Dear Addie,

Since you are so new and fresh to this world, you are in for a lot of "firsts". In fact, nearly everything you do right now is your first time. You had your first day on this earth, your first car ride, first bath, first night in your crib, first smile, and most recently, your first real laugh. You spent your first Halloween as a baby giraffe and enjoyed your first Thanksgiving (though I suspect you will enjoy it even more in years to come!). And yesterday- you had another big first- your first snow!

Now, where we live, in North Carolina, snow is not unheard of, but its also not so common either, and particulary not this time of year, and hardly ever this close to Christmas. Typically, the weathermen will predict lots of snow and everyone races out the grocery store to buy up all the milk and bread. And typically, we hardly see a flake. And if we do? Its usually only an inch or less and its gone the very next day. But for your first big snow, God decided to do it up big-- sending us 10 inches only five days before Christmas!

Now let me tell you a little secret about your daddy and me. We love snow. Now, I know you are probably thinking "who doesn't love snow?", but let me tell you, we LOVE snow. Daddy and I act like little kids when the weatherman calls for snow. We watch the weather report like hawks and when either of us sees a flake we call the other one to report so that we are sure neither of us misses it. I have a lot of special memories of being with your daddy when we were in high school on snowy days off from school, or sharing our elation over a snow day over the phone when we where in different cities during college. And yesterday, we were even more excited about the snow because of you. You, on the other hand, were not nearly as impressed as we were. You spent the day snuggled up in your fleece jammies and were content to just hang out looking at the Christmas lights and making cooing noises from your perch on the ottoman in the den. See?



And I got to thinking about why it is that we love the snow so much and I think that its because we both grew up with Momma's who made snow days, like a lot of other things, really special. Not only would snow mean no school, but it meant getting to be at home with my mom (your nana!) and do special things. She would always make us a special lunch, like macaroni and tomoatoes or homeade soup, and we would watch movies and drink hot chocolate. We could always count on dry snow boots and warm jackets that had been laid by the fireplace, to be waiting for us when it was time to make another run outside for sledding. And even yesterday, as a grown-up on my own, I still wanted to do all those things. I made a big pot of homemade soup, your daddy and I watched one of our favorite Christmas movies, and of course, I enjoyed a big cup of hot chocolate while I watched it coming down. Of course, we took you out in it, but you were more interested in getting out of that snow suit than you were in enjoying the flurries outside. But we made sure to document the moment:





And while this snow storm has been a great memory for us to have, it only made me that more excited for all the snow days to come, and the memories that you and I will make together. We'll drink hot chocolate, make snow angels, and run through the yard trying to catch the flakes of snow on our tongues. And as great as my own memories of snow days are, I have a feeling that the ones I'm about to make are going to be even better. Because thats what you do, my Addie girl. You make everything, even the snow days, just that much sweeter.

Love,
Me