eighteen months of LOVE.

Please meet our resident GOOF BALL.

You guys!! ... this girl has us in stitches ALL DAY LONG.

And, she KNOWS she does!

She wants to make us laugh.

She works at it - like it's her full-time gig!

Dear Ms. A,

You are such a bright light in this world.  You are busier than I ever remember your sisters being and there were TWO of them!

Your daily goal is to keep up with your big sisters and let me tell you - you darn near master it.

Your personality is a mix of SILLY, SASSY and most of all SWEETness.

Your content, easy going nature has ramped up a bit these last few months!

Your heightened awareness has brought out sheer determination.

People always say the "younger siblings" catch on so fast from the older ones, but you, you catch on in a millisecond.

If the twins do something (perhaps naughty) - you are ON IT like glue.

You copy it immediately.

I don't even have time to stop your sisters before you do it, too.

How can I compete with that?!?!

I pray your natural silliness and good humor will stick with you forever.

It literally just oozes from inside you.

Just today - for example.... I followed you around watching all the funny stuff you do.

This all took place in about an hour.

First - you are pulling at the fridge door.

You know you're not supposed to be in there so when I call your name you turn around and makes as many silly, crazy faces at me as you can.

These are the few I could actually capture.

 Come on, Mom - I'm cute!

You then proceed to take a very large grapefruit out of the fridge.  You were clearly biting on it because you smelled of lovely, fresh citrus.

Then - you start carrying it around calling it a "ball".

Everywhere I turned - you had your ball.

 Who me?

Later.... I glance over and you are on the couch.  You LOVE hiding under blankets and then popping out to scare us when we get near.

I kid you not - you will sit under a blanket for 5 minutes waiting until someone comes to find you.

 Cue BURSTS of laughter!

Oh - there's the grapefruit again (bottom right)!!

This girl..... she melts hearts.  From the day she was born she's been making people SMILE.

Who could ask for anything more?

Her physical abilities have always been off the charts.  With her early sitting, crawling and walking - it's no surprise she continues to master all things physical.

Playing at the park is a perfect example.

All summer she has shown NO FEAR.... she will climb to the tallest slide and come right on down - without even needing someone to catch her.

It's heart stopping.

I will sit up at the top of the slide so she can't fall down, but she gleefully slides down whether someone is at the bottom or not.

She runs everywhere, walking is out of the question.

She is afraid she is going to miss something.

She is a pretty good eater.

A recent favorite is yogurt with fresh fruit.

The MESS!!

But hey - it's a healthy snack and she gobbles it up.  Oh and forget about trying to feed it to her.  She is mastering these skills all by herself, can't you tell?!?

She is and always has been a GREAT sleeper.  I feel so blessed in that department with this babe.

She's basically on the same sleeping schedule as the twins.  Naps for a few hours in the afternoon and goes to bed at 9pm.

She has finally gotten a few more teeth.  As of a few weeks ago - she only had four.

Now - she's up to 7.. and more on the way!

She has some audible words - more, ball, shut, uh-oh, da-da, gate, papa, milk, truck, bye, nana, snack, shoes, book, puppy... and her favorite... MAMA.

Speaking of mama (moi)..... the hubs teases us everyday because he says Ms. A is so attached to me it seems like she wants to crawl back into the womb.

I can't really argue with that - she basically wants me in her sight at all times.

She can be entertained by her sisters for awhile, but she constantly comes back to make sure I'm still nearby.

She wants to be on top of me as much as she can.

Truth - I LOVE IT and wouldn't change it for the world!

Now that the twins are back in school - Ms. A and I have more one on one time again.

I'm already figuring out we need a schedule of our own!

She is very accustomed to constant entertainment from her sisters so I have to step up my game a little bit.

I love that, though - the other stuff can wait.

Make more time to stop and smell the flowers, mama.

I am pretty much in denial that with each passing month - a little bit more of her "babyhood" is slipping away.

That's a tough pill for me to swallow.

I watch her maneuver around this house and I just marvel at what a gift she is to our family.

She has a very special place in our hearts ..... and we all just long to be close to her.

I'm so blessed to be her mama and to receive so much love from her.

God always has a plan - the most important lesson this beautiful baby girl has taught me.

With love,
Cuz I'm the mama!