Birthday Wishes

8:39am. August 1st, 2010.
One full year since our little miracle entered our lives. One full year since we celebrated an event that we truly felt might not ever be ours.

It is almost hard to believe she is here. That she has been with us already for 365 days. Especially since she had lived in our hearts and thoughts for so long before that. We are blessed for sure.

With celebrations of birthdays come the crafting of birthday wishes. Finnley isn't quite old enough to understand what it is to make a wish. Or what it is to yet hope for anything. So, this year, I will do the wishing for her...because everyone deserves some wishes and hopes and dreams.

My birthday wishes for Finnley:

to never go a day without realizing that she is loved

to never feel she is not good enough

to never know what it is to be hated

to fall in love

to gently break hearts if she has to do the breaking

to quickly recover if her heart is the one that is broken

to give with all that she has and is

to not be afraid to receive as well

to be affectionate

to know she is beautiful in every possible way

to not be afraid to laugh at herself

to appreciate the simple things

to work to figure out the complicated things

to get up when she falls

to learn from her mistakes and to proceed with grace

to take chances despite the risk of failure

to never feel she must compromise her beliefs to achieve something

to be whatever she aspires to be in life, regardless of how many times that may change

to find comfort in her parents' home always

to outlive her parents by years upon years upon years

to never stop knowing how much she was wanted

to never stop believing she is a miracle in her parents' eyes

to just be happy

Happy 1st Birthday, Finnley Piper Ritter.
My Peanut. My Love. My Silly Heart. My Princess. My Sweet Baby Girl.
May all of mommy's wishes for you on this day come true, and may all of your future wishes for yourself be delivered to you in time as well.