Tag Archives: mommy

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New Beginnings

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Dear Ellie:

New beginnings can be so exciting. In fact its one of the things I love most about seeing you grow up. Everything is so new and exciting to you. Its almost like I get a new beginning too. Holidays this past year because they were your first were just as exciting for me this past year as they were when I was a child. What brings excitement to new beginnings is the freshness of them. So today I want to tell you my baby that it is possible to start fresh. When life throws a curve ball at you or you just find yourself stuck in a routine that you’re not happy with allow your self to move forward and start fresh. The mistakes of your past can turn into quick sand, keeping you stuck in the same pool of guilt and shame, but only if you let them. I’ll tell you a secret: EVERYBODY MAKES MISTAKES! The key to moving past them is owning up to them. You can’t learn the lesson you were supposed to learn from a mistake if you’re busy trying to bury it. Instead put that energy into a fresh start. Whatever it is keeping you from starting fresh…LET IT GO my baby, for the sake of your sanity LET IT GO. And I don’t mean a superficial saying you don’t care when you really do letting go, I mean a true make peace with the situation and yourself and move forward kind of letting go. Whatever it is that you think is to big to handle its not…you can do this trust me. And whenever you feel like its too much to handle I promise to be here for you to unload on. God didn’t give me the strength to carry you for nothin’ my baby. I promise to hold you up when the world weighs you down and to push you forward toward that fresh start…always.

 

Love You Always,

Mommy

 

P.S. To the girl hiding from herself because she’s embarrassed, ashamed, hurt, or feeling anything else that’s weighing her down I double dog dare you to let it go. Take ownership over your present and future and soon you will realize you hold the rights to your past too. You can’t control what people do or how they feel about you but can take charge of your life and the sooner you do the better. 

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Point of it All

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Dear Ellie:

When Mommy and Daddy got married our wedding song was “Point of it All” by Anthony Hamilton and every time we go to a wedding or hear that song played it brings me back to my wedding day. There was so much love in the room that day and I felt love beaming from the look in Daddy’s eyes as I walked down the aisle. I truly hope that you are able to see and feel love around you because I strongly believe that it’s the point of it all. Life is better when you spend it with people you love, do what you love, and give love. I pray that no matter what, you don’t allow yourself to become so jaded that you loose hope in love. In its purest form, love is the closest we get to heaven on earth. When the winds are blowing and times are tough it’s love that will give you peace and make you remember what’s truly important. If one day you wake up and realize you have put love of whatever kind on the back burner stop and do some reevaluating. I can’t tell you how long any of us have on Earth but I can tell you that love makes how ever long we have worth it. When I’ve had a long day, I’m frustrated, or down there is nothing that picks me up faster than seeing you and Daddy smile. When I think about the sacrifices I make I never have to wonder “what’s the point”. You are the point my baby, a perfect reflection of the love you were created from. I admire how you love so fearlessly in your innocence. What ever it is that will make you happy whether it’s a hug from mommy, a spin from daddy, or “petting” the dog you just go for it. I know life will teach you boundaries and a healthy amount of fear but don’t ever let it stop you from loving because if you’re not using your heart what’s the point?

I love you always my baby

Mommy

P.S. To the little girl (or broken woman) who looked for love to soon or to long in the wrong places it’s ok to stop, reevaluate, and find a way to love yourself again. Start loving yourself and it will flow from there.

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Have a Seat

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Dear Ellie:

Today Daddy and I were stuck in what felt like stand still traffic for about 30 minutes. We had no choice but to just sit and wait for our turn to move. It reminded me that sometimes in life you too my baby will have to sit and wait. But I hope you realize during those times when it feels like you’re going no where things are always working around you and there are always things to be grateful for whether it’s that you have a good working vehicle to sit in, a healthy body to wait with or that you have someone who loves you to help pass the time. Remember you can always make the choice to focus on the good. There is good to be found in the times of waiting it is during those times we learn and exercise patience which is truly a blessing. If you are impatient you can rush in to a place that you didn’t intend to end up at. Be patient my baby there is a reason you are waiting and you have to have faith in that even during the times when it’s not your place to know why you’re waiting (which is most of the time). Sometimes once you get past your road block you’ll see it was wreck thar you were saved from or construction where something had to be worked on to possibly make the road easier in the future and then sometimes my baby you will break through traffic and feel like there was traffic for no reason at all but there’s always a reason so just be grateful for the break through. Just continue to focus on your destination and you will arrive exactly when you are supposed to trust me. I promise to never let you wait alone just keep moving my baby the road may be long but you will make it!

Love you always

Mommy

P.S. The same goes for every girl wondering when it will be her time. It’s always your time whether it’s your time to prepare yourself or your time in the spotlight each phase is important so you’re never really stuck even though it feels that way just focus on the positive and keep pushing soon enough the traffic will clear and you will press forward!

