To my daughter

Dear Abbie,

This has been quite a year for us.  Daddy was gone for 6 weeks, followed by 7 months.  We moved back to the US while he was deployed and lived with grammy and grampy.  I left you overnight for the first time.  We moved you in to a big girl bed.  You gained a little brother.  And you potty trained!  You were a real trooper through it all, and you were my little side kick and partner in crime.  If there is such thing as a “good time” for Daddy to deploy, I think the time he went was probably the best.  You were aware that he was gone, and you were a bear for the first week or so, but then you were okay.  And you had a fantastic time with your grandparents.  If he left for that long now, I think you’d have a much worse time with it because you’re that much more aware of your surroundings now, and you’re really starting to value relationships with other people.

You, my little pooks, are quite the handful at times.  You are the sweetest little thing when you want to be, but you are incredibly determined, so it can be very hard to convince you to do things our way or to redirect your attention.  Dealing with you can be exhausting and infuriating and it is by FAR the hardest job I’ve ever had to do.  I really had no clue that parenting would be this hard and that I would be at a completely loss, at times, as to how to control you, but that happens more that I care to admit.  You want to please and you long for praise, but sometimes your curiosity gets the best of you and you like to test your limits quite frequently.

You are such a fun little thing to be around.  You’re an absolute sponge at this point, and you pick up on things that we’re not even aware of, at times.  Having a three year old around is a better self-portrayal than any mirror could ever be.  You make me want to be a better person and a better mother on a daily basis, so that you have something more positive to mimic.

You have changed our lives and our outlook on more ways than we could have ever imagined.  You keep our days busy and our hearts full and I love you with every ounce of my being.

Love,

Your momma