To My Little Sister!

Yavette, You are about to embark on a journey unlike any you have ever encountered! Motherhood!
There is so much that I want to tell you about motherhood. I will share some with you , but the rest, you get to learn along the way!
You are about to learn what it is like to have your heart walking around outside of your body. You are about to learn what all encompassing love and all encompassing fear are..And how you can feel both at the same time...All of the time. How blessed you are!
I could give you advice on how to breastfeed, (I will when the time comes), diapering, teething, fevers, babysitters and so much more, but I will wait til you call me to share my insight!
I will tell you this. I know you are going to be a great mom. I know, because you are already so determined to be. Being a great mom, however, doesn't mean that you are perfect, or that your kids are perfect. It means that you will fall down..BUT you will get back up. It means that you will make mistakes..But, you will learn from them. It means that you will be scared..but you will continue doing being a courageous parent..
The advice I will give you is to cherish your baby. Hold her, smell her, kiss her. Savor every moment. Read to her, sing to her, teach her. Take lots of pictures. It sounds so cliche, but these moments pass so quickly. Before you know it, that swaddled newborn will be crawling, and getting teeth. That cooing baby will become a toddling terror. That toddling terror will become a sassy kid..And so forth. All in what will seem like the blink of an eye. You will look at Brayly when she starts kindergarten, and wonder how she got big so fast.
Never miss the chance to kiss your baby..Even when she is no longer itty bitty! Don't be afraid to hug her and tell you that you love her.
Be silly with her. Bake with her. Color with her.
When you feel yourself getting frustrated because you haven't slept in days, remember, "this too shall pass". When she hits those terrible twos, and is unrolling a whole roll of toilet paper into the toilet, remember, it will NOT be like this forever. Before we know it we will long for their childhood. You get 18 short years, (Of course, you will be her mommy forever, but for just18 years, she is all yours) make them count, so that while you are longing for their childhood, you will not regret how you spent it!
Yavette, Motherhood is the greatest blessing we, as women, have. It is trying, hard and scary. But oh so very worth it. Savor it baby sister! There is nothing that compares!! I love you, and I cannot WAIT to meet Baby Brayly!