Dear Annabelle...

Dear Annabelle,


Today your daddy and I will welcome you into our world. We have been waiting for you patiently for the past nine months, but we are so ready to see your sweet face. You will be our baby. Our youngest. The one that gets all the hand-me-downs from garage sales and big sister. Speaking of which, your big brother and sister have also been waiting patiently for your arrival as well, and they are both as excited as we are to see you…well…your brother is kind of hoping you will change miraculously into a baby brother, but I promise he will love you. He won’t be able to help himself.

I still remember vividly the night we found out you were coming. I had a feeling, but confirmation came in Austin, Texas, in February. I’m not sure what this says about you or your personality, but you were the first baby we ever planned that worked out exactly as planned…almost to the day. With your brother, he took his sweet time getting here…your sister—she came roaring into this world on her own time table—much sooner than expected! But you…you will be here exactly when we hoped you would arrive—on your Daddy’s birthday.  I know you're ready to make your grand entrance, but I appreciate your willingness to wait a few hours longer.

I also remember the day we decided—finally—on your name. It took months! We tossed around other options for weeks after finding out we were having a girl. I’m not going to tell you those options, just in case you like any of them better. That would be bad. Anyway. I was the first one to suggest the name Annabelle. I expected your daddy to shoot it down like he had several others. He did not. He loved it. I became hesitant. It’s the last baby name I will ever get to pick out, after all. But one day, while your daddy was at the deer lease (a.k.a. “Heaven”—if you’re really lucky you may get to see it someday, even though you’re not a boy), I was searching iTunes for a Don Henley song that I’d been wanting. I was looking at the different albums, when I saw a song he’d written entitled “Annabel”…and then I heard it. It was your song. A lullaby. Written for another Annabel somewhere else, but it was still YOUR SONG. I sent the lyrics to your daddy. He was more than sold. That was when you stopped being “Baby girl” or “Honey” (still your sister’s choice for you, by the way)…You became Annabelle. Our Annabelle Grace. For that, I will always owe Mr. Henley.  I have spent the past six weeks or so memorizing this song so I can sing it to you once you're here...

I watch you sleeping

My weary heart rises up on wings

I hear your laughter

Something deep down inside me sings

Way down here in the land of cotton

You were born on a rainy day

Since then, sweet things long forgotten

They just keep flooding back my way

Oh child, I cannot tell you how the time just flies

But I have had my days of glory under sunny skies

These days, your bright dreams are all I want to see

Sleep tight, Annabelle

You can always count on me

In this cold world, folks will judge you

Though they don't know you at all

And I may not be there to catch you

Anytime that you might fall

But, you got my hard head

And your mother's grace

All the likeness of the loved ones right there in your face

And I know in the end you'll be who you will be

So sleep tight, Annabelle

You can always count on me

…So welcome to this world, sweet girl. We are happy and thankful and blessed to have you. Our only prayer for you is that you are healthy and happy.  As we have told Jackson and Sadie for the past nine months, you were given especially to us because God knew you were our perfect fit. We love you already.