Open note to "the boys"***

Isaac,
My sweet little baby Isaac, today is your day - your BIRTHDAY to be exact. We have been waiting and preparing for this day for quite some time now. Everyone is excited to finally meet you.
It is probably true to say that at this point, I know you the best. I was the first person to know you existed, and at your first ultrasound we learned our first lesson. YOU are quite different than your brother, Phin. I can look at the first films of both you and your brother and tell you apart - even from the start you have looked and acted differently. At each additional ultrasound, you proved over and over that you are a unique person even from the very start. While your brother performed for the video, jumping around and making #1 signs with his fingers, you seemed to act more like your daddy - hiding your face and not wanting to be bothered with having people stare at you. Your brother kicked and moved only when HE felt like it you kick on demand - bumping your daddy in the face every single time you hear his voice. Phin was active before he was born, but you are even more active - never slowing down from your dancing and hiccups.
With these few facts I have been able to discern about you, my heart has burned for the last nine months - wanting to KNOW you like I know your brother. I have done my best to keep your big brother from bouncing off of you and elbowing you excessively. I promise to work hard to keep you safe in the future. Phin is not mean, he's actually quite the opposite. He's happy and funny and he has been saying your name and patting you from my stomach for months now. But, he's two years old and that makes his powerful little hands a little haphazard and at times uncertain. I hope to foster a positive and loving relationship between the two of you. I pray that you will be best buddies, because a boy needs a brother who loves and helps protect him. I think you and Phin will be perfect together. So, we are all going to give it time to learn about each other and find a way to all be happy and taken care of in the family. Just know that from day one, there is no question that you are loved - even before you take your first breath and that you have been wanted, even before you were realized.

Phin,
My sweet and happy "big boy," no longer the baby. I will never forget the day you were born. The most funny thing that happened that day is that your Daddy walked in - in his hospital issued gear and he was wearing a "lunch lady" hairnet and I couldn't help but bust out laughing. As I tried to say the punch-line "You want fries with that?" I had a fit of laughter that I couldn't control! Certainly, some of it was nervous energy that I was trying to release but it was also a nice belly laugh before you got here.
When I heard you cry, I remember feeling overwhelmed and wondering what I was thinking to believe I could be trusted with such a little person - taking care of you and helping you grow to a productive member of society. If I had any question about whether I would like your personality or not, it was answered quickly. I have fully enjoyed the last two years and one week of my life with you. Were there one day in my life prior, to which I wondered if I had a reason to be happy - you fully and completely filled that question that day you were born. I love taking care of you and helping you learn about the world. I love hearing your little voice in the morning when you are awake playing in your room and hearing you singing your songs in the evening while you play before sleep falls on you.
I know that adding another member to the family will be a big transition for you. With that said, you are such a good, smart and sweet boy I do know that we will all get through the transition in flying colors. It is going to be so very exciting for you to have your daddy home to take care of you and play with you for a few weeks. All day yesterday, you kept chanting "grandma" because we had told you she was on her way to see you. You are so lucky to have so many family members who came to see you when you were born and are also making the trip to visit your bother. They are all very excited to get to see and play with you too!
As silly as it sounds, I can't wait to see you later today. You are just now waking up with April as your caretaker. She will make you breakfast and play with you this morning and then she will bring you up to the hospital to see me and your extended family and your new brother, Isaac. You won't be able to crawl up into bed with me, but daddy can hold you over me so I can give you a great big hug. Little boy, I love you and that fact will never change!

And, to the Daddy. Who could have possibly imagined when we met - that we would be here less than ten years later? The night we met, I knew you were special and you have proven that over and over again to be true. I am so happy and blessed that you are the father to my children. You will never know how many people have commented on what a good father you are to Phin - and they are exactly right. You have been a great father to our first born and a great husband to me and I look forward to our future as a larger family with the delightful moments and the struggles that come along with life. I can truly not imagine a better partner to be doing this with. At the end of the day, I can only thank this whole situation on our loving God who put us together. Don't forget to wish our Isaac happy birthday. I hope it to be one of a long line of birthday wishes that we all share - as a FAMILY.

***written in the wee hours of the morning - before my labor. Set to post during labor.