Dear Aaliyanna

Dear Aaliyanna,

I love you. You’re almost five months now and you’ve grown so much these last few months. I feel like we had you in the hospital a week ago and now you wear size nine-month sleepers, smile at almost everyone you see and squeal with such joy and excitement that your little body simply cannot contain itself. You’re beautiful and perfect.

Taking you home from the hospital.

I’ve always known I wanted to be a mother and in the recesses of my mind, I imagined what having a child would be like. I love your brothers with everything inside of me but I have always wanted a daughter. As a child, I picked the names of my future daughter(s); however, at the time I didn’t account for the fact that a man would be needed to make said-daughter and would probably have an opinion on her name as well. But the point I’m trying to make is that for as long as I could remember I have wanted you.

Sweetest little ladybug (Halloween 2011).

You’re nothing like I imagined because I imagined and hoped you would look like me. Whenever I ask anyone if you look like me, they stare at you for a moment and thoughtfully remark, “she has your nose,” as they politely decline the notion that you resemble me in the slightest. That’s okay. I think your father said it best and put it in perspective when he simply stated that you look like Ali.

I can already tell that you have one hell of a personality. You are loud when you feel you need to be heard and you are, for sure, our loudest baby, by far. You’re sensitive and your eyes display the most painful infliction when you feel you’ve been wronged and at a little less than five months these afflictions usually only include not getting the bottle into your mouth soon enough. I can tell your personality, emotions, thoughts will never be constricted to moderate. You won’t do anything half-way, which is a bit scary as you remind me of myself (and I am someone that agreed to marry your father a little more than three weeks after our first date) but at the same time, I know you’ll be just fine.

How your daddy will always see you.

As for your father, your personality will more than likely give him a heart attack or two. I can already foresee a battle of you wanting your independence and our trust to grow up but he’ll have the hardest time seeing you as anything other than his little girl. Don’t worry though. I’ll make sure he doesn’t embarrass you by buying a dozen handguns that he conveniently decides to polish on the night of your first date. No, I’ll only let him do that if the guy’s a jerk and there happens to be a second date.

What I really want to say is that I love you, Ali. Having you as my daughter has truly been a dream come true.

I Love You,

Mommy