Finally! We selected a winner!

Love it Up has come and gone. We had 37 entries to our love-letter challenge, and Sarah and I finally had a chance to sit down with our computers (albeit farther away from each other than usual–one of us is at Geege’s) and select a winner (thank the computer goddesses for iChat). We read about love of equipment, stuffed animals, family members … even states of consciousness. And we loved reading every single entry.

It was difficult to choose a winner. I know, that’s so cliched! But it’s true, of course. We want to send all of you chocolate goodie bags. Alas, we hope Elizabeth from Life in Pencil will enjoy the package coming her way. Elizabeth’s entry, Dear You, struck me to the core. In a letter to her unborn first child, she captures the all-encompassing near-obsession of coming to motherhood. The excitement. The nerves. The questions.

When I read her lovely letter, I couldn’t help but remember so much of that time, for me more than six years ago, when motherhood was such a mystery and yet just around the corner. And in reflecting back to that time, I found myself feeling like I was flipping backwards through a photo album, and in hindsight seeing just how much has changed. How far I have come as a mother. My pregnancies were so consuming–emotionally, physically (and, medically in ways that I’ve shared before). But now, it’s as if they have just fallen away, replaced by the children. The children who are my life every second of every day.

As all of you moms know, Elizabeth is in for the adventure of a lifetime. She is a beautiful writer, and I hope she will share more of her experiences of nearing motherhood with us through her blog, Life in Pencil, which she maintains with her good friend Anne. If you don’t know them yet, go visit Life in Pencil. Read Dear You. And congratulate Elizabeth on winning Love it Up!

Tagged as: Love it Up