Six years old. Our little miss is six years old today.

I remember the moment I realized I was pregnant. We weren’t planning to have another baby. This was a surprise, and it shook us. Sammy was finishing preschool and about to start Kindergarten. Things were fairly settled in our life and I was not getting younger.

We hadn’t been expecting this. We were caught off guard, and had for a moment a glimpse of how dramatic news of an unexpected pregnancy can be. Overwhelming.

We simply had no idea. No idea what God had planned. No idea how deeply this little bundle would change the dynamic of our lives, of our family.

 

She came in with a little drama. My body needed a few days to recover after her arrival, a few days for her to bond with her dad and her brothers.

 

 

Ever since, she has been changing things around here.  There is far more pink than there ever was before.

 

 

There are more curls and frilly clothes.

 

 

There are tea parties and dolls, which seem to have multiplied exponentially over the last six years.

 

 

There is a bit more drama. A bit stronger of a demand for attention. She is creative in these demands, and often leaves us in laughter.

 

 

She does everything with enthusiasm.  Everything. I find myself having to not watch when she is playing on the swing set…she climbs faster than I am ready to see, swings higher than I am ready. And giggles and smiles the whole time.

 

 

Six years. She still surprises us daily.  She stretches our imaginations and she causes us to grow. God knew. He knew best. We were overwhelmed by the responsibility of another child…and yet we should have been humbled by the gift we were about to receive.

 

He knew our family needed another voice…a voice with imagination and love to amplify the good already present in our little family. He knew we needed her persistence and demands to pay attention to wonder…even if that wonder comes in the form of worms and spiders along with butterflies and flowers and sunsets.

 

 

She loves us well. She has packed six years full of life and I cannot wait to see what the next years hold. I’m thankful she is still little enough to snuggle first thing in the morning, little enough to still need us. Her personality is so big, though, I cannot imagine life without her touch.

 

 

 

Happiest of birthdays, my girl!!! Keep us on our toes and keep us laughing. We are so thankful for the surprise God knew we needed.