One month letter, from daddy.

My sweet Ruby,

It’s hard to believe that one of the most incredible and anticipated moments of our lives took place four weeks ago today. Your mom and I have traveled a long, adventurous and sometimes very painful road to get to this point; to finally have a chance to meet you, hold you, love you. And you know what? It was all worth it and more. All the tears, screams, needles, drugs, doctors, days, months and years of persistence and waiting…..it was all worth it and more. From the very first cry in the OR, to the squeaking, squawking, crying, snorting, pooping, arm flailing, and frog kicking since then…..it all makes the long wait worth it and much, much more. Some have said that you look like either your mom or myself, or a little of both. I would say you look like you. It’s the best way to describe it…..chubby cheeked, inquisitive eyed, perfect little you.

Already at your one month birthday, you have more people loving you, rooting for you, watching you, doting over you, and relishing in your very existence than you will ever know. There are people that you may never meet who are your biggest fans…...already quite the following for a four week old little girl! We will do our best to show you as much of the world as possible and introduce you to as many of your fans as we can. Hopefully you’ll enjoy traveling as much as your parents do…..camping, hiking, traveling to foreign lands….we’ll do it all! And one thing is certain, you LOVE water. This is especially exciting for me, because you’ll come to find that I LOVE to fly-fish….or attempt to fly-fish, rather. It’s only a matter of time before we venture out for our first camping trip, strategically located by a nice stream or river of course, where I will bring you down to the water’s edge and tell you all about this favorite pastime of mine and my hopes that one day we will be fishing side by side. Until then, I will have you with me to soak in the goodness of the Earth’s elements. This water will be a wee bit chilly for you, so we’ll stick with the sink or tub for now. When you take baths, which seems to be your favorite thing ever, your little Zen water face is to die for, and the occasional frog kick and arm flail is icing on the cake. If only you knew how cute you are.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention your personal signature to ‘mark’ the occasion today. It’s becoming well known that you have quite the little thunder butt, following in your dad’s footsteps. This morning however, you got me. All it took was one moment of freedom on the bedspread and ‘squirts mcgavin’ had left her smelly little gift right where dad sleeps! It was pretty funny although I was a little too grumpy and tired this morning to appreciate the moment…..sorry about that. I was pretty sad to leave this morning, as I am most mornings. There’s not a lot I can do about the being gone all day thing right now unless we win the lottery, but just know that not a second passes that I’m not thinking about you. More difficult times lie ahead when I take my first business trip later this summer or early fall, but I’ll do my best to keep the trips short and you close to my heart.

I’m sure you’ve already figured this out, but you have one of the best moms of all time. Trust me on this. I’ve looked around, ran background checks, the whole bit. She is incredibly strong, courageous, loving, and completely devoted to you. We are both very lucky and blessed to have her in our lives, so be mindful of those razor sharp nails and frog legs of yours come feeding time!

There is so much to look forward to in the upcoming days. I can already tell that you’re figuring things out and have so much you want to say. I will cherish every moment….every breath you take, the sweet smell of your hair, those chubby little cheeks that almost engulf your chin, your curled up little body next to mine as we water the yard together. So much to look forward to and yet so much to already be thankful for. Someone at work recently said that you don’t truly understand love until you have one of your own. I get that now. The seemingly insurmountable amounts of pain and time and money that your mom and I endured and spent, it pales in comparison to the love that you have created. Thank you my sweet Ruby for joining this family, helping to heal old wounds, reinforcing the idea that hope is good and real and worth hanging onto until the very end.

Happy one month birthday Rubes…….you were certainly worth the wait
-Dad