To my Charleigh, for your 3rd Birthday.

To my Charleigh...

My sweet Char. Where to even begin.

Tomorrow, April 26th, will be your 3rd Birthday. We have had three whole years being your parents. I have had three whole years of being your mama. Each of your siblings hold a special place in my heart, and birthdays always remind me of where I was in my life when God gave each of you to us.

You were the most beautiful baby ever. I partially named you after our sweet friend Leigha, who was a big part of our life when you were born. Leigha was sick and went to Heaven since your last birthday, and while we miss her dearly, we know she is one of your guardian angels. :)
Since your last birthday, we got to have a sweet visit with your "milk mama" Anne and "milk sister" Millie over the summer last year.

These two will always hold such a special place in our hearts, and I love knowing that you and Millie will be bonded for life over such an amazing God story. You may only be turning three, but you already have more tangible evidence of a loving, heavenly Father, and are such an amazing example of a precious testimony for Christ and His love for the little children.

Your health in the beginning of your life brought a lot of challenges our way and unfortunately, those challenges also brought some heartache along as well, but your birthday is always a reminder of the strength that we have within us from Christ, and what all we have overcome together as a family.

 Since your last birthday, you were diagnosed with an auto-immune disease and while it has been a struggle at times, I know that you feel so much better now that we know how to treat it. You have been so brave while we were trying to figure it all out, and you continue to amaze me in how you handle it all. I am so proud of you sweet girl!! We joke that you are going to grow up and be a vegan that eats bacon. You LOVE bacon, pancakes, biscuits, goat milk & cheese, and "apple sauce" which is what you call juice boxes. You rarely ever argue with me about what you can't eat if it will hurt your tummy. You love dinner time around the table at home, and making us all laugh at your silly ways. You love saying the prayer for us. 

Your favorite prayer that you say the most often is always, " Dear Dog. neh neh neh neh neh. MEN."

You finally have hair!! :) 

Just as a typical daughter of mine, your hair finally is starting to lose the baby-hair look and you have more of a short hair style. It still has a long way to go, but we are excited that we can play with it, braid it, and brush it each day just like your big sisters.

You are, in true third-child fashion, fierce when it comes to what belongs to you and what does not belong to others. You make us laugh daily with the way you cut your eyes at anyone and anything, regardless of how you actually feel about them/it. You are such a tough little cookie, yet you are probably our most emotional child yet. You don't really throw temper-tantrums as much as you get heartbroken over the smallest things and therefore punish us by hysterically sobbing about it for about 30 minutes.

You love to change your mind. A lot.

You love your Daddy so much. So, so much. You love to announce when he's home as soon as you hear the garage door opening. You love to run and play with him, and tell him all about your day.You love climbing all over him and letting him make you cackle over and over. You like telling jokes with him and riding places with him any chance you get. You love to sit in his lap in the big chair and goof off. You also know that you can sometimes get away with more from Daddy, so you like giving him a visit or two every now and then after bedtime. :)

You are eager to be just like- AND polar opposite- of your sister Callie. You love to compete with her, you love to beat her in competition, and you ask for her a dozen times a minute any time she's not with you.

You always to refer to her as "Cow-ey Wedders!!" any time you're bossing her around.

You love for Camryn to protect you, help you when you need it, and also stand up to Callie for you, in case you're losing in the current competition.

 You love for Cam to read to you, braid your hair, and help you get water from the fridge. You love to let her kiss your boo-boo's, you love to hold her hand, and you love to have her sleep right beside you in your bed, between you and Callie, on your Friday Night Sister Sleepovers. :) 

Oh, and during those sleepovers, you love to make her scratch your back until you fall asleep. ;)

You don't mind one bit being the youngest sister. You loved having the baby in the family role for 2.5 years, but you have embraced being a big sister to Preston and very well. You still have a bit of the baby role, as you are the youngest of the big girls, so you haven't struggled being jealous. We are so proud of you!!

You love to climb up on the chair in his room and talk to him in his crib.

 You love to call him Bud Bud and rub his head while you kiss him a thousand times. He looks the most like you, and I have a feeling you two are going to be best friends one day. 

He loves it when you sing the mickey mouse clubhouse theme song to him (the only song you're ever willing to sing period) and he loves it when you say to him " It's okay Bud Bud, it's okay..." if he's crying. You are such a sweet sister!!

You love Mickey Mouse. Since about November, you have said to us about ten times a day, " Hey mama! Guess Shwat? My Birt-day is MICKEY!".

You also love Clifford. And dogs, cats, and animals. You love to say " Oh, SO CUTE" when you see one.

You love our dog, Ollie. My, how you love him. You love being his boss and loving on him, and playing with his tail.

So today you were over the moon excited to have a Mickey mouse birthday party at Truett's Luau. Nana made you a cute " I can't keep calm, it's my birthday!!" t-shirt and you loved it. 

You loved having your friends Jackson, Logan, Isabelle, Brennen, and cousin Titus there to celebrate your big day. 

You loved all your presents, and your favorite present was from mama and your family. It was a boys red Mickey Mouse t-shirt. You insisted on changing shirts right then and there in the restaurant. 

You loved your Mickey & Minnie sugar cookies and you loved playing with your new guitar.

