Dear Daughter

The moment I found out I was having a daughter, I wrote her a letter. While updating her baby book, I found it. Here it goes.....

Dear daughter:

I'm excited! I truly feel like the 3rd time is a charm. First and foremost, I want you to know that I love you -- with everything I have. Im excited for our future together. I can't help but think about all the firsts: your first school girl crush, your first kiss, your first boyfriend, your first date, and every other first you experience. I'm excited for our girls day out, getting matching manicures and pedicures and wearing matching outfits. I'm ready for our mother daughter talks, the laughs and cries. I hope that I too will have the same open relationship with you that my mother had with me. I hope to be as understanding and I possibly can, promising to never judge because I've been there and done it all.

I hope that you will be successful and prosperous in all that you do. May everything you touch turn to gold! I want you to not only be the beauty but have the brains to match. Know that you're an individual -- and that's fine. Always do what's right versus what's popular. Remember, mama knows best!! I wouldn't tell it to you if I've never experienced it. Never let anyone speak or think for you. You can control your own destiny. And no matter what society tells you, beauty is not in the length of your hair or the color of your skin.

I love you.

I still have the same hopes and prayers for my daughter, even at 1 1/2.