Helping Hands.

Ever since we found out that Gracie would be a big sister, it's been extremely important to me that she feel like a player in this new "game". From doctor visits to ultrasounds, nursery planning to picking out baby boy clothes, I've made sure she's been a part of it all. She may not grow up remembering the day she got to find her baby brother's heartbeat with a doppler (and the doctor's help) at a routine visit, or care much about the outfit she chose for his first weeks with us, but these little moments mean so much to me, and this mommy won't ever forget.

I recently bought letters that will adorn our baby's wall, while also announcing that his name is "ETHAN". Gracie joined me at Lowe's, a sham from his bedding set in hand, and helped me find the perfect baby blue paint color for these letters. Honestly, she came home with mint green, fuchsia, and brown paint samples, but it was having her helping hands that mattered. Yesterday evening, we all changed into old t-shirts, set everything up on our patio table, and painted those letters as a family.

I thought Gracie would dive right into painting, but she held back after putting the paint on her brush. Once Sean told her that the letter was all hers to paint, she got a little grin on her face and painted away! It was almost like she couldn't believe we were letting her paint them all by herself.

I didn't know what would become of Gracie's letter, but I found that I didn't really care. My 3-year-old helped paint a couple of letters for her baby brother's room, and that made me so happy. She did an excellent job and seemed to have a lot of fun in the process. Amazingly, she came away without a drop of paint on her hands or shirt! We did have a minor Cuddles issue at the end of our project. I didn't realize she had been sitting on him the entire time, and when she went to sweep him up as we were cleaning and putting paint brushes away, he landed on top of a wet letter. I washed him immediately and he came away with only a small blue stain on his little face. Gracie doesn't seem to mind, and I view it as nothing more than a reminder of such a special evening.