Dear Hayden,

You have become such a good writer lately. Here’s your first solo attempt at writing your name. You’ve been tracing for a while, and writing it with help for a while, but here it is — all on your own!

Nice work!

Love you,
Mama

Dear Owen,

For about a week now, you’ve been sitting up. You wobble a bit, but you are doing a great job!

Love you,
Mama

PS — Did you catch my owl reference in the title?

Dear Hayden,

Last night after you were in bed I made a quick run up to Target and found these adorable rain boots on sale for $3. I was thinking I’d bring them out the next time it rains but then I left them on the counter. Well, as soon you saw them, you insisted on wearing them! You’ve been wearing them all day! I love your spirit and how happy you are — you make this pair of rain boots look adorable… even when there isn’t a drop of rain in sight!

Love you,
Mama

Dear H and O,

Today, one special part of our life found the end of its season. Our playgroup, which has been meeting at Erin’s house for the last 3 1/2 years met there for the last time. You have looked forward to playing with the kids each week, and we have all grown so close as we have shared this special season — the season when you were little! Some of the moms in our group are moving to the next stage — all of their kids are in school, so their days of playgroups are giving way to days of after school activities and classroom volunteering. We will find other playgroups, because you are little and need time in playgroups, but I have to tell you, I don’t know if we’ll find one quite like this. I’ve heard it said that if you have one true friend in motherhood, you are good. Through this playgroup, I found seven. This group of moms has meant so much to me. Being with them every week has been so encouraging… it’s been so much more than a playgroup.

Love you,
Mama

The Mamas:

The kiddos (minus 8 who are in school and you, Hayden):

Hayden, you aren’t pictured here because you weren’t in the mood for me to be The Mamarazzi!

Dear Hayden,

You are mastering the twirl!

Love you,
Mama

Dear Hayden,

Today marks six months of being a big sister! You are such a good one, too! You are always thinking of your brother, you are usually gentle with him and always eager to show him some love! There’s no one he’d rather be with than you.

Love you,
Mama

Dear Owen,

Today, you are 6 months old! I can’t believe it! You are such a happy little guy and such a blessing! You are 28 inches long and you weigh 16 pounds! You play with toys, you are eating rice cereal and veggies, you are sitting up (pictures of that soon) and the giggles! Oh, the giggles! Happy Half Birthday, Bubs. You are halfway to one.

Love you,
Mama

Dear H and O,

People will disappoint you. They will hurt your feelings. They will try to fix it in mediocre ways. It happens. You just have to dust off and be who you know you are — and love them anyway. You have to be confident in who you are, and not be affected by the choices that anyone else makes. Sometimes when you are fast asleep, I sneak into your rooms and pray God’s blessings over you. Many nights I pray that he will bless you with a confident and kind spirit that is described in Romans 12. I pray it over your lives. It is my greatest hope for you. My favorite version comes from The Message translation. Here you go:

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.

In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we’re talking about is Christ’s body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.

If you preach, just preach God’s Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don’t take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don’t get bossy; if you’re put in charge, don’t manipulate; if you’re called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don’t let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face.

Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy people; be inventive in hospitality.

Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody.

Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take care of it.”

Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.

So, my loves, there you have it. I care more about you having these qualities than I do about most anything else — more than I want you to have a good job, more than I want you to drive a nice car, more than I want you to live in a nice house. It isn’t easy to be like this — I fall short of it every single day! But you have what it takes. It’s all inside of you.

Love you,
Mama

Dear Hayden,

As school wound down for summer, you had a couple of special events! We went on a field trip to the children’s museum last Thursday and then then today you had Water Day to celebrate that it was the last day of school! This has been a very big year for you — you have learned so very much! Can’t believe how fast you are growing.

Love you,
Mama

Field trip to the museum:

Water Day:

Dear Owen,

For several weeks now, I have been trying to catch the smile with my camera. You have this huge, amazing, toothless grin that makes me so happy I want to scream! Well, tonight I caught it, and I’m so glad because before we know it, it won’t be toothless!!

Love you,
Mama