my dearest future Brody

My dearest Brody,
I love you so much. I love you so, so, so, so, so much.

I love you so much that some days my heart positively aches when I look into your sparkling, mischievous blue eyes. Your daddy and I prayed for you and hoped for you and ached for you long before you ever joined our family. I still remember the exact moment when we found out that the Lord answered our prayers in giving you to us... We had just gotten home from a vacation to Mexico when I found out and I started shaking and crying and hugging your daddy. And smiling. I smiled like crazy. I smiled and smiled and smiled and  I couldn't seem to wipe that smile off my face. And now that you're in our family, dear son, and are a vibrant, energetic little guy, you're still bringing a constant smile to my face.

While I call your older brother my tender, talkative ray of sunshine, I call you my joyboy firecracker. You, my little joyboy, bring so much joy to our lives. You love, absolutely LOVE, to make people laugh. Once you realize that you've done something to make people laugh, you do it again... and again... and again. And each time you do it, you do it a little "bigger" and "louder" and more "firecracker-y". You love to bring joy to people's lives. You love to make people smile and laugh. You love to be a ham and lighten the mood and you do your absolute best to make any mundane little moment a party. And I absolutely love this about you.

As I mentioned above, you're my joyboy firecracker. Your Daddy and I use "firecracker" as one of our words to describe you because there is nothing subtle about you. You make a BANG, both literally and figuratively, in everything you do. You do nothing part-way. You are either "all in" or "all out". You are so very passionate. When you decide to do something, no matter what it is, you are committed to it to...the...death. Nothing can deter you, dissuade you, or distract you. You are so focused in your passion and commitment to things. And, dearest Brody, you are simply spectacular; much like how firecrackers are spectacular and beautiful, so are you. Dear boy, we love you so much and are constantly begging God to save you at a young age and to grow you into a boy who loves the Lord and loves His word so that this passion and commitment and firecracker-ness which makes up your DNA will be your greatest strength as you cling to the promises and the teachings of God.

While we haven't had too many conversations yet as you're pretty content to let your brother do most of the talking (all of the conversations between you and me are pretty much limited to dogs, because not only do you know how to bark but you also LOVE to bark and do so with great passion... hence, we talk about dogs a lot.)... Anyway, while we haven't had too many conversations yet, I simply can't wait to start talking with you, hearing what's on your heart and what's swirling around that little head of yours. I can't wait to walk through more of life with you. I can't wait to see you grow into a teenager with passions, goals, and ambitions. I can't wait, dear joyboy. But while I can't wait for the future, I'm also so incredibly thankful for the present. I'm so thankful for each day that God gives me to play with you and be with you and watch you. I'm so thankful to be your mom. I'm so thankful that our family dynamic is made up of both a tender, talkative ray of sunshine and a joyboy firecracker. Our family simply wouldn't be complete without you.

You are passionate.
You are joyful.
You are my ornery ham who will never give up and never back down.

And I love you, darling son, body and soul.