Dear Haven

Dear Haven Joy,

I can't believe that you are already 5 1/2 months old.  Time has certainly flown quickly since you have been born.  What can I say?  You are too precious for words.


I won't ever forget the day we met.  When I saw you for the first time you were asleep on Mama's chest.  You loved that skin to skin touch.
As I got that first glimpse of you I thought you looked a little like me when I was a baby.  You had dark curly hair & big cheeks.  Looking like me did past by pretty quickly.  You definitely look like your Daddy & lately you have started to look like Lauren; but mostly you look like Haven.

We were all pretty shocked to see your dark hair & so much of it.  We all thought if you had hair it would be very blonde.  It was very curly your first day, but no curls since then.  I think we should put moose on your hair to bring those curls back.  :)  Also, you had so much hair that it stuck up on one side toward the back.  Around Thanksgiving your hair all of a sudden laid down & it is so long that it goes down your back.

You definitely didn't like your first bath.  I think I can still hear you crying, very loudly I might add, as I watched on.  Poor Lauren was very concerned about you.  It took a lot of convincing that you were just fine & not hurting.  You were ready to get warm & meet your family.

Something else your parents noticed about your little personality within the first few hours of your life was that you were & are still sensitive.  You didn't like big movements.  You had & still have the most pitiful bottom lip that I have ever seen when you get your feelings hurt.

The first time I held you was pretty soon after you were born.  I first took a ton of pictures of you, Mama & Daddy, then Mama gave you to me.  I was charmed.  You didn't want to open your eyes because the lights were so bright in the room.  About that time the nurses needed to take care of Mama for a minute, so you & I went behind the curtain where it was dark.  We then had some one on one time.  You opened your beautiful blue eyes & smiled.  I don't think I have ever seen a baby smile the way you did on your first day of life.  First, I introduced myself to you.  I said that I was your Nanna & that I loved you.  I also said that God loves you, & then I went down the list of everyone else who loved you.   You were & are so precious.

I love the name Haven Joy.  

It seems that Mama & Daddy have named you correctly.  

You really are an easy baby.  You smile as soon as someone speaks 

softly too you.  You seem to be a baby of rest & full of joy.  

You definitely have brought so much joy to me & everyone else.  

Your birth verse is: 

Gen 7:16-So those that entered, male & female of all flesh 

went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in.   

I don't know exactly how this might apply to you, 

but right now I see God was Noah's shelter, a Safe Haven, 

in the midst of the storm.  I pray that God will be your 

Safe Haven, & a Shelter all of your life.

Another special moment the day you were born was witnessing Lauren holding you for the first time.  That was too precious for words.  She took her "Big Sister" job very seriously.  You were great as you just rested in Lauren's arms.  Lauren held you for at least 30 minutes without moving a muscle, including her head.  Only her eyes would go back & forth.  The pink monkey is what you gave Lauren the first time Lauren met you.

I love to tickle you.  I can put one finger under your arm & you will tilt your body in that direction & just giggle out loud.  You sound just like Lauren when you laugh.  Also, I have to get some sugar kisses every time I hold you from those sweet cheeks of yours.

This past few days we have been celebrating Christmas.  All of a sudden you started doing some special tricks: you love standing up, if we hold you of course; rolling over consistently; almost sitting up by yourself; enjoying this bouncy jumper thing; wanting a sippie cup; & loved the Christmas wrapping paper-everything goes in the mouth.

I have enjoyed keeping you many Wednesday mornings lately while Mama has some appointments.  It has been a great time for you & me.  I didn't think we have had too much special time until then.  It has been a great time for us to get to know one another better.  Also, on Thur. nights Grandpa & I baby-sit while Mama & Daddy work.  Here, we have learned you are definitely a Mama's girl.  When it comes to night time, all you want is her.  You change from your sweet, smiling self to a huge crying melt down.  I usually can console you, but that last Thurs. we kept y'all, no one could make you happy but Mama.  When she walked in the door & could see the look on our faces, she knew that it had been a hard last hour.  She quietly calmed you down in your bedroom & all of a sudden it sounded like you began tattle tailing on us for trying to put you down to sleep.  Mama then brought you out & you just grinned & grinned.  You are a mess & we love you.

Well, I just didn't want to miss this opportunity to tell you how blessed we are that God gave you to us & I'm so proud that you are my Grand Daughter.  I'm looking forward to taking you to the park, zoo, making cookies, & having tea.  It will be fun to see what else we can come up with to do.

I love you.

nanna :)