Maren VeeVee

You are 1 year today!
Where has the time gone..
You say, "Hi" every time you see ANYONE..even if you don't know them (apparently we need to teach you about stranger danger), you give kisses, you LOVE the cats, so much so that they spend a lot of time hiding from you...you love anything your brother is playing with, much to his chagrine..you put EVERYTHING in your mouth:  crumbs off the floor, toys, blankets, fuzz, grass, bugs-dead or alive-, bird seed, bath bubbles, paper, nuks, but not much food gets there with your own two hands, YET.  You slept on me for the first three months, and when you are really sick, you still would rather sleep on my chest, which is just fine with your mama.
Right now you have 8 teeth, either poking through or pretty much in, and I am almost sure this is a world record..I am so sorry, my poor baby..
Maren Vada, the moment your big dark eyes looked into mine, I knew you were special, unique. You are not like anyone I have ever known, except maybe me...which scares me sometimes.  I want so much for you to be strong and happy and not make any of the mistakes that I have made. I don't want anyone to make you feel worthless.  I want you to have confidence and strength as a woman in what you can do for yourself in this world. I want you to know that people will come and go in your life, but you will always have your mom and your dad, your aunts and uncles, your grandparents, here and in heaven, and most especially your brother. Most importanly, though, I want you to find a strong faith in God, way before your mother did. I don't want you to have to find him the way I did.  I won't let that happen though. I think, Maren Vada, you and I are going to be good friends, because your grandmother and I are best friends, and I have learned a lot about what it means to be a mother from her. I have learned her strengths and her weaknesses.  I am learning about my own strengths and weaknesses every day, too.  I will tell you some of them as we go along in this life together..a few..I mean, I don't think you need to know EVERYTHING!!!
I love you my darling precious daughter.  When I go to sleep at night, you are the last person I think about. Since I knew you were coming, I haven't been the same.  I never will be, and I thank you for that, my sweet girl.
Thank you for making me a better mother
Momma