you and I love who you are. Every night we end it by saying "I love you all the days" and you were the one who actually came up with that. I love it so much. Happy birthday Quinnie Rue. I love you all the days.

Love,

Mom

Fourth Birthday Letter to Rylee Gene

Dear Ryles,

Happy birthday sweet girl. You are at a really fun stage and your personality is adorable. Lately you have been loving kitties, puppies and bunnies and all three have to be said together. You love the color pink, princess Rapunzel and you love going to Target. Whenever I say we have to run a quick errand at the store you immediately ask if it can be to Target. It's pretty cute.

You also LOVE to sing. You put on weekly concerts which are always highly praised. You sing about everything. It can be lyrics from songs you know or it can be a completely made up song that you're creating on the spot. You're kind of like Daddy in that sense because he also will randomly break out in song all the time. I should probably record them more often because I don't ever want to forget this of you.

My favorite thing you do though might be our nightly routine. This started a couple of months ago but every single night without fail we cannot leave your room or turn off your lights until you say your bedtime sayings. It used to be shorter and little by little more has been added on. Currently this is how it goes . . .

"Good night, sweet dreams, and I love you, and I love you so much, and I love you this much (show how much with arms outstretched), and I love you all the days (bring outstretched arms into a self hug)."

Then after you say it I repeat it back. Every night we get to say these things to each other and I love it so much. I love YOU so much. You definitely are a ray of light in our lives and we are so blessed we get to be a part of your very happy and musical life. Happy birthday Rye Rye.

Love,

Mom

Eighth Birthday Letter to Hudson Boy

Dear Hudson,

Happy birthday Huddy!! Eight is such a special number and I am so excited for you! You have chosen to be baptized as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ this up coming weekend. I'm so proud of you and the person that you are. You have such a sweet soul and I love just watching you interact with others. It's fun to watch you think and work through questions because of your facial expressions. I can always tell when you have an interesting inner dialog happening within yourself. You still ask us quite frequently if we can have another baby because you'd love another brother. Haha sorry buddy but we're done growing our family and you'll just have to enjoy the siblings you've already been given. 😊

This birthday definitely looks a bit different than your birthday in Texas last year huh? It's definitely cold these days but you still love being outside no matter the weather. You also really love sports and you want to try them all. So far you've tried flag football, soccer, hockey, and ice skating and you want to try baseball and basketball next. I don't care what you try as long as I get to be in the front row of whatever it is. Hudson boy I love you and I'm excited to spend the rest of my life supporting you in every way I can. Happy birthday bud.

Love,

Mom

Tenth Birthday Letter to Miss Addie Rae

Dear Addie,

Happy birthday sweet girl. It's another year and in another state. Who knew that we would be living in North Dakota? I never would have guessed it a year ago. Thank you for being so willing to go on all these life adventures with us. You're an incredible kid. I've been thinking about how you have lived in seven different houses and three different states. I can't even relate because as a kid I really only moved one time and one of my best friends is someone I met when I was seven. A part of me wishes that we could have provided you an opportunity to make a life long friend where you could spend years growing up together but that makes me all the more in awe of you that you are able to easily make solid good friends wherever we go. I want to be more like you. 💜

You really are such a thoughtful person with a desire to do what is right. I know that's not always easy but you're doing a great job. Addie I love you so much. You're able to adjust and adapt so easily which is incredible. You make friends everywhere which helps me a little with some mom guilt. You are so fun to play games with and I'm excited for you to start your ice skating lessons soon. I love to support you and promise to be there at every event I can for you. Love you Addie Rae. Have the best year ever.

Love,

Mom

Sixth Birthday Letter to Grant Bean

Dear Grant,

Happy sixth birthday my boy! You're such a cute kid. You're a little firecracker with an amazing personality. You're hilarious, smart and the biggest Taylor Swift fan I know. We blame Addie for helping you get to this level of obsession over Taylor because it's not from us haha. When people come over we have to tell you to rein it in with all your Taylor Swift knowledge or else whoever is visiting won't be able to get a word in. So whoever is around you better be ready with their favorite Swift song because I'm sure you'll ask them it. You want to be an ice cream man when you grow up because in your words you'll be able to eat ice cream all day long whenever you want. You've wanted to be an ice cream man since preschool and I kind of love that two years later it's still what you want to be when you grow up. You are also obsessed with architecture and house layouts. You can spend hours looking through house layouts and examining every house patio, basement and kitchen online. Actually even when we go to someone's house you request to see a tour of it which can sometimes be a little awkward but you're so excited about it that it balances itself out. Your favorite part about vacations might be the house/hotel we're staying at. It was fun to let you in on the process of trying to find a new home when we were moving. Spoiler - you loved the house we picked out and you still do. Your main request was that we find a house with three levels. It needed an upstairs and a basement. You would choose looking at houses on Zillow over sitting down and watching a tv show every time. I love you so much. You're also our little gymnast, always having to climb, hang upside down, or jump off anything you can. Hopefully we can get you into gymnastics here soon. I could go on and on about you. Know that you're our world and we'd be so lost without your energy in our home. Have the best day birthday dude.

Love,

Mom

Third Birthday Letter to Quinnie C

Dear Quinnie Rue,

Happy birthday Mrs. Q! My baby is three! You are a little ball of sunshine. I love love love watching you create new things. You are always asking to color, play with play doh and build with blocks. Actually sometimes you ask for it haha usually you'll just go get the stuff needed yourself. So many times I'll look over and you have all the play doh out and you're already making stuff with them. I love how much you love it. Most often you can be found with markers and paper and you'll be spread out on the kitchen floor just coloring new pictures. You can do it for so long and never get tired of it. You're so creative and you love showing everyone your new crafts. I don't know if I've ever had another kid so easily entertained by coloring and creating as much as you. You love Minnie Mouse and Paw Patrols and you love having your hair done. You like things put together and looking nice which I really relate to haha. I super love you and this whole growing up business is bittersweet but it's also such a joy to be part of your life. Thank you for letting me be your mama. Happy birthday and I love you so much.

Love,

Mama

Third Birthday Letter to Rylee Girl

Dear Rylee Girl,

Happy birthday sweet girl! I love you so much. You are hilarious, quirky, and full of personality. You're so funny to watch. You definitely like to switch things up and add your own style to it. This past year you went over a month where you wore the same hat every single day. It didn't matter if you were going to church, the store or to bed it would be on your head. It was the cutest thing ever. You love to add suspenders and tutus to your outfits and often times you can be found wearing a costume as well. I super love it. You have discovered that you LOVE pink. You always ask for the pink fork or the pink plate and are sad if it's dirty and you have to use a different one. You also love to color pictures and that's also been adorable. You adore Minnie Mouse and ask for it every morning. You're in a really fun stage and I can't help but feel blessed that I get to experience watching you grow up. I love you so much Rylee Gene. Keep being exactly who you are! 💗

Love,

Mom