The sweetest surprise

A letter to my daughter.

My Sweet Caroline,

You were the sweetest surprise a mommy could ever hope for. I always told your daddy that two kids in our life were not enough and that I always felt like I was missing someone and I was right! I was missing you!

When I conceived you, daddy & I were in North Carolina scoping out the area because we had serious aspirations of moving us all out there. It was our 4th wedding anniversary and your Grammy and Grandpa were watching your brother and sister while we were deciding if N.C. was going to be the place for our family.

We were there for 4 days and we had a great time, just the two of us. During the trip, we fell more in love with N.C. than we thought we would and had decided to start making our plans to move out to the east coast.

We came home and were started to put our plans in motion and I remember feeling not very well at all. I was tired all the time, I was a tad nauseous and just didn't overall feel very well. I also remember having a very strong, strange food craving! I HAD to have a chicken salad sandwich with swiss cheese and avocado everyday and also had to have a ceaser salad every night! I never thought in a million years that I would be able to get pregnant the old fashioned way. Every Doctor I ever saw, said that I would have to use other means to get pregnant because I have PCOS and NK (natural killer) cells. So with your brother & sister we used IVF and thought we would have to do the same to get pregnant again.

So that is why I never thought for one second I was pregnant again. But guess what....I was! After complaining enough and worrying that I had some rare cancer...daddy said "are you sure you aren't pregnant?" Honestly, the thought never, ever crossed my mind b/c the Dr.'s had always said there would be no way for me to conceive without help. So I came home early one day and took the test and it came back positive right away!

I remember calling my Dr. the very next day to make an appointment to come in and see him and he said not to get too excited until we did an ultrasound and he could make sure, all was okay. So we scheduled the ultrasound for a few days later.

As I was laying on the table getting ready, my Dr. was still skeptical and warned to not get too excited until we actually saw something. He also didn't think I was very far along and said that we probably wouldn't see much.

Well given that I have had my fair share of ultrasounds due to having twins prior, as soon as he put the probe in....I saw you right away! He was even surprised at how big you were! We were much further along then we thought! He thought I might have only been about 4-5 weeks when in reality I was already 7 weeks pregnant! The emotion that came over me, I will never forget. I cried the happiest tears of joy ever! Not only were you there, you were thriving! There was the missing addition to our family!

I always tell your daddy that God trumped him. Don't get me wrong, your daddy wanted another baby, he just wasn't sure when and I was sure that I wanted another right away. So God granted me my wish and you were born on July 11th, 2008 weighing a hefty 8lbs 3oz. You were absolutely perfect and gorgeous.

You turned 16months old yesterday and have been the most wonderful baby a mommy could hope for.

Here is what you are doing and saying at 16 months:

You can say, Mama, Daddy, Bubba, Sissy, Dakota (dog), Kiki (cat), all done, me

You can sign, more, please, thank you, eat

Your nicknames are: Chunky, Monkey and Punky

You know when you want something and when you don't.

You are walking, running and climbing anything you can!

When I ask if you have a poopy, you shake your head yes and head to your room to be changed

You clean up after yourself. No joke! If you are playing with a toy and we are getting ready to go somewhere, you always put the toy back in the toy box before leaving. You even put your dirty clothes in the hamper! You are such a smart cookie!

Your laugh is contagious and robust.

Your eyes are the most beautiful blue...just like your daddy's.

Your personality is infectious and I can never get enough of you!

I love you my Sweet Caroline more than any written words and am so honored to be your mommy.