Dearest Deacon,

Right after your brother’s first birthday party we found out we were pregnant with you. Although we were prepared, “Well that was fast” was our first thought. Our second thought was “We are totally ready to do this all over again.” Now that second thought waivered from time to time as your brother grew from a sweet 12 month old to an active 18 month old to a demanding 20 month old but hey he definitely set our excitement level high. We told our parents, Aunt Jaclyn and Uncle Kevin that we were pregnant again while we were on Vacation in Hawaii, just 4 days after we found out. We had to because Mommy wasn’t going to be drinking her favorite Kona Longboards while on the island of Kauai. Your brother wore a “Big Bro” t-shirt to give everyone the hint.

From Mommy’s perspective, it was a difficult pregnancy. Whether we can attribute that to you or your brother is debatable. Hunter became more active, running around and laughing as we would chase after him. He wanted to be held a lot. (Held on top of my baby bump, it became harder and harder as you grew bigger and bigger.) Your brother was completely oblivious of you (or Mommy’s pregnant belly). My second pregnancy hurt my back as you rested on my tailbone and made me feel lethargic and want to sit or lay around all of the time. Sometimes work was a relief, particularly in the winter, where I sat at my desk in short sleeved shirts in 20 degree weather not having to chase after Hunter for 8 hours anyway. I told Daddy in October 2014 that it was the beginning of my 3rd trimester. His response was “Oh great, that’s when you aren’t supposed to be so tired anymore, right?” No, that was the 2nd trimester, but thanks.

To be honest, my labor was not terrible with you. It was very similar to my first actually. When Hunter first came out, my first sentence was “He has red hair!”. For you, I was completely relieved to have an excuse for my tiring pregnancy “He is so big!”. Holy cow, I just gave birth to that big boy, I thought. I gained more than 30 pounds during pregnancy and you were 9 of that!

Transitioning you home was not always easy and we had to figure out a lot as a family of four. For now on, I will not recommend anyone gets pregnant in April or May to have a January baby. Cabin fever is real. Post-partum depression was creeping at our door. Has anyone else on the face of this earth asked to come back from maternity leave early? While I treasured our time together so many things were pulling at me, I made the decision that we were fine to head back a week early. It all worked out because we had Spring Break in Florida to look forward to the following week. The sunshine did a number for all of us, thank goodness.

As a Mom of two with one more on the way, I must say, it isn’t like just doing it all over again. Each baby is a brand new, fresh start. All babies are not the same and you forget a lot in between children, or at least I do. You have given us so much pride as you grow more and more each day. We have seem your little personality develop and the love you have for your big brother is incredible. There are so many sweet things you do now that builds our excitement for another. I can’t believe it, you will be a big brother!

When you first see us in the morning or after day care you throw your hands and arms around like crazy and yell so loud in excitement. Yes, you are the loudest child I have ever encountered. You love to squish your little face into our chest and rub our cheeks. Just like your brother, you LOVE fleece blankets, “Bobbie”. You eat “more meat!” like a champ and impress us still when you go for thirds. You are with or search for Hunter all of the time- we know that you admire him so much. You can take a lot of tips from him, just not all, please.  It is unbelievable how tall you are and we can already imagine the football superstar and gentle giant that you may grow up to be. We all love you so much. Happy 3rd birthday.

Mommy