A Letter to Layne...

Sweet Baby Layne,

In just under three weeks you are expected to enter this world. Oh, how Mommy and Daddy have anticipated meeting and loving you.

For the past nine months I have bonded with you in a way that only a mother could. I feel your kicks and have felt you grow from a little bean into a baby girl. What an amazing experience.

Sweet Baby Girl. How good that sounds. You were just 16 weeks along in Mommy's tummy when we heard the news. Mommy cried when the ultrasound technician told us.

You see, Mommy and Daddy had a little girl before you. Her name was Kaden Layne. She was the joy of our lives and the most precious part of our being. Just one day shy of turning 17 months she passed away suddenly and for unexplained reasons in her sleep. We miss her so much and in ways that perhaps only a mommy and daddy can understand.

Kaden is your big sister and always will be. Even though you will never know her, we believe she will be watching over all of us from heaven. Sweet Baby Layne, it is Kaden who taught Mommy and Daddy the depth of unconditional love. That same kind of love is what we feel for you even before you have entered this world.

As we prepare for your birth, Mommy and Daddy have three special wishes for you. First, we hope to love you unconditionally and without reservation or fear of what is to come and what is out of our control. Secondly, we hope you have every opportunity to be who you are created by God to be - not Kaden and never a replacement for what we once had. Finally, we wish for you a long, healthy life full of love, peace, and joy.

Before we know it, we will see your sweet face and hold you in our arms for the very first time. Before that day comes, we hope you know we love you so much already.

With love,

Mommy & Daddy