Birthday Letters to my Baby

I grew two things in 2016; a baby and book. Both have been a total joy and neither without their struggles. As I write, I'm waiting (just a bit longer) for the baby to arrive, but in the meantime I'm overjoyed to launch the book: Birthday Letters to my Baby.

As I wait for my son to arrive it's hard to remember exactly how I felt waiting for the arrival of my daughter, less than two years ago, but I know she changed everything. 

On the day Sophia was born I wrote her a letter, not wanting to forget the feeling of that unique moment. I thought about the woman she would one day become and hoped that this letter would bring joy and meaning to her older self; that one day it would be a keepsake by which she could remember her arrival in the world.

I often wish I was one of those people who kept a regular journal. I like the idea of consistently recording the small moments in life, but if you read either of my blogs you'll know that's not me. I don't have a record of the exact moment Sophia crawled (sorry sweetheart), but as her first year rushed past I thought about the letter I wrote on her Birth-Day and realised I could at least write to her once a year, on her birthday.  I could create a tradition to keep my own record of her journey through childhood, and hopefully a story that she could carry with her through life.  A story that would remind her of who is she, where she came from and how much she is loved.

I know that the true inspiration behind this idea was my own mother. We would often open our lunch boxes to find a little note from her and the photo book she made me when I turned 18, with the hospital tag from when I was born and birthday cards, is an irreplaceable gift. My mum taught me to cherish memories and to say how you feel.

We are the richest people in the world, but we are rushing everywhere, caught up in how everything looks from the outside, and sometimes I think we have forgotten our true riches. These small moments; the feeling when our baby says 'Mummy' for the first time (heck every time), watching them learn something, seeing what things interest them (often different from our own interests), these are the things that matter.

My greatest hope is that this book creates a place for you to write to your children, a place to hold your treasured memories, a place for your greatest adventure to unfold.