Our Precious Girl

Four years ago today, Kevin and I sat in a hospital room wondering how in the world we were going to care for our new baby girl. We were scared. We were felt clueless and unprepared. And we thought about how our lives would never be the same, and at that point, we weren't thinking change that was all positive. The weeks that followed were hard and crazy. Sleepless nights, breastfeeding problems, a baby that cried a lot. Yep, our lives had definitely changed.

1 week old

But very soon, we found ourselves falling deeply in love with our precious daughter. We delighted in her every development and milestone. We insisted that she was the most beautiful baby on earth (her Daddy liked to say she was "the most beautiful baby girl in the history of the world!" :). We held her, loved on her, cuddled and kissed her. We definitely liked the way our lives had changed. We thought to ourselves, "Things can't get much better than this."

4-months-old

But she as she continued to grow, our love continued to grow even more deeply and every day seemed to get better and better. Soon, our baby girl shed her babyness and became a toddler. She was happy and sweet with a gentle spirit. We had so much fun watching her learn about the world around her and delighted at the deeper level of interaction we could have with her.

1-year-old

 Then we got to watch as she became a big sister, and our hearts melted even more as we watched her gentleness and helpfulness with her baby brother.

All too soon, she turned 2-years-old and yet we found that in lots of ways 2-years-old was even better than 1! We spent a lot more time "teaching" and were proud that she was such a quick learner. She could talk so well for her age, although was so terribly shy in public that most people probably thought she was mute! She loved to help with everything, from folding laundry to helping label tuna cans.

2-years-old

By the time she turned 3-years-old, she was quite independent at home and yet still shy in public, keeping very close to her mommy. She brought us constant laughs with the silly things she would say and she brought us much joy with her frequent hugs and kisses. 

3-years-old

And then, all of a sudden, she grew up. She blossomed into a smart, sweet, and confident 4-year-old. She is no longer the little toddler whose hands I had to pry off to get her to stay in the nursery. Nope, this big girl LOVES going to Sunday School and AWANA Cubbies all by herself. And she's even getting a lot better at speaking up and answering people when we are in public. Sometimes it still surprises me since she was so shy for so long. For instance, earlier this week we were in a store and a lady asked how old my kids were. Abby piped right up and said, "I'm three - almost four - and he (pointing to Ben) is 2-years-old." What a difference a few months has made!

(Where did my baby girl go?)

 

One of the greatest joys this past year has brought is watching her spiritual growth. I never could get her to pray aloud when she was younger, but several months ago she asked if she could pray the bedtime prayer and now she even volunteers to pray at meals. She is great at memorizing verses. But it's even more wonderful to listen to her talk about how much she loves Jesus and how she wants to obey him and do what's right.

(Is this beautiful young lady really only 4?)

And although she's still quite girly, she has developed confidence in other areas as well. Like becoming mommy's "spider-killer" and is no longer afraid to get her hands dirty. I think I might have a hard time keeping this Daddy's girl at home with me instead of by his side on the boat!

(Her smile and dark brown eyes still melt my heart every time!)

 Four years ago today, we never ever EVER could have imagined the incredible blessings God had in store for us by giving us this precious girl. We do not deserve her, but we are so thankful. And although it seems that we can love her no greater than we do now, the past four years have shown that it just keeps getter better and our love keeps growing deeper each and every year.

Happy Birthday, Abigail Elizabeth!