nine years.

yesterday, this cutie pie turned nine.

a little more than nine years ago, i received the news i was going to have a little girl. and my heart squealed for joy.
the Lord had blessed me with my oldest son, and i had always wanted to have a little girl as well.

can we all agree that little girls are so much fun in their own way?
i mean the dressing up, the tiny nail painting, and pretty pink everywhere.

it's funny in the midst of the excitement, you forget that small detail of that little girl looking up to you as their role model.
and when i realized that, a bit of panic set in.

throughout the years, i've tried so hard to teach her how to be a lady, to know she is beautiful the way she is, to be strong but loving and all those things have started to sink in. i see it as her personality continues to flourish.

but i know that none of that matters as much as teaching her to be a God fearing girl.

a girl that loves God with her whole heart, mind and soul.
one that puts her value on Him alone, and understands that she is beautiful and worthy because Christ lives within her.
a girl that would encourage others with the love of Jesus thriving within her day in and day out.

those things are the ones that i pray she would embrace and i know, i know she is looking at me and my way of living to see if i'm living those truths fully.

so not only do i thank the Lord for these wonderful nine years He's allowed me to be her mother,
to witness her spunkiness and her creativity, and to receive lots of hugs and kisses from her,
but i also pray that He would continue making me more like Him, so i can teach her by example how to wihtout reserves, love Him and become the woman He intented for her to be.

happy birthday my sweetheart. i love you to the moon and back.