Woo Hoo! She's 2!

My precious little daughter,

Today is a big day for you. Today you have been with us for 2 whole years. I can hardly believe it!

You are so big now. But I remember when you came out of Mommy's tummy and you were not-so-big (although I thought you were much bigger!). You were a little stubborn thing. You got stuck and it was very difficult to get you out. But once you were here, that stubborness really paid off for you.

You were so sick, and needed a lot of medical attention. You ended up needing all of that extra birth weight, because you lost a whole lot of it in the first few weeks you were with us. Even the doctors were worried about you for a while. You were so small and frail, and you were hooked up to all of those machines, so we couldn't hold you like we wanted. It was very hard on Mommy, because I wanted to hold you and cuddle you and sing to you in my arms to help you get better.

We had to feed you with a tube in your mouth, and I cried a lot, wondering if you would ever get well again. But that is when your stubborness came into play. You fought like a trooper, and began getting your color back a little, day by day. Then, slowly, you wanted more and more food through the tube. You got hungry a lot more often, which made Mommy and Daddy so happy! And soon afterwards, you were able to get off of the machine, and we were able to hold you! And eventually, you didn't want to be fed with a tube anymore, and you learned how to nurse on Mommy like a pro! That made everyone so very happy, because we knew then that you were going to grow into a healthy little girl. And so you did!

You became a rosey-cheeked, FAT little baby. You learned to sit up, and crawl, and walk earlier than most babies do. It was as though that stubborness in you wanted to be done with baby-hood, and you were ready to be BIG like the rest of your siblings.

And I can hardly believe how big you are today. You may be turning two years old today, but you are much smarter than any two year old I have ever seen. You truly amaze us! You have been talking in complete sentences since you were barely 1 year old. You can sing several songs all the way through, including: Jesus Loves Me, The Barney Song, The ABCs, Elmo's World, Clap Your Hands All Ye People, Give Me Oil in My Lamp, All the Children Ought to Know, O Come All Ye Faithful, Great is Thy Faithfulness, and many others. Sometimes Daddy and I just look at you in amazement at all that you are able to do at such a young age. Your brothers and sister were also very smart at your age, but you have surpassed them all... by a lot!

You have turned into such an adorable child, too! You are getting so tall, and you are (finally) slimming out, making you look even taller. You have the most beautiful red hair I have ever seen. And it has really begun to grow long the past few months. You love to sit at Mommy's dressing table and let me fix your hair. You always tell me you want to look "like a princess". And you do, my beautiful child. You also have beautiful eyes of the deepest color blue. They stand out even more with the contrast of your red hair.

I cannot take you anywhere in public without someone stopping me to tell me how strikingly beautiful you are. Everyone (even complete strangers) want to touch your soft, beautiful hair and stare into the deep blue pools of your eyes. And so far, you don't mind it too much. You are very patient and always tell people, "thank you" when they give you such wonderful compliments. My prayer for you is that as you grow older, the compliments of others will not go to your head. I pray that you will continue to be polite as people pass compliments on to you, but that you will accept them with humility and grace, never allowing vanity to enter your heart.

I love watching you interact with your big sister, too. It is so sweet to watch you studying her, attempting to imitate everything she does. You want to dress like her, and fix your hair like her, and smell like her, etc. You are always getting into her closet and putting her shoes on your feet. You take her purse and put it on your shoulder, and walk around the house pretending to be "Sissy". You climb up on the couch and sit right next to her, in exactly the same position. It is adorable.

I pray that you will always have a godly example to look up to, teaching you the way to become pure and godly in girlhood. I pray that your heart will always be tender towards the Holy Spirit, always willing to let it guide you in all of your ways. My biggest prayer for you is that you will grow up healthy and strong, so that you will be able to grow into a beautiful, virtuous maiden, and eventually become a godly wife and mother. I pray you will cling to the Lord with all of your might, and follow Him in all that you think, say, and do.

And I pray that God will grant us many, many more birthdays to celebrate with you.












I love you, my beautiful little daughter. My precious H. E. R.

Love always,
Mommy <><