Sweet Honeybee,

You have quite the enthusiastic welcoming committee waiting for you when the time comes for you to arrive. Your siblings are all excited about you, and each with their own beautiful reasons. We’re all eager to know who you are, to learn your likes and dislikes, to take care of you and watch you grow. I know that these days where you’re tucked inside are sometimes hard for your brothers and sister. Waiting really can be so hard. And yet, we all know that you need to stay safe and cozy for a good while longer before we can celebrate your arrival, so everyone is learning patience as we watch my belly expand.

Your due date is three months away and I can hardly believe it’s so close and so far away. Thirteen weeks is a long time to wait for some things, but these next thirteen weeks fall over summertime, and I know they’re going to go by in a blink. There are summer camps and swim lessons, family visits and bonfires, days by the beach and lots of preparations happening at home–all to look forward to before you join us. And we continue praying for you every day, sweet little one, for your safety and growth and strength between now and then. You are always on our minds.

I hope someday you look back and know how much we’ve valued your life from the very beginning. The world can make the value of a tiny baby seem minuscule, and in those instances, I can assure you that the world is mistaken. There is nothing unremarkable about what’s taking place in these months I’m privileged to carry you; your life has mattered to all of us from the moment we knew you existed, and even before then.

When your birthday arrives, I’ll still be processing the million tiny miracles it’s taken to get to there. Your siblings will roll out the red carpet for your debut, no doubt, and we’ll all be better for your presence here, with us.

There’s richness in this waiting.

Love you so,

Mama