Hello World

 When I was pregnant with Nathan, I picked up a fun three pack of onesies at Target one day. I thought they would be sweet for my baby boy. I loved the baby blue color and the little sayings on them were cute: "just arrived," "hello world," 'charming." He ended up wearing them a lot as a baby. They just seemed to always be at the front of his clothing drawer, and I thought they were cute.

I started to get sentimental about them because they were associated with so many memories of him as a newborn, so the planner in me came out and I decided I wanted all my babies to wear those sweet onesies.

When Target put them on clearance, I snatched up a set of the pink ones in hopes that someday we'd have a little girl to wear them. I figured that I paid less than five dollars for them, so I wasn't out much, and if we ended up not having a girl, I could gift them to another family. I stuck them in a dresser drawer and forgot about them. Occasionally, I would see them and smile and say a prayer asking the Lord to bless us with a little girl.

When we had Samuel, it was fun for him to wear them too. We had a few more fun boy clothes when he came, so he didn't wear them as much as Nathan, but I still made sure he wore them often.

 After Samuel was born, when I would see the pink set, honestly I would get a little sad. I knew we only wanted one or at most two more kids, and our odds of having a baby girl to wear those pink onesies were shrinking. I worried and prepared myself that I would be okay not having a girl. Life with boys is so much fun, and my life would be full even without a daughter. I mostly forgot about them again. We moved and they got stuck in a box, and then moved back into the same dresser drawer.

When we found out we were having a baby girl in March, I was ecstatic and so thankful for the blessing of a daughter. I was overwhelmed with the thought of pink and purple and ruffles and bows, that I didn't remember those sweet onesies for several days.

I breathed a prayer of thanksgiving when I pulled them out, tore the tags off, and washed and folded them and put them away in Elisabeth's drawer. They've taken on special meaning to me.

They are a reminder of the answered prayer of a daughter, a reminder of the blessing of my three precious babies, and a reminder to treasure the moments when they are small (even the hard ones).

 I'm just so thankful for my beautiful children. They are each a unique and special gift. My heart bursts with love for each of them and for the precious family the Lord has given me.