Dear Isaiah,
Welcome to the world lil man. You were born just over 10 days ago and I can’t stop staring at your every little move. I find myself smiling ear to ear when I hear all of your little squeaks and grunts. I have been waiting a long time to meet you, to hold you, and stare into those tiny little eyes. I wonder if you remember the sound of my voice as I used to talk and sing into your mommy’s belly button while you were still inside of her. Do you know that you moved one time when I was kissing mommies tummy? It was as if you were saying hello to me. I can’t tell you how exciting it was for me to feel each and every time you would move around inside of mommy.
Isaiah I want you to know how lucky you are to have such an amazing mom. She is one of the most loving, caring, intelligent, thoughtful, and beautiful woman I have ever known. She has taken such good care of you, well before you were even delivered into this amazing world. She made sure she ate very healthy foods, took plenty of vitamins, worked out at the gym, read every book imaginable about taking care of you, and prepared so much for your arrival. I have been watching her take care of you for this past week and I have to say I am so very impressed. She is so natural and so great at it. I love your mom so very much and have felt a whole new level of love and respect that I did not know was possible.
There are so many stories that I can’t wait to tell you. I would like to start you off with a brief story about your mom and me and where we were born and how we met.
Your mom was born in Naples Italy on a naval base. Your grandparents lived at the US Navel Air station in Sigonella Sicily. She was born at 8:00 in the morning after 15 hours of labor.
I was born in Riverside, California. Your grandma said that I was ready to come into the world as I was born 1 hour after she had her first contraction. Grandma and grandpa tried for 9 years to conceive and were about to adopt when they found out I was on the way.
I met your mom in high school through your uncle Derek. We started to date the summer of 1996 after your mom had graduated from high school. I was in my first year of college and worked 2 jobs to support myself and take your beautiful mom on dates. We dated for a few years, growing closer and closer, falling in love with each other. It was a magical time for the two of us. We have so much in common and yet we came from such different places. I asked her to marry me in the first house that we bought together. It was the afternoon of October 25th, 2000. We were married 1 year later (September 14, 2001) on a beautiful beach in Santa Barbara California. Your mother is the love of my life and I am so blessed to have her as a wife.
We traveled to several parts of the world during the next 2 years and spoke fondly of starting a family. Guess what happened next? A few weeks after we returned from our sunny Florida trip your mom gave me a little bag that read “surprise” one day after work. Inside of the bag was a pregnancy test that read positive and a small pair of baby shoes. There are no words that can describe how happy I felt that day. A rush of excitement, joy, anxiousness, and love filled my entire body when I found out.
Isaiah, I promise to take care of you and your mom. I promise to talk and to listen to you when ever you need to. I promise to teach you everything I know. I promise to try my hardest to be the best father possible.
Love Daddy