For my Baby Girl…

Baby Girl,

I’m sitting here, feet kicked up, TV on in the background, feeling a little Sunday night tired. I’m thinking about you. How can I not? You keep kicking me! 😉 I’m thinking about that afternoon a few weeks ago. We saw your tiny face reflected back at us from your little cocoon, your little hands waving, feet dancing to a song we couldn’t hear. When she told us to “think pink!” I almost fell off the table. A sweet baby girl. All ruffle bottoms and giggle fits and hugs. How lucky we are to be expecting you.

So, spoiler alert: I’m new to this whole mom thing. Forgive me for having absolutely no idea what I’m doing. There’s going to be missteps. Oops moments. I may be a novice mom, but I’ve got 30 years of being a girl under my belt. When I wised up and grew up, I actually learned a few things.

I hope you’ll always be kind, Sweet Girl. Never get caught up in a game of “everyone else is doing it,” especially when it comes to someone else’s feelings.

I hope you’ll go camping one day. Bait a hook, pee in the woods. Whine like hell while you’re doing it if you have to and never do it again if that’s how it ends up. But do it once. Be brave and try new things. Be proud of the little victories. Do the kinds of things I never did.

Don’t be surprised if you’re born without a shred of talent for music, art or athletics. But I hope you’ll learn to appreciate all three.

I hope you fall head over heels in love with books. Go ahead…dog-ear the pages, write in the margins. Read and reread your favorites. Let Judy Blume teach you everything want to know about being girl but are too embarrassed to ask your mom. She knows her stuff. Trust me.

I hope you don’t get too caught up in practicality. If, in your heart of hearts, you know you want to write children’s books, or lead safaris in Africa, or start a gourmet lollipop business out of your tiny kitchen with one copper pot, I hope you go for it. Don’t do what feels safe, do what feels right.

I hope you get a little (not too much!) barroom education when you go away to college (but NOT before that. Ahem.) There’s no better lesson in consequences than the morning after one too many vodka cranberries.

I hope you never lose touch with your childhood best friend. There’s no other sister, confidant or partner in crime like her. Keep it that way forever. Even if thousands of miles separate you.

I hope forgiveness comes easy to you. Grudges are too heavy a burden to carry over a lifetime that feels unbelievably short.

I hope you kiss a few frogs. Not too many though…this seems to lead to nothing but more frogs. But a few mistakes along the way is good for ya. Besides, it’s kinda fun!

I hope you fall in love with a man who turns out to be a lot like your dad. That sounds weird, I know. But trust me on this. You’ll know he’s a keeper. Is there any bigger hero in a girl’s life than her dad? I think not. You’ll know he’ll love you exactly how you are, your own unique brand of crazy and all. I did. And I do. 🙂

I hope you never let the corner-office, six-figure salary, high-powered career women *or* the six-kid, supermom, everything from scratch, homeschooling women make you feel bad about your choices. Just do what’s best for you and your family and know that’s okay to be happy with simple. It’s okay to be happy with good enough.

Baby Girl, I worry constantly about being good enough. Strong enough. Brave enough. For you. But more than anything, I hope you don’t ever worry about being good enough for me. Because you already are. You’re perfect in your smallness, your punchy little kicks. A constant, happy reminder of all the fun to come when my days are cloudy and dull with routine. As much as I love this little one on one time we have together, just the two of us, I can’t wait meet you. I can’t wait to see how quickly you wrap your dad around your tiny little finger. I know our world will never be the same. We love you now and always.

Until January,
Mom

* * * *

I made these simple lemon crinkle sugar cookies in one of those gotta-have-cookies-now emergencies. I made them pink because….well, I’m celebrating Team Pink style! These are light, tender, chewy and subtly lemony. These are the kind of cookies that you could seriously plow through five or six without blinking and then gape at the empty plate wondering who the heck ate them all. They’re that good. And look at that crinkly top! Is that just irresistible or what? Make these. Share them. The pink is optional, obviously, but sure does kick them up a notch. Enjoy!

(PINK) LEMON CRINKLE COOKIES (Recipe Source: As seen at Lauren’s Latest)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 stick of butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1-½ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
• {1-2 drops red food coloring, optional}
• ½ cup powdered sugar, for rolling

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line light-colored baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Whisk together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, juice and food coloring, if using, until combined, scraping down the sides of bowl as needed. Add the dry ingredients slowly and mix until just combined, scraping down the sides the bowl once during mixing.
4. Roll about a tablespoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet about three inches apart. Repeat with remaining dough.
5. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms are barely brown and cookies look set, not shiny. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. Makes about 3 dozen.

ENJOY! 🙂