Blessed Sunday--Julianna Turns 5!

Talk about a blessing! My daughter is very near the top of my list. She is a gift. An unexpected, but very welcome gift. Someone not long ago said, upon observing the ages of my children, that she must  have been a surprise baby. I felt the need to correct them and tell them, that yes, it was a surprise that I wanted to have a third child. And it was a surprise that God put that desire in my heart. And it was a surprise that God's timing wasn't exactly my timing. But we fully intended to add her to our family. Crazy as it all seems, even to me.

And now, 5 years later, I hardly remember my life without her. She is amazing. So different from her brothers. She's made me be a different kind of mommy. A nail painting, hair braiding, doll playing kind of mommy. Sometimes even now I see her from across the room and have to remind myself that she's mine. And as honest as I was being when I was pregnant with her about being okay with either a boy or a girl, I was secretly hoping for a girl. (I can say that now, right?)

I love that she is a girly-girl even if I'm not. I love that she loves all animals, real or stuffed. I love that she loves music and makes up her own songs. I love that she loves her brothers and that they adore her. I love that she still wants to sit on my lap. I love all the memories that I have of her and with her over the last five years.

She is sweet and funny and silly and smart. Her best friend is her cousin Abby. Her favorite colors are pink, purple, and green. She likes to wear dresses, the frillier the better. She doesn't like to wear shoes and will take them off wherever and whenever she can. She likes to color and do puzzles. She is fearless, which sometimes causes fear in me. I told her daddy when we decided to name her Julianna, that she would have to be quite a girl for such a big name. And she is, undoubtedly, quite a girl.

Happy birthday to my sweet 5 year old. I love you, Miss Julianna.