Birthday Girl

How I love this girl! I can't believe she's five. Every year I take a picture of the girls in this rocking chair (which was mine as a baby) on their birthdays. It amazes me how much they grow each year... I think, when did that happen? I saw her every day and she didn't look any older to me! I guess God makes them take it slow to preserve our fragile Mommy hearts.

She had a great birthday... she got something she's been asking for a long time - a PET! I know that I'm a mean mommy, but I kept telling her that our family was not ready for a pet yet all thousand times that she's asked so far - sorry, but as long as I'm cleaning up baby poop why would I want to also have animal poop issues? I finally decided we could manage a tiny pet since she was in love with the idea - so we got her a beta fish in an Ariel aquarium. She's thrilled! She named him "wiggly butterfly" (poor thing) I guess because he has those butterfly-like fins. I pray that he makes it through the week. :)

My mom has most of the party pics on her camera, so for now I just want to share five things that I love about Anna so we'll always remember what she was like at this sweet age!

1. She has a compassionate soul... she loves each of us completely. No matter how much Mae bothers her Anna wants to love on her & spend time with her. She is always thinking about how other people feel (probably because she's a pretty emotional girl herself) & wanting to make things right for them. If I had to guess what she might be when she grows up I'd say a mommy, nurse, or vet. She just wants to take care of everyone.

2. She's a thinker. She is always asking questions and trying to figure out the reasons behind everything. She has a pretty big vocabulary which sounds so funny in her tiny Minnie Mouse voice... I'm amazed by the things she notices (nothing gets by her), remembers (basically everything that has happened to her since about 18 months), & processes.

3. She has a precious child like faith. She's really logical & black/white, but she has whole heartedly accepted that God loves her & Jesus died for her without question. I love hearing her talk about the Bible & how her prayers have matured over these past couple of years.

4. She has a mind of her own. Sometimes this makes me crazy - but I know that God has made her such an independant thinker for His own purposes! It doesn't matter to her what her friends do, she has her own way of doing things. She loves her friends and enjoys being with them, but she doesn't do anything just because someone else thinks it's a good idea. I know she probably won't struggle with being a people pleaser or bow to peer pressure easily when she gets older. She is just Anna through & through!

5. She is created perfectly by her Father who loves her! Silly, loving, funny, stubborn, caring, smart, affectionate, sweet, cautious, kind - He made her all those things. Sometimes I think, how is this possibly my child? She's so different from me! I see bits of Tom & I in her, but she is unique. I know that God made her just as He needed to fulfill His plans for her... those probably aren't my plans, but His are better! On those days when I just don't understand her, I try to remember that if I trust the Lord with raising her He will do that perfectly through me. I don't have to figure her out, just trust that He will guide me.

Posing in her new princess night gown from Grammy next to her "wiggly butterfly". What a big name for a little fish.