A letter to Ella J on her 1 month birthday.

Dear Ella J,
A month has gone by since you were born and you have grown mentally and physically in that short time more than your dad and I will grow the rest of our lives! I'm amazed by how much you've grown, how much you already know, and how much you can already do.
This month I've also learned what people were talking about when they said "sleep now before the baby comes". Motherhood definitely has it's challenges. As a mother, I've never: slept less, showered less, cried more, managed to do more errands in the five minutes I get a day to do them, seen Clay less, worried more, and felt more incompetent then I have this month.
However, there are some pretty awesome rewards to this motherhood thing-I will do my best to describe my favorites for you here:
1. I've never been able to celebrate toots and burps as much as we do around our house these days. Every one is answered with an "alright, girl" or "ooh, good job!" or "get it out baby". We have toot songs, getting-the-toots-out strategies, and records of the last toot or burp.
2. Before you fall asleep, your face physically displays just about every emotion there is. First you smile, then you frown, then you get mad and red, then sometimes if I'm lucky, you laugh. It's a wonderful falling asleep routine that makes me giggle.
3. I love giving you a bath...you become so relaxed and alert and seem to enjoy it as if the water is where you belong. We will have to get you to the ocean soon.
4. There is pretty much no feeling better than when you lay your head on my shoulder and relax into my body and remind me that I'm your mom. I've done some pretty awesome things in my life and it's pretty much safe to say that none compare.
5. I cannot fully explain in words how awesome it is to be able to think of a human being as absolutely perfect. Prior to you, I'd never met one.
6. No matter how rough our night or how little sleep I'm going on, every morning you wake up so bright eyed and cheery and I fall in love with you more than I was the day before.

I love ya Ella J and I'm so glad I get to be your mom.