The months are tumbling by in rush, but each day with you two lingers on.  Each moment containing an eternity of memories.

In six weeks, you will have wiggled upon this earth for 2 years.

For 2 years, you have been shaping me,
training me,
teaching me to love,
teaching me what it means to be a mother.

I’m pretty hard headed most of the time… so I appreciate your patience in undertaking that task.  I appreciate your blossoming spirits teaching my own to continue to grow.

Aeralind Grace

My sweet girl, each day it becomes more apparent that God gave you a servant’s heart.  I (or daddy) have taught you to sweep (sort of), mop up a mess with a rag, clean up after you eat, feed your sister when she’s being slow to eat, throw trash away, and even to kill the harmless ants I can’t seem to conquer in our kitchen.  Not only do you take great joy and pride in doing these tasks (sometimes yelling “Yay!” and clapping when complete), but often times you initiate these tasks without my prompting.  I can only imagine where that heart will lead you.

The one image of you that I hope to freeze in my mind is your handing me something and with great joy saying “Tank oo!”  You picked that up since I say thank you when you hand me something… but you seem to have the order a bit mixed up.  I’m not correcting you though.  I often times relish hearing those little words.

Bronwyn Hope

You have made it very apparent this month that you are a very strong willed girl.  You have challenged authority, you have whined for up to 5 hours at night (either because you just wanted to be up or because of some residual attachment to your now gone pacifier), and you have thrown a million temper tantrums.  I want you to know that I love your strong will.  Yes, it’s difficult.  Yes, it’s hard for me to manage sometimes, but you are growing your momma.  You are teaching her how to love you best.

One the things I’ve noticed the most is that you demand structure.  Part of that is in your strong willed nature (Will I get away with this?  Where are my boundaries?), but part of it is your love for figuring things out.  You have memorized every single snack box in the cabinet and will yell out what I’m getting or what you want: “daker!” “Pune!”  You will inform me of when and where I need to put something away. You have no problem telling your sister of a boundary that she is crossing that you know is wrong… and wrestling her to the ground to get your “no” across (we’ll work on finesse a little later :-p).  Structure is your friend and it’s what you desire most.

The one image I want to hold in my mind is of you reaching up your little hand to walk with me up the stairs or in a parking lot.  Browyn, as much as you fight to establish boundaries, I can see that in your heart you’re really just asking to be led patiently and gently.  I’ll hold your hand and lead as best as I can by the grace of God.