Dear Elena,

In a few short weeks your little sister will arrive and things will be very different in our house. You will no longer have all of Mom and Dad's attention - though you will still hold our hearts. As you have done since the moment you were born.

You will be forced to learn how to really share. Your room. Your blankets. Zoe. Belle. The backseat of the car. Mama and Daddy, especially.

You will learn what it means to be a big sister. Love. Patience. Kisses and cuddles. Dirty diapers and spit up. Crying. Sleeping. Laughing. You will sing your sister the dolphin song, and you can teach her the words to "Mommy Loves Me" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."

You can show her how to Jumpy jump jump jump with Yo Gabba Gabba and that it really IS fun to put on your pajamas.

There are soooo many wonderful things coming your way, little one.

I will treasure the last two years that your father and I have spent with you as our only daughter.

The last few weeks.
Days.
Moments.

I will drink in every last detail of who you are at this exact moment.
Again....
.........and again.

I am excited to watch you and your sister grow up. From little girls...to (gasp!) teenagers...to women...and into wives and mothers.

I hope that you are as excited to meet your sister as your Daddy and I are.

Don't worry, Inchworm. I know it's going to be new and scary and different. But you have to remember that sometimes different is good. The caterpiller cannot become a beautiful butterfly without change. It will be tough sometimes, but the metamorphosis is worth it.

I promise.

You just have to be patient.

I love you,
Mom