You have grown so much over the last year, Charleigh. The little girl who quietly rode in the middle row of the car by herself, separate from her big sisters, has quickly changed into a big girl who insists on riding in the third row right in the middle of both of them, so you can't miss a beat of conversation.

You love to chat and repeat what we all say. You love to politely say "Mama, pwease turn it up." over and over and over again until I do.

You are so polite and well-mannered for a girl your age, and you rarely get into something that you haven't asked to do first.

You love to ask me, " Mama I need to hold you!!!" if you want me to pick you up. You love to come up and tap me real hard on my arm if I am sitting down somewhere or feeding your brother and you want to ask me something.

You are quiet and we have to check on where you are- a lot. You tend to wander off pretty easily and we have to check often where you are. You love to not answer back when someone is calling for you, leaving mama always wondering if you've escaped the house or not. We usually find you playing quietly somewhere when that happens, knowing we were calling you, but just choosing to ignore it. :)

You have the longest, most beautiful dark eye lashes, and your bright blonde hair makes your eyes pop even more. You are beautiful.

You love to tell us " I love too, mama." when you give the biggest hugs in the world.

You love pointing out colors and shapes, and you love shouting " I DID IT!" every time you go potty.

You are a wonderful blend of both of your big sisters and we LOVE seeing the three of you play together so well every single day.

I am writing this after having said goodbye to the two-years-old Charleigh when I put you to bed. I am really going to miss her. I have loved seeing the wonder in your eyes as you've taken in and experienced the world so quietly up until this point. Your little life has taught me so much in such a short amount of time. I am so thankful for your individual spirit, and it reminds me daily that no two of my children are the same. You made me feel confident as a mother. You helped teach me to always listen to my own intuition, to trust my inner-voice, and the important lesson in the power of prayer. You are my visual as a constant, daily reminder that God is with us and you help drive me to always have a heart of gratitude, and to praise Him in the good times and in the bad times.  I am so thankful that God trusted us to be your parents.  I am thankful that God gave us you when He did. You have been such a joy to raise from a baby until now, and I am so excited at what kind of little girl you are going to become over the next year of your life. We love you, Char!!!

Perspective

Perspective: It is amazing how much perspective comes with each baby. God really is raising ME as His child. With each child He blesses me with, He also teaches me a strong life lesson that I have been in need of learning for quite a while- whether I am aware of that or not.

 I remember after having Camryn, for four years I learned responsibility, making wise choices, and the importance of stability. I was a very young mom and am so grateful for my mother to guide me through this time of motherhood. I owe everything to her and my dad!

 With Callie, we were also pretty young in our marriage, and I learned about consistency and family time, and something so simple as dinner -at home- around the table. This girl gave me a run for my money when it came to challenges in her babyhood, and I am thankful for the experience she gave me. She definitely toughened me up, that's for sure! #lifewithCallie 

With Charleigh, I learned about the power of prayer, ending my toxic relationship with the "Jones'", and especially the importance of trust, friendships, forgiveness, and really staying focused on my spouse and our family, and keeping distractions of all shapes and sizes at bay so they never come between us. 

Since having Preston, even from the moment we found out we were pregnant until now, God has been POWERFULLY working on me. I am truly in awe at how much grace He has given me, and how much He has grown me this last year. In 2014, I truly became aware of the power of my words, and have become much more self-disciplined on how I use them. I have prayed for years for God to control my tongue and the way I choose to use it, and I can say with full confidence that He is answering those prayers daily. I am so grateful for the Holy Spirit and how the Lord is working in me. I have a lifetime of learning this to go but I am a willing student! 

I know I have more in this specific area to learn, but I also feel like I'm constantly learning what really matters in life and what doesn't. I am really happy just living our lives and actually enjoying our children each day and keeping my focus on THOSE things instead of a bunch of other things that will be there tomorrow.  Stopping to feed my sweet baby all throughout the day has even further allowed me to stop and enjoy all my babies! When I am in the room nursing while watching my girls do cartwheels and making knock-knock jokes, and totally wrecking the place in about 5 seconds flat... I just mentally seem to float off into another state of mind, where I am filled with so much joy I am just trying to soak in every single second. Each day I think about how this is the only day that there are THIS EXACT AGE and how we'll never get it back again and I just want to lock them up and keep them little forever!! Having Camryn as my oldest at age 9 and Preston who is 9 weeks (10 tonight) at the same time, it is like I could not be more grateful for all these little moments. They go by SO FAST! Every conversation I have with Cam she seems to be a little bit older and more mature, and it is so fun connecting with her in a new, different way. It also helps me to enjoy these baby days of Preston. I have complained of being tired to Kyle, but in general, I just don't mind getting up with him in the night and all hours of the day. It is such a gift and I know if I blink he'll be grown. 

This is by FAR the best part of having several children... just enjoying the baby and not getting caught up in the nonsense. That's the secret to happiness for sure. My heart is filled with a loving husband as a partner to enjoy our four lively children, and altogether we keep Jesus at the center of it all, catching us in all our shortcomings and forgiving us for each and every way we fail daily. I feel good knowing that each day that passes, Kyle and I are striving together to grow deeper in our faith, and walk with the Lord. Keeping Him first and the main focus makes ALL the difference in a marriage!! 




Life is hard, parenting is hard, marriage is hard, and all of it takes intentional work. But with all of it, I am absolutely happier than I've ever been.