Dear Aaden

(Originally Posted October 19, 2009)

Dear Aaden,This is your mom. Of course you already know that... you are in heaven and I believe Jesus will read this letter to you.I wanted to tell you Happy Birthday. On October 8, 2009 we celebrated the day you were born. A special and most beautiful day that we will never forget. I wanted to tell you that I miss you so much. I truly cannot wait until the day that we will meet again. There really is not a moment that passes without a thought of you. We tell your big brother all about you. We show him the pictures of him holding you and he smiles. I am excited to tell your little brother about you too. We will tell him how you changed the world. How you were the sweetest and most beautiful little baby. And how you live in heaven with Jesus.You were born on a beautiful fall day. You decided to keep us waiting and I think God must have gotten tired of me begging Him to bring you into the world. So, on the morning of October 8 I received a phone call from the hospital asking why I wasn't there for my scheduled appointment (to induce me into labor with you.) I told the sweet nurse that my doctor had canceled the appointment and told me I had to wait. She told me that she would go ask the doctor herself and give me a call back. Sure enough I got a phone call moments later and heard the beautiful words, "Ms. Proffitt, would you like to have that baby today?"The answer was an excited "YES!" I called your daddy and he rushed home from the church. He had been at an early morning men's prayer time... they had been praying that you would be born soon (to put me out of my selfish misery.... if I had only known how little time I would have with you, I wonder if I would have been more anxious for you to be born though...)We took Drew to nana and papa's house. We told him he was going to be a big brother today. We arrived at the hospital and went through all the necessary steps to make sure you would be born healthy. After a long day of waiting (4-5 hours) the doctor came in and told us that they could go ahead and start the labor. Once the process started you were born in less than an hour.You were so beautiful and so sweet. You knew our voices, instantly turning your head trying to find us. You kept trying to open your blue eyes to look at these voices you had been hearing for the last nine months... and you ate right away, so effortlessly. Everything with you just seemed to come a little easier. We thought right away how you already were so different than your big brother.You had so many friends and family come see you, some just minutes after you were born. Everyone said you were beautiful....and they could not get over how quickly you decided to enter the world. I spent that first night with you by myself. Your daddy had to take care of your brother, so I spent the night just staring at you.An endless number of people came to meet you at the hospital, even your-only-days-old cousin. You were and always will be so loved.And we will never forget how Speedy and Erica spent most of Friday entertaining us.We took you home on Friday, October 10. It was such a beautiful day. We actually took you for walk around the neighborhood. We were wrongly afraid of how your big brother would react to you coming home with us. He loved you though, and loved you being at home with us.Your first night home was a difficult one... I don't think either of us slept even a couple of minutes. I think you just wanted me to hold you... and that's ok... I'm glad I did.Our little family was perfect with you now in it. We adjusted so quickly to having you there... we couldn't remember what it felt like to have you not be there.I took you to church that Sunday. Some of the other moms thought I was crazy... but I knew you would want to be there too. You slept beside your cousin Camden the entire service I think. And afterward I showed you off to everyone I could... of course never letting you out of my arms.I hope you know how loved you are. I hope you know what a perfect little baby you were. And I hope you know how I miss you.... how I ache to hold you.We celebrated your birthday about a week ago...(to be continued...)