Bella turns 6!

I have been very absent from my blog... I haven't been super inspired to write about anything in particular lately. Except today, of course. Bella turns six. Sniff. Sniff. I blame my emotional state on my children's birthdays entirely on my SIL... she has rubbed off on me. Now, I'm just a cry baby about it. :)

Bella has changed so much in the last year, yet stayed the same too. She's a little more grown up... a little more mature. She understands more, wants to know more... has more insight. She's taller, her hair is longer... and she looks older.

She's still strong... a leader. She's still stubborn. Still wants it her way. Bella has wanted it her way literally since the day she was born. She came out of the womb refusing to nurse. Absolutely wouldn't do it. Mark drove me from Burleson to Arlington everyday for a week to meet with lactation consultants. We met with ALL of them. For hours. They were stumped. She was determined. But I was prideful and refused to let a week old human being beat me. And she finally gave in, but not before a lactation consultant said, "It's okay if you want to quit trying. There's nothing to be ashamed of. We've all tried our best." If you know anything about lactation consultants, you know that is something that most of them would never utter... unless you're driven to the end of your rope by A WEEK OLD INFANT. Ha! She as been challenging Mark and I ever since. She is a tough tough cookie. Many of our days are difficult. More challenging that I ever would have imagined. I've cried out to God many times as I laid on my bed alone. Pleading for help. More patience. More wisdom. More clarity on how to raise this child. And He has been faithful.

Hard to imagine her being such a fighter. Sweet little thing.

Bella thinks deep. And thinks big. She wants to know the hows, the whys, the who's. Constantly. She's a planner (which she comes by honestly). Either before she goes to bed or right when she wakes up, she asks, "So, mom, what's the plan for today?" Every. single. day.

It's hard to keep up with her somedays. She doesn't like idle time. She likes her moments filled with something... conversation, reading a good book, crafting, playing. I'm trying to teach her that "Silence is Golden." Ha. :)

She's currently obsessed with two main things... crafts and stuffed animals. SO many stuffed animals. They have over-taken her bed. But they're practically all she plays with, so we are just going with it. And crafting... which includes creating things using stuff she drags out of the recycling bin. It drives me crazy. But I'm trying to just say yes. Yes... you may take the empty milk jug and granola box out of the garage and invent something. Yes... you may drag out paint, markers, tape, glue... to help you with your invention. How can I say no? It's how she loves to spend her time. So, I say yes... with a smile. :) Ok, sometimes I don't have a smile. And sometimes I say no. Like when she asks at 5pm. But, I'm really trying. :)

Here are a few words Mark and I came up with that we think best describe her...

~ Beautiful
~ Clever
~ Vivacious
~ Strong-willed
~ Innovative
~ Precocious
~ Motherly
~ Natural leader
~ Curious
~ Inquisitive
~ Thoughtful
~ Observant
~ Intuitive
~ Challenging

One of the things I pray for Bella most often is that she would learn humility at an early age (which is a hard thing to watch your child experience). But with humility, comes empathy. And with her gift of discernment and her strong spirit, I feel like she could be a serving hand of compassion for the Lord. Sacrifice and serving others around us is the example Jesus gave us. That's what I want to matter to her.

Bella and I finished our first year of homeschooling (which will be a separate post), and although we both learned so much, one things rises to the top for me. Our relationship. And through that, her character. It took me almost the entire year to realize that my focus, my energy, my planning... was misdirected. All the work and effort was for one main reason. My relationship with my then five year old daughter. And as our relationship grows, so do we.

As she turns six today, I am grateful, over-whelmed, privileged... to be her mom.

I'm proud of you Bella Kathryn. You challenge me and teach me. I grow as I raise you. And I love you so much.

Happy Happy Birthday!

Daddy made her cake.

Now she won't steal my bathrobe.

She got her camera that she really really wanted. 

First birthday slumber party!

* Bella wanted me to read her this post. So I did. She wanted to hear every detail of her "stubborn nursing" story. She laughed when I talked about her pulling all of our recycling stuff out of the bin. And she made me look up and read her the definition of vivacious. :)