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A Flip of the Hair

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Dear Ellie:

I always knew that when I had a daughter she was pretty much destined for a full thick head of hair and sure enough you came into the world with a gorgeous full head of curls. I can’t predict what the hair trends will be as you grow up but I can promise to help you to always love the hair growing from your head. But I won’t stop there I promise to help you love every part of your natural self. Step 1 in my plan to do that is to be an example for you. It dawned on me when your two front teeth came in that you would have a gap between those teeth just like Mommy a gap that I had been pondering getting closed (for the second time…just a tip if you get braces don’t loose your retainer). Seeing you with the same gap made me change my mind for the same reason that I’ve chosen not to straighten my hair more often…because I want you to grow up with confidence in what God provided you with and I think the best way to do that is to reflect it in myself. So whether you choose to straighten your hair, get braces, wear high heels if you end up with mommy’s height, or anything else be sure you are able to make those choices from a place where you are comfortable with yourself just how you are when you wake up. You are gorgeous my baby from your curly hair strands to your unpainted toe nails anything you add will not increase your beauty only compliment it because you are already created in the most beautiful light. I love you more than I could ever put in words my baby and I hope that love pours out and forms a solid foundation for you to love yourself just as much. And on those days when your curls just won’t behave or you doubt yourself as young girls often do I’ll be here to reassure you until you can find your way back to confidence.

Love You Always,

Mommy

P.S. To the young girl who thinks she needs anything extra to showcase her beauty you don’t! Certainly one of the most fun parts of being a girl can be playing dress up but before you add the extras remember to stop look in the mirror and tell yourself you beautiful because you truly are enough just as you are God made sure of that!

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Sunshine & Thunderstorms

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Dear Ellie:

You played in the sun all day today. In fact every time the sun shines I try to make sure we take advantage partly because I want you to be active and partly because selfishly I want to spend as much time seeing you play as possible because it truly makes my day so much better. Also considering you braved your first brutal, drawn out, harsh, arctic Chicago winter like a seasoned professional you deserve every bit of sun that you can get. Today though as we took a walk with Daddy I realized that it was probably going to storm just as the weather man predicted and I mentioned that I needed to get a new umbrella because my old one broke and Daddy turned and said to me “well the rain is going to come”. A simple enough response and the kind you probably know by now your Daddy always gives. But with this simple response it dawned on me that we really do have to enjoy the sunshine and I mean realllly enjoy it not do the things we love but still have our worries and troubles in the back of our minds. I truly hope you live in the moment. Even when you get to your teen years and have that pimple that just won’t go away or when you enter “the real world” and every time you check the mail there’s a bill. No matter what phase of life you are in when you read this live in your moment and define your moment for what you want it to be not by what is thrown at you. Because my baby the storm will come and it will thunder, lighting, hail and more but just as sure as it will come the storm will go and you’ll realize a few rain drops even a couple pieces of hail did not destroy you. And when your storm comes I hope that you didn’t spend your moment in the sun before the storm worrying about how loud the thunder would be or how hard it would pour. You can’t control the weather and you can’t stop hard times from coming but you can enjoy every good moment so much so that the storm doesn’t seem so bad. And tonight the storm did in fact come just like Daddy said but even when I cringed as the thunder rumbled and the rain fell because I didn’t want it to wake you, you stayed peaceful. So I pray that during your storms you find peace just like you had tonight even long after Mommy is no longer there (or wanted) to rock you to sleep. There will be times that you’ll want to pray for the storm to end or for a way out but some storms you just have to weather and honestly my baby its not as bad as it seems that I can promise you. In fact when you can look back and realize that you now know who’s truly in your corner because they were the ones holding up your umbrella or even your own strength to keep pressing when you can only see two inches in front of you in the rain that in itself will be worth it. Have faith that each moment has its purpose the good, bad and ugly. You don’t have to know the big picture just HAVE FAITH. And my baby believe me even when you think you’ve figured out the big picture little do you know there are a million more pieces to the puzzle. So again I say just enjoy your sunshine don’t worry yourself about the storms because they are sure to come and they are sure to go. 

Love Always,

Mommy

P.S. To the little girl standing in the rain with no shelter in sight have faith that no storm last forever and the storm doesn’t mean that your journey ends sometimes its a sign to take another route or sometimes it just an opportunity to dance. And remember you are not alone every one experiences rain it never falls on just one person. So however you choose to face your storm know that you can make back to your sunshine. 

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Open Letter

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Dear Ellie:

Everyday Mommy thinks of something that I hope I remember to teach you when you’re old enough to understand and every week I work with young girls and I hope I can help them remember life lessons that will help them along their way. So I decided to start a blog to be used as an open letter that you can read when ever you want and can also be shared with daughters around the world. I know that sounds big but that’s my biggest hope for you. DREAM BIG MY BABY!! You can do ANYTHING! By the time you can read this I will probably have told you that 2 million times but I pray you never forget to tell yourself that because the world will constantly throw reminders at you that will suggest that you can’t do something…DON’T BELIEVE IT! I hope my voice will stay in the back of your head telling you to keep going, keep reaching, don’t give up, if you fail it will only make you better the second, third, fourth, time around! But Mommy knows that sometimes disappointment and tough times can drown out the good thoughts so you will always have these letters to get you back on track. Always remember you are my sunshine so keep shining bright!

Love You Always

Mommy

P.S. To other girls reading this the same applies to you. Every girl is special and is someone’s sunshine and if you don’t know whos sunshine you are BE YOUR OWN AND MAKE YOUR OWN LIGHT!!

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